The opening of Sephora UK’s Westfield London flagship in March was much more successful. Sylvie Moreau, president for Europe and Middle East at Sephora, told the publication Fashion Network that around 5,000 people queued up on its first day, which ended up being the second-highest sales day for a Sephora store. In first quarter of this year, LVMH reported that Sephora, which has almost 3,000 stores globally, registered “an exceptional performance” and helped drive LVMH’s 17% revenue growth.

Sephora UK’s London store houses over 135 brands, while its site is estimated to carry over 1,400 brands. There’s a strong presentation of well-known established brands in the store selection like Tarte, Ouai, Fenty, Elemis, Benefit Cosmetics and Dermalogica, but Moreau has made it a point to emphasize Sephora UK’s focus on emerging brands. Online, indie brands like Bouclème, Emolyne, Pump, Bloom & Blossom and Vush are a critical differentiator.

Speaking to Fashion Network, Moreau said, “Consumers are more than ever looking for exclusive brands and indie brands, which is Sephora’s strength, whereas 15 or 20 years ago, the market was driven by established brands.”

As Sephora UK enhances its site, it’s bringing on additional emerging brands. Below, we highlight five that offer shoppers everything from sex toys to plastic-free serums.

My Expert Midwife: Founded in 2017, My Expert Midwife was created by registered midwife and co-founder Lesley Gilchrist. As commercial director Karen Doran tells it, Gilchrist’s experience working in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service motivated her to launch “no-nonsense products developed to tackle taboos around pregnancy and childbirth for new and expectant mums and new babies.”

The first product My Expert Midwife introduced, Spritz For Bits, is its bestseller. The perineal spray is designed to relieve soreness and promote healing after birth. Other customer favorites include stretch mark fighter Fantastic Skin Elastic, diaper cream No Harm Bum Balm and No Harm Nipple Balm.

My Expert Midwife’s products are developed by a team of registered midwives able to pinpoint challenges women encounter in pregnancy, labor and early parenthood. The brand touts that its formulations are grounded in clinical evidence and incorporate natural ingredients. Doran says the approach leads to products that “feel premium, soothing and nurturing to the user.”

My Expert Midwife’s four bestsellers are stocked on Sephora UK’s website along with the products Peri Prep Your Bits, Soak For Bits, Super Scar Recovery Oil and Marvelous Massaging Stick. Every product is under 30 pounds or around $37. Beyond Sephora UK, My Expert Midwife is available at Boots, John Lewis and Amazon. The brand hopes to enter physical retail with Sephora UK.

“Being one of Sephora’s listed brands gives an additional stamp of approval and will bring additional credibility both in the U.K. and internationally as well as give us additional penetration of our target audience here in the U.K.,” says Doran. “Long-term, Sephora could be the perfect partner to take our products to pregnant women and new parents across the globe.”

SBTRCT: After selling men’s skincare brand Bulldog in 2017, Ben Grace took time off to reevaluate his life and figure out what he wanted to do next. During the time off he noticed that, while everything from the milk consumers drink to the sneakers they wear was shifting, prestige skincare was slow to change. Grace says, “It was this evolution in lifestyle that was the genesis of SBTRCT and perhaps more tellingly our one guiding principal, less is more.”

SBTRCT launched in 2020 with two solid products: Gentle Foaming Cleanser and Moisturising Facial Balm. It now has six, including Rejuvenating Night Balm With 2% Granactive Retinoid & Squalane, which the brand declares is the first zero-waste retinoid, and Vitamin C Booster. The complete product lineup is sold online at Sephora UK.

SBTRCT tackles three environmental challenges with its solid products: plastic pollution, water scarcity and an overreliance on palm oil. Grace says, “The vision was simple: a zero-waste and planet-first range with luxury skincare benefits you can see and feel.” The brand is working to become a B Corp and obtain vegan accreditation to validate its claims.

Grace spent most of 2021 and 2022 proving SBTRCT’s concept and sticking to direct-to-consumer distribution. Conscious beauty retailers like Naturisimo and Bath & Wind were the initial retailers to jump aboard. Harrods’ H Beauty and Sephora UK are more recent partnerships.

With 20 years of beauty industry experience under his belt, Grace is familiar with the commercial, marketing and logistical elements of partnering with a sizable retailer. Still, he appreciates that retailers like Sephora seem to grasp the dynamics of independent brands. He says, “They recognize that these are the brands of the future and so it makes sense to be as supportive as possible, which has been our experience to date.”

Grace refers to SBTRCT’s Sephora partnership as serendipitous. “Aside from the revenue, a partnership with a respected brand like Sephora delivers exceptional brand awareness for SBTRCT and helps to build our credibility within the prestige skincare category,” he says. “This is ideal for a new brand like SBTRCT, which is building its name in the space.”

Coco de Mer: Started in 2001, Coco de Mer is one of the pioneers of pleasure across the pond. Created by women and for women, the brand specializes in lingerie, toys and intimate play products that encourage female enjoyment. “We believe that pleasure done well fires all the senses, that sight, sound, taste, touch and smell are a system greater than the sum of their parts,” says owner and CEO Lucy Litwack, who joined the company in 2014. “From statement lingerie to exquisitely designed sex toys, we create products designed to explore the fun, joy and endless possibilities of women and their sexuality.”

All nine of Coco de Mer’s sex toys have landed on Sephora UK’s site, which carries the brand’s Intimate Play collection encompassing products like a toy cleaner, anal lubricant and massage oils as well. So far, Litwack shares that customers are gravitating toward massage products Pure Delight Orgasm Balm and Dual Vibrator, and the toy The Wand. Toys range in price from 125 pounds to 165 pounds or around $155 to $205. Outside of toys, the products start at 25 pounds or $31 and go up to 40 pounds or about $50.

Brands joining Coco de Mer in Sephora UK’s sexual wellness offering are Lelo, WooWoo, So Divine, Vush, Dame, Smile Makers and My Viv. Litwack mentions cooperation with Sephora UK and a curated brand page online are vital to Coco de Mer not getting lost in the crowds.

“We stay in close communication with them on a daily basis to understand sell-through, looking at peaks, troughs and stock levels to make sure we are being reactive to changes in consumer behavior,” she says. “Brand training is something that is so important at Sephora and equally important to us, especially in an online setting where it is so much harder to personalize the customer journey.”

Litwack notes that Coco de Mer’s packaging makes it stand out, too. Its toys are enveloped in vegan leather carry cases in a chocolate shade with rose gold detailing. The Intimate Play bottles are intended to be displayed proudly on customers’ vanities beside their beauty products. Litwack says, “Well-designed packaging can be equally as enticing as a product, elevating the purchase journey and adding a sensuality to the overall experience,”

Coco de Mer has run notable advertising campaigns to raise its profile. Last year, the brand tapped model Helena Christensen to be the face of its Icons collection. It hires an all-female team for photoshoots. “There is a trust and confidence in the female interpretation of sensuality, which is inspiring,” says Litwack. “There is something very moving about the female gaze. We are able to get closer somehow.”

Due to the pandemic, Coco de Mer closed a London boutique it had for 21 years. In retail distribution, it’s in Selfridges, Net-A-Porter and Amazon along with Sephora UK. By selling at big-name retailers, Coco de Mer’s objective is to shine an even brighter light on female pleasure. Litwack says, “Bringing sexual wellness into the mainstream will help to grow our brand and also enhance women’s lives the world over.”

Liha Beauty: When Liha Beauty co-founders Liha Okunniwa and Abi Oyepitan were students at Brunel University London in 1998, shea butter wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is today in the beauty industry. At the time, Okkuniwa noticed Oyepitan would bring the ingredient, particularly the gold variety, back to London after traveling to Nigeria, a country integral to Liha Beauty’s story. Okunniwa says, “We were inspired by our Yoruba culture and wanted to introduce people to African beauty secrets.”

Liha Beauty launched in 2018 and has garnered a cult following. Last year, FKA Twigs gave the brand’s bestselling Idan Oil (Idan is Yoruba for “magic”) a shoutout in a British GQ video on the products she can’t live without. The singer gushes it’s “organic, small business, sustainable glass bottle, all of the things I look for in products this lives up to.”

Sephora UK has picked up Liha Beauty’s full range which, on top of the oil, includes a candle, mud cleanser, soap and two versions of shea butter. Okunniwa says, “They are sensory and efficient at the same time as being minimal, and we feel our mixture of natural African roots and a quintessentially British attitude sets us apart.”

Liha Beauty is selective about where it’s stocked, but Okunniwa says the partnership with Sephora UK was a no brainer. She’s optimistic the brand will move to its shelves soon and is interested in initiating activations in tandem with a store entrance. In addition to Sephora UK, Liha Beauty is sold at Net-A-Porter, Space NK, Thirteen Lune and Anthropologie. The brand was available on Feelunique before the site transitioned to Sephora UK.

Okunniwa estimates Liha Beauty’s sales are evenly split between retail and DTC. She says, “It’s a tricky balance making sure enough people see the brand and trying to make sure that you get direct traffic to your site as well.”

UKLash: UKLash launched in 2018 with its Eyelash Serum, which was followed by its Brow Serum in 2019. “The lash category in the U.K. has always been very healthy and, whilst other lash serum brands are well known here, the focus has predominantly been mascara and false eyelashes in the U.K. rather than growth serums,” says UKLash founder Nima Pourian. “I wanted to see whether a brand which felt approachable, fun and affordable would resonate well with a U.K. audience and, since we tend to follow trends from the U.S. here, where lash serums are prevalent, I saw a real gap in the market to create a lash serum with a U.K. consumer in mind.”

UKLash has filled that gap in a big way. According to Pourian, a UKLash product is sold every 30 seconds worldwide, and UKlash has become one of the bestselling brands at stockists like Beauty Bay and QVC. At Feelunique, it was a top-performing brand, ushering in its partnership with Sephora UK. UKlash reports it’s Sephora UK’s bestselling brand in the eye makeup category. Sephora UK customers can buy the brand’s Eyelash Serum, Eyebrow Serum and Hair Vitamins.

Sephora UK isn’t UKLash’s biggest retail partnership. The brand recently launched in 1,400 Boots stores, and Boots represents its biggest retail partner to date. Pourian says, “UKLash has a legion of loyal brand fans, thanks to our award-winning formulas, a potent ingredients list, inclusive branding and affordable pricing, generating over 40,000, five-star rave reviews online.”

The brand’s fans are central in its social media strategy. UKLash leans heavily on user-generated content. “We have customers who have come to us after going through intense chemo and losing all of their hair. To be part of their journey and being a small part of helping them to regain confidence after that experience is really incredible,” says Pourian. “We have such a diverse customer base and most are repeat buyers, which is why we’ve been able to create and keep this wonderful UKLash community.”

As loyal as its current customers are, there remains plenty of consumers that haven’t tried UKLash—and that’s where Sephora UK plays a role. “Sephora attracts so many different customers. Being stocked there means that we now have customers who might not have heard of us had we not been stocked there,” says Pourian. “People come to Sephora looking for the next best thing and for products that work. Being stocked at Sephora guarantees this, so it adds trust to the experience with customers who might not have heard of us before or who need some more reassurance before purchasing.”