Too Faced co-founder Jerrod Blandino has revealed what happened behind the scenes after the brand was acquired by Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), and weighed in on what some in the industry have branded the ‘ELC curse’
The beauty giant snapped up the make-up brand, which Blandino founded with Jeremy Johnson in 1998, for US$1.4bn in 2016, marking ELC’s biggest ever acquisition at the time.
Both founders departed Too Faced in 2022 after 24 years leading the brand before and after the acquisition, including six years under ELC’s ownership.
Speaking on the Gloss Angeles podcast with hosts Kirbie Johnson and Sara Tan, Blandino revealed for the first time that the sale to ELC was done “reluctantly” and alleged that a battle for control began “very quickly” after a positive first year post-deal.
“The entire journey of selling Too Faced to ELC, did not at all turn out like I thought it would,” said Blandino.
“Had I known, I probably would not have done it.”
Elaborating on how the deal came about, Blandino continued: “Throughout the 24.5 years I had Too Faced, we sold pieces of it four times over that journey.
“Through those different sales, we got into bed with financial people.
“A year before we sold, we were courted by ELC, and we went through the process, and in a very heated, dramatic moment, I stormed out of a conference room and said ‘this is not going to happen’, and I killed the deal.
“It was over the way someone was disrespectfully speaking to somebody on my team.
“[Then we] get into bed with another financial institution, a private equity group, which we were very excited about.
“There was a deal made [with ELC] without us being involved, that had we not gone through with it, could have and would have been devastating to the brand and to me and my family.
“So let’s say reluctantly, and with a lot of prayer, we followed it.”
Cosmetics Business has contacted ELC for comment.
Blandino explained that while he was grateful, the sale was not part of his plan for the brand – and alleged that things started going south not long after.
“I got a call on a Sunday that this [deal] was being done and if I do not go along with it, and if Jeremy and I do not go along with it, it will not be a comfortable situation,” he said.
“I have never told this story, and I do not know if I am even supposed to tell this story, so I am nervous.
“I do believe that God has a plan, and it was all meant to happen this way, and I am grateful for it, so please hear that.
“I am so grateful that it happened. But it did not happen the way you thought, and I did not want… that was not my plan.
“I thought I would do Too Faced forever. And for a year it was great.
“I remember I was communicating with Bobbi Brown [MUA and founder of her eponymous brand, which also sold to ELC].
“She said, ‘How is it going?’, I [was] like, ‘it is great’.
“I remember her reaction to that, like ‘Really?’
“I felt those little hairs [on the back of my neck], and I thought, what does she know that I do not know?
“Very quickly the battle for control began.”
Brown’s namesake brand was acquired by ELC in 1995, and she left the business in 2016.
In a recent interview on the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast, Brown claimed that her last two years with the brand left her “miserable”.
Too Faced was among the most popular make-up brands in the world when it sold to ELC in 2016, warranting the more than $1bn price tag.
In 2025, however, the brand incurred a $138m impairment charge, according to ELC’s financial filings, and was one of the conglomerate’s underperforming brands.
ELC was reportedly looking to sell off Too Faced, along with fellow make-up brand Smashbox and K-Beauty skin care line Dr. Jart+.
However, according to a new report in July, the beauty giant has decided to keep hold of them.
They are not the only brands to have faltered after being acquired by ELC.
Glamglow, acquired by ELC in 2015, has quietly shuttered its website and all but disappeared, leaving just a handful of mask products for sale on Amazon.
Becca Cosmetics, acquired by ELC in 2016, was shut down in 2021.
Gloss Angeles podcast host Kirbie Johnson asked Blandino: “Do you believe in what some people now deem the Estée Lauder curse, or the ‘acquisition affliction’?”
Responding to the question, Blandino alleged that the corporate structure was not one that "embraced Too Faced’s creative approach.
“The Estée Lauder family are incredible, wonderful people and Leonard Lauder [Lauder family heir] was a gift to this world and one of the best people I ever met,” he said.
“One of the smartest human beings, kindest, the whole family.
“There was a culture within that corporation that is not led by the Lauder family, that is threatened, in my opinion, by the artistic process, artists who have control, the heartbeat, the love, the passion for the product and the efficacy for that product, and the way it makes someone feel when they hold it or when they apply it, and the emotional elements of that.
“It was so painful for me because I led with the artistic part first.
“There was something brought in called ‘value engineering’ and all of this bullshit that is anti-productive to the creative process and to the ultimate products that are developed.
“I had creative control and so when someone told me ‘You can not do that’, or ‘You can not make anymore of those products’, I had the ability to say, then we will not launch it at all.
“I can see that is threatening, because I am not behaving. I am not giving in, or giving up.
“So I fought for the customer, for the product, for my team, for the heartbeat, for the brand, to be the best it could possibly be, and to be everything that you ever dreamt it to be, so when you spend your hard earned money, you take it home, it delivers on its promises and you feel great about it and it makes you feel something.”
Asked again if there is an “acquisition affliction” of selling to a large conglomerate, Blandino said: “I think it would be a great thing if corporations and cosmetic giants took a step back and respected the brands that they are hungry for.
“[That they] saw what makes them special, looked at the heartbeat and said, how can we continue that heartbeat and spread it around the world and not diminish it and force it into our arrogant idea of what a company could and should be, but learn from the rebellious creativity and innovation that these young people, these rebels, have created.
“Maybe there is something we can learn from that.”
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Has Estée Lauder Companies decided against selling Dr. Jart+, Too Faced and Smashbox?
- Analysis: Estée Lauder Companies’ underperforming brands amid portfolio review
- MUA Bobbi Brown claims last two years at namesake brand left her ‘miserable’
- Too Faced founders exit after 24 years
- Estée Lauder Companies restructuring costs rise again to $1.75 billion
- Estée Lauder Companies hails ‘milestone’ moment in restructuring efforts
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