Key Takeaways:
Germany, not the UK, should be most US beauty brands’ first move into Europe.Online proof of concept is the only way to get a serious shot at German retail.Multiple distributors don’t create growth in Europe. One strong, exclusive partner does.
When US beauty brands think about expanding into Europe, the playbook is almost always the same: start with the UK, leverage the shared language, and go from there. It’s logical. It’s comfortable. And according to Philipp Mehler, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based beauty distribution company Purish, it’s almost always the wrong move.
Mehler founded Purish roughly seven years ago after a decade working in German retail, where he noticed a stubborn structural gap: The country’s largest drugstore chains had virtually no interest in influencer-driven marketing, even as it was reshaping the beauty industry everywhere else. That gap, he argues, created a massive opportunity—one that Purish has since grown into a €30 million ($35.5 million) business, helping brands from Geek & Gorgeous to RevitaLash and Minimalist scale across 11 European markets and into the US.
The company operates across three pillars: its own e-commerce platform (purish.com), marketplace management across Amazon and platforms like Zalando and Douglas, and full retail distribution through a network of 29 retail partners and 6,200+ brick-and-mortar stores. From influencer marketing to performance ads to trade marketing and events, everything is handled in-house by a 55-person team.
BeautyMatter sat down with Mehler to talk about what US brands get wrong when they enter Europe, why the German market rewards patience in ways others don’t, and what it actually takes to go from online hype to retail shelf.
You started Purish after working in retail management and witnessing how German retailers weren’t well versed in influencer culture. What specific moment made you realize there was a business opportunity there?
Nearly ten years ago, while working in retail management, I proposed an in-store influencer activation for one of Germany’s largest beauty retailers. Instead of excitement, the reaction was panic. The CMO shut it down immediately. Influencers, I was told, required months of internal approvals—and were fundamentally risky because social media couldn’t be fully controlled.
That moment was eye-opening. It wasn’t resistance to a single campaign; it exposed a structural gap in the German market. Retailers deliberately stayed out of influencer-led demand creation, believing that driving traffic and relevance was solely the brand’s responsibility. What surprised me most is how little that mindset has changed. And that gap—between cultural relevance and retail execution—is exactly why I founded Purish. We work on behalf of brands, partnering with local experts and creators to turn social influence into something retailers understand best: measurable, in-store sales.
You called Germany the hidden champion of the beauty industry that US brands underestimate. Why should American brands prioritize Germany over the UK?
Germany is actually the biggest cosmetics market in Europe, with more than 80 million potential consumers. If a brand succeeds here, it creates a natural springboard into neighboring markets like Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, which are culturally and commercially closely linked.
The retail landscape is another major advantage. Germany is home to Europe’s most powerful drugstore chains—DM and Rossmann together operate more than 4,500 stores in Germany alone. These retailers have enormous reach, high shopper frequency, and a level of consumer trust that is genuinely hard to match elsewhere in Europe.
Many US brands prioritize the UK as their first step, often because of the language and perceived cultural proximity. But the UK is an extremely crowded market, with strong domestic brands and a high concentration of international players all competing for very limited shelf space. Germany, by contrast, offers scale, purchasing power, and a consumer base that is highly loyal once trust is established. German shoppers are less trend-hyped, but when a product delivers value, they stick with it—and they buy repeatedly. For brands willing to invest in education and credibility, Germany isn’t just an alternative to the UK. It’s often the smarter first move into Europe.
You mentioned that Purish got into trouble early on for reselling brands without permission. What did that experience teach you?
In the very early days, we wanted to move fast and validate our idea before overbuilding something that might not work. So we did what felt pragmatic at the time: We sourced products directly from US brand webstores and started selling them in Germany to test demand. The brands quickly noticed and blocked us, formally asking us to stop.
It was one of the most valuable lessons we could have learned. First, it showed us how difficult cross-border commerce really is. Customers had to pay high shipping costs and duties, wait weeks for delivery, and sometimes received damaged products. That was clearly not a customer experience anyone would want to scale. But more importantly, it taught us that distribution without partnership is a dead end. We naively believed building brand partnerships would be easy if there was demand. The reality is different: Finding the right timing, the right internal stakeholder, and aligning incentives takes real patience and persistence. But once those partnerships are established, they tend to be long-lasting and built on trust.
Your approach is to build awareness online and on marketplaces before moving into brick-and-mortar retail. Why is that sequence so critical in the German market?
That sequence is critical because the German beauty market is extremely concentrated. A small number of large retailers control the majority of market share, which means you usually get only one real chance to launch. If a brand enters too early—without demand or proof of relevance—it can fail quickly, and in many cases, that door stays closed permanently.
That’s why we follow a step-by-step approach. Before going into brick-and-mortar retail, we build awareness and demand across digital channels, marketplaces, and performance-driven marketing. This allows us to prove that the brand resonates with German consumers and that our marketing messages actually convert, not just in theory, but in real numbers. By the time we approach retail, we’re not selling a story or a beautiful keynote presentation. We’re bringing data: sell-through, repeat purchase, community feedback, and clear demand signals. That de-risks the launch for everyone involved. In Germany, credibility beats hype.
You handle everything from performance marketing to influencer relations to trade marketing in-house. What’s the biggest marketing mistake you see US brands make when entering Europe?
The biggest mistake is that many US brands rely too heavily on their popularity at home. A strong following or a well-known ambassador is absolutely an asset, but in Europe—and especially in Germany—it’s no longer enough on its own. We’ve seen brands launch with big names and strong US momentum, only to struggle once they hit the German market. The reality is that local competition is fierce. There are brands almost unknown in the US, but extremely successful in Germany because they’re deeply embedded in the consumer mindset. Winning here means convincing highly loyal customers to switch to a brand they may not know yet, and that requires much more than borrowed awareness.
Price positioning is another critical factor. German consumers are price-sensitive and highly rational. If a brand enters at too high a price point, it becomes very difficult to justify that premium on quality alone, no matter how strong the branding is. And then there’s fragmentation—when brands work with multiple agencies across performance marketing, influencers, PR, and trade marketing, alignment becomes incredibly difficult. Data lives in silos, and brands end up flying blind. That’s exactly why we do everything in-house: It allows us to control the communication and connect marketing data directly with sales performance.
