With Cyber Monday at the forefront of many a holiday shopper’s mind today, one brand may very well be losing a percentage of its consumers. On the heels of news that luxury beauty giant L’Oreal will acquire Urban Decay, one-time fans of the makeup company are expressing their disappointment via social media; however company executives are confident that the buyout will help L’Oréal sales and Urban Decay’s presence.
Urban Decay has long been respected in the luxury beauty market for providing “100 percent vegan” products that they refuse to test on animals, and even included that message on products from its latest “Naked” cosmetics line. This characteristic puts Urban Decay into the specialist brand category, which makes up for 44 percent of the luxury makeup market in the U.S. This is exactly the kind of sales boost that L’Oréal is looking for, as the company’s luxury division has propelled its growth in recent months— a welcome offset to slower business in the mass-cosmetics market.
Executives from both brands agreed that the acquisition would benefit each company— L’Oréal Luxe’s president, Nicolas Hieronimus, said Urban Decay “will beautifully complement” L’Oréal’s existing brands, while the makeup brand’s general manager, Tim Warner, said the deal “will enable Urban Decay to reach its full potential in the marketplace.” While both brands are optimistic about the acquisition, Urban Decay consumers are posting messages of outrage and dissappointment to its Facebook page, as L’Oréal continues to use animal testing in some products and markets.