Glow Recipe Leaves Sephora Exclusivity for 1,000 Ulta Stores

Glow Recipe ends nearly a decade of Sephora exclusivity on Dec. 6, when its full assortment lands in 1,000 Ulta Beauty stores. It is the brand's most significant retail expansion since its 2017 product-line launch.

The move comes with an exclusive weapon: the $36 Exopeptide Caffeine Brightening & Depuffing Fresh Slices Eye Mask, which goes viral-ready on Nov. 17 via Ulta's TikTok Shop storefront. The mask went viral in September as one of several launches built on the same novel packaging component.

"Our community has been asking for us to be at Ulta for years, and we wanted to wait for the right time. We feel the time is now," said Sarah Lee, who is cofounder and co-chief executive officer of Glow Recipe alongside Christine Chang.

What does the Ulta deal change?

Plenty. Glow Recipe already sells through its own TikTok Shop and Amazon storefronts, plus Mecca, Cult Beauty and Sephora internationally. But Ulta, Lee argues, is different.

"Ulta represents the next strategic growth opportunity for the company. It's really a defining moment that takes a brand to the next level," said Lee. She framed the move as a pivot: Glow Recipe's first decade "was about building love and community around Glow Recipe, but this next chapter is about expanding that community."

Lee and Chang did not comment on the size of the business. In 2024, WWD reported sales of around $300 million.

For Ulta, the fit is deliberate. The retailer has bet big on K-beauty with brands like Medicube and Anua, and in the last year added formerly Sephora-exclusive ranges including Rare Beauty and Amika.

"Glow Recipe represents so much of what today's skin care enthusiast is looking for," said Lauren Brindley, chief merchandising and digital officer at Ulta. The brand, she said, "[makes] skin care feel sensorial, approachable and fun through its distinctive textures, scents, ingredients and overall brand experience. That combination of proven performance and joy is powerful."

Why the eye mask matters

Best known for heroes like the Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner and Niacinamide Dew Drops, both $36, Glow Recipe has been one of skin care's buzziest indie brands nearly since its inception. The Korean heritage of its cofounders has become a louder strategic note as K-beauty boomed, from Glass Balm Lip Treatments inspired by the dessert bingsoo to a limited-edition tie-up with spicy Korean noodle brand Buldak.

The Fresh Slices Eye Mask sits inside a crowded race. Fenty Beauty was the first brand to tease eye patches using the Samhwa-developed grinder component, and Glow Recipe, Huda Beauty, Bubble and Vitamasques all quickly revealed they had it in development. Glow Recipe will be the first to launch.

"We would have chosen this component 1,000 times over, whether one brand launched it or 1,000 brands launched it, because we believe in it and, most importantly, we believe in the formula," said Chang. She said Glow Recipe was unaware that others were working with the same technology until the internet discourse kicked off.

The brand turned the chatter into a teaching moment, with social content on its differentiating ingredients, how hydrogel technology works, and why the patches are intentionally liquid-free, unlike most on the market.

"Levity and taking things with a sense of humor always helps when it comes to community dialogue, but customers also deserve transparency and they want to know," Chang said. "So that educational approach was something we felt strongly about."

What about a sale?

Speculation has swirled for years that Glow Recipe was exploring sale options. Lee did not close the door, but she did not open it either.

"Right now, our focus is entirely on the business in front of us. We're in the middle of our newest retail expansion with Ulta and gearing up for the Fresh Slices Eye Mask, and that's where all of our energy is going. We're excited about what's ahead for Glow Recipe," she said.

Beyond the eye mask, Glow Recipe will launch Ulta-exclusive holiday gift sets. Lee and Chang will cohost a TikTok Live via Ulta's storefront this month to educate on the format.

"We're excited because that's a great way to educate on the format; why we believe in the hydrogel technology so much; why we're passionate about this new exopeptide approach with the ingredients. The Ulta customer seems very hungry for that skin care education," said Chang. Both retailers, she added, "are meaningful partners to us. They're reaching different demographics; they have different priorities. We think it's an amazing way to reach a broader audience."

"For us, a successful partnership is about much more than distribution," Brindley said of Ulta's approach. "We don't think about a brand partnership simply in terms of where else a brand is sold. We think about whether there is a strong fit with our guests and our assortment, and whether Ulta can bring something meaningful to the partnership that helps both the brand and the category continue to grow long term."

With $300 million in estimated sales, two retail giants now on the shelf and a viral-format launch to defend, Glow Recipe has made its next decade's premise clear: scale.