Despite Political Pushback In The Country, Gender Inclusive Brand Good Light Achieves Major Ulta Beauty Expansion

A month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to make the gender binary the official position of the United States, Good Light, a clean skincare brand with the slogan, “beauty beyond the binary,” is showing there’s still a place for a broader take on gender in beauty retail with an all-door rollout in Ulta Beauty’s mass sections.

The move comes as Ulta has reaffirmed its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as other retailers such as Target and Walmart have walked away from them. So far, retailers retreating from DEI have been dinged. Online and foot traffic has been down at Walmart and Target in the wake of their retreats from DEI, while Costco, which is sticking with its DEI initiatives, saw a double-digit web traffic bump and sales growth.

Good Light has had an all-door presence at Ulta before. Last year, it was on lip product displays throughout the chain with its viral sensation The Taste Of Space Lip Milk. However, the latest expansion is the first time it’s had an inline all-door partnership with chain. Good Light is focusing on retailing in Ulta exclusively in the United States. Previously, it was available domestically in J.C. Penney, Thirteen Lune and Soko Glam.

Good Light’s Ulta assortment contains eight individual products, including bestseller Moon Glow Milky Moisturizing Toning Lotion, Repairing Moisturizing Balm, Order of the Eclipse Hyaluronic Cream, Cosmic Dew Gel To Foam Water Cleanser and Luna Fast Acting Pimple Patches. In April, Good Light will be showcased in another lip product endcap in all Ulta doors along with its presentation in the mass aisles.

Lisa Tamburello, VP of merchandising at Ulta, says, “Since the brand’s Ulta Beauty debut in 2022, we have been delighted to see their growth over the years, especially as engagement in the skincare category continues to rise and as more guests utilize their rituals as a form of self-care…We can’t wait for even more beauty enthusiasts to discover David’s incredible vision, his beautiful brand purpose that celebrates authenticity and self-expression and, of course, the viral bestsellers that are clean vegan, cruelty-free and sustainably produced.”

Yi says, “As the political landscape reverses DEI, our customer base is doubling down on it. Our community is BIPOC, it’s LGBTQIA. Our customer is not gen alpha and younger gen Z. It’s young millennials to older gen Z that are working professionals with disposal income who want quality ingredients.”

“As the political landscape reverses DEI, our customer base is doubling down on it.”

With prices from $8.50 to $30, Good Light’s products powered by South Korean technology are at a premium compared to the merchandise around it in the mass section, making the disposable income of its customers indispensable. “Our customer base is in that masstige price point and graduating from mass products, but maybe prestige is something they can’t afford,” says Yi. “We are also seeing customers trade down because of the economy and rising costs, but they aren’t trading down in quality.”

Good Light’s all-door inline arrival at Ulta is especially rewarding because it follows a difficult period for the brand. In 2024, Michael Engert, former president and co-founder, stepped away from the business, and Yi acknowledges it was “in a precarious situation where we were running out of runway.”

Following a fast start to 2024, when The Taste Of Space Lip Milk quickly became a phenomenon after “May December” star Charles Melton wore it to the Golden Globes in January and sales and TikTok viewership shot up 141% and 257%, respectively, in February, the brand struggled with inefficient ad spending. In July, Michelle Lee, who’s been in merchandising roles at The Lucky Group, BeachMint and Kellwood, joined Good Light as COO, and together with Yi, decided to pause Good Light’s paid ads to improve profitability.

Although it was petrifying, the decision turned out to be propitious. Yi reports that Good Light had two days with its highest sales last year with zero paid ads to prod them, and it increased email subscribers by 30% year-over-year. Activations, giveaways and a content spotlight on Yi were important drivers in the absence of paid ads.

“The winners are going to be those that have a strong relationship with their communities.”

In addition, Good Light’s collaboration with Netflix show “XO Kitty” kept it in people’s feeds. The brand created a limited-edition XO Kissy Lip Set with Lip Nectar, a scratch-off card featuring actors starring in the show and a keychain for $29.

Good Light’s ad spending pause convinced Yi that its community isn’t purely juiced by the ad machine. Yi and Lee note that the brand’s customer retention rate is 68%. This year, Good Light forecasts its sales will multiply 2X to 3X, and it will generate earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the teens.

“Last year was very challenging for many beauty businesses, and it was very challenging for us, too. We were in a mode of restructuring and reevaluating every one of our costs and growth metrics so we could have a sustainable business. The big headline is we really looked at our business and turned it around,” says Yi, adding, “In the future, the winners are going to be those that have a strong relationship with their communities. I’m more optimistic than I ever was about Good Light.”

This year, Good Light has been slowly switching on paid marketing and expects to amp it up toward the back of the year in time for the crucial holiday shopping season. Currently, Lee says the brand isn’t putting 20% to 40% of revenues toward marketing that some brands, but rather spending around 10% of revenues on marketing.

The content spotlight hasn’t strayed from Yi, and he’s been telling his story day by day in the lead up to Good Light’s launch in Ulta’s mass section. On his TikTok account, where he has just under 4,000 followers, Yi shows fans Family Liquor, the store his parents used to run in Colorado Springs. In a video, he says, “I wanted to pay homage and respect to the little corner store that allowed us to all dream big.”

Outside of the U.S., Good Light is available at Cult Beauty, Beauty Bay and Fenwick in the United Kingdom and Blush-Bar in Mexico, Colombia and Chile. It’s exploring further distribution opportunities in the U.K. and opportunities in Southeast Asia and Australia. The brand is fundraising with the aim to secure roughly $1.5 million. In the past, it raised about $2 million from friends, family and institutional investors such as IgniteXL Ventures and Fab Co-Creation Studio Ventures.