THE ORDINARY / DECIEM THREAD

[veronika23]

~ Updated Dec 2nd 2018 ~

Their popularity seems to be growing and with all the their brands why not have a thread dedicated to them!

Brands under Deciem:

NIOD

Hylamide

Chemistry Brand

The Ordinary

Loopha

The Fountain

HIF

Ab Crew

Abnomaly

COMING SOON/NEWS:

Brands coming under the Deciem name:

• Halftone
  HIPPOOH
  Stencil

[veronika23]

Haha I tend to forget stuff too! You are welcome 🙂 @pocketvenus

[veronika23]

I have no problem changing the name if it's easier 🙂 @darkiceis

[ZombieMetroAnt]

"As the Deciem World Turns"

(for the kiddos in the audience, that's a reference to a well-known long-running soap opera )

Spoiler

A Canadian judge ruled Friday morning to oust Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe.

The judge granted the injunction filed Wednesday afternoon by Deciem’s minority investor, the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., seeking to have Truaxe removed from the company’s board and as chief executive officer after he unilaterally decided to shut the business down on Monday. Co-ceo Nicola Kilner will step up as the sole, interim ceo, and Deciem operations are expected to resume as soon as possible.

That includes reopening the stores that Truaxe closed, announcing the retrenchment on Instagram earlier this week.

 

Spoiler

Deciem’s web site is down, its stores are closed, and it’s no longer launching at Ulta Beauty, WWD has learned.

Talks of the brand’s Ulta launch swirled after The Ordinary exited Sephora earlier in 2018. Part of that was because of comments from Deciem on its Instagram account that appeared to confirm the news. But it seems that discussions between the two parties at some point collapsed — a spokeswoman for Ulta confirmed to WWD that Deciem is not launching there.

“Ulta Beauty is always looking for new, relevant brands to add to our vast assortment. While we are not launching this particular brand, we look forward to continuing to introduce new brands to delight our guests,” an Ulta spokeswoman said.

The Ulta news comes during a busy week for Deciem, which at the behest of founder Brandon Truaxe, has shut down most of its operations throughout this week.

On Monday, Truaxe posted an Instagram video of himself on the Deciem account, saying, “This is the final post of Deciem, which we will shut down all operations until further notice, which is about two months … Please take me seriously … almost everyone at Deciem has been involved in a major criminal activity, which includes financial crimes.” The site was down for part of Monday, but got back up and running by midday. Stores were still open, too, with employees at one location telling WWD there were no plans to close.

By Tuesday, some Deciem locations in London and New York had shuttered — including a store on New York’s Fifth Avenue — but the web site was still functional. The company’s New York Prince Street location was still open.

But Wednesday, that location closed, too, and the SoHo store for The Ordinary even had a chain lock on the door. Signs for closed shops read, “Please Don’t Get Mad. We are currently closed for an unforeseen concern.” The web site was also down, displaying a solid red page instead of a functional storefront. Shoppers could get around that by going directly to brand sites, like The Ordinary.com or Niod.com, which appeared operational.

Even for Deciem, which bills itself as The Abnormal Beauty Company, 2018 has been a weird year. Truaxe started posting erratically on Instagram, making broad or specific business announcements, and changing his title from chief executive officer to “worker.” Co-ceo Nicola Kilner, who has since rejoined the business, was let go from her position in February.

Those happenings came as Deciem worked to build out its manufacturing capacity — out of stocks were a historic problem because of the company’s fast growth — and launch new products and brands. Midway through the year, sales were said to be booming. The business did $140 million in sales for 2017, and was said to be at about $300 million in sales in July 

[elise222]

I'm glad to hear that! I actually stopped buying their products a few months back because he seemed like he went off the rails on social media. 

[tastelikewater]

For those of you worried about replacing your Ordinary products, there's a pretty extensive list of dupes going on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/comments/7welmh/misc_list_of_product_alternatives_to_the_ordinary/

[snoflakefaerie]

All of this insanity is really making me thankful I found things to replace the Ordinary back in the spring when things started going really awry.

[ZombieMetroAnt]

Spoiler

Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe is shutting down the company for two months, according to a post on Instagram.

“This is the final post of Deciem, which we will shut down all operation until further notice, which is about two months,” Truaxe said in a video on Instagram. He did not immediately respond to a WWD request for comment, nor did co-chief executive officer Nicola Kilner, who rejoined the business in July.

“Please take me seriously…almost everyone at Deciem has been involved in a major criminal activity, which includes financial crimes,” Truaxe alleged on the social media platform. A representative for the Estée Lauder Cos., which invested in Deciem in 2017, was not immediately available for comment.

Over the course of this year, Truaxe and Deciem have gained attention for his erratic social media posts, which now span from normal company operations to allegations of criminal activity. During that time, though, business is said to have soared — as of July, Deciem was said to have about $300 million in sales, up from $140 million in December.

Deciem’s rise originally started with the products. Its hero brand, the Ordinary, makes products — like Retinol 0.2% in Squalane for $5.30 — that are priced much lower than other beauty brands. The company also makes other brands such as Noid, which sells products mostly in the $25 to $60 price range and is available at Net-a-porter, and the Chemistry brand, which sells items such as Inhibitif Deodorant, $7, and Glow Oil, a $28 DHA-free self-tan alternative

[mermaid805]

Crazy! Some part of me wonders if this is part of some publicity stunt to drive sales up around the holidays and before the fiscal sales year ends? I know a few months ago people started hoarding products once The Ordinary left Sephora. If people think supply is going to drop, they will shop in advance. Sneaky and so not cool. 

And his posts... totally bonkers. Crazy just seems to sum up the whole situation. 

[jeannie11]

Estée Lauder announced toady they will be intervening in this mess. They have a huge investment in the brand and need to keep it going.

This is the first time I've ever said I'm happy Estée Lauder is getting involved.  

[GG84]

@jeannie11 didnt they previously say they were a minority investor? 

[Aaliaa]

Yup they are a minority investor but under the 'oppression remedy' law they can sue for disregard of shareholders interest, shutting down the business etc without justifiable reason. I think for Estee Lauder its profit but also PR and the claims of financial misconduct (if untrue) can cause loss of sales for their other brands by association. I assume before this week the erratic behaviour hasn't effected sales so they've stayed out of it. @GG84  @jeannie11

[jeannie11]

@Aaliaa -- EL already appeared in court this morning (here in Toronto) to schedule a hearing. They told him to bring a lawyer.

[keana1]

Half of my AM and PM skin care routine involves using DECIEM products 😢😢😢 ! Now I have to rethink everything ( I do have backups though ) ! I hope that the closure is temporary but with Brandon Truaxe, you never know! 

[jeannie11]

@keana1  - Mind too and I also have backups.

[CC3616]

From LookFantastic this afternoon..

[Aaliaa]

Thanks for sharing this @ZombieMetroAnt. I have no idea what to believe and I've stopped following the weekly drama at Deciem but this seems pretty shocking. His original post names people from Marriott Hotel, Caroline Hirons and Brad Pitt and I find the connections pretty hard to believe. This does explain Caroline's insta story though

[GG84]

@Aaliaa The stores have shut down. I was in two malls today. 

[Aaliaa]

Thanks @GG84, I couldn't reply yesterday but I've been trying to dig around a little because to me if there was actual financial crime this isn't how it would be shut down, but I have no facts to base that on obviously. If you go to the Deciem website directly, its all red (yesterday it had a Pi symbol. Weirdly you can go to the individual brand websites including Ordinary and Hylamide websites and by the looks of it place an order.

Stores seem to be shut globally and this is the Estee Lauder statement “The Estée Lauder Companies is a minority investor in Deciem, and, as such, we do not control the company’s operations, social media or personnel decisions,” said a spokeswoman for Estée Lauder Companies. “We are deeply concerned by the material that has recently been posted on social media and will defend our rights as a minority investor.”

I thought this might be some marketing ruse to get people to buy remaining stock before they do a brand revamp. I don't think Estee Lauder would release a statement if it was. Honestly no idea, but I am intrigued to see how this plays out (also I'm kinda bored today!) 

[Kim888]

@Aaliaa @GG84 I walked by the NYC 5th ave location out of curiosity after work - they have a sign that said sorry don’t be mad by when closed for unforeseen reasons. There were two employees  in there though who looked like they were going over the books 

[GG84]

@Aaliaa Honestly and I'm trying to think of the kindest words here...There's no way to make sense of what he said. He appears to be in a kind of manic state. I wouldn't try to connect the dots on this as the dots will never connect for anyone but him. 

[Aaliaa]

Yeah I agree @GG84