Aeluna Beauty was an Indonesian skincare-infused makeup brand founded by influencers Almiranti Fira and Nadya Aqilla. The brand specialised in lip oil products that combined makeup with skincare benefits. Launched in the early 2020s, Aeluna Beauty rode the wave of Indonesia's social-commerce beauty boom, selling primarily through platforms like Shopee, Tokopedia, and Instagram.
In early December 2024, Aeluna Beauty announced its permanent closure. The brand was one of at least six Indonesian local beauty brands that shut down that year, in what industry observers called a 'Local Brand Winter'. The primary causes were intense competition from Chinese beauty brands with larger marketing budgets, rising digital advertising costs on e-commerce platforms, and a tightening of investor funding as the market became increasingly crowded.
As an influencer-founded brand, Aeluna Beauty had early access to social-media distribution and a ready audience. But influencer buzz proved insufficient to build the repeat-purchase dynamics needed to survive when better-funded competitors flooded the market with similar products at lower prices. Within roughly two years of launch, the brand was forced to close.
Rode influencer buzz to early sales, but Chinese rivals spending 30-40% of revenue on marketing and rising ad costs left no margins, so the brand closed after two years.
Aeluna Beauty competed in Indonesia's crowded beauty market where Chinese brands spent 30-40% of revenue on marketing, far outpacing local brands
As an influencer-founded brand, Aeluna had early social-media traction but could not convert that buzz into the repeat purchase and brand loyalty needed to survive
The brand's focus on a single category (lip oil with skincare benefits) gave it limited room to pivot when competition intensified and prices fell
Investor funding for Indonesian beauty startups dried up during the 'Local Brand Winter' of 2024, and brands without sustainable unit economics were the first to lose backing
Influencer buzz is not a business model. When well-funded competitors saturated the category, the brand had neither margins nor differentiation to survive.
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