01.29.22
Brentwood Associates has made a strategic investment in clean beauty pioneer Pacifica Beauty. In addition, Nathalie Kristo has been named CEO and a board member of the company, which was founded in 1996 by Brook Harvey-Taylor.
According to the company, Harvey-Taylor is now president and will dedicate more time to growing key parts of the business where her passions lie— fueling the brand mission, product development and content generation.
Kristo, who most recently served as Huda Beauty’s North America President and then CEO based in Dubai, will help drive Pacifica’s omni-channel growth strategy, lead its cross-functional teams operationally and support international expansion.
“We are thrilled to partner with Brook, Nathalie and the entire Pacifica team,” said Steve Moore, Partner at Brentwood. “We have been following Pacifica for nearly five years. Since its inception, Pacifica has been at the forefront of innovation in clean beauty, and we are excited to help them continue to build on this legacy.”
“For the last 25 years, we have pushed to democratize clean, vegan and more sustainable beauty with our accessible price points. The consumer has never been more ready for our brand than they are today,” said Harvey-Taylor, who will move to the role of company president. “As we continue to rapidly grow, I am so excited to have Brentwood as our new partner, with their deep bench of talent and capabilities in helping brands scale.”
Pacifica has experienced double-digit growth in key categories over the past several years and is one of the fastest-growing accessible, clean brands. Its products are available for purchase domestically at Target, Ulta and Whole Foods, among others, as well as through www.pacificabeauty.com and Amazon. Pacifica has also launched in international markets with Shoppers Drug Market, Cult Beauty, and Douglas.
Under new CEO Kristo’s leadership, there are plans to accelerate its rollout of distribution worldwide.
Harvey-Taylor said that with addition of Nathalie as CEO, “I believe we are going to be unstoppable. Nathalie is truly inspirational, and she is aligned with our mission and values. Her global beauty experience and her proven track record will be invaluable as we look to take Pacifica to new heights.”
“We are experiencing an important paradigm shift as consumers make more clean, sustainable and compassionate choices,” said Kristo. “Pacifica has been true to this mission since day one and embodies today’s consumer values. I am excited to help amplify this storytelling mission, grow our global community and drive strong growth and expansion for the company, capitalizing on great momentum and strong potential ahead. I am deeply inspired by Brook, the Pacifica team and our passionate, growing community.”
At Huda Beauty, Kristo led the brand’s omnichannel strategy with rapid acceleration of its direct-to-consumer business, and helped expand the brand into new global markets and product categories. Prior to that, she spent most of her career at L’Oreal, notably as the global brand president of NYX Professional Makeup where she scaled and globalized the business, amplifying the brand’s unique social and digital footprint to drive explosive growth. She has also held the positions of SVP of marketing for L’Oreal Paris USA and CM of Maybelline New York and Garnier in Canada.
Alliance Consumer Growth was the brand’s first minority investment partner in 2016. ACG’s investment supported Pacifica’s rapid acceleration, including expansion into eight global markets in Canada, the UK and Europe in 2021, and prioritization in growing its e-commerce business.
Pacifica, founded in 1996, is one of Ulta’s Conscious Beauty Brands and Harvey-Taylor serves on the Ulta Conscious Beauty Advisory Council.
"We have been thoroughly impressed by the stellar business Brook and Billy have built. Pacifica is a true leader of the accessible clean beauty movement, and we are excited to support the brand by helping to drive greater brand awareness, digital optimization and operational excellence across its global omnichannel platform,” said Katherine Mossman, beauty and wellness industry partner at Brentwood, and former board advisor of Credo Beauty and Devacurl.
Brentwood Associates’ portfolio includes Hims, Orange Theory Fitness and Blaze Pizza among other consumer-facing companies.