‘Clean-Girl’ Beauty’s Next Stop: Ultra-Glam Dubai

Known for its minimalist aesthetic, beauty brand Saie has been known as a staple of influencers’ “no-makeup makeup” and “clean-girl” tutorials since it launched in 2019. But for its first international brick-and-mortar retail expansion, it’s headed to full-glam Dubai.

On Oct. 6, Saie launched in Sephora Middle East, the retailer’s regional business that encompasses doors across all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It’s just the latest “clean-girl” American brand to do so: Kosas launched at Sephora Middle East in September, while Glossier entered in October. Ilia Beauty, which returns to the market later this month after an initial launch attempt in 2015, will enter later this month with window displays through November.

“Our look is not what you would necessarily think is of interest in the Middle East, and yet, we’ve broken through, and the demand is there,” said Saie founder and CEO Laney Crowell. Thanks to hype built by local influencers, Saie became Sephora Middle East’s top-selling brand online on its launch day; it is also in the process of rolling out to a total of 40 doors.

A major global hub for beauty sales and trends, Dubai has emerged as an early priority location for brands as they go international. While comparatively heavier, fuller cosmetics have long locally reigned supreme, a growing interest in minimalist makeup looks and safe-for-skin ingredients indicates that there’s room for “clean-girl” brands to thrive, too.

Brands are attracted to the region’s high growth potential. According to Euromonitor International, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s beauty market is worth $46 billion and will expand to $60 billion by 2025. The MENA region is also the fastest-growing beauty market with 18 percent retail sales growth from 2022 to 2023, according to McKinsey & Company, which also predicts that it will remain the fastest-growing through 2028. As Sephora doubles down on store openings and activations, the GCC region in particular is becoming a primary location for beauty brands’ global expansion.

Saie, which saw $71 million in total sales in 2023 and is projecting $100 million in Sephora US sales alone for 2024, opted to expand in the Middle East ahead of other global markets because it was the brand’s second most-requested market, said Crowell, who added “the social buzz is really almost deafening at this point.”

A Global Glam Capital

For most beauty brands hoping to enter the Gulf market, the first stop is Dubai.

Home to top global beauty influencers such as Huda Kattan and her brand Huda Beauty, and known for a glamorous aesthetic that favours full lashes, dramatic eyes and airbrushed skin, the largest city in the UAE has long been a hotspot for international beauty trends, which translate into significant beauty sales in the greater region.

“There’s quite a bit of shopping culture and mall culture in Dubai. The malls stay open super late. It’s a huge activity to go to the mall and go shopping. And the malls are definitely destinations,” said Sheena Zadeh, the founder of US-based makeup brand Kosas, which launched in the Middle East after expanding to Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Sephora’s Dubai Mall location is reportedly the top-grossing store globally, and the retailer will be hosting the first Dubai iteration of its big consumer-facing Sephoria beauty conference event from Nov. 6 through 8. Through a joint venture with Dubai-based luxury retailer Chalhoub Group, Sephora Middle East rounded out its presence in all six GCC countries last month when it opened its first Oman location on Sep. 12.

“Once you’re working with Sephora and you have that partnership, to be able to rely on that internationally and really build a plan together, it’s a very powerful way to enter a new territory,” said Ilia Beauty founder Sasha Plavsic.

Influencers are also showing enthusiasm for new brands entering the market. In April 2024, Dubai-based TikToker Talia Fawaz posted that she noticed Saie had followed her and a wide range of GCC-based influencers and beauty media, speculating that it would soon be entering the region. Harper’s Bazaar Arabia quickly published her discovery.

“The market there is just now having this conversation around easy, effortless, no-makeup makeup. And they’re also starting to think about ingredients and what’s good for your skin,” said Crowell.

Fitting In

According to brand founders, now is the time to enter the market due to a growing interest in natural looks, minimalist makeup and products’ ingredients. Ilia Beauty tried to enter the region and decided to pull out several years ago, in part because Ilia’s proposition didn’t align with regional tastes. Plavsic said that now is different.

“Back in 2015 and 2016, the customer was wanting much fuller-coverage makeup. Like we have seen in the US, that trend has very much dissipated in the last four or five years. They’re starting to see that trend over there as well,” said Plavsic.

This comes as TikTok beauty trends spread rapidly across markets. Nudestix, which launched in the GCC four years ago, saw a significant boost in Middle East sales when its products went viral after being used by Sofia Richie Grainge for her wedding in April 2023, a moment that marked a peak in the “clean-girl” trend, said co-founder and chief brand officer Taylor Frankel.

Other brands are leaning more heavily into their glam side to appeal to the market’s enthusiasm for high-definition makeup.

Zadeh said that Kosas, which is often described as a “clean-girl”-style brand by US influencers, is marketing a full face of makeup that “looks really natural,” she said, adding that her Iranian heritage influences her beauty aesthetic. “The best way to describe it is, the full beat of earlier would try to actually change your face and make you look like a different person. Kosas is like a full-glam look, but you still look like you,” she said. For its launch in Dubai, the brand invited influencers to a Pilates class to emphasise the makeup’s “natural” feel while working out that they call “comfy glam.”

Ingredients are also a growing focus as clean beauty gains a foothold in the Middle East.

Firras Alwahabi, the founder and managing director of Faux Consultancy, which is handling Saie’s marketing for the region, has observed a growing appetite for so-called clean formulations among influencers and regular consumers. As original clean beauty brands, Saie, Kosas and Ilia are focusing their Middle East marketing on how the ingredients affect the skin.

In November, Saie, Kosas and Ilia will be hosting activations at the Sephoria event in Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena, allowing them to enter the market with a big splash of visibility. The line they’ll have to tread as they expand: selling local consumers on a more subtle makeup look, not a makeup-free look.

“I don’t think the Middle Eastern consumer, myself included, will ever be totally no-makeup makeup,” Zadeh said. “We’re very proud of our beauty routine and it’s very complete.”

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