Thanks to a 50% stake in skincare line Meaningful Beauty, Crawford is one of America’s 100 wealthiest self-made women.
by Madeline Berg
Long before influencers like Kylie Jenner and Jeffree Star were slapping their names on cosmetic and skincare lines in an effort to monetize their social media followings, there was Cindy Crawford. Rather than shilling her product on Instagram or YouTube, you could find the former supermodel on home-shopping channels preaching the benefits of her skincare line, Meaningful Beauty, through infomercials. She had millions of fans thanks to her career as one of the original supermodels and, through television, a platform to reach them.
It proved a winning formula: Over the past 17 years, Crawford, who owns 50% of Meaningful Beauty, has built a $400 million brand that has done more than $100 million in annual revenue for at least the past ten years, according to someone familiar with the company’s finances. Her fortune is worth $225 million, Forbes estimates, thanks to her ability to perfect a direct-to-consumer beauty model that has since been repurposed by the likes of Jenner, Emily Weiss of Glossier and Rihanna.
In 2004, when Crawford founded Meaningful Beauty, it was less common for celebrities to have an ownership stake in the brands they were linked to. Why take the risk when an endorsement deal—quick money upfront and little commitment—was an option? Crawford was familiar with that world: She became the face of Revlon in 1989 and signed with Pepsi in 1992. Between those deals and modeling contracts—she’s graced more than 1,000 magazine covers and walked in hundreds of runway shows—she was making millions.
But those contracts could end at any time: In 2000, Revlon parted ways with the then 34-year-old Crawford. At the time, it was reported that the brand wanted a younger model to attract younger clientele, though Crawford has since disputed this. By starting her own line, and one centered around anti-aging products that she would never be “too old” to market, Crawford could control her career.
“It was time for me to do my own thing,” she said in an email to Forbes. “I wanted to have skin in the game—no pun intended. I loved knowing that in success, I would benefit.”
Using formulas developed with her own dermatologist, Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh, and partnering with marketing firm Guthy-Renker, which owns the other 50% of Meaningful Beauty, Crawford launched the direct-to-consumer brand.
She hawked the line through infomercials, following the same playbook that Guthy-Renker used with acne-treatment Proactiv through spokespeople like Diddy and Britney Spears.
“Twenty years ago, that was not exactly aspirational,” says Greg Renker, cofounder of Guthy Renker. “She took a risk.”
She didn’t exactly see it that way: Being a supermodel, Crawford’s own skin was the product's best selling point. And an infomercial would allow her to tell the story of her brand in a way a page in a magazine or a billboard in Times Square never could.
But it turned out she couldn’t sell it alone.
“This business was a struggle at first. We did not hit it out of the park from the beginning,” says Renker. “The only truly magic formula is willingness to keep testing and trying.”
So Crawford and Renker rolled up their sleeves, and began testing everything from the music that played to the visuals in the background to the lines being read. They also began incorporating Dr. Sebagh in the infomercials, which turned out to be the missing ingredient.
“When we began to make a shift in our presentation to emphasize the experience and wisdom and know-how of the doctor, the consumer put more faith and trust in our product,” says Renker
Within five years, Meaningful Beauty was Guthy-Renker’s second-largest beauty brand, behind Proactiv.
Of course, the brand’s strategy has had to change as social media has taken the place of traditional television when it comes to beauty marketing—though Crawford is still using the direct-to-consumer skills she honed doing infomercials. Crawford now relies on both her personal Instagram account (with 5.4 million followers_ and Meaningful Beauty’s (70,000 followers) to promote her products, including Meaningful Beauty’s new haircare line, which launched in June. While she is still doing infomercials, products are no longer launched on television, and are now available on Amazon and at Ulta stores, which consumer products consultant Shannon Coyne says is a necessity in order to continue growth.
With 17 years under her belt, Crawford has a leg up on younger influencers, whose products tend to be driven by trends and often fall out of favor, whether due to the fickle nature of the beauty industry or scandals surrounding the influencer.
“If anything, what I’ve learned is these celebrities, from a brand perspective, have more staying power than the influencers,” says Coyne, cofounder of Bluestock Advisors.
And skincare is hotter than ever: Over the past two years, skincare companies Drunk Elephant, Filorga Cosmétiques and Thayers Natural Remedies were snatched up by beauty conglomerates at multiples of more than 6 times their annual revenues. As of 2019, the latest data available, the global skincare market brought in $140 billion in retail sales, according to Euromonitor, and it’s expected to reach $181 billion by 2025. According to a 2020 report conducted by L’Oreal, skincare accounts for 42% of the beauty market.
“Skincare is one of the fastest growing categories online,” says Coyne, who says skincare sales have actually grown since 2019, whereas makeup is still down double digits. “I think this trend will continue as people focus on skin, self care, health and minimalist trends.”
Still, Crawford hasn’t totally come to terms with the brand’s success.
“Every time a woman walks up to me at an airport or in a grocery store and tells me how much they love Meaningful Beauty, I get a thrill,” she says.
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