Is Topicals profitable in 2026?

No profitability figures are disclosed. Topicals' own-site DTC revenue fell to about $1.5M in 2025, down 20 to 50 percent year over year, with a further roughly 15 percent quarter over quarter drop into mid 2026, per Grips Intelligence data as of May 25, 2026.

Who founded Topicals and who owns it?

Topicals was founded in 2020 by CEO Olamide Olowe, per press coverage dated October 28, 2025. Olowe also runs holding company Cost of Doing Business (CODB), which acquired hair care brand Bread Beauty Supply in April 2025. Topicals is privately held with no disclosed valuation as of January 6, 2026.

Could AI replace Topicals?

Unlikely to replace the physical product, but third party AI skin diagnosis apps like Tangent AI and Renude (active 2026) can commoditize Topicals' consultative and educational layer. Topicals itself only uses back office automation via Gorgias, handling 69 percent of support tickets as of September 24, 2024.

Who is Topicals' biggest competitor?

Incumbent OTC giants CeraVe (L'Oreal), Neutrogena (Kenvue), and La Roche-Posay dominated a 2025-2026 U.S. News dermatologist survey of top recommended skincare brands. These companies face no structural barrier to entering skin of color chronic care positioning, Topicals' core niche.

Has Topicals raised new funding recently?

Yes. Topicals announced a new angel round on January 7-9, 2026, backed by WNBA star Angel Reese and musician Rema, with the amount undisclosed. Total funding raised to date across roughly seven rounds is about $22.6M, per CB Insights as of January 6, 2026.

Is Topicals' direct to consumer business growing or shrinking?

Shrinking on its owned site: Grips Intelligence estimated mytopicals.com GMV at about $1.5M in 2025, down 20 to 50 percent year over year, with an additional roughly 15 percent quarter over quarter decline tracked into mid 2026, even as wholesale channel data was not separately confirmed.

Consumer brands · United States

Topicals

topicals.com ↗

DTC skincare brand for chronic skin conditions, sold at Sephora, Ulta, and Amazon.

Losing its protection

Assessed 23 July 2026 · Evidence as of 23 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 23 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Next Sephora fastest-growing brands report, watch if Topicals stays on the list

The call

Topicals has shelf space and a name people know, but its own website is shrinking while L'Oreal's brands and skin-scanning apps circle the same customers.

Topicals makes skincare products marketed toward people with darker skin tones, and it has gotten into major stores like Sephora and Ulta. The brand built real popularity and loyalty, but that is not the same as having something competitors cannot copy: big companies like CeraVe and La Roche-Posay could launch their own versions of this positioning tomorrow. The real warning sign is that Topicals is selling less and less on its own website year after year, which suggests customers are losing interest rather than getting more excited, and at the same time it faces tougher competition in the stores where it sells. The one thing that matters most is whether the brand can keep growing in Sephora and Ulta fast enough to make up for the lost sales on its own site. If it falls off Sephora's list of fastest-growing brands, that is a sign the company is fading while the big players have not even started trying to compete with it yet.

Why

AI pressure: Tangent AI, Renude, CureSkin skin-diagnosis apps. AI skin scanners are replacing the consultation layer Topicals used for education and product matching, and Topicals has no AI diagnosis tool of its own. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: CeraVe (L'Oreal), La Roche-Posay (L'Oreal), Neutrogena (Kenvue). These brands dominate dermatologist recommendation surveys and face nothing stopping them from copying skin-of-color chronic-care positioning. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Retail shelf space at Sephora and Ulta plus a loyal skin-of-color customer base built over five years.

What would change this call

Sephora publishes its next 'fastest-growing brands' list. If Topicals is absent, its retail momentum and positional moat are fading.
Topicals discloses Jan 2026 angel round amount or valuation. Would show whether investors still value the brand highly despite DTC decline.
Grips Intelligence owned-site revenue data for late 2026. Continued QoQ decline would confirm DTC cooling rather than a one-off dip.

Key numbers

Owned-site revenue fell to $1.5M in 2025 (2025)
Owned-site sales down about 15% QoQ into mid-2026 (May 2026)
Total funding raised near $22.6M across 7 rounds (Jan 2026)

Named risks

Owned site DTC revenue fell 20-50% YoY in 2025 and further ~15% QoQ into mid 2026. Severity: high
Incumbent giants CeraVe, Neutrogena, La Roche-Posay face no structural barrier to entering skin of color chronic care segment. Severity: high
Retail shelf space squeeze from Ulta's $400M flagship push and Medik8's Sephora entry (2026). Severity: medium
Sister brand Bread Beauty Supply's Slick-Hold Gel launch publicly underperformed in May 2026, reputational spillover risk. Severity: medium
January 2026 angel funding round amount and valuation remain undisclosed, limiting financial visibility. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
CeraVe (L'Oreal)	gaining on	Ranked top OTC dermatologist recommended brand in 2025-2026 survey, no barrier to entering skin of color chronic care
Medik8	gaining on	Launched at Sephora July 16, 2026, adding to shelf space competition for Topicals
Ulta Beauty	contesting	Investing $400M in NYC flagship (announced 2026-07-11), intensifying prestige retail competition
Neutrogena (Kenvue) and La Roche-Posay (L'Oreal)	gaining on	Both ranked top OTC dermatology brands in 2025-2026 survey, dwarf Topicals in scale and dermatologist trust
Byoma, Peace Out, Live Tinted	contesting	DTC inclusive skincare peers competing for same niche as of 2026

Questions people ask

Is Topicals profitable in 2026?: No profitability figures are disclosed. Topicals' own-site DTC revenue fell to about $1.5M in 2025, down 20 to 50 percent year over year, with a further roughly 15 percent quarter over quarter drop into mid 2026, per Grips Intelligence data as of May 25, 2026.
Who founded Topicals and who owns it?: Topicals was founded in 2020 by CEO Olamide Olowe, per press coverage dated October 28, 2025. Olowe also runs holding company Cost of Doing Business (CODB), which acquired hair care brand Bread Beauty Supply in April 2025. Topicals is privately held with no disclosed valuation as of January 6, 2026.
Could AI replace Topicals?: Unlikely to replace the physical product, but third party AI skin diagnosis apps like Tangent AI and Renude (active 2026) can commoditize Topicals' consultative and educational layer. Topicals itself only uses back office automation via Gorgias, handling 69 percent of support tickets as of September 24, 2024.
Who is Topicals' biggest competitor?: Incumbent OTC giants CeraVe (L'Oreal), Neutrogena (Kenvue), and La Roche-Posay dominated a 2025-2026 U.S. News dermatologist survey of top recommended skincare brands. These companies face no structural barrier to entering skin of color chronic care positioning, Topicals' core niche.
Has Topicals raised new funding recently?: Yes. Topicals announced a new angel round on January 7-9, 2026, backed by WNBA star Angel Reese and musician Rema, with the amount undisclosed. Total funding raised to date across roughly seven rounds is about $22.6M, per CB Insights as of January 6, 2026.
Is Topicals' direct to consumer business growing or shrinking?: Shrinking on its owned site: Grips Intelligence estimated mytopicals.com GMV at about $1.5M in 2025, down 20 to 50 percent year over year, with an additional roughly 15 percent quarter over quarter decline tracked into mid 2026, even as wholesale channel data was not separately confirmed.

Timeline

2026-07-16Rival Medik8 launches at Sephora, adding shelf competition
2026-07-11Ulta Beauty announces $400M NYC flagship store investment
2026-05-27Corso case study reports Gorgias automation cut shipping support time 75%
2026-05-25Grips Intelligence reports owned site GMV down 20-50% YoY to $1.5M
2026-01-09New angel funding round backed by Angel Reese and Rema announced
2025-11Topicals completes expansion into France
2025-10-28Essence profiles Topicals' 5 year anniversary and Sephora growth claim
2025-04Founder's holding company CODB acquires Bread Beauty Supply
2024-04-17Topicals launches reformulated products at Sephora UK
2022-11-10Topicals raises $10M Series A led by CAVU Consumer Partners
2020-08-10Topicals raises $2.6M seed round led by Lerer Hippeau

Revision history

23 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

PVH VF Kering