Michelle Phan relaunches cosmetic line on her own terms

By

Rebecca Taras

Published
Apr 12, 2017

Beauty blogger pioneer and internet sensation Michelle Phan is finally giving her enthusiastic consumers what they’ve been waiting for: the relaunch of her cult makeup line, Em—a Vietnamese term of endearment meaning “you.” 

The YouTube sensation (Phan’s channel has over 8 million subscribers and 1.1 billion lifetime views and counting) gave her fans a sneak peek of the products at a launch party in Los Angeles last week before they become available to the public on April 17.

The original Em Michelle Phan line of cosmetics launched with L’Oreal Paris back in 2013, offering a robust array of 250 products in the form of “Life Palettes,” lipstick, blush, eye shadow, bronzer and more. But two years later, following the Generation Beauty conference in New York, came the announcement that L’Oreal was selling the line back to Phan, as widely reported by the fashion press.

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Rumors ranging from the underperformance of the brand to the price point being too high for her young audience swirled while Phan retained a positive attitude and her other businesses and partnerships afloat, including a venture with Endemol Beyond USA’s Icon Network, a concept that provides lifestyle creators with separate channels in one virtual place.

Phan’s new line is reportedly a complete vision and creation of her own. Instead of copious SKUs, there are simply two strategically created products—a collection of lip creams and eyeliners priced at $15 each—but Phan promises there are more itemsin progress.