Led by Virginie Duchatelle, Founder & CEO at We-Curate. More than twenty-five years building, scaling and selling premium and luxury beauty brands across the US, UK and EMEA, including a luxury brand acquisition by Puig.
Beauty brand due diligence is the independent assessment of whether a beauty, luxury or lifestyle brand’s growth, retail position and brand equity can support an investment case. We-Curate provides it to private equity funds, growth investors, family offices and corporate acquirers, and to founders and sponsors preparing a sale.
Financial due diligence tells you what a beauty brand has done. Commercial due diligence tells you whether it will keep doing it. In beauty, that second question is harder than in most categories, because the drivers of value (brand heat, retailer relationships, pricing power) can look strongest just before they turn.
Who we work with
| Investor | The question you need answered | What we add |
|---|---|---|
| Private equity (buy-side) | Does the growth case hold, and what will it take to deliver it? | The beauty category workstream alongside your generalist commercial and financial diligence |
| Growth and venture investors | Is this brand real, defensible and scalable, or riding a moment? | Retail and category judgment a deal team rarely has in-house |
| Corporate acquirers | What is the brand worth inside our portfolio, and what could integration destroy? | An independent read on brand equity, retail health and integration risk |
| Family offices | Should we back this brand, and on what conditions? | A senior, independent view without building a sector team |
| Founders and exiting sponsors | What will buyers find, and can we fix it first? | Vendor due diligence and a tested growth case before the process starts |
Across the full investment cycle
Before you invest: commercial due diligence
We test the investment case on the deal timetable, with findings structured for an investment committee: where growth has actually come from, whether sell-in matches sell-through, how concentrated the business is, whether the brand has pricing power, and whether the expansion plan survives someone who has done it.
Our full approach is set out in commercial due diligence for beauty brands, and the signals we test first are listed in the red flags we look for before a beauty brand acquisition.
During the hold: value creation and leadership
After the deal, we help sponsors and portfolio companies turn the thesis into results: a strategic audit with a budgeted P&L, a first-hundred-days plan, and where the team is not yet in place, senior fractional leadership to execute it. Our view of brand value creation in PE-owned beauty portfolios explains where value actually sits.
Before you sell: vendor due diligence
For founders and sponsors preparing an exit, we find what buyers will find, early enough to fix or explain it, and build a growth case that holds up under a buyer’s scrutiny. The detail is covered in vendor due diligence for beauty brands.
What we test
- Quality of growth: how much came from new distribution, productivity per door, price and mix, and genuinely new consumers, and how much of each is left
- Retail health: sell-through against sell-in, inventory held at retail, returns and markdowns
- Concentration: by retailer, channel and hero product, with the downside modeled
- Brand equity and pricing power: full-price share of volume, repeat purchase by cohort, durability of demand
- Retail relationships: terms, space trends and the brand’s real standing with category buyers
- The expansion case: whether national US scale or entry into the UK and Europe is credible on the plan’s assumptions
- Founder and key-person dependency: and what the plan for it actually is
How we work with your deal team
- Alongside, not instead. We typically act as the beauty category workstream next to a generalist commercial diligence provider, your financial and legal advisers, and regulatory specialists.
- On your timetable. Scope and timing are agreed before work starts, to fit exclusivity and investment committee dates.
- Confidential by default. We work under NDA and never reference a mandate without written consent.
- Senior throughout. The people you meet are the people who do the work.
What you receive
- Findings written for an investment committee, with a clear view on whether the case holds
- A prioritized register of risks, separated into deal-breakers, price points and post-deal actions
- A tested growth case with the key assumptions modeled
- First-hundred-days priorities, where you proceed
Why category expertise changes the answer
Generalist diligence teams are strong at market sizing, customer research and benchmarking in any sector. That work is necessary. What they typically cannot do is judge how a retail buyer will view the brand next season, whether a price point fits its retail tier, or whether brand equity is being built or spent.
That judgment comes from operating in the category: building brands, taking them through international retail and seeing them through to acquisition. It is the difference between a view that is directionally sound and one an investment committee can act on.
We work with a small number of investors at any one time, because the work requires full attention.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is beauty brand due diligence?
It is the independent assessment of a beauty brand’s growth drivers, retail health, brand equity, pricing power and expansion plan, carried out for an investor or acquirer before a transaction, or for a seller before a sale process.
Who does We-Curate work with on investments?
Private equity funds, growth and venture investors, family offices and corporate acquirers assessing beauty, luxury or lifestyle brands, as well as founders and sponsors preparing a brand for sale.
How is commercial due diligence different from financial due diligence?
Financial due diligence verifies that historical figures are accurate. Commercial due diligence assesses whether the drivers behind those figures will continue and whether the growth plan is credible.
Can you work alongside a generalist due diligence provider?
Yes, and that is often the best structure. We act as the beauty category workstream, adding retail, pricing and brand equity judgment to the market and customer work delivered by a generalist provider or your deal team.
How long does a beauty due diligence take?
It runs on the deal timetable. Scope, depth and timing are agreed at the outset so findings arrive before investment committee.
Do you also support portfolio companies after the deal?
Yes. We provide strategic audits with a budgeted P&L, value creation planning and fractional senior leadership such as a fractional COO or fractional CMO while permanent hires are made.
Which markets do you cover?
The United States and the United Kingdom are our core markets, with established networks across France and the rest of Europe, which matters when the investment case includes international expansion.
Request a Confidential Conversation
If you are assessing a beauty or luxury brand ahead of a transaction, supporting a portfolio company, or preparing a brand for sale, the conversation starts with the investment question you need answered.
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Related reading: The Beauty Brand Strategic Audit · Brand Value Creation in PE-Owned Beauty Portfolios · Fractional COO for Beauty Brands