Long before NYX Cosmetics became a familiar name in makeup bags and beauty aisles, it was the ambitious idea of one young entrepreneur who spotted a major gap in the beauty industry—and decided to do something about it.
That entrepreneur was Toni Ko, who founded NYX Cosmetics in 1999 with $250,000 in seed money from her parents. Just 15 years later, she would sell the company to beauty giant L’Oréal in a deal estimated at roughly $400 million. Not bad for a business that started as a one-woman operation!
But the story behind the makeup brand is just as interesting as its multimillion-dollar exit.
Born in South Korea in 1973, Ko immigrated to California with her family in 1986, when she was 13. Although she initially struggled with the language barrier, she quickly learned the ropes of business by helping out at her family’s perfume and cosmetics stores after school and on weekends.
By the time she was 20, the family business had expanded into wholesale distribution, giving Ko firsthand experience working with retailers and understanding what shoppers wanted.
During that time, she also noticed something missing from the makeup market: there was a pretty significant divide between inexpensive drugstore cosmetics and the higher-quality products sold at department stores. Ko wanted the quality and feel of prestige makeup without the intimidating price tags. So, in 1999, she took that idea and ran with it, launching NYX Cosmetics in Los Angeles with financial backing from her parents.
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The brand’s name was inspired by Nyx, the Greek goddess of the night—a powerful female figure who was supposedly feared even by Zeus. Fittingly, Ko was building something that would eventually make plenty of noise in the beauty world.
NYX initially launched with a small collection of makeup pencils. But the business took off quickly, reportedly generating $2 million in revenue during its first year.
Ko’s timing also proved important. As social media began changing the way people discovered beauty products, she embraced influencer marketing and word-of-mouth promotion to help NYX reach a growing audience. Rather than relying solely on traditional advertising, she recruited influencers to showcase the products and get people talking.
By 2013, NYX had earned WWD Beauty Inc.’s Brand of the Year recognition, and the company had grown into an international beauty business.
Then came the big moment.
In July 2014, after 15 years of building the company, Ko completed the sale of NYX Cosmetics to L’Oréal. Inc. reported the deal was estimated at $400 million, although the National Women’s History Museum later cited a reported $500 million valuation.
For Ko, however, selling her life’s work wasn’t quite the carefree celebration she might have imagined.
In a 2016 interview with Inc., she revealed that she had spent three years preparing for the sale. When the transaction finally closed, she packed up her office and went home, sleeping for approximately 14 hours. The following days, though, were surprisingly difficult. After spending 15 years focused on growing NYX, she suddenly struggled with losing the routine and identity that came with running the business.
But retirement didn’t last forever. Ko eventually launched a sunglasses company called Perverse, followed by other entrepreneurial ventures, including Bespoke Beauty Brands in 2019.
The story behind NYX Cosmetics is a reminder that sometimes the biggest business ideas come from recognizing something that everyone else has overlooked—and having the nerve to bet on yourself.
Related: Martha Stewart’s ‘Smoothing’ and ‘Firming’ Moisturizer Is the Perfect Fall Beauty Reset
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