Executive Overview
The saturated clean beauty market has grown slightly less crowded following the sudden announcement that The Outset, the vegan and allergen-free skincare line co-founded by Hollywood icon Scarlett Johansson and beauty executive Kate Foster Lengyel, is winding down operations. Launched with significant industry fanfare in 2022, the brand initially carved out a niche for itself by prioritizing minimalist formulations, sustainable packaging, and gentle, skin-barrier-first care.
However, despite early direct-to-consumer (DTC) momentum and lucrative retail distribution deals with heavyweights like Sephora, Amazon, and Nordstrom, the brand was unable to withstand the unforgiving economic realities of the modern beauty landscape.
The closure of The Outset highlights a fascinating paradox in the contemporary celebrity-led business model. While industry experts note that a celebrity founder typically provides an invaluable marketing springboard—giving a new brand immediate visibility and built-in consumer trust—Scarlett Johansson and her team chose a remarkably understated approach. Rather than plastering her face across billboards and leaning heavily into her global stardom to drive sales, Johansson deliberately stepped back, attempting to let the formulations and the brand’s minimalist ethos speak for themselves.
According to business strategists, this calculated distancing may have inadvertently deprived the label of the very catalyst that sustains celebrity brands in a hyper-competitive market. As retail failure rates hover near daunting highs and consumers grow increasingly fatigued by wave after wave of celebrity beauty lines, The Outset’s quiet exit serves as a compelling case study in brand positioning, market saturation, and the delicate balance between authentic product merit and star-powered influence.
Detailed Chronology: From Concept to Closure
2022: The Birth of a Minimalist Vision
When Scarlett Johansson and co-founder Kate Foster Lengyel officially introduced The Outset to the world in March 2022, the beauty industry was still riding the wave of the pandemic-era skincare boom. Unlike many of her contemporaries who gravitated toward vibrant color cosmetics or maximalist, multi-step routines, Johansson envisioned something entirely different. Inspired by her own long-term struggle with problematic skin and a personal journey to find gentle, non-irritating products, she wanted to create a line focused on universal basics—specifically, products designed to prep and protect the skin barrier.
The Outset launched with a curated collection of vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, and allergen-free essentials. Hero products included a gentle micellar cleanser, a firming vegan collagen prep serum, and a nourishing daily moisturizer. The aesthetic was clean, modern, and unassuming: soft sage-green packaging devoid of aggressive anti-aging claims or flashy marketing gimmicks.
Expansion and Retail Partnerships
Operating initially as an independent direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce brand, The Outset quickly recognized the limitations of digital-only acquisition in an era of skyrocketing digital advertising costs. To scale effectively, the brand pivoted toward omnichannel distribution.
Within its first two years, The Outset secured major retail partnerships, expanding its footprint onto the digital and physical shelves of retail giants such as Sephora, Amazon, and Nordstrom. This expansion put the brand in front of millions of mainstream shoppers, offering a veneer of stability and widespread consumer accessibility. Behind the scenes, however, the pressures of maintaining inventory, funding high-cost retail slotting fees, and competing for consumer attention in an overcrowded marketplace were steadily mounting.
The Quiet Exit: Early 2025
Without prior warning, industry insiders and devoted consumers noticed subtle shifts in the brand’s digital presence in early 2025. On Wednesday, the speculation was put to rest when The Outset updated its official website with a farewell message, confirming that operations were officially winding down.
While online transactions have ceased, the brand has reassured its customer base that all pending orders will be fulfilled without disruption. Furthermore, remaining inventory will continue to be sold through existing retail partners like Sephora and Amazon until supplies are completely exhausted. To date, neither Johansson nor Foster Lengyel has issued a prolonged personal statement regarding the closure, leaving the brand’s digital footprint to fade away as quietly as it operated.
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Brutal Economics of Beauty
To truly understand why The Outset ultimately closed its doors, one must examine the macro-level economic realities facing new consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, particularly within the beauty and skincare sector.
The 75 Percent Failure Rate
According to JP Kuehlwein, an adjunct associate professor of business at Columbia Business School who spoke with ADWEEK, the beauty industry is notoriously unforgiving to newcomers. Across retail stores generally, the failure rate for newly introduced products hovers at an unforgiving 75 percent after just three to five years in business.
While this attrition rate fluctuates depending on the specific category, skincare is widely recognized as one of the most perilous segments to break into. The barrier to entry is deceptively low—virtually anyone can formulate a white-label serum or moisturizer—but the barrier to sustained profitability is astronomical. Brands must contend with:
- Exorbitant Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC): Driven by expensive digital ad auctions on platforms like Meta and Google.
- Retailer Demands: High slotting fees, costly promotional allowances, and stringent inventory return policies imposed by major brick-and-mortar partners.
- Supply Chain Pressures: Sourcing sustainable packaging, safe active ingredients, and maintaining compliant manufacturing standards.
Market Saturation and Consumer Fatigue
Over the past decade, the beauty market has experienced an unprecedented influx of celebrity-backed brands. From Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Brad Pitt’s recent ventures, celebrities have flooded every tier of the cosmetics and skincare market.
Consequently, modern consumers have grown increasingly skeptical. The novelty of a celebrity launching a skincare line has worn off. Today’s beauty consumer—particularly the highly educated Gen Z and millennial demographic—demands radical transparency, proven clinical efficacy, and unique formulations rather than mere celebrity endorsement. When a brand enters this hyper-saturated arena without a distinct, disruptive value proposition—such as a revolutionary proprietary ingredient or a deeply emotional brand origin story—it struggles to capture lasting market share.
Official Statements and Industry Analysis
As of press time, representatives for The Outset and Scarlett Johansson have declined to provide detailed comments to media outlets regarding the specific financial or operational catalysts behind the wind-down. However, the brand’s official digital farewell offers a gracious acknowledgment of its supporters:
"After an incredible journey, The Outset has made the decision to wind down operations. We’re so grateful to everyone who welcomed us into their routines and supported us along the way."
The Paradox of the Understated Founder
In the absence of corporate press releases detailing profit margins or supply chain bottlenecks, marketing and business strategists have dissected the brand’s strategic missteps. Chief among them is the unique way Johansson positioned herself relative to the brand.
Traditional celebrity beauty ventures typically succeed by leveraging the star’s personal brand equity as the primary engine of customer acquisition. When consumers buy Goop, they are buying into Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle philosophy. When they buy Fenty, they are buying into Rihanna’s boundary-breaking aesthetic.
Johansson, by contrast, chose a deliberately subdued approach. She was remarkably invisible during major marketing pushes, intentionally steering clear of making herself the face of the brand. Her goal was noble: she wanted The Outset to stand on its own merits as a high-quality skincare line rather than existing merely as a vanity project powered by a famous name.
However, Professor JP Kuehlwein argues that this strategy inadvertently stripped the brand of its core competitive advantage. As Kuehlwein explained to ADWEEK:
"We’re using that moisturizer in a way to become Scarlett. If that’s not credible, if there’s no strong link to that, then the proposition quickly loses interest, which seems like what happened here."
By removing herself from the forefront of the brand narrative, Johansson eliminated the parasocial connection that drives modern beauty loyalty. Consumers purchasing a celebrity skincare line are often looking for an intimate connection to the celebrity’s perceived beauty secrets, daily routines, or personal ethos. Without that front-and-center association, The Outset occupied an uncomfortable middle ground: it lacked the grassroots authenticity of an indie dermatologist-founded brand, yet it failed to fully capitalize on the marketing firepower of its A-list co-founder.
Future Outlook: What The Outset’s Closure Means for Celebrity Beauty
The closure of The Outset is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a broader market correction currently sweeping the beauty industry. As venture capital tightens and consumers grow more selective, the era of effortless celebrity brand success is drawing to a close.
Lessons for Future Celebrity Entrepreneurs
Industry analysts suggest that The Outset’s trajectory offers several crucial takeaways for future celebrity-led ventures:
- Authentic Integration is Essential: If a celebrity’s name is on the bottle, consumers expect a genuine, highly visible connection to the product’s creation and daily identity. Hiding behind corporate minimalism can dilute brand appeal.
- Differentiation Over Duplication: Launching yet another basic cleanser or hydrating moisturizer is no longer viable in a market flooded with reliable, affordable skincare staples. Brands must offer genuine innovation—whether through novel biotechnology, unique active ingredients, or hyper-targeted problem-solving.
- Omnichannel Agility: While retail partnerships with giants like Sephora and Amazon provide vital scale, they also introduce immense financial pressure. Brands must carefully balance the high costs of brick-and-mortar retail with direct-to-consumer profitability.
The Road Ahead
While The Outset’s chapter has officially closed, the lessons learned from its two-year run will undoubtedly influence how Hollywood and the business world approach beauty entrepreneurship in the future. For Scarlett Johansson, stepping away from this venture marks the end of an ambitious entrepreneurial experiment, but the broader clean beauty landscape will continue to evolve in the wake of its departure—growing ever leaner, more discerning, and relentlessly competitive.