Makeup company Deck of Scarlet moves in at Urban Outfitters

The subscription makeup service Deck of Scarlet, a business unit of the subscription-based perfumerie ScentBird, is making the jump to the material retail world with a presence in Urban Outfitters.

It’s the latest step in the company’s campaign to take the world of beauty and perfume by storm.

The company, which has started with a makeup palette for sale in two Urban Outfitters stores in Manhattan is also selling its products through the Urban Outfitters website.

The company has plans to launch more products under the Deck of Scarlet brand, according to Scentbird chief executive Mariya Nurislamova.

“Through our partnerships with YouTubers we have the cred around the product and the makeup,” Nurislamova said. “It’s a very different approach from Scentbird… Deck of Scarlet has always been a brand.”

The company originally started in New York as a way to sell small samples of brand name perfumes through a subscription, Nurislamova’s goals are much loftier.

“[Deck of Scarlet] is a lot less of a distribution platform and more of a brand,” Nurislamova told me. “The fact that we have been thinking retail is a very logical next step.”

The Urban Outfitters partnership just made sense, according to the Scentbird chief executive. “It’s a young consumer and it’s a limited distribution. We want to make sure we understand and since Deck of Scarlet is in the test experimentation mode, what really is going to be the form and make this brand grow in years to come.”

The gap between online and physical commerce is already being bridged by companies like Amazon and big box retailers like Walmart and Target. Smaller retailers are also, apparently, looking for ways to draw traffic with new brand experiences from companies that are making a splash with younger consumers.

Deck of Scarlet has also launched a non-subscription product line — a collection of eye shadows — and will be bringing more products to market throughout 2018.

“We will probably go a little bit more aggressive,” Nurislamova said.

With a subscription, the Deck of Scarlet palette just costs $20.95, but that price jumps to $45 if purchased in a store or on its own.

Scentbird has 200,000 subscribers for its (original)  perfume business and Deck of Scarlet is growing its reach with 12,000 subscribers.

And while Deck of Scarlet is occupying a lot of Nurislamova’s time, the chief executive is rolling out new products for Scentbird too. There, Nurislamova said the company is exploring private label shower gels and skincare as part of people’s subscriptions.

Scentbird has raised $3.8 million from angel investors including Alex Ohanian and institutions including Ludlow Ventures and SGH Capital.