Former L’Oréal execs set out to build a $1.2 billion beauty empire. Now all that’s left is Milk Makeup, and its sales just fell 57%
Waldencast sold Obagi, lost its founders to the buyer, and is leaving Nasdaq. What's left is a makeup brand whose sales fell by more than half.
In 2021, Michel Brousset and Hind Sebti, former executives of L'Oréal, founded Waldencast Acquisition Corp. with the goal of creating a global beauty empire. The company went public at the peak of SPAC frenzy and announced a $1.2 billion deal in November 2021 to acquire Obagi Medical and Milk Makeup. However, four years later, the once ambitious multibrand platform has come undone.
In June, Waldencast agreed to sell Obagi to private equity firm Bridgepoint for up to $460 million. Obagi was valued at $858 million by Waldencast in 2021, but the company has since taken a $52.3 million noncash goodwill impairment charge on Milk Makeup. Milk's net revenue fell 57.1% to $26.1 million in the first half of 2026, down from $60.9 million a year earlier. The company has also filed to delist from Nasdaq and is now focusing solely on Milk Makeup.
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