Look good to feel better: The rise of pandemic fashion and beauty startups in MENA

In 2020 — the year that time stood still and we were all homebound — a surprising new consumer trend emerged. It made me feel better to put on mascara and earrings every morning as if I was going to my office rather than my sofa.

I’m not alone; “beauty, perfume and personal care” was deemed a top 10 retail category by Think with Google last year. In fact, Google Trends showed a 25 percent increase in regional searches for beauty and cosmetics ahead of Black Friday, the largest online shopping moment in MENA that takes place every November. While tech startups usually take the spotlight, the fashion and beauty space is having a major moment in MENA today.

Mordor Intelligence, a global advisory group, identified Saudi Arabia as “one of the prominent markets for cosmetics and fragrances products in the Middle East.” They project the market to grow at a CAGR of 1.20 percent during the forecast period (2020-2025).

“Consumers in the country tend to spend substantially on their personal appearance, supplementing the growth of the cosmetic and fragrances market in the country,” stated the report. The UAE cosmetics market is expected to reach $3 billion by 2025, according to TechSci Research. And exciting new startups are ready for a piece of the pie.

Saudi-born Gamze Beauty developed a full product range of eyelash extensions sold directly to customers in August 2020. The company is now seeking a round of seed funding. BeautyTribe, the region’s only online beauty store where the products are hand-picked by a team of salon experts and delivered in under three hours, was launched in the UAE in March 2020 — right when the pandemic brought the world to a halt.

“During the lockdown in the UAE, when all the beauty salons were shut down, we realised just how difficult and unenjoyable it was to order and receive our favourite beauty products,” said Barish Elrekabi, a co-founder.

“Delivery would take weeks, websites were clunky, customer service was poor, we could not find some of our favourite brands online, packaging was cheap, and, in some instances, we were not even sure whether or not the products we received were genuine.”

For startups that launched pre-pandemic, founders had to quickly strategize and shift gears. Some were able to thrive; in January 2021, The Luxury Closet, an e-commerce site selling pre-loved goods that launched in 2011, closed its 7th round of funding with $14 million.

Homegrown Market, launched in 2014 in Saudi Arabia, improved their brilliant e-commerce site to offer 150 local designers a platform to sell internationally.

They also have a pop-up in Virgin Megastores in Saudi Arabia for customers to check out their designs. It’s not all online; Beverly Hills Wellness and Aesthetics, which launched in California and the Maldives in 2014, is opening its doors at Five Palm Jumeirah Hotel in the UAE this fall — its first in the Middle East.

“Prior to the start of the pandemic, my IV vitamin business was beginning to boom and I didn’t want to lose that momentum,” said founder Deborah Alessi.

“So while most of the world shut down, I kept making plans for future growth that included new beauty treatments. Clients have already pre-booked.”

As for me, I subscribed to Wear That, a personal stylist service that involves filling out a questionnaire and receiving curated outfits that I have the option to purchase. The Dubai-based company, launched in 2018, saw an “immense shift in business for the past 18 months — we have grown over 400 percent,” said Heidi Shara, the founder.

Each month, I look forward to the pink box with ribbons that magically arrives at my doorstep. Because it’s a great way to support local businesses . . . and we all need a little fairytale flavor in our lives after the last year.

• Sara Hamdan is a former Merrill Lynch banker, NYT journalist and editor at Google. She writes on startups, women in business, and post-COVID-19 work trends.