Everyone who launches a luxurious magnificence product needs to create one thing like Crème de la Mer, the 50-year-old moisturiser invented by a scientist — its eye-watering value justified in no small half by hand-harvested seaweed uncovered to hours of classical music. Nobody in the up to date age has come shut, aside from the French financier Charles Rosier.
Rosier’s mission is healthier recognized by his companion, the German professor Augustinus Bader, who himself is healthier recognized by the luxurious skincare line that bears his title. Its first merchandise, The Cream and The Rich Cream, have been each blessed with a proprietary ingredient referred to as Trigger Factor Complex 8 powered by a specific form of peptide.
When Augustinus Bader launched in 2018, phrase of The Cream had already suffused the leisure and trend industries. Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith grew to become followers of The Cream and invested in the firm; so did Courteney Cox, photographer Mert Alas and Bobbi Brown. The svelte navy and rose-gold bottle shortly grew to become a palm-sized standing totem.
Dazzling the magnificence trade as a case examine in startup luxurious, the model’s gross sales exploded in its early years on the energy of these two merchandise — from $7 million in its first 12 months to $70 million by 2021 — and the compelling pitch that The Cream (or The Rich Cream) was the one system to rule all of them.
But by the time it secured a $1 billion valuation in a funding spherical only a 12 months later, Augustinus Bader had added eight extra merchandise, together with a face oil and a lip balm. A hair assortment and dietary supplements adopted, greater than sufficient to fill a “12 Days of Bader” introduction calendar, presently accessible for $695.
Critics, and some prospects, questioned whether or not TFC8 actually had functions as various as eye patches and shampoo. But it was the launch earlier this month of Dua by AB Science, the model’s three way partnership with pop star Dua Lipa, that felt like the starkest departure for the luxurious label. The new sub-brand’s value additionally attracted consideration — merchandise price between $40 and $80, or lower than one-fifth the value of The Rich Cream — as did its core ingredient, TFC5.
“We talked with Augustinus about the idea of developing a formula that would be more adapted to younger skin,” Rosier, chief government, instructed The Business of Beauty. TFC5 just isn’t as robust as TFC8, he added, “but we’re not offering TFC8 at a cheaper price. We’re offering a new technology.” Rosier stated that the core buyer of Augustinus Bader was 35 and up, whereas Dua by AB Science can be higher suited to youthful millennials and Gen Z.
If the launch of Dua by AB appeared, with respect to the model, like an act of dilution, it doesn’t seem that means on paper: Bader’s enterprise remains to be rising steadily, with Rosier anticipating web gross sales of over $150 million and retail gross sales of roughly $250 million. The model grew to become worthwhile in 2024 however ended the 12 months on a loss, which Rosier stated was on account of taxes and operational losses in a few of its new markets. It’s focusing on earnings earlier than curiosity, tax, depreciation and amortisation of round 10 % of web gross sales by the finish of the 12 months.
And if Dua Lipa and Augustinus Bader appear to be a perplexing duo, maybe they shouldn’t. The model owes no small a part of its success to a cautious alchemy of science and celeb that’s completely unstable, and has needed to evolve significantly to assist climate the luxurious slowdown. Now it has come to depend on fine-tuning that stability to protect its rose-gold lustre.
A Secret Ingredient
When Bader launched in 2018, its core know-how — a proprietary complicated of peptides, or sign molecules, that would theoretically coax pores and skin cells into constructive regeneration — was a novel idea. Seven quick years later, these days are gone. In 2025, consumers should purchase peptide complexes at almost any value level: The ingredient seems in almost each one among Rhode’s merchandise, in addition to in $4 Sephora eye masks.
This proliferation of low cost peptides has introduced recent scrutiny to TFC8. The value of each product in the line — and the model’s worth proposition as an entire — derives from the ingredient’s similarity to a medical-grade gel Professor Bader developed to heal burn victims, even when the model is guarded on how, precisely, they’re associated. The current introduction of TFC5, or TFC8 for youthful pores and skin “with minimal to moderate damage” raises extra questions for consumers who have been keen to pay high greenback.
The model can also be simpler than ever to seek out. While it was all the time offered on-line, anybody hoping to attempt it out in the actual world initially needed to make a pilgrimage to 10 Corso Como or Violet Grey’s Melrose Place boutique. Today, it’s accessible at Sephora, and there are Augustinus Bader counters at Nordstrom, Saks and Selfridge’s. It’s even on the market by way of Ulta Beauty Kuwait and Quince, the e-commerce website greatest recognized for its low-price trend dupes.
It’s a outstanding change for a model that was as soon as “a reference point for modern luxury,” stated Camille Moore, a magnificence strategist. Not too way back, a bottle of The Cream wound up as set dressing on the second season of “Succession” — not as product placement, however as an emblem of quiet wealth, a manufacturing artist confirmed.
The model’s status has remained intact on the subject of its authentic skincare vary. Plenty of sensible and savvy magnificence professionals swear by The Cream and Rich Cream, even when they don’t fully perceive TFC8.
“It’s the only thing that works for my skin,” stated one model fan, who spoke anonymously so they may freely ponder the benefit of its star ingredient. “There’s a subset of people that want to really believe that the more they pay, the more of a miracle that they’re getting. And whether La Mer reacts with your skin better, or Augustinus Bader reacts with your skin better, who knows what’s really behind it all?”
The Cream of the Crop
Augustinus Bader has all the time been owned by Rosier and Professor Bader, who every maintain majority stakes, alongside Jacques Veyrat, a billionaire government that Rosier stated invested in the firm in 2017, proper earlier than its first merchandise launched. But in 2022, it almost discovered a dad or mum firm, as the model reached late levels with a variety of conglomerates — and acquired a 9 determine bid.
According to a number of sources near each corporations, the model acquired a proposal from The Estée Lauder Companies that exceeded $1 billion, triggering a sale course of wherein Augustinus Bader then met with a variety of bidders, together with Beiersdorf and Puig. But Rosier and Veyrat weren’t eager on promoting, and figured the four-year-old model had loads of runway forward of it. (The Estée Lauder Companies, Beiersdorf and Puig didn’t reply to requests for remark.) Instead, Augustinus Bader raised extra money that very same 12 months, netting a $25 million funding spherical led by General Atlantic with Veyrat, Diageo chairman Javier Ferrán and LVMH scion Antoine Arnault all taking part — and confirming its starry $1 billion valuation.
“Charles and the investors have high ambitions,” stated Joel Palix, a magnificence entrepreneur and the former CEO of e-tailer Feelunique, who suggested the model whereas it was in market. “They don’t want to sell too early, and they think they can fetch a much bigger value by growing the brand.”
But attaining that is robust for any model on this local weather. When Augustinus Bader was based, shopper manufacturers have been routinely valued based mostly on their gross sales and progress projections, even when that they had no clear path to profitability. After some high-profile failures — like the same valuation for Pat McGrath, or Olaplex’s eye-popping IPO — traders now prioritise manufacturers which have demonstrated they’ll develop whereas working in the black.
Of the model’s present targets, Rosier stated he hopes to realize earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 20 % of web gross sales, however “it will take time.” He defined that profitability is a core focus however exiting the model just isn’t.
What’s a Celebrity Worth?
Augustinus Bader was — and to an extent, nonetheless is — disruptive for a magnificence model of its variety.
“Charles is not an insider, and I think he has an anti-conformist approach to luxury skincare,” Palix stated. “They put celebrities and collabs at the heart of the brand from day one. Science and celebrity, you wouldn’t think they go together.”
While the model has resisted paid endorsements, Rosier and Bader have been in a position to infiltrate and captivate a extremely influential vein of the Hollywood institution. The authentic launch had the help of influential retailers, however it additionally had followers like Carla Bruni (who was related to Rosier by means of her sister) and Griffith (whose personal sister labored on the model’s packaging).
Many of Bader’s early adopters and traders, like Griffith, Cox and Brown, have been granted small fairness in the enterprise — not more than 2 %, in response to two sources with data of the breakdown — as an alternative of one-off contracts. This has helped safe their long-term endorsement, however any potential acquirer would want to consider a heavy media spend post-sale with out these faces.
The model’s three way partnership with Victoria Beckham Beauty, to which Bader contributed a primer and extra just lately a basis, have been profitable for each manufacturers. (The latter, which retails for $104, is presently the top-selling basis at Space NK.) Its Sofia Coppola lip balms, created in partnership with the director and now a part of its everlasting assortment, have been sudden and roundly praised — and price the similar as Chanel.
By collaborating with a world pop star on an off-price line, the model appears to be attempting one thing new. Lipa has been the face of YSL’s Libre perfume since 2019, and grew to become the model’s international make-up ambassador in 2024. Other than her well-documented love of Bader merchandise, magnificence insiders observe that Lipa just isn’t notably recognized for her skincare routine.
“There’s nothing connected to her brand that adds authenticity” to the collaboration, noticed Moore.
While its technique has advanced from as soon as attracting high-profile traders to joint ventures, any model’s reliance on celeb is fragile. Customers routinely scoff at celeb pet tasks when it lacks authenticity: The few winners — Rhode, Rare Beauty, Haus Labs — have been calibrating their very own fashions for years. For now, the Dua Lipa line will probably be offered DTC, the place 30 % of Augustinus Bader’s mainline gross sales are occurring.
Rosier is affected person, and thinks the model’s greatest is but to return. After all, its merchandise with Beckham and Coppola are a few of the greatest launches the model has seen lately.
“We’re not in a process. We’re not talking to anyone, because we feel that there is room for growth in our brand,“ he said. “That’s our focus today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
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