Alternative makeup lovers have yet another destination to hit up for their latest finds.
The buzzy “clean cosmetics” trend continues to take a larger chunk of the overall beauty market, with the launch of NakedPoppy.
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The team behind the San Francisco-based startup describes it as “the first clean beauty site powered by intelligent technology.” Its launch is accompanied by a $4 million seed funding round from multiple firms, including Cowboy Ventures, Polaris Ventures and Slow Ventures.
The platform’s debut on Tuesday was also accompanied by the release of its first branded makeup item, the NakedPoppy Clean Liquid Eyeliner, which joins brands like Kosas and Vapour on the site.
Due to the increasing amount of choices out there, the site is meant to curate a customized shopfront for each customer, aiming to address their beauty concerns with a collection of products sourced by its cosmetic chemists. All curated makeup must meet four criteria, according to the company, which are: be cruelty-free, be low in environmental impact, be ethically made, and be free of harmful chemicals. The company restricts the use of ingredients—down to 700 clean ones, in comparison to the 12,500 ingredients allowed in cosmetic products by law.
“NakedPoppy does the hard work of carefully vetting for the cleanest of the clean so that customers don’t have to,” said co-founder and CEO Jaleh Bisharat in the launch announcement. Bisharat, a longtime Silicon Valley marketing executive, co-founded NakedPoppy with Kimberly Shenk, who acts as its chief product officer.
“Our data science, green chemistry and makeup artist teams worked around the clock to develop this personalized experience, which we believe is a breakthrough in how people will shop for beauty products going forward,” said Shenk. “Customers shouldn’t have to waste time wading through products that won’t work for them or wondering which shade best suits them. Now they don’t have to.”
The company is one of many currently capitalizing on the often-cited out-of-date regulations of the cosmetic industry, which haven’t been updated since 1938. In fact, the ethically-sourced, organic makeup category is rapidly growing and is expected to surpass $15 billion as a market by 2020, with projections of continuous growth in the next decade.
NakedPoppy joins other clean cosmetic and skincare e-commerce sites, such as Credo, Follain and Goop.
