Sephora has a new, plastic-free player.

One year after debuting Stateside via its direct-to-consumer website, Mexico-based cosmetics brand Aora is launching online at the prestige retailer as it doubles down on the U.S. market.

The expansion follows an earlier U.S. brick-and-mortar debut via Credo Beauty this spring, though it will be the truer test of founder and chief executive officer Nour Tayara’s hypothesis that sustainable beauty can compete beyond its niche.

“We [launched Aora] because we wanted to showcase plastic-free, but to do it in a very intentional, chic, luxurious way,” said Tayara, who debuted the brand in December 2023 alongside cofounder Rodrigo Penafiel.

Born and raised in Lebanon, Tayara previously spent 13 years at L’Oréal working in various senior marketing and sustainable innovation roles between Paris and New York before moving to Mexico, where Aora was soon born.

The brand strictly uses recyclable tin, metal and wood materials to house its products, which range in price from $22 for the Admírame pencil eyeliners to $65 for the Mírame eye shadow palette.

Aora’s heroes, however, are its hydrating and illuminating Inicia primer, $35, followed by the $28 Acaríciame solid lip serum, which comes in six shades including a translucent option.

“Aora is not only a brand for Latinos and Latinas; it is not only a brand for sustainability people, and it is not only a brand for the biggest beauty enthusiasts,” said Tayara, adding that while sustainability is Aora’s mission, it is not the brand’s strategic differentiator.

“Every study in the world will tell you that 80 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products. No one is. Once in front of the shelf, no one will pay more for a sustainable product. People will pay more for flavor, for quality, for performance.”

At Sephora, Aora joins the Clean + Planet Aware assortment, which also includes makeup players like Saie, Mango People and Wende Zomnir’s Caliray. Industry sources estimate the brand, which in February provided the makeup for the performers of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime show, could do between $3 million and $5 million during its first year at the retailer.

Sephora’s previous forays into plastic-free beauty have included the 2023 launch of solid hair care brand Superzero, which went out of business in 2025, and the 2022 induction of another solid hair care brand, Viori, which still sells online at Sephora though it hasn’t entered stores.

Aora, which is named after the Spanish word for “now,” is the first plastic-free makeup brand to enter the retailer. Though Tayara did not comment on plans to enter brick-and-mortar stores, he said inking the partnership has been “the ultimate validation.”

“At the end of the day, we have created a product and a brand that doesn’t give you those [stereotypical] signals of clean, of sustainable. That, for me, is the biggest win,” said Tayara.

Said Amy Abrams, Sephora U.S.’s senior vice president of makeup merchandising: “We’re thrilled to partner with Aora…its celebration of maximalist makeup trends and reimagined sustainability practices will resonate deeply with our Sephora community.”

In terms of what’s next for Aora, the brand looks to build out its portfolio with luxe, plastic-free iterations of more products — “think mascara, brow pencils; products with these tiny retractable pieces,” Tayara said — and further get the word out about Aora.

“We’re still a tiny brand that many people don’t know, and I think that’s what’s exciting,” said Tayara, who plans to activate not just on social and at retail, but around cultural moments like the Oscars. Aora most recently teamed with makeup artist Katey Denno on Palestinian actress Clara Khoury’s look at the 2025 ceremony, where “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which she starred in, was nominated for best international feature film.

“Building this brand, this community, and our culture — that’s our biggest opportunity, because that’s what makes us last,” he said.