Beauty Packaging’s online community voted Drunk Elephant ‘Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging.’ 

What role did packaging play in the prestige brand’s meteoric rise and ‘near-unicorn’ sale to Shiseido? What are the ‘Suspicious 6’? How did the brand get its curious name?

Here, in an exclusive interview, Tiffany Masterson, the brand’s founder and chief creative officer and president,talks about developing serious products with a lighthearted personality, how doing things differently can be effective—and how anyone can achieve their wildest dream with enough determination, conviction, discipline and hard work. 

An elephant sauntered into the room (so to speak) in 2013, and disrupted the Beauty conversation. This wasn’t just any pachyderm—it was a prestige Indie beauty brand called Drunk Elephant, which boasted innovative formulas that joined “good synthetics with good naturals”—and was playfully packaged in fun, eye-catching colors. It was founded by mompreneur Tiffany Masterson, now an industry icon known for achieving the ultimate beauty startup goal—selling to a global giant in less than 10 years.
 
An enterprising, stay-at-home mom, Masterson was passionate about creating skin care products that would treat her own sensitivities. She became somewhat of a DTC pioneer of clean formulas at the time, and built a strong social community of loyal users—while also delivering a clean, colorful, vibe with the packaging she created.

Her hard work paid off: Just seven years post-founding, Masterson achieved the near-unicorn dream, when, after a bidding war among leading global beauty companies, Shiseido herded in the brand in November 2019, paying a hefty $825 million. (The Estée Lauder Companies and Unilever were rumored to be among the bidders.)
 
Drunk Elephant had achieved net sales of close to $100 million in 2018, according to Forbes, which described the nine-digit acquisition a year later, at the time of sale, as “one of the biggest ever for a skin care brand.” In addition, Forbes said “the brand has become one of the fastest-growing prestige skin care companies in history.”

Bucking the Trends

Since its founding, Drunk Elephant has attracted a huge fan base with its “lighthearted” name, simple geometric shapes, neon colors—and an iconic elephant logo, created by Masterson to represent Marula oil, a key ingredient in the products, and one that seems to make elephants a “bit tipsy after eating the fallen fruit from Marula trees in South Africa.”

Never a follower, Masterson relied on her own instincts along the way, even as others in the industry tried to maneuver her to approach things differently—or adapt to what brands in the category were already doing. She says, “I think my biggest challenge, at least in the beginning, was to buck the trends.” Playing it safe, or staying mainstream, wasn’t always interesting to her. 

Karen Young, of The Young Group, commenting on Masterson’s gut approach, says:

“Drunk Elephant was a bit perplexing to some at first—but ultimately, the brand broke the norm as far as prestige packaging. I thought the multi-color design for the packaging was a bit off message, and I found the ‘faint’ logo hard to read.”

“When the brand launched, no one could quite believe the name. Who could believe this was meant to be ‘serious’ skin care. But here we are, years later, part of the Shiseido family of brands and no one questions any of these elements any longer."

"The color is now an essential part of the brand, certainly reflected on their website. It’s serious skin care, without taking itself too seriously.”

“Tiffany put a stake in the ground, stuck by it and has done well. The brand was smart about packaging components, using lots of airless containers; given the focus on antioxidants in the formulas, it was a good call.”

Further, Young says. “From a formulation point of view, while everyone else was going ‘clean, green and natural,’ Tiffany chose to use what she called the best of natural and synthetic. She chose to eliminate essential oils, while many brands were chasing them. Brave at the time!”

Asked why she thought Beauty Packaging’s readers had chosen Drunk Elephant for the title of Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging, Young says:

“Both visually and from a messaging perspective, the brand straddles that difficult line of being serious skin care, focused on efficacy, yet feeling human, community-focused and friendly. A tough position, requiring a great deal of discipline. Kudos to them. My guess is, it’s all these elements put together that caused your readers to select them as the winner.”

Key Attributes

Drunk Elephant entered the market when DTC brands were exploding online, with its perfect appeal to a full range of consumer demographics, especially Gen Z and Millennials.

Nick Dormon, managing director and strategy director at Echo Brand Design, refers to the brand as “Millennial click bait, with packaging that captures the ethos of the brand.”

As appealing on shelves as well as online, the brand later scored an exclusive deal with Sephora.

In NPD Group’s Women’s Facial Skincare Report, 2019, Larissa Jensen, vice president, industry advisor, Beauty, NPD Group, and a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors, commented:

“Consumers rank Drunk Elephant among the top brands that they consider to be socially responsible, trustworthy, clean and free of ‘bad for you’ ingredients.” She added: “These are all key attributes that are driving growth for many successful brands on the market today.”

Life with Shiseido

At the time of the brand’s sale to Shiseido, Hannah Symons, head of beauty and personal care at Euromonitor International, told Beauty Packaging: “Shiseido is a good fit for Drunk Elephant as the company has a history of nurturing brands and priming them for global expansion, while maintaining their heritage and the very essence that made them a success in the first place (i.e., Bare Minerals, Laura Mercier).”

She added: “Shiseido is a skin-first company and has a world-class reputation for producing high-quality, effective and innovative skin care brands—Drunk Elephant fits this bill.”

Further, Symons, said, “Shiseido’s three largest markets are Japan, China and the U.S., making the company the ideal partner for a U.S.-focused brand with  a proposition that resonates well with Asia’s rising ‘skintellectual’ and skincare-obsessed consumers.”

Post the Shiseido sale, in March 2020, Drunk Elephant—in partnership with Sephora, launched an overnight hydrating face mask called F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial ($52). According to Drunk Elephant, “This cooling, quenching mask plumps and restores with an electrolyte cocktail while strengthening the skin’s acid mantle.”

With barrier-replenishing ingredients including niacinamide, sodium PCA, plant squalane, five forms of ceramides, omega fatty acids and powerful antioxidants, F-Balm promises to rehydrate “hungover, overly-parched skin.”

Tiny beads loaded with Vitamin F burst during application to deliver extra emollience and soothing hydration, according to the product description. The white bottle with aqua cap exudes a watery feel.

Also new for the brand in 2020: Extensions into Hair Care and Body Care, and new product sampling lines—all following the same colorful packaging approach as skin care items. Drunk Elephant now has 28 total SKUs including their latest January 2021 launch of Sweet Biome Fermented Sake Spray. That breaks down into 21 skin care, 4 hair care and 3 body care SKUs.

There has also been an ascent in terms of sustainable packaging. Masterson says, “It has been a huge priority of mine to evolve our packaging to be all recyclable and sustainable, and 2020 was “the first year that we were able to deliver recyclable packaging to our consumer and in order to keep the innovative feel, we had to go custom.”

Q&A with Drunk Elephant's Founder, Tiffany Masterson

Read on for all the details in my interview with the fun, happy, kind, shy and humble Tiffany Masterson—and learn why she never takes even one second for granted.

Jamie Matusow:  Did you have prior experience in the beauty industry?

Tiffany Masterson:  No, I was a stay-at-home mom before starting Drunk Elephant.

JM:  How did you decide on the name?

TM: Marula oil is a gorgeous, anti-microbial, highly-absorbable, skin-identical, anti-aging and balancing oil. I fell in love with it and googled it to learn more. A video came up of elephants stumbling around looking a little tipsy after eating the fallen fruit from Marula trees in South Africa.

Having been busy creating some very serious formulations, it dawned on me how not serious I am as a person, or at least I don’t take myself that way. I have four kids and a husband, I’m very shy and it seemed pretty silly to name it after myself. Plus, I’m not a chemist or a doctor, so we went with something very light-hearted, but I think it captures my personality much more.

JM:  How do you describe the colors used in the range?

TM:  Bright and happy, just like my dream house if I could have afforded it. White and clean with bright, happy pops of color.

Take 'A Drunk Break'

JM: What is the general brand message/concept?

TM:   We have a philosophy that is very different from any other skin care brand on the market today. We avoid six common ingredients that we suspect are at the root of unhealthy skin and most issues we see: These ingredients are essential oils, drying alcohols, fragrances/dyes, silicones, SLS and chemical sunscreens.

By avoiding these ‘Suspicious 6’ and using only nourishing, biocompatible, supportive and protective ingredients, we can deliver formulations that are able to transform people’s skin from a ‘type’ (acne-prone, combination, oily, dry, sensitive, etc.) to well-functioning, healthy and normal. This is like an elimination diet for your skin and the results we are seeing with our customers are nothing short of amazing.

We encourage people to reset their skin by taking ‘a drunk break.’ This is a hopeful, positive message that is resonating with today’s consumer, all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities…actually anyone with skin.

JM: What has the brand’s role been in helping to establish the whole Clean Beauty movement?

TM:  When I first launched Drunk Elephant in 2013, Clean Beauty wasn’t really a thing, and even now there is a lot of confusion around the term. I think brands and retailers are all defining ‘clean’ to fit their own ideas of what that is. I’m trying to get away from it because while we all strive to be safe and ‘clean,’ my brand’s point of difference is not that it’s ‘clean,’ it is that we avoid six categories of ingredients that can be problematic and at the root of many skin issues.

They aren’t scary, just disruptive. We need to stop talking about being ‘clean’ and just make sure we all are. Also, I think ingredients like parabens and mineral oils, among others, have unfairly gotten a bad rap and are not actually even bad for us.

The consumer is scared in many cases for no reason. More education is needed, and we all need to remember it’s not always as black or white as it’s been presented.

JM: How did you identify the ‘Suspicious 6?’

TM:  I figured out the ingredients that were problematic for my skin through trial and error. Silicones, essential oils, fragrance, dye and chemical screens were in everything I picked up, in some combination of a few to all of them.

I had rosacea and inflammation and I had combination, unbalanced skin. I had been studying ingredients and their effect on our skin for a few years in an effort to resolve my own skin issues and realized I had a passion and natural curiosity for it.

I didn’t care about anything being ‘all-natural’…the idea of joining the good synthetics with the good naturals, while leaving out my triggers, really intrigued me enough to do the line. I suspected there were a lot of people out there who shared my same sensitized skin.

JM: What is biocompatible skin care?

TM:  Biocompatible means that the ingredients won’t cause harm and that includes to the skin itself (in the form of sensitization, irritation, inflammation, congestion, etc). I always start the process by thinking about what I would want as a consumer.

I just want the actives to really get in there and do what they’re supposed to do. I load my formulations with interesting, wonderful ingredients and I get to choose every one. I choose ingredients that are backed by scientific study.

I choose ingredients that are proven safe and skin-compatible. I choose ingredients that are bio available, or easily absorbed, so that nothing blocks absorption and the formulations can all be mixed together for ease and customization.

I always think, the more the merrier. If one beneficial ingredient is good, then five is better. That’s the way I formulate every Drunk Elephant product.

I go through and study what makes each ingredient good, what are some exciting antioxidants we haven’t thought about. If there’s an active ingredient, I am very picky about the amount that goes into the formula, so I know that people who are buying it are getting the most effective level.

Rewards, Surprises, Challenges

JM: What has been most rewarding about your founding and development of the brand?

TM:  Daily testimonies from customers who have benefitted from our philosophy.

JM: What has been most surprising?

TM:  The number of testimonials I’ve received about people’s skin transforming after taking a ‘drunk break.’ It’s inspiring and rewarding beyond my wildest dreams.

JM: Any humorous or poignant stories along the course of development?

TM:  I just think the whole story itself is pretty humorous and poignant. I was a stay-at-home mom of four children… We struggled financially. That’s been hard for me to say because it’s personal but it’s important because people should know that when you work really hard and set your mind to something it can happen.

Who knew that a self-taught mom from Houston, TX, with zero prior experience could launch a skin care line that would be acquired and become global so quickly? My siblings and friends sort of rolled their eyes and laughed at my lofty goal, in a loving way of course, but it’s true it seemed out of reach and outrageous.

The moral of the story: Anyone can achieve their wildest dream with enough determination, conviction, discipline and hard work. I still laugh at myself but I’m immensely humble, proud and grateful because I know it could all end tomorrow so I wake up every day with a commitment in my heart to keep working as hard as I had to work on Day 1. I never take even one second for granted.

JM: What has been Drunk Elephant’s greatest challenge?

TM:  As I mentioned, I think my biggest challenge, at least in the beginning, was to buck the trends. I knew what I wanted and I knew it hadn’t exactly been done before. That can be scary.

I had to move on past certain manufacturers, formulators, packaging companies, etc., who couldn’t think outside the box. They were stuck in a rut wanting to stick with the tried and true, or not-so-true (in my opinion).

I would give them my criteria and they would come back with something that had been done a million times. “Everyone does it this way, you should, too.” Many like to play it safe, but playing it safe, or staying mainstream, isn’t always interesting to me.

As a small company, you are treated as a small company and people don’t always get the vision that is driving you. I wanted to give consumers what they ultimately wanted, not what they thought they wanted… again, people think they want a product that smells good, but when they learn that ingredients put in for that specific purpose are not good for their skin, then they might reconsider and be okay with a product that just smelled like what it was and that only contained safe ingredients that were there for a beneficial purpose.

So, in a nutshell, my biggest challenge has been getting people around me to trust that doing things differently can work, and work even better in some cases. 

Package Development

JM:  How did you go about developing and selecting the packaging?

TM:  The design of the packaging came very easily to me. I knew I wanted white with bright pops of color and just an overall fun, yet clean, packaging that would look great on the countertop. I drew the logo myself and very carefully chose the elements and details.

JM:  Who created the design?

TM:  I had a vision and worked closely with my brilliant designer. I wanted packaging that would protect the antioxidants and actives from light and air. Like me, the formulations work hard, but there’s also a not-as-serious side and that’s where the whimsy and bright, happy colors come in. I don’t take myself too seriously and neither does Drunk Elephant, but we both get the job done. The packaging is reflective of me personally and how I approach life in general.

JM: Do you use stock or custom packaging?

TM: We use a combination of both, actually. I usually know exactly what I want and today, that also means that it needs to be recyclable so if we can’t find it, we have it made.

JM:  How do you stay true to your direction—with the packaging? And remain fresh and new at the same time?

TM:  Coming from outside the beauty industry has been an advantage for me in many ways. From the beginning I had my own unique philosophy and approach, and I still avoid looking at what other brands are doing so I’m not influenced by trends, and stay in my own lane.

JM:  What is the unboxing experience like?

TM:  I can best describe it as happy. We infuse bright neon patterns and pops of color into everything we do. We treat our customers in a very special way because they are very special, and we want the experience to be exciting, unique and memorable from the time they visit our website all the way through receiving, opening and experiencing the products.

JM:  Do you offer any airless packaging? Special applicators?

TM:  All of our packaging is chosen precisely because it is so effective at maintaining the stability of our formulations. Many of our products have airless packaging, including all of our serums and eye formulas, and most of our moisturizers.

JM:  Which comes first—the product or the packaging?

TM:  Always the product!

JM:  How do you collaborate with suppliers on packaging/formulation? What qualities are important when choosing a supplier?

TM:  Quality and attention to detail. We talk to several vendors and choose based on what’s right for us. There’s so much out there, but we want the line to remain streamlined, cohesive and on brand.

JM:  With consumers ever more aware of the environment, what is Drunk Elephant’s position on sustainable packaging?

TM:  It has been a huge priority of mine to evolve our packaging to be all recyclable and sustainable. It’s such a challenge with airless packaging, because the materials that make pumps and reinforced materials are also harder to recycle. I’m very proud that we launched the first fully recyclable packaging in April 2020 with the hair and body collections, and every launch since then has had recyclable materials.

JM: How many products were introduced in 2020?

TM: We introduced eight products in 2020: F Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial, the hair and body collections (Cocomino Glossing Shampoo, Cocomino Marula Cream Conditioner, T.L.C Happi Scalp Scrub, Wild Marula Tangle Spray, Kamili Cream Body Cleanser, Sili Body Lotion and Sweet Pitti Deodorant Cream. We also introduced a new version of The Littles and The Littles Head to Toe, along with Holiday Kits.

JM:  Which had the most outstanding—or innovative—packages?

TM:  Well this is our first year that we were able to deliver recyclable packaging to our consumer and in order to keep the innovative feel, we had to go custom. I’d say F-Balm and Sweet Pitti are the most innovative. All of the products have done very well so we’re grateful for that, especially when you consider the tough, challenging time.

The Perfect Skin Care Routine

JM:  What was the first product/package?

TM:  I developed the first five products at the same time (Pekee Bar, JuJu Bar, C-Firma Day Serum, Umbra Sheer Physical Defense Sunscreen and Virgin Marula Oil) and at the eleventh hour, added a sixth (T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum).

I really studied what the perfect routine might look like and what it would take to reset our skin back to optimal health. To deliver skin care that allows people to go makeup-free was definitely a big factor. I came up with a simple system that includes two cleansers: one exfoliating, one not; a 15% Vitamin C product that I believe needs to be used daily to reverse and prevent free radical damage; an unrefined, moisturizing oil; a physical sunblock; and finally, a chemical exfoliate with 10% glycolic that is non-irritating and really effective.

Rising to the Top

JM:  What factors led to the brand’s seemingly meteoric rise?

TM:  It works, plain and simple. And it’s something I feel people haven’t ever tried before, so it represents hope in a space where people are desperately searching for a solution. Customers who have long described their skin as ‘sensitive,’ ‘acne-prone,’ ‘combination,’ are discovering that their skin was just confused and sensitized. It wasn’t their skin after all, it was the ingredients they were putting on their skin.

JM:  First big break or success story that put the brand on the beauty/skin care map?

TM:  One of my biggest wins was when Sephora invited me to bring in my line of all six products in January 2015…that set the stage for things to come. [Today, in the U.S., Drunk Elephant is a Sephora exclusive—sold at Sephora stores, Sephora.com and DrunkElephant.com.]

Kits, Travel Sizes & Samples

JM:  Have you introduced more kits and/or travel sizes? Why?

TM:  I first introduced The Littles in November 2015. I always recommend that people who are new to the line start with The Littles as it contains a 30-to-45-day supply of eight travel-sized products; when used together, they supply all of your skin care needs and allow you to test my philosophy by taking a ‘Drunk Break’ from the Suspicious 6.

Starting with The Littles gives you the opportunity to see which products work best for your skin depending on what it needs on any given day.

We’ve updated The Littles every year since to include new formulas and packaging, and in 2020, we introduced The Littles Head to Toe, which includes travel sizes of the hair and body collection.

JM:  Does Drunk Elephant offer a product sampling program?

TM:  It’s important to me to include samples in all DrunkElephant.com orders. If there are products that work particularly well together I love to include a mini size product with the full-size companion product. For example, there is a mini Marula Oil in our T.L.C Sukari Babyfacial, and there is a mini B-Hydra with A-Passioni.

JM:  How does Drunk Elephant maintain its position in the Beauty industry? Is there one concept/thread/common ground that ties all of its products/packaging together?

TM:  To me the most important element to building a successful brand is to always put the consumer first by giving them something unique and truly effective. My approach to developing Drunk Elephant is to think about how I would want the products I am putting on my own skin to be made; I’m always in the consumer’s shoes because I *am* the consumer.

By doing this I’m never tempted to cut corners—I want the best for myself and I want people who spend their hard-earned money on my brand to get what they paid for. I firmly believe that if the products truly work, people will be happy and then will tell everyone they know. That organic word-of-mouth has been the key to Drunk Elephant’s fast rate of growth and success.

Social Strata

JM:  How many followers do you have on Instagram?

TM:  We are so proud to have achieved the milestone of 1 million followers on Instagram in 2020.

JM: What role has social media played in launching/advancing Drunk Elephant?

TM: Social media has been an important element of our success because it has allowed for fans to share their stories and testimonials on the products.

For me, there’s only one thing that makes me want to buy something, go to a new restaurant, read a book, see a movie, try a new exercise class…and that is, if a friend or family member tells me to. I don’t buy into advertising, but if my friend or family member recommends something, I’m in.

We have the most wonderful fans on social media and they post the brightest, happiest pictures and the most inspirational stories. You can’t pay for that kind of content because it’s authentic and totally genuine and really, why should you believe me? I’m the brand so of course I’m going to tell you it works. UGC [user-generated content] means I don’t have to.

Bits & Pieces

JM:  What factors do you think readers were influenced by in selecting Drunk Elephant as Beauty Packaging’s Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging for 2020?

TM:  The bright, happy, clean packages. They are innovative and they feel different and exciting to use. They protect the delicate formulations and they look great and recognizable on the counter.

We really take our time in selecting each one. We sit in the consumers’ shoes at all times and choose based on what they would want and based on the actual experience of using the product day after day. We don’t guess, we test that out for months before we move forward. There is an ease and efficiency that makes the experience very satisfying.

JM:  Who is your target customer?

TM:  We don’t have a specific target demographic or customer. We believe that skin is skin and everyone can benefit from Drunk Elephant’s biocompatible philosophy. 

JM:  Does Drunk Elephant ever do collaborations with spokespeople? If so, any that stood out in 2020?

TM:  I’ve never paid for an influencer or spokesperson to talk about my brand and I don’t do any advertising outside of some Google ad words, which I decided to do because other brands have purchased my words so now I have to defend my territory.

JM:  Any awards won for packaging or top sellers?

TM:  We are incredibly proud and humbled to have won over 125 beauty awards just in the last two years.

JM:  Drunk Elephant’s product price range?

TM: Drunk Elephant’s price range is from $16 to $90.

JM:  Where is Drunk Elephant headquartered in the U.S.?

TM:  We have offices in Houston, TX and Newport Beach, CA. Many of our team members work remotely.

JM:  Any special corporate philosophy?

TM:  We have a very fun, happy, kind culture. I’ve learned to surround myself with people who share like values.

Looking Ahead: Goals for 2021 & Beyond

JM:  Where do you think your partnership with Shiseido will take you in the future? Was it a dream-come-true? What are your goals for 2021?

TM:  It was indeed a dream come true to partner with Shiseido. It was important for me to partner with a company that would understand and respect our philosophy and culture.

The fundamentals of the brand will stay the same—my philosophy and my formulas aren’t changing and I’m going to stay in my same role. Also, Drunk Elephant will remain cruelty-free.

The partnership with Shiseido will give us more access to incredible innovation, help us to achieve recyclability and sustainability across the brand, expand into new categories, and launch an anti-bullying platform that’s very near to my heart.

We also hope to continue building awareness so that we can share our philosophy with more people around the globe. It’s an incredibly exciting time for all of us at Drunk Elephant.

JM:  Will you continue to play a leading role?

TM:  Yes, absolutely. I’m the CCO and president now and I still want to do exactly what I was doing from the beginning, which is product development, marketing, creative, social media and just being in close touch with my consumer. I have incredible people to help support my vision. It feels as if nothing has really changed.

JM:  Thanks so much, Tiffany.

We wish you the best of luck as you continue to innovate with Drunk Elephant!

Further Expansion is in Drunk Elephant's Future, Analysts Say

According to Gabriella Beckwith, beauty analyst at Euromonitor International:

"We can expect further expansion of Drunk Elephant beyond its home market, notably Asia Pacific, whereby Shiseido can leverage its strong regional ties and abundance of resources. With Asia Pacific expected to be the fastest-growing skin care region globally, at 4% CAGR over 2019-2023, Drunk Elephant has the opportunity to blossom as Asian consumers continue to develop a greater appetite for clean beauty."

"For Shiseido, the acquisition is yet another step towards enlarging its global footprint, targeting a younger audience, and expanding its scope beyond J-beauty. According to Euromonitor figures, Shiseido generated 52% of its beauty and personal care sales outside of Japan in 2013, compared to 56% in 2018.” 

Why Our Readers Chose Drunk Elephant:

'A Perfect Marriage of Product Amplified Thorugh Packaging'

Echo Brand Design’s Nick Dormon tells why he thinks BP readers selected Drunk Elephant for ‘Beauty Company of the Year: Excellence in Packaging’:

"A perfect marriage of product amplified through packaging, Drunk Elephant’s stripped-back product philosophy ethos carries through to the packaging, finished with a cheeky nod, rather than glum science. Drunk Elephant has a modern, clean, aesthetic—it is approachable yet premium. It is a collectable range due to its consistent aesthetic style across all products and has become the must-have product for every Millennial’s bathroom ‘shelfies.’ Online, the brand is ‘Millennial click bait,’ but also has strong shelf impact, with its eye-catching neon colors."

"With its unfussy packaging, Drunk Elephant represents the modern woman. It eschews ubiquitous premium finishes and voluptuous curves, instead using primitive shapes and simple forms. The bright fun colors and neon dip design add to its collectability factor, and the modern minimalism aesthetic stands out in a crowded beauty sector."

"Overall, the brand nicely balances credibility through the natural and scientific with an attitudinal vibrancy and energy. The packaging absolutely captures the essence of this brand ethos."

—Nick Dormon, managing director and strategy director at Echo Brand Design

5 Fun Facts About Drunk Elephant

• Drunk Elephant reached 1 million followers on Instagram in 2020.


• Masterson drew the elephant logo herself.


• Drunk Elephant is cruelty-free.


• Products display the ‘Clean at Sephora’ seal.


• The brand has plans to launch an anti-bullying campaign, which Masterson says is ‘very near to my heart.’

Exclusive: Tiffany Masterson's Creative Process: "Product & Packaging Development Is Not Quick"

“I develop products based on what I feel is missing in my own routine and also based on feedback from our online community. I’m incredibly picky about what I launch and if I’m not reaching for it daily while in the testing phase, it’s not likely a product I’ll end up launching."

"I can get an idea, prepare an ingredient deck, submit to my chemist and have a sample in hand within two weeks, but that’s only if I hit it on the first go around. It’s taken me a year and more to settle on a formulation before, so it just depends. Sunscreen takes the longest."

"Once you approve a formulation, you have to choose packaging and do stability and compatibility testing. You also are required to do other testing before you can manufacture a product. Timing can be delayed for different reasons, like a hard-to-get ingredient or a glitch in the testing, meaning you then have to go back and reformulate."

"Next you have to name the product and write a sell-sheet with all of the key ingredients, directions, claims, what it is, what it does, etc. You must also do the clinical testing to back up the claims. You also must make sure the product is globally compliant."

"Then the art is due and you have to write the copy for the inner and outer packaging. You get a prototype to check color and after that it can take 3-6 months. Then you have to fill and get it to the distribution warehouse, where it goes before it’s sent to the retailer."

"Six weeks after it’s sent to the retailer, it’s finally on the shelves. It’s a long process.”

—Tiffany Masterson, founder and chief creative officer and president, Drunk Elephant


Tiffany Masterson's Advice for Startup Brands:

Tiffany Masterson, founder and chief creative officer and president, Drunk Elephant says:

“Stay true to your vision. As you grow, there are a lot of well-meaning cooks in the kitchen, with lots of opinions, but you must remember how and why you got where you are."

"What worked early on is what will continue to work and keep your brand authentic, innovative and outstanding.”  
 

Read Next — Our 4 Finalists

Which brands came close this year to earning the title?

Take a look at Our 4 Finalists for Beauty Company of the Year—Excellence in Packaging