How Milani Cosmetics Tapped Sports to Vault into Beauty’s Big Leagues

Why it matters:

• Disruptor brand Milani Cosmetics is beating the odds and continues to grow despite a stagnant mass market beauty landscape, thanks to an optimized mix of core merchandise, innovation, and strong social
  buzz.
• Affordable luxury is Milani’s sweet spot, a market positioning that’s paid off with 12 consecutive quarters of growth.
• Its growth strategy also signals that even independent brands can participate in sports sponsorships and reap a return: Female athletes helped Milani promote its Make It Last setting spray via a campaign that generated more than four billion unique views across all social platform, in addition to garnering editorial coverage.

Powerhouse brands like Nike, Pepsi, and Procter & Gamble are known for partnerships with star athletes. Now, Milani Cosmetics, a disruptor brand amid the titans of the cosmetics industry, proved it can play on the same field with an innovative strategy.

In June 2024 ahead of the Paris Olympics, Milani inked its first-ever collaboration with female athletes including Jordan Chiles, a member of the gold-winning USA gymnastics team, and Sabrina Ionescu, a gold-medal winner on USA Olympic women’s basketball team.

The campaign, called “Face Set. Mind Set,” lives across all of Milani’s channels and the athletes’ social media platforms with the hashtag #SetWithMilani. It spotlights one of the brand’s biggest selling items, the Make It Last setting spray, a waterproof and sweatproof multitasking skin spray that’s designed to withstand even the toughest workout.

The campaign helped Milani remain at the top of the setting spray market. “Milani’s overall setting spray business continues to show strength, and it grew at a rate of 9% in the 24 weeks ending December 28, 2024,” Lowenstein said, citing NielsenIQ figures. Milani’s Make It Last Original Setting Spray has maintained its position as the number one setting spray on the market.

For the “masstige” brand with a $10 average price point, Milani’s sports collaboration served as a case study on differentiating in a saturated industry—in this case, beauty.

Athletes, according to Leslie Ann Hall, Founder of Iced Media, provide a unique, innovative way to stand out in a crowded influencer market. “They are authentic, and people admire them,” she told CO—.

Jeremy Lowenstein, Milani’s Chief Marketing Officer, said athletes proved to be a perfect match for its hero products.

“There is a connection between preparing physically and mentally and the idea that when our face is set, our mind follows,” he explained.

Leaning into the cultural zeitgeist

The Face Set. Mind Set campaign reflects the growing cultural importance of women’s sports to Milani’s consumer base. And the product’s endurance aims to mirror the athletes featured in its campaign.

For example, while Chiles and Ionescu competed in the 2024 Olympics, an injury sidelined weightlifting champion Mattie Rogers. So her social posts for Milani centered on the importance of staying strong while recovering and dealing with her mental health.

Meanwhile, Chiles, who gained heightened attention during the Olympics, says Milani was the first makeup she ever used, and she’s often spotted applying the items in her posts. The brand is known for its wide array of shades to suit all skin tones.

Sports collab boosts Milani’s beauty biz standing

The buzz created by the collaboration further elevated Milani’s presence in the beauty industry, Lowenstein said.The brand also benefitted from a wave of media attention. “There was a tremendous amount of editorial coverage,” he said. “We had over 80 articles written with a reach of over four billion people. Our athlete partners have gone above and beyond in terms of sharing their love of the brand.”

Although Milani was founded in 2001, it has recently pumped out big sales gains thanks to product innovations, a reboot of core products, influencer support, and an executive team of beauty veterans installed in recent years including Lowenstein and CEO Mary van Praag, who helped build traction for companies including Coty Inc. and Perricone MD.

Today, the brand is sold at major retailers, including Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, and CVS, as well as on Amazon and MilaniCosmetics.com.

Milani Cosmetics, which has exceeded category growth for more than three years, clocked $200 million in retail sales and is the number seven mass makeup brand in eyes, face, and lips, according to NIQ data for the 52 weeks through September 7, 2024.

In comparison, overall mass makeup was down 4% for the first half of 2024, according to Circana.

Tapping partnerships to make products go viral

Although Face Set. Mind Set marked Milani’s first collaboration on a campaign with sports stars, the company has a cadre of other athletes and social media influencers who help its products go viral, especially when compared to pricier options.

Its Color Fetish Matte Lipsticks are a prime example. When launched, the line resulted in a 4,000-person waitlist at Ulta Beauty. Several content creators pegged the lipstick as an affordable alternative to prestige products that were three times the price. Milani counts several other products that social media, especially TikTok, has turned into must-haves.

“We’re confident we’re positioned for continued success given the innovation in our pipeline and the strength in our core products,” Lowenstein said. “Milani offers inclusive, prestige-quality products at accessible price points, and those are key factors consumers consider when deciding what brands and products to purchase.”

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