Just 24 hours into its existence, Forta Cosmetics banked more than $10,000 in online sales of its sole product: a makeup-setting spray meant to withstand sweaty workouts.
A play on the phrase “for the active,” Forta was launched March 31 by Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull and her former Stanford roommate, Sarah Guller, after the duo spent years lamenting a lack of makeup that could last through their long days.
“None of the products out there are really built for the level of activity I’m doing as a professional athlete,” Hull tells Front Office Sports. “For a long time, I just accepted that I would spend 30 minutes getting ready for a game and then before warmups are even done, my makeup is all over my towel, or my jersey, or another person’s jersey.”
Forta is one of a growing group of skincare, haircare, and cosmetics companies created in recent years by female athletes—current and former, amateur and professional—amid the broader women’s sports boom. Their products vary, but they share a thesis: Sports is increasingly central to women’s lives, and the beauty industry isn’t keeping up. They share big ambitions, too.
Serial marathoner Carrie Sporer wants her showerless-shampoo brand, Swair, to become “the Lululemon of hair.” Former Division I swimmer AnnRagan Kearns wants her skincare brand, Medalist Skin, to be thought of as “Glossier meets Nike.” Guller, meanwhile, says she and Hull are striving to create an entirely new category with Forta: “the athleisure of beauty.”
