The Tamesis
When Indie Lee launched her eponymous beauty brand in 2010, natural beauty had yet to become mainstream. But after weathering the rise and fall of the “clean” beauty movement in the 2010s, Lee hopes her brand can rise again. On February 24, she launched Indie Lee Botanicals, an affordable product line aimed at mass-market consumers and available at Whole Foods Market.
The Indie Lee Botanicals line is under $25 and has four products: Morning Dew Gel Cleanser ($19.99), Hydra Petal Facial Toner ($19.99), Vital Bloom Serum ($24.99), and Bloom Balance Moisturizer ($24.99). All products use at least four ingredients that can be grown and extracted at home, such as safflower, blackberry and lemon, while only the serum uses hyaluronic acid derived from microbial fermentation of plants. This version is more approachable than her original brand, which ranges in price from $20 to $135 and is sold through retailers like Credo.
The decision to eliminate ingredients is a nod to Lee’s entrepreneurial approach. As one of the founders of the clean beauty movement, she entered the beauty industry under unusual circumstances. After giving birth to her second child in 2003, Lee quit her job as an accountant at HBO and became interested in the farm-to-table movement. She built a 750-square-foot greenhouse in her backyard and grew 12 types of plants. Later that year, Lee began losing her vision and doctors told her she had a brain tumor.
She underwent surgery on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, and emerged eight hours later with a comprehensive vision for a clean beauty brand with all-natural ingredients. As Lee recovered, the experience got her thinking about what ingredients she put on her skin. The brand was launched in 2010. “I have HBO spread across the world, so it’s not hard to see how the business can scale,” she said.
In his early years, Lee sold “eco-chic” packaging with a local feel to the local community, friends and family. But the brand was redesigned in 2014, incorporating a clean, minimalist design that puts the product front and center. Department store Henri Bendel soon began stocking the line, followed by Bluemercury, Credo Beauty and Nordstrom that same year.
Around that time, clean beauty entered its boom era. As consumers become aware of the negative impact of artificial ingredients in skin care, brands such as Indie Lee, Tata Harper, Drunk Elephant, Flying Wild and Goop are grabbing significant market share. After three years of development, Indie Lee was acquired in 2017 by beauty investment firm Ancora, founded by beauty executives Nicky Kinnaird and Lori Perella Krebs, who previously worked with private equity firm Winona Capital. The investment is to help Lee expand the brand’s category and international exposure. “[With] Everything that was needed in retail at that time, I needed funding for,” she said.
