Blackstone bet on ZO Skin Health, a brand you won’t find at Sephora. Now it could be worth $2 billion

Beauty brands can command eye-popping prices, whether they’re celebrity-founded and internet-famous or built around a doctor’s name. E.l.f. Beauty agreed to pay up to $1 billion for Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, Coty paid $600 million for 51% of Kylie Cosmetics, and Shiseido spent $450 million on Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare.

Now Blackstone is testing whether a far less famous skincare name can command an even higher valuation. The investment firm is exploring a sale of ZO Skin Health that could value the company at around $2 billion, Reuters reported this week, citing people familiar with the matter. Unlike celebrity-driven brands such as Rhode or Kylie Cosmetics, ZO built much of its business not through influencers or department stores but through dermatologists and medical-aesthetics practices.

Founded in 2007 by dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi, ZO initially followed a more traditional beauty-retail path, launching at Nordstrom that same year, according to the company’s own timeline. But it soon moved away from department-store shelves and reoriented around physicians instead.

Imagine walking into a dermatologist’s office or med spa with acne, pigmentation, or signs of aging. Instead of scrolling past a TikTok creator calling a serum “so good,” a professional tells you your routine should include a cleanser, exfoliant, serum, and treatment cream. For consumers already seeking help with a skin concern, that recommendation can carry considerably more weight.

ZO also gave medical practices a........

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