Kinship’s Alison Haljun and Christin Powell: ‘A lot of people told us not to do Gen Z’

Not long ago, skin-care options for teens were limited to the traditional players in the market. In November 2019, beauty industry veterans Alison Haljun and Christin Powell set out to change that with the launch of Gen Z-focused skin-care brand Kinship. On this week’s Glossy Beauty Podcast, the co-founders shared the brand’s founding story, as well as their approaches to distribution, marketing and learning from a younger audience. 

With colorful branding and a focus on sustainability and meeting clean ingredients standards, Kinship was founded by Haljun, its president, and Powell, its CEO, after they had struggled to find products for their own kids. Since its launch, the brand has entered Credo Beauty and Ulta Beauty, and collaborated with top Gen-Z skinfluencer Hyram Yarbro. 

The co-founders’ strategy in running the brand is based on their years of beauty industry experience. Powell co-founded original clean brand Juice Beauty, and Haljun is a Benefit Cosmetics alum, plus they sought out input from young consumers and investors. The brand consults with a Gen-Z focus group called its “Kin Circle” for everything from packaging design to product testing, and its first investor was only 18 years old.