To the uninitiated, the world of makeup can be more than a little daunting. Every day there seems to be a new celebrity touting their own cosmetics line or an influencer announcing their latest collab with a major beauty brand.
It can be hard to keep up with everything, and particularly difficult to remember the fleeting cosmetics lines of the past. But long before beauty YouTubers were a thing, everyone from Jessica Simpson to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Playboy and Versace were establishing their own corners of the giant makeup market.
Below, we've rounded up 11 beauty brands you likely haven't thought about in a while, by everyone from Giselle Bündchen and Tarina Tarantinto to an early attempt by Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian.
Scott Gries, Getty Images
Scott Gries, Getty Images
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1
Jessica Simpson Dessert
At the height of her Newlyweds fame in 2004, Jessica Simpson launched her eponymous Dessert line, full of edible and apparently tasty beauty products.
A promotional shoot for the product line was even featured on the pop star's pioneering MTV reality show with then-husband Nick Lachey. However, by 2006, the brand had been hit with a number of contentious lawsuits on everything from product names to manufacturing and accounting — which were issues that went way beyond the "With You" singer's level of involvement.
Despite expanding with additional product lines Dessert Treats and Sweet Kisses, Simpson's beauty brand was eventually discontinued. But don't worry about her: she's still going strong with a billion-dollar clothing and accessories empire.
Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images
Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images
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2
Playboy Beauty
Playboy got into the beauty game in the mid-2000s, largely riding on the strength of E!'s massively popular reality show The Girls Next Door. But just like Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson's time in the Playboy mansion, the brand's makeup line, Playboy Beauty, wasn't meant to last forever...
However, just when you thought you'd seen the last of Playboy dabbling in the beauty arena, the company announced in July 2021 that it was coming out with a new line of press-on nails, so we suppose the lesson here is never say never...
Bryan Bedder, Getty Images
Bryan Bedder, Getty Images
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3
Tarina Tarantino Beauty
Best know for her playful baubles and bright pink hair, Tarina Tarantino attempted to build on her jewelry and accessories empire at the start of the 2010s by launching a full cosmetics line emblazoned with her name.
Sold exclusively in Sephora, the whimsical brand inspired by princesses and fairies even got a helpful push by partnering with QVC for its grand debut.
Yet eleven years later, Tarina Tarantino Beauty is nowhere to be found, let alone in Sephora. And nowadays, the only beauty product listed on the designer's official website is her glittery Sparklicity Bronze shimmer dust, which is described as a "microcrystalline sparkle pigment."
Marco Garcia, Getty Images
Marco Garcia, Getty Images
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4
Tokidoki
In the years since its 2006 inception, Tokidoki has developed a huge cult following of fans who love the Japanese pop culture-inspired lifestyle brand's bright colors and adorable characters.
Yet while characters like Cactus Friends, Donutella and Her Sweet Friends, and Moofia have stood the relative test of time, the kawaii brand's brief foray into makeup — a cult line sold in Sephora, which included eye shadow palettes, brushes, cosmetic cases and more — sadly did not. It was pulled from shelves in 2012, just two years after its launch.
Khroma Beauty
Khroma Beauty
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5
Khroma Beauty
Years before Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty revolutionized the direct-to-consumer cosmetics game, Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian attempted to kickstart a collective makeup line called Khroma Beauty back in 2012.
Launching the brand turned out to be more difficult than the reality icons anticipated, and not even Kris Jenner's business savvy could save Khroma Beauty from the licensing issues that caused the products to be removed from shelves just a year later.
A subsequent attempt to create a hair care line called Kardashian Beauty similarly stalled in 2015, though by then, Kylie Jenner was already well on her way to outdoing her older sisters with her famed lip kits...
Eugene Gologursky, Getty Images
Eugene Gologursky, Getty Images
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6
James Charles x Morphe
Hi sisters! Now for one you probably haven't forgotten about, but was discontinued nonetheless.
James Charles launched his very own collaboration with cosmetics giant Morphe back in 2018. The palette was an immediate success, but its popularity soured after the YouTuber weathered scandal after scandal.
First there was his epic feud with former bestie Tati Westbrook over... hair gummies? But the real problems started when multiple underage boys came forward accusing James of grooming them and engaging in inappropriate conversations over social media.
As the story began to snowball, complete with the influencer's poor-received apology video titled "Holding Myself Accountable," Morphe dropped the scandal-ridden star and phased his palette out from production. Bye, sister!
Robin Marchant, Getty Images
Robin Marchant, Getty Images
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7
Pop of Color by Kristen Taekman
Back in 2015, Real Housewives of New York City star Kristen Taekman parlayed her brief reality fame into a line of chic nail polish called Pop of Color.
The fashionista's line provided plenty of fodder for her Season 7 story line, including a spat with Bethenny Frankel over her failure to trademark the name before launching the polish.
Made locally in the Big Apple, Pop of Color was sold exclusively at Ricky's NYC locations around the city and online, but the last time the brand posted on its official Instagram account was in April 2017.
Bonne Bell
Bonne Bell
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8
Bonne Bell Cosmetics
Nothing captured makeup for millennial teens and tweens in the '80s and '90s quite like Bonne Bell, home of the iconic Lip Smackers lip balm since 1973. (If you grew up as part of that generation, you know exactly what we're talking about. Gen Z kids, you missed out!)
Sadly, Bonne Bell closed its doors for good in February 2015 after nearly 90 years in business. The company saved Lip Smackers, thankfully, by selling the brand to another manufacturer — but to make matters even more painful, it's now only available for purchase in Asia, Europe and Australia... or at least it was six years ago.
Sejaa by Gisele Bundchen
Sejaa by Gisele Bundchen
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9
Sejaa by Gisele Bündchen
It should come as no surprise that more than one famous face has tried to launch their own brand in the ultra-saturated beauty market. For Gisele Bündchen, that attempt was Sejaa, a proudly eco-friendly skincare line which hit shelves in 2010.
While the initial launch only contained three products — a day cream, night cream, and mud mask — the supermodel took her commitment to the environment seriously in developing her wares, all the way down to harnessing wind power for the manufacturing process and using soy-based inks in the packaging.
Despite all Gisele's good intentions (and a promotional spread in Vogue), Sejaa didn't last long and has since been discontinued.
Versace Beauty
Versace Beauty
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10
Versace
Versace debuted its very own makeup line in the late 1990s ('98 to be exact), complete with the kind of perfectly gaudy and dramatic packaging you'd expect from the Italian luxury giant.
However, the label's inroad into the world of makeup only lasted a little over a decade, and Versace scrapped the brand in 2009, choosing to stick with its slate of high-fashion ready-to-wear, accessories and haute couture lines, instead. Its perfumes, however, are still some of the best-selling on the market.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Fragrances
Mary-Kate and Ashley Fragrances
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11
Mary-Kate and Ashley
If you were in elementary school in the '90's, there was nothing cooler than Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's makeup line. Okay, let's face it: it wasn't just the twins' makeup that was a must-have, it was also their clothing line, book series, straight-to-home-video movies and more.
MK & A's original eponymous cosmetics range has all but disappeared these days, though you can apparently still find a product here or there on Amazon or Walmart.com.
Instead, the moguls have graduated to designing their acclaimed fashion lines, The Row and Elizabeth and James, the latter of which launched its own makeup line back in 2014. What goes around...
