For Bianca Ingrosso, Caia is not just a company: it is her alter ego. “We all have a role model we look up to, and I never had that,” Ingrosso told WWD. “I have always looked for the best version of myself. You need a person in your life who will always believe in you. So I made that person up.”
He says Caia is brave, fearless and hard-working. “Everyone has their own inner Caia,” he added. “She is the little angel on your shoulder who speaks to you in such a positive way.”
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With more than 1 million followers on Instagram and nearly 450,000 followers on TikTok, Ingrosso is one of Sweden’s biggest influencers. In 2018, she founded Caia Cosmetics with business partner Vanessa Lindblad and experienced beauty entrepreneurs Mikael Snabb and Jesper Matsch.
“I felt there was a void [in the beauty market]”There were so many dry powders and colorful pigmented products, but nothing that hydrates you with a natural, healthy glow, leaving you looking like yourself but elevated.”
Caia has since expanded from just selling makeup to offering hair care, skin care and fragrance. After starting in Sweden, the company has successfully expanded into Scandinavia as well as other European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. The United States is Caia’s final frontier.
Despite an already crowded market, the beauty industry is expected to grow from $625 billion today to $716 billion worldwide by 2025, according to a report by Grand View Research. Cosmetics sales in the US are dominated in part by celebrities like Rihanna, Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber, whose brands Fenty, Rare Beauty and Rhode generate hundreds of millions of dollars in collective revenue.
Still, Ingrosso and Caia’s chief executive officer, Johanna Eriksson Hamrén, are not worried about standing out. “We don’t have a specific recipe,” Hamrén said. “The key to success is to be agile, to be able to adapt really quickly.”
So far this spontaneous strategy has worked in Caia’s favor. According to Hamrén, the company has grown by 30 percent compared to last year, reaching revenues of more than $50 million in 2023.
But for Ingrosso and Hamrén, income is not the most important factor. “We always wait and celebrate until we see our customers receive their products, open them, try them and give us a great review,” Hamrén explained. “I think that mindset is key to what makes us tick.”
Hamrén argues that Caia’s success is a result of the “army” of devoted fans and ambassadors; It’s a formula he and Ingrosso hope to replicate among U.S.-based influencers such as Emilie Tømmerberg and Guinea Margrethe, whose combined Instagram followers exceed 1 million. was chosen to represent the brand. Caia also accumulated fans through word of mouth.
“Many of our models tell us they already know about Caia because their makeup artists have used Caia products on other shoots,” Hamrén said. “That’s when we will be successful because we need to be supported by experts.”
It doesn’t hurt that Ingrosso’s name is known, at least in Sweden. Ingrosso is a famous singer, talk show host, and former reality star in her home country. She takes an example from her mother, Pernilla Wahlgren, a singer and actress who first rose to fame in the ’80s. Ingrosso’s brothers Oliver and Benjamin are also popular musicians. The family’s reality show “Wahlgren’s World,” which Bianca regularly participated in until 2021, has led to them being compared to the Kardashians.
Ingrosso’s success as a television personality and beauty mogul is certainly similar to that of Kylie Jenner, but the influencer is hoping to cultivate a more approachable image.
“The brand has to be real,” Ingrosso insisted. “You have to feel something, you have to connect with what you’re watching.”
Caia’s originality lies in its connections to Ingrosso’s own DNA. The brand draws inspiration from its history in show business and the region’s trademark “Scandi glow”, which Caia products aim to recreate.
Earlier this year, Caia collaborated with MTV on a range of branded beauty products, marking the television network’s first-ever makeup launch. This coincided with the release of Ingrosso’s latest single, “Superstar”, a cover of Danish singer Christine Milton’s 2003 song. Ingrosso’s version has reached more than 15 million streams to date.
“In all countries, people want to have fun,” Hamrén said. “You have to keep surprising them, showing them new things and engaging with them in different ways. “You need to create something that people want to be a part of.”
While the desire to have fun is something that transcends cultures, Caia’s Scandinavian roots present a unique opportunity in the brand’s non-Scandinavian sister markets, including the United States. The region’s minimalist aesthetic and happy-go-lucky philosophy gained popularity and originated in the United States. trends in fashion and beauty.
Ingrosso’s “Scandi hairline,” a viral dyeing technique inspired by contemporary Swedish influencer Matilda Djerf, has been the subject of nearly 800 million video views on TikTok. Meanwhile, clothing brands like Djerf Avenue, owned by Djerf, and Helsa, launched by Swedish supermodel Elsa Hosk, have cashed in on clean lines and timeless silhouettes that foreigners often envy.
“We value the little things in life,” Ingrosso explained. “Our homes are our safe spaces, our shelters. We spend a lot of time on the little details, the cozy blankets, the candles, the hot tea in the afternoon. I think this [translates to Caia’s] Products: Less is more, striving for something that doesn’t actually seem like much. This is our essence.”
Caia Cosmetics is now available for purchase in the United States via the brand’s website, caiacosmetics.com.
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