Key takeaways
- Target launches Beauty Studio next month across 600+ stores with 1,600 products from 90 brands—over two-thirds new to the retailer.
- The studio emphasizes skincare and haircare with prestige brands, including founder-led lines like Glamazon Beauty making their retail debut.
- Weekend events and interactive spaces like fragrance mini bars aim to position Target as a destination for beauty exploration, not just shopping.
- Premium brands see Target as the ideal intersection of accessibility and prestige, reaching consumers who trust and frequently visit the retailer.
A Major Beauty Expansion Debuts Next Month
Target is launching its Beauty Studio next month across more than 600 locations, consolidating 1,600 products spanning 90 brands in one of the retailer’s most substantial moves into prestige beauty. More than two-thirds of these brands are making their Target debut, fundamentally reshaping the beauty shopping experience at a retailer traditionally known for value-oriented merchandise.
The Brand Roster and Category Breakdown
Skincare Takes Center Stage
The studio dedicates significant space to skincare, with over 30 brands in this category alone. The lineup includes Doré, Mario Badescu, Shark’s skin tools, and Tula. This focus on skincare represents a strategic shift, recognizing consumer demand for targeted, efficacious products within an accessible price range.
Haircare and Styling Tools
Hair care products come from Verb, Paul Mitchell, Dyson, Joico, and IGK. The inclusion of Dyson—specifically the Supersonic Travel model mentioned as an example of higher-priced items now available—signals Target’s willingness to stock premium styling devices alongside mid-range haircare lines.
Fragrance, Body, and Nail
Fragrance receives expanded representation with brands including Billie Eilish, Coach, and Ariana Grande. Body and nail categories incorporate Maude, Voesh, and Buff Beauty. This diversification across multiple beauty categories ensures the studio appeals to shoppers with varying priorities and budgets.
Building on Past Prestige Beauty Efforts
Target previously entered the prestige beauty space through a shop-in-shop partnership with Ulta Beauty that launched in 2021. That collaboration brought The Ordinary, MAC Cosmetics, and Urban Decay to hundreds of American stores. The partnership concluded earlier this year, paving the way for the Beauty Studio—a standalone initiative that emphasizes haircare and skincare more heavily than its predecessor.
Amanda Nusz, Target’s senior vice president of merchandising, essentials and beauty, frames the new studio as the retailer’s dedicated platform for prestige beauty. “A lot of time and energy has been spent with the consumer working on what we believe is going to make us compelling in our next chapter of beauty,” she explains. The goal extends beyond product availability to creating an exploratory shopping environment. “This allows us to curate an assortment and an experience that allows people to explore beauty in more inspiring spaces,” Nusz says.
The Retail Experience and In-Store Activations
Curation and Physical Space
The Beauty Studio will feature distinct zones designed around shopping behavior. These include a minis destination for sampling, a fragrance mini bar for discovery, and displays highlighting trending products and bestsellers. All curation occurs through the lens of what Target calls “inspiring spaces”—environments that encourage browsing rather than rushing through transactions.
Weekend Events and Community Engagement
Target plans to host regular weekend events within the studio spaces. The retailer views these activations as central to repositioning how shoppers perceive the brand. “We’ve been adding more and more events on weekends at Target,” Nusz notes. “We hear all the time that Target is the place where you go to get things done, but it’s also your happy place.” The objective is to make the beauty shopping experience feel less utilitarian and more recreational—less grocery store, more candy store.
Why Premium Brands Are Betting on Target
Democratizing Prestige Beauty
Multiple brand leaders cited accessibility and reach as primary motivations. “We are premium, but we also want to democratize it,” says Dawn Hilarczyk, COO of Borghese Roma. The Italian brand, 70 years old, remains unknown to many consumers despite its heritage. For Borghese Roma, Target represents an opportunity to expand distribution while maintaining brand positioning. Hilarczyk views the partnership as “the perfect intersection to democratize beauty and premium beauty.”
Courtney Somer, founder of Lake & Skye, launched a new fragrance called 222 specifically for this Target partnership. She emphasizes the strategic fit beyond raw distribution numbers. “They have trust with their beauty consumer. They also have an elevated environment for discovery in what they’re planning to do,” Somer explains. “There’s just a strong alignment between Target and Lake & Skye, in terms of accessibility, discoverability, and the experience that we’re looking to provide. It feels like the right place for us to expand.”
Consumer Perception and Brand Loyalty
For many brands, Target offers access to consumers actively shopping for beauty without the gatekeeping of department stores or specialty retailers. This democratization reaches consumers who might not visit traditional prestige beauty destinations but maintain loyalty to Target as a shopping destination.
Founder-Led Beauty Gets a Major Platform
Glamazon Beauty is making its retail debut through this Target partnership, arriving with a Target-exclusive product lineup alongside bestsellers. Founder Kim Baker speaks from experience as a makeup artist, drawing on direct conversations with customers. She identifies her core consumer as “a busy mom, or a businesswoman, or a wife. She’s of a certain age.” Her customers, according to Baker, share common characteristics: they prioritize skin health without sacrificing financial prudence. “She’s skin-conscious, but she’s wise with her money,” Baker notes.
Baker points to sustained consumer interest in Target as a beauty destination, even amid recent retail controversies. “I talk to other women because I get a lot of them in my makeup chair. They say the same thing. Even when the boycott that happened, so many women were like, ‘Oh my God, I miss going into Target,’” she says. For founder-led brands like Glamazon Beauty, this level of consumer attachment translates into a valuable opportunity.
Employee Training and Execution
Target is implementing sharply focused employee training to support the Beauty Studio rollout. Staff will need to understand the expanded inventory and guide customers through a significantly larger and more complex assortment than previous beauty offerings. This educational investment signals Target’s seriousness about competing in the prestige beauty space and protecting the experience Nusz envisions.
The Opportunity and the Questions Ahead
The expansion of 600-plus retail locations objectively increases prestige beauty’s accessibility to a broader consumer base. However, whether this elevated shopping experience will attract customers who have avoided Target following recent controversies—including Halloween costume backlash and previous DE&I and Pride rollback discussions—remains an open question. The Beauty Studio represents a significant bet on the power of product curation and retail experience to rebuild consumer confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Target Beauty Studio and when is it launching?
Target Beauty Studio launches next month across 600+ stores, featuring 1,600 products from 90 brands. Over two-thirds of these brands are new to Target, with emphasis on skincare, haircare, fragrances, and body care.
Which brands are available in the Beauty Studio?
The studio includes prestige brands like Dyson, Billie Eilish, Coach, and Ariana Grande fragrances, plus skincare lines from Tula, Mario Badescu, and Doré. Hair care includes Verb, Paul Mitchell, Joico, and IGK. Founder-led brands like Glamazon Beauty and Lake & Skye are also debuting at Target.
What makes the Target Beauty Studio different from previous beauty offerings?
Unlike the previous Ulta Beauty partnership that ended earlier this year, the Beauty Studio emphasizes skincare and haircare more heavily. It also includes dedicated spaces like a fragrance mini bar and planned weekend events to encourage exploration and discovery.
