Nicole Ostoya, who’s had a long history in the beauty industry with stops at Nordstrom, Benefit Cosmetics, ShopHQ and Boldface, a branding company that had an ill-fated partnership with the Kardashians, founded Neon Hippie and turned to Florence Nacino, CEO of V Manufacturing & Logistics, to create its formulas. Along with Neiman Marcus, Ostoya told Beauty Independent that the brand has “overseas markets already in the works” to drive revenues.

If Neon Hippie reaches $40 million in first-year sales, it will be among a rarified group of nascent beauty brands. Its ambitions to be in that group got us thinking about the sales most beauty brands achieve during their initial year in business.

To gain a better understanding of that figure, for our ongoing series posing questions relevant to indie beauty, we asked 16 beauty entrepreneurs, investors and consultants the following questions: What’s a realistic first-year sales expectation for indie beauty brands? Do you think first-year sales expectations should change in the current market?