The making of a beauty king

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sephora revolutionized high-end beauty and turned tiny brands into household names. Now, comes the reckoning. Fast Company’s Liz Segran on whether Sephora is too powerful. This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Noel King. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast Support Today, Explained by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members Facade of Sephora store in Concord, California. Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	On Today, explained way back in the mists of time, 1998, a new beauty store hit the scene.
0:07.7	Its appeal was choice.
0:09.8	It would put hundreds of these carefully curated beauty brands in a single store.
0:15.7	And as a customer, you were free to roam the aisles and test all the products that you wanted to your heart's content.
0:22.6	And that was just a very unusual idea at the time.
0:26.3	You no longer had to be Teen Clinic or a Lancombe lady.
0:29.7	Maybe for you, it wasn't solely Mabelene.
0:31.9	And that was fine.
0:33.2	In Sephora, you were free.
0:35.8	Consumers loved this new way of shopping.
0:39.6	Sephora became a kingmaker.
0:41.8	It is still a very big deal to get your little brand into a Sephora Bay.
0:46.2	But now comes a reckoning.
0:48.2	Does Sephora have too much power?
0:50.8	Get in, loser. We're going shopping. Support for the show comes from Pilot.
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	...

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