Glow Recipe Ends Sephora Exclusivity, Heads to Ulta
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Beauty
- Skincare
- Glow Recipe
- Ulta Beauty
- Retail
Glow Recipe will sell its full lineup at 1,000 Ulta stores starting Dec. 6, ending nearly a decade of Sephora exclusivity.
The End of a Near-Decade of Sephora Exclusivity
WWD reports exclusively that Glow Recipe is entering Ulta Beauty for the first time, ending an arrangement that kept the brand sold exclusively at Sephora in the U.S. for nearly a decade.
The skin care company, which launched in 2014 as a K-beauty e-commerce marketplace before unveiling its product line at Sephora in 2017, will roll out its full assortment to 1,000 Ulta stores on Dec. 6.
Cofounder and co-CEO Sarah Lee told WWD the community had been asking for the move for years: “Our community has been asking for us to be at Ulta for years, and we wanted to wait for the right time. We feel the time is now.”
WWD characterizes the Ulta entry as the brand's most significant retail expansion to date, beyond its existing TikTok Shop, Amazon, and international storefronts at Mecca, Cult Beauty and Sephora.
Why a First Decade Devoted to Sephora Now Bends
The surprise is that a brand long synonymous with Sephora's shelves — home to heroes like its $36 Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner and Niacinamide Dew Drops — would share that flagship status.
WWD notes the move follows Ulta's pattern of adding formerly Sephora-exclusive ranges, including Rare Beauty and Amika over the past year, as the retailer bets big on K-beauty with brands like Medicube and Anua.
Ulta's chief merchandising and digital officer Lauren Brindley told WWD the brand makes skin care “feel sensorial, approachable and fun,” and that a successful partnership is about much more than distribution.
Lee framed it as a chapter change: the first decade was about building love and community, while “this next chapter is about expanding that community.”
The Fresh Slices Eye Mask and the Shared-Component Drama
Alongside the retail news, WWD details the debut of the $36 Exopeptide Caffeine Brightening & Depuffing Fresh Slices Eye Mask, which went viral in September as one of several launches using the same novel Samhwa-developed grinder component.
Fenty Beauty teased it first, and WWD reports Huda Beauty, Bubble and Vitamasques are also developing products with the component — but Glow Recipe will launch first, on Nov. 17 via Ulta's TikTok Shop storefront.
Cofounder Christine Chang told WWD the brand would have chosen the component “1,000 times over” and learned only from internet discourse that others were developing the same technology, then turned the chatter into an educational moment about hydrogel technology and why the patches are intentionally liquid-free.
The cofounders will also cohost a TikTok Live via Ulta's storefront this month.
What's at Stake: Distribution, Independence and the Proof-Seeking Shopper
The stakes run beyond shelf space. WWD reported in 2024 that Glow Recipe's sales were around $300 million, and the brand has leaned into its Korean heritage with products like Glass Balm Lip Treatments and a Buldak noodle collaboration.
The expansion also lands as Retail Asia, citing a November Kearney report, describes a $937 billion beauty, health and wellness economy in which more than two-thirds of surveyed consumers want dermatologists as trusted advisers and product loyalty outweighs brand loyalty — an environment where reaching different demographics through both retailers could matter.
Ulta will also carry exclusive holiday gift sets for the launch.