Tapping of-the-moment celebrities to buttress its creative direction has proved fruitful for Loops Beauty once before, and with its latest partnership, the skincare brand is hoping to strike gold a second time. 

Loops, which was founded in 2020 by brand incubator Syllable in collaboration with content production house Shots Studio, has appointed “Riverdale” actress Camila Mendes as its partner and artistic director ahead of its launch at 450 Ulta Beauty doors Aug. 1. 

“Nobody’s more tapped into culture than Camila,” said Colin Peek, chief creative officer of Syllable, who cofounded Loops alongside Aditya Julka. “She has such a keen eye and an incredible, astute taste for what is occurring within the skincare world.” 

In her recent role, Mendes will support and advise the brand in its product development, sustainability initiatives, event ideation, social media strategy and influencer partnerships. 

“I feel like it is a completely recent role that I’ve began to be interested by,” said Mendes, for whom this partnership marks her first foray into the sweetness business. “Taking up this role with Loops was just a really natural progression for me and my profession. The products are straightforward, and really easy to weave right into a skincare routine — I just really consider on this minimal, yet also really effective approach to skincare.” 

Mendes succeeds model Emily Ratajkowski as creative director of the brand, while Ratajkowski, who initially joined forces with Loops in October 2020, is now a co-owner. 

“Similar to Emily, Camila is one among those few and much between celebrities on the market that just kind of has a Midas touch,” said Peek. “Partnerships which are authentic, and based off of individuals really loving the products, are what succeed — when you are attempting to slap a celeb’s name onto a brand and pay that person, it just really doesn’t work — it’s super inauthentic, and the community and the audience can tell.” 

Loops offers quite a lot of need-based face masks, ranging in price from $25 for a bundle of 5 under-eye masks, to $95 for its Big Night Out 15-mask bundle. The brand also offers a subscription service, which it’s presently refining to permit for increased personalization based on consumers’ respective needs. 

Starting Aug. 1, Loops’ entire portfolio can be available for purchase at ulta.com, while key skus will make their way into the retailer’s brick-and-mortar locations — where Peek envisioned the brand would land since its very inception. “We at all times saw Ulta as a primary partner for us,” said Peek. “We’re excited to actually explode through the retail channel, in addition to construct out our d-to-c [direct-to-consumer] channel even further.” 

Loops skyrocketed in popularity in the course of the pandemic, with celebrities including Vanessa Hudgens and Emma Roberts showing like to the brand via social media, prompting fans to follow suit in hordes. While the brand has made a reputation for itself with its face masks, which tackle concerns including aging, dark spots and plumping, it’s looking for to bring its magic to the body category within the near future, as well — an initiative Mendes has played a key role in pioneering. 

“As a forward-thinking brand today, your consumers deserve and have earned the precise, by purchasing from you, to weigh in on product development and the trajectory of the business,” Peek said. “That’s something that Camila feels really strongly about, as will we, and something that we definitely need to empower moving forward.”