Sephora Accelerate Participant Maed Launches With Four-Product System To Protect The Lip Moisture Barrier

While starring on the VH1 television show “Single Ladies,” actress-turned-influencer Denise Vasi’s character Raquel Lancaster was rarely seen without a red lip, unless a love interest interfered.

Vasi recalls, “I was consistently making out with other actors, so I was putting the lip on, taking the lip off, and I realized that, while there were great really hydrating products out there and aesthetic-focused products, there weren’t any products that were specifically skincare-focused formulas for the lips.”

Vasi’s new brand Maed, a member of Sephora Accelerate’s 2024 cohort, is launching with four skincare-focused lip products priced from $26 to $36 and designed to work as a lip care system. They are Reset Lip Serum, Reveal Lip Polish, Revive Day + Night Lip Balm and Signature Lip Pigment. The brand’s slogan is, “Decadent lip care for daily wear.”

Vasi explains Maed’s products are formulated to be clean and protect the lip skin barrier. Beauty consumers are increasingly aware of the skin barrier or the upper layer of the epidermis that wards off pathogens and have sought out protective face products for it. In a 2023 trend report, search insights firm Spate declared, “The skin barrier trend has been on fire.” However, the skin or moisture barrier on the lips is less well-trodden territory. 

In developing Maed, Vasi says she pondered, “Thinking past the aesthetic, what about our lip skin barrier and how do we maintain that over time so that, if you wanted to rock a matte liquid lipstick daily like I do, you can maintain that look, but also the long-term the health of your lips?”

Maed arrives on the market after a period of explosive growth for lip products. According to data market research firm Circana provided the publication Glossy, sales of prestige lip treatment products climbed 58% last year to nearly $208 million. A Circana report published in August reveals the lip segment’s double-digit growth was led by lip balms and oils.

Although Maed’s red matte liquid lipstick Signature Lip Pigment is the visible star of the brand and a social media draw, Vasi identifies Revive Day + Night Lip Balm as its hero product. Formulated to be worn as a daytime lip balm or overnight treatment mask, it contains the brand’s proprietary bioactive lip complex featuring ceramides and collagen peptides along with squalene and coffee seed oil.

Vasi, founder of content creation company Maed Media, has 265,000 Instagram followers, and she turned to social media to solicit Maed’s product testers and received thousands of applicants for only 60 spots. For the past month, she’s been educating the 60 product testers on usage of Maed’s products and creating content to spotlight them. The result is the brand has accumulated videos and reviews in advance of its launch.

Vasi financed Maed herself with an undisclosed amount of money she earned from entertainment jobs and influencer partnerships. She says, “The product is the bonus, but the purpose of the brand is really to inspire a community to go out and pivot and take chances just as I am as a single, self-funded founder.”

Prior to launching Maed, Vasi had a conscious living editorial website under the same name that she plans to revive. She says, “This platform is invaluable because it allows me to engage directly with my community, gauge what resonates with them and use that feedback to shape our future product pipeline.” At Maed, she adds, “I think we have the consumer who is starting or has been in the process of cleaning out her products and going from something traditional to having a full routine that’s clean.”

Other members of Sephora Accelerate’s 2024 cohort have made it to Sephora. Sienna Naturals, a haircare brand co-owned by Issa Rae, has launched on Sephora’s website in the United States, and Indë Wild, a skincare brand from influencer Diipa Büller-Khosla, entered Sephora UK doors. Vasi says of the Sephora Accelerate experience, “The program is literally getting your MBA at launching a business at Sephora. It is very thorough, it is very supportive. You can feel how much they want their Accelerate brands to win, and they literally teach you everything.”

Maed is interested in following fellow Sephora Accelerate alums into Sephora, but for now is concentrating on direct-to-consumer distribution. The brand will host in-person events and experiential activations to help spur DTC sales and expects to expand its assortment down the line. Vasi says, “I have quite an extensive pipeline in lip that I hope to fully explore before we move into other areas in makeup.”