As the beauty industry continues to morph due to shifting market trends highlighted by markers such as TikTok algorithms, only a handful of brands have experienced the meteoric rise and reckoning that Morphe has. Formerly lauded as a pioneer of influencer-driven marketing, Morphe, the California-based cosmetics brand, had built an empire through the help of makeup megastars and their signature eyeshadow palettes.

However, in recent years, the brand found itself at a crossroads. It’s become heavily reliant on personalities, yet it struggles to reassert its independence. Now, under the leadership of CEO Simon Cowell and the strategic guidance of investors such as Doug Jacob, founder of &vest and an operating partner at Morphe, the brand is undergoing a bold, comprehensive transformation; one that is not rooted in faces but in formulas.

From Influencer Darling to Product Powerhouse

“The brand had become known as an influencer-led company,” Cowell explained to BeautyMatter. “And the change was really about returning to what the founders originally built: artistry-grade products at accessible prices. Not influencers, not noise, just really good makeup.” This reset hasn’t just been cosmetic, though.

Over the last 18 months, Morphe has repositioned itself as a “masstige” beauty brand, offering prestige-level performance at a more attainable price point. It’s a nuanced space that sits strategically between mass-market drugstore brands and luxury counters, and it’s one few players occupy convincingly. Yet, the numbers speak for themselves. According to Cowell, 2024 saw mid-single-digit comp growth, but this year, Morphe is up 38%, with last month alone clocking a 44% sales increase. For Cowell and his team, that trajectory isn’t accidental but the result of a deep recalibration.

Morphe’s revival rests on three tightly engineered pillars—product development, wholesale expansion, and data-driven marketing. With a portfolio once dominated by eyeshadows and brushes (accounting for nearly 90% of sales in 2024), Morphe has radically diversified. “Today, the product mix is 40% face, 30% brushes, 20% eye, and 10% lip. Over 40% of current sales stem from new product launches, a “massive leap from the 20% recorded last year,” Cowell continued.

One standout example is the Cheek Thrills Blush Trio, which tripled sales forecasts and placed three shades in the brand’s global top 10. “We’re not just restaging,” Cowell noted. “We’re reengineering—better formulas, elevated packaging, tighter assortments. It’s about crafting products that not only perform but surprise and delight at their price point.”

Morphe, which once thrived primarily through DTC channels, is now 90% wholesale, and that shift has required an equally meticulous overhaul of how it shows up at retail. A national field team in the US now supports in-store education and artistry events, while revamped gondolas and visual merchandising cues signal a new era to consumers. Strategic alignment with retail partners, powered by first-party data, has also allowed for more targeted, effective campaigns.

For Morphe, gone are the days of blanketing social media with mega-influencer content. The brand now tracks earned media value across all creators—macro, micro, and nano—measuring both reach and retention. For them, an up to 69% retention rate among beauty creators signals more than just loyalty. It also signals an ecosystem built on thoughtful engagement.

A key innovation has been the introduction of “influencer reps”—team members assigned to nurture groups of up to 500 creators each. They act as relationship managers, orchestrating product seeding, follow-ups, and personalized outreach. “Each rep is incentivized to grow earned media value,” Cowell explained. “It’s high-touch, high-return.”

Navigating Growth with Intent

If this all sounds ambitious, it’s because it is. Morphe has launched products at a blistering pace, almost monthly, over the past year. While Cowell plans to scale that back to around eight launches annually, the intention remains the same, and that is to offer a frequent pipeline of innovation without overwhelming the consumer.

To mitigate fatigue, launches are tiered into A, B, and C categories. A-level launches, including brushes, eyeshadow, and blush, get full 360-degree campaigns, while others are quietly introduced to keep the assortment fresh but focused. “We use both lagging and leading indicators to build our product roadmap,” Cowell said. “The goal isn’t just volume, it’s relevance.”

From an investor’s standpoint, this restructuring at Morphe isn’t just a turnaround; it’s also a textbook case in strategic consistency. “When we partnered with Simon and the team, we knew Morphe had a strong heartbeat,” Jacob recalled to BeautyMatter. “There was a real consumer love for the brand. It just needed to be dusted off. We’ve made a concerted effort to rebuild that trust—and to do it without losing the soul of what made Morphe special,” he said.

Jacob credited the brand’s unique position in the market as a key motivator: prestige-level performance, mass-market pricing, and a deeply engaged consumer base. “That trifecta is rare,” he said. “Very few brands can actually pull that off.”

Behind the scenes, Cowell spent much of his early tenure focusing on the fundamentals, including hiring a high-performing team, clarifying the brand vision, and building a culture of accountability. “We had to fix operations first,” he said. “From poor service levels to unclear strategic alignment, we couldn’t scale unless the engine was working,” he added. That meant setting a three-year vision, annual goals, and ensuring every employee understood how their role contributed to the broader mission.

What’s Next for Morphe?

Morphe’s ambition doesn’t stop with sales figures. The roadmap includes category expansion, new consumer segments, and broader distribution. There’s an emphasis on sustainable packaging, increased personalization in influencer marketing, and further global reach, all while staying true to the core values of artistry and accessibility.

“We want to be known not just for who we work with,” Cowell said, “but for what we stand for. And that’s quality, value, and performance.” For Jacob, the focus remains on building a great company with staying power. “We don’t obsess over outcomes,” he shared. “We obsess over execution. And with Morphe, we’re executing on all fronts.”

In a beauty ecosystem riddled with hype, Morphe’s return to substance is both refreshing and instructive. It is proving not to be a brand chasing after superficial virality but a brand reclaiming its identity through intentionality, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to the consumer. However, if the numbers continue to follow, Morphe may very well redefine what it means to be a modern beauty powerhouse.