Jenni Kayne is opening a pop-up spa in Santa Monica Canyon.
“I felt like there was a huge need to really experience what it feels like to have a whole routine done as a facial,” she said of Oak Essentials products, the beauty brand she unveiled in August 2021 alongside chief executive officer Julia Hunter.
“We’re partnering with Nuface, so there’ll be a microcurrent element to it which is something that I do personally and really believe in,” she added.
They’re offering the experience this month to friends of the brand, VIPs and influencers as the company plans to lean more on partnerships this year, Hunter said.
Diversifying her business, Oak Essentials scaled to $7 million in 2022 after making $1.5 million in its first five months — contributing to the company’s overall $133 million in revenue last year (with 65 percent coming from its d-to-c). They project to hit $15 million in 2023.
What do they attribute the growth to?
“We are so nimble,” said Hunter, who’s been with the company for nine years. “We’re pretty lean in terms of the team. There’s around 85 corporate and office employees at Jenni Kayne….I think everyone here feels very clear on how their role contributes to the success of the company. Jenni and I believe that our team have created a kind of California luxury that feels very aspirational but also approachable.”
With Oak Essentials, “we really wanted it to be a brand that could stand on its own,” Hunter continued. Eighty percent of the beauty shoppers have never shopped Jenni Kayne, she revealed. There’s opportunity for growth there, as the company looks to expand in wholesale in 2024 “with the Sephoras and Ultas of the world to help get the word out.”
Born and raised in California, Kayne’s style philosophy has been rooted in minimalism — what she’s been known for since launching her brand in 2002, opening her own brick-and-mortar and e-commerce shops.
It’s no surprise that she took that same approach with Oak Essentials. Taking over two years to develop, it’s “clean,” cruelty-free and made with recyclable materials. Everything is manufactured in California with ingredients sourced globally.
“Less is more,” Kayne said. “I don’t believe in antiaging. It’s about ageing gracefully….At Jenni Kayne, we believe in finding your uniform; at Oak Essentials, it’s finding your routine.”
That messaging appears to have resonated with consumers. Aged 20 to 70 years old — with the core shopper being 45 to 65 at Oak Essentials (and 40 to 60 at Jenni Kayne) — they have a 50 percent repeat customer rate.
“Thirty percent of our customers are repeating within the first 90 days,” Hunter said. They plan to continue to focus on their subscription service, which offers discounted prices for reorders. “That just speaks to the strength of the products.”
Oak Essentials launched with five stock keeping units — go-to basics that lean on hydration. “What I couldn’t live without,” Kayne said. They then added a day and night serum, with vitamin C and retinol, sold together for $165.
“Then it felt like we were neglecting our eyes,” the founder said. They launched a $55 Hydra Eye Balm this week and plan to introduce a gel cleanser. “For those times you don’t want a balm.”
The $88 Moisture Rich Balm, that is, the brand’s top seller (followed by the $88 Ritual Oil and $44 Balancing Mist).
Next, they’re introducing hair care, starting with scalp health, as well as fragrance roll-ons and room diffusers to complement their candle assortment. There’s also an SPF in the works.
“We’re trying to find the right biotech partner to develop something that would be new,” said Hunter, who added that color is “potentially down the road.” If anything, it would be lip, she said.
When it comes to a physical shop of its own, “I look at the businesses like Pressed juicery where they’re doing a lot of revenue at a very small square footage,” she went on. “We would love to figure out a way to do that with Oak.”
Source: WWD