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Deciem is a Toronto-based company that manufactures cosmetics products for worldwide distribution. The company owns and operates ten brands, including the popular skincare brand The Ordinary. Nicola Kilner currently serves as Deciem's CEO.

Background
Deciem was founded by Brandon Truaxe in 2013. Truaxe, a former computer programmer, started Deciem after his previous business failed. Pasquale Cusano, a previous business partner of Truaxe, invested in Deciem and continues to be a shareholder of the company in addition to holding a position on its board of directors. Truaxe started the company upon harbouring dissatisfaction with his previous business ventures in the beauty industry, and the state of the beauty industry at the time. He states that the “beauty industry is a scam” with existing brands’ dishonest practices in terms of their marketing, pricing and formulation. By launching his own beauty company, Truaxe sought to do the opposite of other companies in the industry by being transparent with its consumers. Truaxe came up with the name Deciem from the tern decima (decimals in English) which means ‘ten’ in Latin. A company representative said that the name was inspired by Truaxe’s past experiences wherein “everyone was always telling him not to do ten things at once, and he wanted to do exactly that”.

During its launch, Deciem only had three employees, with Truaxe playing an active role as the company’s CEO. Its earliest products included oral supplement from the brand Fountain and an anti-aging hand product branded Hand Chemistry. Hand Chemistry quickly became popular especially in the UK where it is sold in the drugstore Boots. Its success is partially attributed to people using the hand cream on their face with reportedly great results.

Deciem experienced rapid growth with sales reaching $50 million in just over a year of operation, with 4 brands and 30 products. Within three years, Deciem served as an umbrella company for ten different brands, each with its own product lines, shipping 2.5 million units of products to 12,000 stores worldwide.

Products
Deciem is known for its affordable pricing, sold in conjunction with higher priced products, and higher concentration of ingredients, compared to luxury skincare brands that contain the same ingredients. By focusing on creating products with ingredients that are commonly manufactured and easily sourced, Deciem is able to keep its prices low compared to its competitors. In a Wired magazine interview, former CEO Brandon Truaxe states that he maintains control over the product creation and branding, with the “lab work, manufacturing and marketing” done in-house. According to Truaxe, keeping all operations internal allows coordination and control between all departments of the business in addition to helping lower costs.

Deciem does not test on animals and does not sell in China where animal testing is required for product registration. The company also claims that all products across all of its brands are free of parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, animal oils, coal tar dyes, formaldehyde, mercury, oxybenzone.

Distribution
Deciem first launched its products online, through the company’s website, and to select drugstores such as Boots in the UK. After gaining success and rapid growth, Deciem has opened over 40 physical stores in Canada, US, UK, Australia, South Korea, Mexico and the Netherlands, with more slated to open in the future. Deciem temporarily pulled its products from Sephora in 2018, reportedly due to payment issues.

Branding
The company positions itself as separate and different compared to other brands in the beauty industry as shown on their tagline “THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY”. The company seeks to embody this through the company distancing itself from more traditional approaches seen throughout the beauty industry.

Social Media
As a beauty brand, Deciem is known for its strong social media presence. This large social media following was integral to the company’s growth during its' first few years of operation. The company runs an Instagram account filled with posts regarding the company’s products, operations and announcements accompanied with lengthy captions. Deciem also uses its Instagram account to connect to its followers, answering numerous comments on every post and even showing day to day business operations. This has earned Deciem a reputation for being intimate and honest with its followers, creating an authentic brand to consumer relationship.

Truaxe, known for his candor and quirky personality, regularly appeared on the company’s social media to post content, videos and chat with their online followers.

The Ordinary
The Ordinary is one of Deciem’s most popular brands, widely known for its affordable pricing with prices not exceeding $15. The Ordinary focuses on individual ingredients targeting a specific issue, which can be used together and layered on top of each other. The brand uses the tagline “Clinical formulations with integrity”. Products sold by The Ordinary includes skincare, haircare, sun care and makeup.

NIOD
NIOD, which stands for Non-Invasive Option in Dermal Science, is a more intensive skincare line from Deciem. The brand offers products at a higher price range than The Ordinary. In addition to online distribution, NIOD is also sold at Urban Outfitters, Forty Five Ten, Shen Beauty, B-glowing and Joyus stores in the US.

Hylamide
Hylamide claims to promote a minimalist approach to skincare by offering “multi-depth [and] multi-function formulas”. The brand’s products are sectioned off into three separate groups: the Core Series is an “advanced daily treatments to clean, prep and treat skin”, the Booster Series is a offers concentrated treatments such as serums meant to target specific skin issues, and the Finisher Series described as a “collection of skin-perfecting” formulations.

The Chemistry Brand
The Chemistry Brand (previously known as Hand Chemistry) is Deciem’s first product line. The brand previously only sold a hand cream called Hand Chemistry which quickly became popular in the UK after customers reportedly started using it on their face, with favorouable results. In addition to Hand Chemistry, the Chemistry Brand now offers a variety of body products including self-tanners, deodorant and a group of products that minimizes hair regrowth called Inhibitif.

Fountain
Fountain promotes a line of ingestible liquid supplements promising a range of results from making skin glow to maintaining happiness and counteracting the effects of stress. In addition to online retail, products are also available for purchase at US stores such as Anthropologie, Free People, Net-a-Porter, Urban Outfitters, and Ulta Beauty.

HIF
HIF is Deciem’s haircare line that offers a variety of cleansing conditioners that each addresses a specific haircare issue such as volume, frizz, and anti-aging. The brand employs the tagline “professional cleaning for hair”.

Ab Crew
The Ab Crew is described as Deciem’s product line targeted towards men, offering dietary supplements, grooming products, and bath and body products. The Ab Crew’s body and fitness products often claim to fight fat and smoothen skin.

Estée Lauder Investment
In June 2018, Estée Lauder Companies bought 28% of the controlling shares of Deciem for $50 million, making the company an equal partner of Deciem to Truaxe and Cusano. When news broke of the Estée Lauder investment, customers quickly expressed their disagreement and fear that Deciem had “sold out” and would change its formula, increase its prices, and would cease to be cruelty free. Then CEO Brandon Truaxe penned a letter which was released online, and on their website, to reassure fans that the “partnership” with Estée Lauder would not change the company. Truaxe cited that the small company could no longer support the consumer demand for their products and the rapid growth of Deciem without outside financial help. Andrew Ross, the Executive Vice President of Strategy and New Business development at Estée Lauder Companies, currently represents the company on Deciem’s board of members, along with Pasquale Cusano.

Instagram Account
In January 2018, Deciem’s former CEO Brandon Truaxe seized total control of the company’s Instagram page. Followers expressed their concern over Truaxe’s seemingly unprofessional and erratic behavior as he used the company’s Instagram page for personal posts unrelated to the company.

Additionally, Truaxe used the Instagram page for internal communications, and to severe ties to suppliers and partners. Truaxe also used Deciem’s Instagram account to publicly insult commenters and blocked those that criticized his actions and Deciem. Truaxe’s online actions resulted in people calling for a boycott of The Ordinary’s products by setting the products on fire.

Truaxe continued to post various content on Deciem’s Instagram account, the contents of which heavily confused followers and reportedly led to people unfollowing the company’s social media page. Many speculated that Truaxe’s behavior may be due to a deeper mental issue and his subsequent drug use, which lead to his multiple hospitalization.

Labour Issues
Following Truaxe’s social media tirade, numerous negative Glassdoor reviews surfaced from former employees about the chaos and bullying in the workplace, far from the loving company Deciem promotes to its followers. Soon after, news of mass firings by Truaxe broke out. Among those fired was Truaxe’s co-CEO Nicola Kilner, described as someone who balanced Truaxe’s personality. Reasons regarding Kilner’s firing remains disputed but many believe that Kilner voiced concerns about Truaxe’s mental health to Shamin Mohamed Jr., Deciem’s Director of Operations, a conversation that Truaxe later discovered and led to Kilner’s firing. Despite this, Truaxe vehemently denied firing Kilner. After these events, Deciem’s CFO Stephen Kaplan resigned from the company. Truaxe publicly shared emails regarding the aforementioned events. In a move that surprised many, Truaxe later on announced through Deciem’s Instagram on July 3, 2018 that Kilner has returned to Deciem.

Company Shut Down
On October 8, 2018, Truaxe announced through a video posted on Deciem’s Instagram that the company “will shut down all operation until further notice”. In the video, Truaxe accused several employees of being involved in major financial criminal activities and even threatened several people, including celebrities and other beauty companies. Following the announcement, sent a mass email to employees to close all stores and stated that any employee that comes in will be fired. He also ordered for the company’s website to be replaced with a plain black screen. Prior to the shutdown, co-CEO Nicola Kilner was once again fired by Truaxe.

Removal of Truaxe
Following the events, Estée Lauder legally filed to remove Truaxe from the company in an Ontario court. Mark Gelowitz, Estée Lauder’s attorney alluded that Truaxe’s mental health was declining and that Truaxe went behind the company’s back with his actions. A judge ordered for an investigation of Truaxe’s claims of financial crime. During this time, the company reappointed Kilner to act as interim CEO for Deciem and subsequently deleted several of Truaxe’s social media posts, returning to more traditional and professional marketing. A judge ordered for an investigation of Truaxe’s claims of financial crime. During this time, the company reappointed Kilner to act as interim CEO for Deciem and subsequently deleted several of Truaxe’s social media posts, returning to more traditional and professional marketing. Former CFO Stephen Kaplan was also rehired. Stores quickly reopened and a statement was released on Deciem’s Instagram page following Truaxe’s removal from the company.

Truaxe attempted to enter stores in London and New York following the court order and was promptly escorted out of the stores. On January 2019, Brandon Truaxe was found dead outside his apartment building. Estée Lauder and Deciem paid tribute to the founder through a corporate statement released on Instagram after Kilner confirmed the news through a mass email and ordered for all stores and corporate offices to be closed for the day to pay tribute to Truaxe.