Stryx on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost, who are the founders, and all about the men's skincare and makeup brand
In this day and age, looking good and presentable is very important. While women have makeup tools and skincare regimens to enhance and highlight their features, men are still stuck with their body wash and shampoo routine. When Devir Kahan walked down the aisle on his wedding day with a huge zit on his face, he was determined to find a solution for men's skin issues.
This led him to launch Stryx, a skincare and makeup brand that specifically caters to men's skin concerns. Devir and his co-founder Jon Shanahan will be pitching for their innovative brand in the upcoming episode 23 of 'Shark tank' Season 13. The duo will be pitching before Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, and Robert Herjavec. While we will have to wait and watch to see if Stryx founders can get the sharks to invest in Stryx, in the meanwhile you can read all about the brand and its founders here.
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What is Stryx?
Gone are the days when skincare and makeup were just meant for women. Thanks to Stryx, now men too can pamper themselves with some indulgent skincare routine and simple makeup tools. Now you no longer have to raid your wife or girlfriend's closet for makeup. The brand's website states, "Stryx was founded on a basic insight: Men seek to look handsome. Stryx began the day a pimple nearly ruined a wedding. Every man has an experience from a first date, important meeting, or daily video call where a blemish can distract from their best performance."
"Left uncared for, the male face has become a hot spot for trouble: zits, redness, dark spots, oiliness, and more. So Stryx became the first company ever to conceive, from start to finish, what cosmetic and skincare products would be – if they were made for men. Stryx engineers one-of-a-kind products to give men perfect skin without needing perfect skin so they can be their most confident selves," added the brand.
Who are the founders?
Devir Kahan and Jon Shanahan are the brains behind Stryx. Devir serves as the co-founder and CEO of the brand, while Jon is the other co-founder and CMO. In an interview with Forbes, Devir revealed his inspiration behind launching Stryx. He said, "A little over two years ago, on the greatest day of my life, my wedding day, I woke up with a pimple on my face. It really bothered me, but I had no easy solution to this simple problem. I thought maybe I could get women’s makeup artists at the wedding to cover it up, but ultimately that never happened and so the pimple was there to stay for the 1000s of pictures taken that day. This negative and embarrassing experience nagged at me. After all, why is it that if a woman wakes up with a pimple, she has a-million-and-one easy, and socially acceptable ways to fix it, but if a guy wakes up with a zit on his nose, he’s stuck with it all day? And I found that I was not alone. Countless guys I spoke to were sneaking into the women’s aisle at drugstores or stealing cosmetics from their girlfriends. After all, men’s skin and routines are different than women’s, and so the female products these men are buying won’t work as well as they could. And so after close to 2 years of research and development (and so many prototypes!) we launched Stryx to solve this problem by creating products uniquely designed for men that men can feel comfortable using."
Prior to joining hands with Devir, Jon was a YouTuber who reviewed men's style and personal care items on his channel The Kavalier. When Jon received a sample of Stryx's concealer, he decided to try it on his zit, To his surprise, the zit was perfectly masked by the concealer, and his face looked flawless. A very impressed Jon reached out to Devir to get more details about the product, when he ended up getting hired as Chief Marketing Officer, and eventually became the co-founder!
Devir graduated from Sy Syms School of Business in 2018 and actually came up with the idea for Stryx during his last year there. Stryx was launched in 2019.
What is the cost and where to buy Stryx from?
The brand initially launched with only a concealer and a tinted moisturizer back in 2019. But over the years, they have expanded their line to include various other skincare and makeup essentials like pimple patches, moisturizer, lip balm, gel cleanser, eye cream, sunblock, etc. The products can either be bought individually or bundled as kits to address specific skin concerns. The price of individual products ranges from $8 to $42. Stryx products are available for purchase from either the brand's website here, CVS or Target. Stryx products have earned rave reviews from its customers, which are peppered across its Instagram page.
Where is Stryx now?
Devir revealed his plans for global growth of the brand. "We have been doing a lot of research with our existing customer base to see what products they want next. This will drive our product line. We have lots of great ideas and designs for our product line that we are previewing with our customers. As a product company, each product we add to our line helps us grow our company and keep customers coming back to us for more. Increased Usage: we also believe that our growth will come from an increased usage rate among men. As men get more comfortable using these products, we will be adding millions of men each year to our customer pool. Global Growth: We are also testing other markets, and intend to launch in other countries as well, like Europe and Asia where the men’s cosmetics markets are already even bigger than they are here in the US."
Who will steal the deal?
Kevin O'Leary or Mark Cuban might try to steal the deal. Although the brand's sales numbers and profit margins will ultimately be the major deciding factor for the sharks on whether to invest in the business or not. So, we will just have to wait and watch to see if the Sharks even make a deal.
‘Shark Tank’ Season 13 Episode 23 airs on ABC on May 13, 2022, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Stryx, Driftline, Chill n Reel, and Springer.