Rhode is going from global beauty phenomenon to global retail business. Today, the Hailey Bieber-founded brand launches at Sephora across 19 new European markets, putting its products in more than 500 Sephora stores across the region and marking its first physical retail presence in continental Europe. The rollout follows Rhode’s 2025 Sephora expansion in the U.S., Canada and U.K. and comes roughly one year after e.l.f. Beauty acquired the brand for $1 billion.
The geographic footprint is substantial: Rhode is now entering Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. Sephora will carry Rhode’s core skin care and hybrid makeup assortment, including its Pocket Bronze and Highlight Milk collections.
But the expansion is about more than putting product on shelves. Rhode is effectively testing whether its social-first, community-driven model can translate into a scalable physical retail experience across multiple countries. Sephora locations will incorporate Rhode’s established gray, glossy visual identity, while select stores will receive custom builds, facades and large-scale 3D product installations. Sephora’s Champs-Élysées location in Paris is slated for a particularly large Rhode takeover.
That physical strategy has been building ahead of the launch. Rhode used its Mallorca beach club last summer and this year staged summer activations in Amalfi and Copenhagen, giving European consumers opportunities to experience the brand before its products became broadly available through Sephora. The approach effectively turns community events and social engagement into a bridge between DTC discovery and retail conversion.
The Sephora rollout also extends a remarkably rapid retail trajectory. Rhode's launch with Sephora in the U.S. and Canada was described by the companies as the retailer's largest brand launch in North America, while its 2025 U.K. debut was the largest Sephora U.K. brand launch. Rhode is now described as the No. 1 beauty brand at Sephora in North America and the United Kingdom.
The European expansion matters beyond Rhode itself because e.l.f. is increasingly relying on a portfolio of brands and international markets rather than e.l.f. Cosmetics alone to drive growth. In its latest quarter, e.l.f. Beauty's sales increased 36% to $479.4 million, its 30th consecutive quarter of sales growth, while management raised its fiscal 2027 sales-growth outlook to 18%-20%. At the same time, higher marketing, merchandising and distribution expenses and the financial complexity created by acquisitions have become more prominent parts of the growth equation.
Rhode is already a significant part of that equation. Earlier reporting put Rhode's fiscal 2026 annualized net sales at approximately $390 million, up 80% year over year, while e.l.f.'s total fiscal 2026 sales reached $1.64 billion. The brand has also expanded beyond its original minimalist skin care proposition into hybrid makeup, including blush and complexion products, and is now moving aggressively into new geographies.
That makes the Sephora rollout an important test of how far a digitally native, founder-led beauty brand can scale without losing the community and cultural relevance that fueled its original growth. The European launch gives Rhode access to millions of consumers through a major prestige retail network while giving e.l.f. another opportunity to turn its $1 billion acquisition into a broader international growth platform.
And the playbook is becoming clear: build cultural demand online, seed communities through physical experiences, then use a global retail partner to scale access. For Rhode, Europe is the next proving ground for that model.
