Forma Brands Files For Bankruptcy — Here’s What That Means

On Jan. 12, Forma Brands filed for bankruptcy, leaving many people wondering what the future holds for the beauty brands in its portfolio. The news broke as the company filed for voluntary Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, affecting Morphe, Morphe 2, Jaclyn Cosmetics, Bad Habit (a brand of which Emma Chamberlain was the creative director), Lipstick Queen, and Playa Beauty. It also means the company severed ties with Ariana Grande’s R.e.m Beauty as its vendor.

Rumors that Forma Brands might file for bankruptcy started looming back in October 2022, according to WWD. The decision to file comes after the company came in around $80 million short of their projected $420 million-plus revenue goal for 2021, as reported by Business of Fashion.

With this bankruptcy announcement, it’s unclear as of right now what exactly will happen to the company’s brands. Bad Habit’s website is currently still up and running, though the products are no longer available at UltaBeauty.com and they’re currently discounted on Morphe.com. Lipstick Queen’s website, on the other hand, lists no products but points you in the direction of where to shop in person. It’s business as usual over on Jaclyn Cosmetics’s website. POPSUGAR has reached out to Forma Brands for comment and will update this post once we hear back.

Many people are also wondering what will happen to R.e.m. Beauty. While Grande’s cosmetics company was never owned by Forma (the two had a retail partnership), according to Business of Fashion, Forma Brands and R.e.m. Beauty plan to part ways. “We have been in discussions with the R.e.m. Beauty team for some time about our future working relationship and the next chapter for the brand. We have come to the mutual decision that the brand will be best served under the ownership and operational management of the R.e.m. Beauty team,” Simon Cowell, the president of Forma Brands, said in an email to employees acquired by BOF. A representative for R.e.m. Beauty declined a request to comment on the matter on the record.

It’s worth noting that as with the Revlon bankruptcy news in June 2022, this doesn’t necessarily mean that any of these brands are going away for good. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, also known as “reorganization” bankruptcy, allows the company to continue to operate and attempt to make a comeback.