Scarlett Johansson Shuts Down Skincare Brand The Outset After Four Years
Skincare brand The Outset, founded by Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, has shut down after four years. Analysts cite pricing strategy missteps and consumer fatigue with celebrity-backed cosmetics as key factors in its decline.
After a remarkable journey, the skincare brand The Outset has made the decision to wind down its operations. We are grateful to everyone who welcomed us into their skincare routine and supported us along the way. These two concise lines, published last week on the homepage of the skincare brand's website, mark the final chord of an ambitious business project that Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has tried to run over the past four years. The original idea sounded promising: the Jewish actress tried to leverage her popularity to break into the consumer goods market with a vegan skincare brand.
Despite being the driving force behind the launch, Johansson stated at the outset that she did not want the brand to rely solely on her name, seeking instead to build an accessible and authentic brand. She avoided aggressive campaigns based on her celebrity image, and marketing experts argue this was the first fundamental mistake. Initially, the brand was sold directly to consumers, but after several months it managed to make a breakthrough and signed distribution agreements with Sephora, Amazon, and Nordstrom. Nevertheless, fierce competition on the shelf and an abundance of brands in the field made it difficult for the company to stand out and compete with skincare giants.
In an interview with the marketing magazine Adweek, Professor J.P. Colruyt from Columbia Business School explained that 75% of new products entering the market fail within 3 to 5 years, and that the skincare category is one of the most competitive in the industry. According to him, Johansson's approach of not putting her face on the brand or making it entirely synonymous with her contributed to the failure: "We use this moisturizer as a way to become Scarlett. If it is not credible, if there is no strong connection to it, then the whole idea quickly loses appeal, and that is likely what happened here."
Cracks Behind the Scenes and Retail Pressure
Behind the scenes, cracks began to appear in April 2025, when co-founder and CEO Kate Foster jumped ship. Without her, the brand struggled to maintain its footing on the shelves of retail chains. The hardest blow came when the brand was dropped by Sephora—the main battleground of the beauty world—after failing to generate the sales rates and loyalty demanded by the retail giant.
A central part of the failure is related to the brand's pricing and positioning strategy. With products priced between $32 and $54, The Outset defined itself in the "accessible luxury" category. However, in the beauty market, this niche proved to be a trap. For younger audiences looking for clean and simple ingredients, the price was too high compared to accessible giant brands offering the exact same formulas for just $15. On the other hand, for affluent Sephora shoppers, the brand was perceived as too simple and boring. The minimalist packaging and insistence on fragrance-free, show-free formulas made consumers feel they were paying a high premium mostly for the star's name, without getting the luxury experience or scientific innovation they expect at that price point.
Celebrity Status Is No Longer Enough
The closure notice of The Outset is not an isolated case, but clear evidence that the "golden age" of celebrity beauty brands has come to an end. The 2026 consumer is no longer dazzled by stardust. They have developed an immunity to products perceived as a cynical attempt to translate Hollywood fame into a quick profit line. Johansson joins a growing list of megastars who discovered the market is simply too crowded: from Gwen Stefani, whose GXVE Beauty brand faltered, to Drew Barrymore, who recently closed Flower Beauty, to Ariana Grande and Millie Bobby Brown, who were forced to make drastic structural changes to keep their brands afloat.
"In an era where innovative Korean cosmetics and science-based medical brands rule supreme, a big name on the packaging is no long enough to sell a moisturizer. Ultimately, consumers want actual results—not just the promise of looking like a movie star," industry analysts noted.
For Johansson, closing the brand is primarily a blow to her professional ego and business reputation as an entrepreneur, as well as a personal disappointment after frequently stating that the brand was born out of her personal struggle with acne. From a purely financial standpoint, it is a negligible loss that will not affect her lifestyle or her economic status in Hollywood. She is still worth $165 million, and the bulk of the brand's loss fell on investment funds and business entities that backed the enterprise and built the marketing and distribution array.
