At a time when many beauty brands rely on frequent product launches to sustain growth, TikTok-viral skincare brand Dieux is taking a different approach. The company recently introduced a limited run of a 200 mL “Mega Jumbo” version of its Instant Angel moisturizer, but the product is not available for purchase.
Instead, the oversized format is being distributed through creator seeding and an Instagram giveaway designed to spark conversation and reward the brand’s community.
The initiative reflects a broader strategy centered on reinforcing the brand’s core products rather than prioritizing constant newness. CosmeticsDesign sat down with Dieux cofounder and chief brand officer Charlotte Palermino to discuss the thinking behind the campaign, how the company evaluates engagement and return on investment for non-traditional activations, and why doubling down on a hero SKU can support long-term brand growth.
CDU: Beauty typically prioritizes constant newness. Why did Dieux choose to double down on Instant Angel instead of launching something new?
Charlotte Palermino: Newness tends to lead to fast growth, but focusing on core products is sustainable growth. While newness is critical to the strategy of trend-driven brands, Dieux is more focused on efficacy and longevity. There’s a reason people get hooked after using our products for a few months: they see results.
Instant Angel is one of our hero products and showing how much people want not just a 100mL jumbo size, but a mega jumbo 200mL is a testament to the cult following it has, its efficacy, and how much it deserves being celebrated.
We gifted it to the people who helped build that fandom, and we’re celebrating the community that has gotten us here with a 30+ person giveaway.
CDU: What metrics or frameworks does Dieux use to evaluate ROI on initiatives that don’t drive direct revenue?
Charlotte Palermino: I would argue that initiatives like this do drive direct revenue. People who haven’t bought Instant Angel before see the excitement and realize it’s time to try.
In this case, the engagement alone is worth it. We’ve seen a big boost in EMV, uptick on our social engagement and following and, most importantly, content that’s making people laugh.
We need some whimsy and levity in America as politically things are quite dark.
CDU: How does gifting an oversized, non‑sellable SKU function as a loyalty mechanism rather than a traditional influencer seeding tactic?
Charlotte Palermino: There’s actual utility. We were inspired by the traditional mailer, the big, ludicrously oversized mailer that ends up in a landfill as it’s just not practical.
We took that concept but with a moisturizer people are obsessed with, want to use and are excited to have a format that, as one commenter noted, they could “bathe in.”
It’s reinforcing that Instant Angel is a GOAT.
CDU: What early engagement, sweepstakes data, or sentiment signals indicate that this approach is working?
Charlotte Palermino: Within the first 24 hours of posting our giveaway, we’ve already seen 2.5k+ comments (aka entries) thus far. We’re seeing comments like “I’ve gone through five tubes” and “this is my ride-or-die moisturizer,” and so many direct messages begging for this to be a sellable size.
A rise in EMV and people posting how much they love the mailer is also a very obvious signal.
CDU: How does this strategy fit into the brand’s long‑term view on growth, retail expansion, and product portfolio development?
Charlotte Palermino: I joke that my job is to get people to try Dieux, because Joyce (CoFounder + Chief of Product) is a formulation genius. I‘m confident that you’ll be coming back once the product is on your face.
We are a slow and steady brand, we’d rather have a handful of products that are all consistently in the top five than a single product that’s number one for a year. Making a product that’s been in market for four years the star of the show is the only thing that makes sense to us as skincare takes TIME to work.
You don’t have overnight successes with skincare, and we feel the same way about growing the loyalty of the product. Slow, steady and strong.
CDU: Do you see hero SKU–centric strategies becoming more common as beauty acquisition costs rise and retention becomes harder?
Charlotte Palermino: You’re seeing a thinning of the ranks because it’s hard to run a cosmetics brand, but skincare is very different from makeup/color. As we don’t have a business heavily weighted to lip care (we don’t have any lip products), it’s incredibly important to make sure every product works hard for you.
If you’re delivering on your product promise, retention shouldn’t be as challenging, and as a result you don’t have the need to constantly be searching for new customers.
There always should be a balance when you have a business that focuses on core: you have new customers always coming in, but you’re retaining a higher percentage than losing.
I’m biased, but this strategy, though slower, is smarter in my books as it makes a healthier business with a strong proof of concept.
CDU: Anything else to add?
Charlotte Palermino: Part of the reason we did this is simply because we can and it’s funny. Not every brand has a lab, we did a small test run last year running production and micro on 10 units.
The sheer joy people felt and the way our community was laughing at how silly a mega jumbo tube was made us want to do it. It’s not just that Instant Angel is an incredible product, skincare isn’t that serious, let’s have some fun and make a moisturizer the size of your forearm.
