Alexz Louras, beauty merchandise manager for Urban Outfitters, underscores a big reason Urban Outfitters’ beauty assortment is different from the standard beauty specialty store assortment is because niche beauty is at its core. “We like to challenge the status quo and push boundaries to what’s next in beauty,” she says. “We look for brands who innovate, disruptive and [are] hard to find.” She adds the caveat that, “We try to strike a balance between bestsellers and unique products to offer customers a diverse selection that appeals to both their established preferences and their interest in discovering new trends.”

The retailer is a jumping-off point for emerging brands getting an early taste of retail distribution. Skincare brand Of Other Worlds, for example, decided on Urban Outfitters as its first retail distribution partner in part due to its modest purchase order. In August, founder Simedar Jackson told Beauty Independent, “We want to toe that line between a retail partner that’s going to help us build brand awareness, that’s going to help us reach new customers, but also one that we can reasonably meet in terms of their requirements and what the expectations are.”

Fazit founders is similarly testing the waters with Urban Outfitters until founders Aliett Buttelman and Nina LaBruna feel prepared from a financial and awareness perspective to roll out the skincare patch brand in larger chains like Target or Ulta Beauty. Fazit launched online and at 10 Urban Outfitters locations in February.

International brands enter Urban Outfitters as a sort of trial ballon to gauge their reception from American shoppers. The popular Chinese cosmetics brand Flower Knows made its United States retail debut at the retailer in May. Louras shares that South Korean beauty favorites Colorgram and Mixsoon have launched at Urban Outfitters, too.

All in all, the retailer has launched over 100 beauty brands so far this year, according to Louras. Ahead, we zero in on eight brands, including Colorgram, that have been added to Urban Outfitters’ roster.

Led by sister duo Cory and Nicol Varona, Ocoa Beauty landed at Urban Outfitters last month, marking its first major retail partnership. The brand’s four products—$20 Hydrating Curl Cream, $24 Curl Care Shampoo, $24 Curl Care Conditioner and $22 Curl Defining Style Gel—are available online at the retailer.

The products are formulated with ingredients like mango butter, avocado and hibiscus flower extract inspired by the Varona sisters’ home country of Dominican Republic. Ocoa, a city located in the southern region, is their mom’s hometown. Ocoa’s packaging design is in English when it’s right side up and Spanish when it’s flipped over, “mirroring our immigrant journey of living in two worlds,” says Nicol.

Ocoa launched in 2021 under the name DN Organics with about $20,000 of the Varona sisters’ savings. The pair rebranded and relaunched it in 2023 with new products, packaging and marketing. Nicole discloses that the brand has seen 180% year-over-year sales growth through its direct-to-consumer platform and wholesale expansion. In addition to Urban Outfitters, Ocoa is stocked at a handful of salons and small stores.

This month, Ocoa kicked off a crowdfunding campaign to raise $60,000 for hiring a team member to handle operations and inventory production. The brand’s goal is to extend into beauty-specific retailers and international distribution down the line.

“We definitely see a lot of opportunity and white space still in the premium curly haircare market, especially when we have that specific focus on Latinas and multicultural women,” says Nicol. “Five years into it, we’d love to bring better hair care to the Caribbean, Latin America, even Europe. That would be a huge, huge dream for us.”

Calling its focus “sustainable keepsake beauty,” retro-leaning Nakie Coquette premiered on Urban Outfitters’ site last month as well. The brand was founded three years ago by Niki Schwan and Jessica Penzari, who both previously worked in fashion and public relations. Its products are housed in refillable, collectable packaging such as luxurious apothecary bottles and vintage cosmetic containers.

Urban Outfitters is carrying Nakie Coquette’s inaugural and bestselling product, Rosehip Roleplay Face Oil, in three vessels at three prices, $68, $86 and $94. While Nakie Coquette came onto the scene with CBD as its hero ingredient, CBD isn’t in the products it’s selling at Urban Outfitters.

Launched in 2019 by Julie Schott and Brian Bordainick, Starface is capturing the hearts and wallets of gen Zers and investors alike. The pimple patch brand has raised over $20 million in funding, according to financial information resource PitchBook, and is on track to generate $90 million in 2024 revenues, according to recent reporting by the publication Forbes.

At Urban Outfitters, Starface’s pimple patch products run from $11 to $17, and they feature Hello Kitty designs and a myriad of colors (blue, green, purple and more) along with a multicolor option. Outside of the retailer, the brand is in CVS, Amazon, Target and Walmart, and it’s registered 50% year-over-year sales growth across the channels it plays in. Starface recently ventured beyond pimple patches to lip balm with Star Balm, an important step in determining its viability in non-pimple patch goods.

Haircare brand Naturally Drenched is adding Urban Outfitters to a list of distribution partners spanning Cult Beauty, Thirteen Lune, Amazon and a number of salons. Its full range of products has landed on Urban Outfitter’s site, including $26 Revive Curl Foam, a new product exclusive to the retailer.

“Launching our foam exclusively through UO is a key strategy, especially since Revive is our first styling product,” says Naturally Drenched founder Jamila Powell. “This approach allows us to offer a complete wash day and styling solution all in one place.”

To support its Urban Outfitters partnership, Naturally Drenched has ramped up marketing through targeted content, emails and SMS campaigns to drive traffic to the retailer’s site. Powell plans to host meet-and-greet events and master styling classes in stores.

Naturally Drenched started with a single product in 2021, and now it has five priced from $12 to $38. On its product roadmap is to proliferate haircare lines tailored to people’s hair goals and stretch into skincare. Powell has supported Naturally Drenched’s businesses with grants and by reinvesting its profits. She’s setting out to fundraise to further support the brand.

Nail art fanatics can get their fix by picking up Never Have I Ever Nails online and in Urban Outfitters stores. The 1-year-old is centered on putting licensed artwork on press-on nails, and it’s collaborated with over 20 artists such as Jocelyn Tsaih, Omotola, Keiko Yamazaki and HeySu Lee. The brand’s designs range from demure bows to ombre blood red, and it pays artists a royalty free on every sale.

Along with $18 press-on nail kits, fans can pick up $12 sets of three-dimensional nail charms and $10 nail sticker sets at Urban Outfitters. The retailer offers more than 10 nail art options from Never Have I ever, and Louras says another 45 will be rolled out over the next few months.

Undefined Beauty is reintroducing itself to customers at Urban Outfitters, where it’s landed online and at stores in the U.S. and Canada. The skincare brand was stocked at the retailer in 2019, when it had CBD in its products. Undefined Beauty no longer uses CBD. “It’s fun to come full circle,” founder Dorian Morris writes in an Instagram post.

Priced from $22 to $32, Undefined Beauty’s online offering at Urban Outfitters includes R&R Sun Elixir SPF 30 Glow Oil, R&R Sun Serum Broad Spectrum Tinted SPF 50 Mineral Sunscreen, R&R Day Serum, R&R Hydro Jelly Serum, R&R Repair Facial Mist, R&R Night Serum and a new addition, R&R Scalp Serum. Urban Outfitters is the first store where customers can buy R&R Scalp Serum, and it marks Undefined Beauty’s first foray into the hair and scalp category.

On top of Urban Outfitters, the brand is sold at Target, Ulta and Whole Foods as well as on Amazon. It’s bootstrapped, and Morris shared last year the brand has garnered around $200,000 in grants.

For its arrival at retail, Smoosh is joining sister brand Leaf Shave at Urban Outfitters. The body care brand, which sells soaps and silicone body scrubbers that house said soaps, launched online and at 19 stores nationwide.

Both Leave Shave and Smoosh have sustainability missions. Smoosh is out to persuade people to switch from body wash in plastic bottles to natural bar soap. In a press release, the brand states it “hopes to reduce the 400 million plastic loofahs and 1 billion plastic body wash bottles that are disposed of yearly.”

Co-founders Adam Simone and Adam Hahn are betting on Urban Outfitters’ gen Z shoppers being interested in Smoosh’s ethos. Simone highlights survey results from predictive retail analytics platform First Insight showing that 62% of gen Zers prefer to buy from sustainable brands and 73% are prepared to pay higher prices for ethically sourced and manufactured products. Smoosh is purposefully rolling out to stores in college towns as a way to capture gen Z consumer attention.

“Generation Z is proactively making changes in lifestyle and shopping habits to minimize eco-impact,” says Simone. “With Urban Outfitters’ core shopper being gen Z, the addition of sustainably minded companies like Smoosh is the perfect fit.”

Smoosh and Leaf Shave are bootstrapped. Leaf Shave raised over $100,000 via Kickstarter in 2016 to fund the production of its razors. Smoosh is funding its Urban Outfitters launch with Leaf Shave’s profits. Leaf Shave has experienced 25% to 32% year-over-year sales growth.

Korean makeup brand Colorgram has bowed at Urban Outfitters. The cosmetics brand was created by Olive Young, South Korea’s No. 1 health and beauty retailer, which is owned by CJ Group and sells trendy products in cute packaging at affordable prices. CJ Olive Young reported $2.88 billion in sales last year, a 40% jump from 2022. In addition to Urban Outfitters, Colorgram is available online at Amazon, iHerb and YesStyle.

Online, Urban Outfitters stocks the brand’s $25 Pin Point Eyeshadow Palette, $14 Fruity Glass Tint Lip Gloss, $13 Juicy Drop Lip Tint, $15 Milk Bling Highlighter and $13 Milk Bling Shadow Liquid Glitter Eyeshadow.