Makeup Geek is a victim of the pandemic and supply chain issues. Marlena Stell, the founder of the color cosmetics brand, is closing the business On Instagram and YouTube, Stell blamed the pandemic-related shift away from makeup and supply chain disruptions on her business. 

On YouTube, Stell noted:

“Having almost an entire year of not having product obviously was financially devastating,” says Stell in the video. “The fact that we’ve stayed open this long after all of that says a lot about my team and all of you out there for your support, but…it’s too hard to come back from that. It’s hard to have new product coming out obviously to keep things going and just the timeline now is so much slower with shortages of raw materials, cardboard, so much going on behind the scenes that it’s difficult for everyone.

“It’s not a decision I was expecting to make this year. However, I do know in my soul that Makeup Geek wasn’t meant to be the ultimate destination for me. When I started the company, I was 28. I’m 42 now. I’m at a different stage of my life, and there are other ventures and things that I would like to do.”

At one time, Makeup Geek's annual sales topped $22 million “without a single loan or investor,” according to information provided by Stell. In 2019, the brand had more than 300 stockkeeping units in its assortment and entered some 600 Target stores.