Case study
Sun-soaked. Irreverent. And unmistakably Californian. Caliray was built different. As co-founder and Creative Director, I shaped the brand from an idea piece of paper into a breakout industry star with international Sephora distribution.
The name, world, product architecture, storytelling, visual identity, packaging, campaigns, Sephora rollout, and more … all flowed through me.
Process
Creating a world, not just a brand
Laidback looks. Joyride vibes. Caliray was more than just a pretty moodboard. It was a poetic love letter to California that could transport anyone anywhere to our little slice of beauty heaven. I developed the brand’s voice, tone, and visual ethos. Think charmingly off-the-wall and unapologetically sexy with just enough bite to keep things interesting. We were the upstart of the clean beauty space. No quiet, safe, black & white packaging with a serif font found here.
Building the creative infrastructure
Once the world was defined, I built the system underneath - for the structural elements that would guide every product, campaign, and retail moment, including:
visual identity + design system
naming conventions
campaign language
brand pillars + messaging hierarchy
packaging narratives
education frameworks
Sephora merchandising strategy
creative standards for photo, film, UGC, and digital
My goal: give Caliray a consistent look & feel … one that shoppers recognized before they saw the logo.
Bringing icons to market
Each Caliray product had to disrupt its lane with iconic looks, names and formulas. Our launches functioned as a chapter in a larger world - not just a SKU. I led campaign concepts, product positioning & naming, education materials, casting, photoshoots, DTC storytelling, and Sephora launch narratives for the entire portfolio.
This was clean performance beauty with formulas that actually worked … and vibes that felt like an escape into the sun with the perfect "no-makeup" makeup look and a free margarita.
Outcome
Caliray quickly became one of Sephora’s fastest-ramping indie launches in its first 12 months. Our aesthetic and brand personality were unmatched. That warm, irreverent, sun-drenched escapes you now see mood-boarded across the category? Caliray was one of the first to crystallize it, and my creative direction helped set that tone from day one.
Conquering Retail
After launching with a DTC site in 2021, Caliray expanded to Sephora.com by the end of the year with all four of our initial products featured. The 2022 in-store debut included a front-table exposure across +500 Sephora stores in the US and Canada, permanent footprint on a single shelf, and a digital blast across Sephora social, web, app, email, and SMS. We also helped Sephora pioneer a nationwide Pact Collective recycling partnership and program inside all Sephora US stores.
I designed the full product architecture, naming conventions, launch cadence, and campaign systems that structured the brand’s first three years - resulting in seven consecutive sellouts for So Blown Primer, multiple best-in-class ROAS performance campaigns with Allure, and +276% YoY web traffic growth. Social channels grew from zero to 38k Instagram and 70k TikTok followers. Our little corner of the beauty world was the place to be.
Earning Industry Accolades
Awards started pouring in, including: Marie Claire Changemaker Award (Beauty, 2022) for my leadership as well as product wins in 2022 & 2023 from Allure, ELLE, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, PopSugar, SELF, and The Kit. The industry message was clear: both brand world and its formula were hitting.
Caliray reshaped its corner of the beauty world. It became a brand with clarity, conviction, and enough creative pull to turn a concept into a category presence.
