There are skincare brands that sell products, and then there are skincare brands that change the conversation.
Topicals, founded by Olamide Olowe, has become one of the most influential names in modern beauty, merging clinical credibility with cultural relevance in a way few brands have mastered. Now, with Topicals reportedly raising funding of over $22.6 million, Olowe’s position as one of the most exciting founders in the global beauty landscape feels even more confirmed.
In an era where consumers are increasingly skeptical, exhausted by marketing noise, and more informed than ever, Topicals has built what most brands spend years chasing: trust, identity, and real loyalty.
And it has done so while speaking to the customers beauty has historically ignored.
A Founder Who Understood the Moment
Topicals arrived at the perfect intersection of need and nuance. Skincare has never been more popular, but the emotional relationship consumers have with skincare has become deeper. People are no longer only buying for glow. They are buying for confidence, comfort, and clarity.
Olamide Olowe’s genius was understanding that the industry had an honesty problem.
Acne, hyperpigmentation, eczema, flare-ups, texture, scarring, inflammation. These are not niche experiences, they are everyday realities. Yet for years, mainstream beauty treated them like they should be hidden. Many brands spoke in the language of perfection, while consumers lived in the reality of unpredictability.
Topicals did the opposite. It named the issue, met it with science, and then made the conversation feel modern.
Not clinical. Not shameful. Just real.
What Makes Topicals Different
At its core, Topicals is a skincare brand with serious product performance. The formulas are built for results, and the messaging is grounded in real concerns that consumers face.
But Topicals’ true power is that it has become a cultural brand.
Everything from its packaging to its community strategy reflects an understanding of internet language and identity. It speaks fluently to Gen Z, not as a brand trying to keep up, but as one that belongs there.
It is the kind of brand that understands skincare is not just beauty. It is mental health. It is self-image. It is routine. It is self-protection. It is the soft confidence of feeling seen.
In a crowded industry, being seen is the difference between selling and scaling.
Raising Over $22.6M Is Not Just a Financial Milestone
Funding is often framed as a simple win. But in beauty, especially for founder-led brands that are reshaping the industry from the inside out, funding is power.
It means the brand can scale operationally.
It means it can invest in research and product development.
It means it can strengthen its retail footprint.
It means it can build deeper supply chains, stronger inventory systems, and a better customer experience.
Most importantly, it means the founder can take up more space.
For Olamide Olowe, this funding milestone signals investor confidence not only in Topicals as a product line, but in the brand as a long-term business with global potential.
And in 2026, that is not a small statement.
Beauty investors have become sharper, more conservative, and more selective. Growth is no longer about noise, it is about retention, repeat purchase, and sustainable influence.
Topicals has proven it can build all three.
The Rise of “Problem-Solving Beauty” That Still Feels Aspirational
Topicals sits within a major movement reshaping beauty right now: clinical, problem-solving skincare that still feels stylish, desirable, and premium.
Today’s consumer does not want to choose between results and aesthetics. They want both.
They want the science to be real, but they also want the brand to feel like them.
They want a routine that works, but they still want it to look good on their shelf.
They want transparency, but they also want to feel excited.
Topicals understands that modern luxury is not always about price point. It is about precision. Thoughtfulness. Identity. Credibility. Experience.
This is what makes Topicals feel elevated.
Olamide Olowe Is Building More Than a Brand
Olowe represents a new generation of beauty founders who are not simply entering the industry, but rewriting it.
She has built Topicals with the kind of emotional intelligence that has become essential in modern beauty. Consumers do not want to feel like a sales target. They want to feel understood.
For years, beauty marketed to a fantasy that left millions out. Topicals is part of a wave that has brought the industry closer to the truth, without losing aspiration.
That is not easy.
It is rare.
And it is why the brand’s trajectory has felt so unstoppable.
The Bigger Picture: What Topicals’ Growth Signals for Beauty
Topicals raising over $22.6 million is not only significant for the brand itself. It is significant for the industry.
It shows investors are still backing beauty, but they are backing brands with depth.
It shows founder-led companies can still win, even in a cautious market.
It shows community-first strategies can scale commercially.
It shows skincare that speaks honestly can still be premium and desirable.
Most importantly, it reflects a shift that has been building for years: the future of beauty belongs to brands that combine performance with culture.
Topicals is not simply selling skincare.
It is selling relief.
It is selling reassurance.
It is selling the feeling of not being alone in your skin.
