Halsey's Second Beauty Brand, af94, Is for Gen Z
Halsey does not care if you have celebrity beauty brand burnout.
The singer, who launched makeup brand about-face last January, is doubling down on the category with a second beauty imprint, af94.
An amalgamation of Halsey's initials (their full name is Ashley Frangipane) and birth year (1994), af94 launches on July 25 at Walmart. The entire line is priced at $10 and under, rendering it a sort of diffusion line — or as Halsey described it on Instagram, "about-face beauty’s cute and bratty younger sibling." Basically, it's for Gen Z.
"After listening to feedback received from fans and friends, I wanted to create another self-expressive line that was lower-priced with a wide reach," the artist said in a press release. Like about-face, af94 will specialize in bold colors, delivered in "made-to-play" formats that encourage experimentation.
Launching with 67 SKUs, the line will feature eyeshadow crayons, matte lipsticks, cheek and lip tints, makeup wipes, and face and body stickers.
If af94 is anything like about-face, you can expect high-performance formulas and punchy colors that don't fade. While helming two beauty brands might seem like overkill, don't forget that Halsey is a self-taught makeup artist who often does their own face for photoshoots and public appearances — so consider about-face and af94 less cash grab and more passion project.
Halsey's challenge lies in building a distinct identity for af94, one that's different enough from about-face that customers don't abandon the latter for the lesser-priced former.
