How Sunday Riley built a brand that belongs on bathroom counters—from Gen Z to Gen X

Skincare isn’t universal. But trust is.

For Sunday Riley, skincare is both personal and strategic. From prestige partnerships to QVC segments, Riley’s namesake brand has grown by adapting to each customer—without losing its core voice.

Speaking on the New Market stage at Shoptalk 2025, Riley explained that the brand’s cross-generational success has nothing to do with chasing trends. It’s about showing people they belong, wherever they shop.

That could mean tweaking fonts on product pages for different age groups, showing age-appropriate models on QVC, or adjusting product claims to reflect life stage. “You have to meet people where they are,” she said. “Not just visually, but emotionally.”

The QVC effect: live feedback, real-time trust

Riley described QVC as one of the most powerful learning platforms she’s encountered. Not just a selling tool, but a direct signal loop with 200,000 live viewers and immediate feedback in her earpiece.

“It’s not just about the product,” she said. “They’re buying into how you make them feel. If they don’t see themselves in the message, they’ll change the channel. That’s how I learned.”

That insight led to major changes, from visuals and model age to how claims are framed. It also deepened the brand’s commitment to not just "checking the box," but thinking like every type of customer it serves.

Building loyalty over virality

While many beauty brands rely on hype drops and multi-step routines to drive buzz, Riley’s focus has always been on hero products and word of mouth. The brand avoids launching for the sake of novelty—and retires SKUs quickly if they don’t earn long-term loyalty.

Even when a product is personally beloved by Riley, it’s subject to customer verdict. “I was wrong,” she said of one early eye cream. “We pulled it. Then we listened, reformulated, and launched Auto Correct. That one took off.”

The same mindset applies to revivals. This summer, the brand is re-releasing an updated version of a cult favorite moisturizer, “because people kept asking, and we heard them.”

Speaking to Gen Alpha, without selling anti-aging

As a parent of Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids, Riley is acutely aware of how young skincare audiences are evolving. But she’s firm in her stance on what not to do.

“We’re not pushing anti-aging to teenagers,” she said. “That’s not authentic, and it’s not right. But if a teen is dealing with breakouts, and we have a product that helps with that, we’ll tailor the message to make sense.”

She describes her team’s mindset as “thinking like the customer”—not just about age or channel, but about emotional state and lifestyle.

Owning the brand, after resisting the spotlight

Although the company bears her name, Riley initially resisted becoming the face of the brand. That changed when she realized what people really wanted.

“They want connection,” she said. “They want to feel emotionally moved, or just see that someone really stands behind what they’re selling.”

Stepping into that role, she now leads product education, appears on QVC, and serves as the brand’s primary voice—often literally, through media like Instagram broadcast channels, Substack, and community-driven content.

Efficacy takes time. Experience is immediate.

When asked how the brand creates word-of-mouth for products that take weeks to show results, Riley focused on joy.

“Retinoids take eight to twelve weeks. But lactic acid works in hours. So we balance short- and long-term benefits,” she said. “And beyond the ingredients, we think about how it feels to use it. The texture. The pump. The bottle. Do you love looking at it on your counter?”

That philosophy defines the Sunday Riley approach. Performance matters. But so does the ritual. So does the story.

So does the feeling you get—before the science even kicks in.

Independently Created. Not affiliated with Shoptalk.

ClickZ is a Contentive publication in the Events division