Was Jessica Simpson’s Edible Cosmetics Line Successful?
Jessica Simpson has been making headlines since the late 1990s when she first began her music career. Like many other stars, she has since dabbled in other industries, releasing plenty of branded merchandise and even earning her own reality TV show. It’s hard to remain popular for multiple decades, and it’s even harder to live in the public eye for over twenty years without making a few mistakes. Simpson’s 2004 debut of Dessert Beauty — a completely edible cosmetics line — was one-of-a-kind … so, at the very least, the complaints were unique as well.
Jessica Simpson’s career has gone through many evolutions
Long before Katy Perry did it, Simpson was beginning her music career in religious services. As a young girl, the future star would perform with her church choir, even getting signed by a Christian record label at the age of 14. Although the contract eventually fell through, she continued touring with religious groups and youth conferences. As time wore on, however, Simpson’s famous figure caused problems with the Christian community. Fox News recalls a famous comment from Simpson’s parents: She was “deemed too sexy for the genre.” Luckily for her career (and for listeners everywhere), Hollywood took notice of Simpson’s work in the holy world. According to IMDb, it was Columbia Records’ Tommy Mottola who first discovered the star.
Before long, she was releasing her first album, Sweet Kisses. The debut went double-platinum, an undoubtedly impressive feat. Still, this achievement would pale in comparison to her third release, In This Skin, which went quadruple-platinum and brought hoards of fans to every concert. Soon, the star had her own reality show, Newlyweds, which followed the life of Simpson and her first husband, Nick Lachey. The additional publicity helped with the promotion of her clothing line and fragrances. It seemed that Simpson could dominate every existing market. Ready for a challenge, she invented her own.
Dessert Beauty was an edible cosmetics line
The early 2000s were full of questionable fashion decisions, and Simpson was determined to extend that weirdness to cosmetics. Dessert Beauty hit shelves in 2004, offering fragrances, body creams, and mists that could double as snacks. Although many respected the novelty of the products, the complaints they received were as bizarre as the goods themselves. Bustle fondly recalled one customer reporting that they were “followed everywhere by bees.”
The brand also received flack for creating hyper-sexualized advertisements for products targeting children, according to InStyle. Despite all of these exciting challenges, the true downfall of Dessert Beauty was much less interesting. The company had succeeded enough to earn its manufacturers $1 million in profits. Unfortunately, Dessert failed to hand over 20% of those earnings. A fierce legal battle, coinciding with relationship drama for Simpson, led the company to instability and, eventually, collapse.
Simpson’s recent ventures have been more successful
Of course, no one should be judged by their early 2000s self. Simpson’s recent endeavors — in business and relationships — have been much more successful. Following her split from Nick Lachey and years of on-again, off-again with John Mayer, Simpson married Eric Johnson. The pair now have three adorable children and tout their status of being #FamilyGoals across all social media platforms.
In 2020, Simpson released her memoir, Open Book. It was incredibly well-received, helping the star to earn a partnership with Amazon Studios. According to Screen Rant, one of the upcoming projects will be a scripted television show based on the book. Needless to say, we’re eagerly anticipating Simpson’s return to the screen.
