Diversity and inclusion are the primary focuses of Sephora’s well-established beauty brand. The establishment serves all backgrounds by making a commitment toward inclusion while empowering every individual. Despite this evidence, Sephora offers products from businesses backed by Israelis, who are known to cause divisiveness and hostility. Sephora operates against its fundamental corporate values that promote both diversity and unity. Sephora supports discriminatory techniques through its decision to maintain products that go against its goal of inclusivity and diversity.
Sephora should promptly exit all Israeli-funded products from its international store network because consumers insist on this action. Their move will demonstrate their continued dedication to promoting cross-platform diversity through memorable statements opposing divisive treatment.
Which Sephora brands are owned by companies with ties to Israel?
Several well-known national and international companies with Israeli business partnerships or investment alliances control brands distributed through Sephora. Estée Lauder runs both Clinique and Too Faced Cosmetics through its Israel-linked business operations. The Israeli market receives substantial financial investments from Olay while the company operates R&D facilities in Tel Aviv.
The business that operates Sephora’s parent brand, LVMH, also owns the Marc Jacobs brand along with the Tag Heuer brand, potentially leading to direct marketplace competition. Activists are focusing attention on the many Israeli business undertakings conducted by LVMH. L’Oréal controls The Body Shop through its parent business operations, as the cosmetic brand operates under a corporate group linked to Israel.
Two additional brands that sell through Sephora, including Michael Kors (owned by Capri Holdings), operate in the Israeli market. Sephora’s product lineup includes skincare products directly from Israel through their offerings of SABON and SeboCalm.
The connections between Sephora’s products and Israeli companies have led activists, along with customers, to ask Sephora to drop all Israeli-related products from their stores. Sephora’s clients, together with the company, disagree about whether selling these brands supports Israeli companies through an implicit market presence.
How does Sephora ensure its brands align with its values?
Sephora achieves its fundamental values through multiple operational approaches that include strategic initiative selection and comprehensive standards implementation alongside ongoing community participation.
Sephora uses its “We Belong to Something Beautiful” campaign to demonstrate its diversity approach while establishing a commitment to dedicate 15% of its shelf space to Black-owned businesses. The company implements inclusion as a core element of its product search and marketing by identifying brands with matching values to support.
Another important element is sustainability. Customers can find environmental products that fulfill Sephora’s rigorous standards regarding responsible sourcing and ingredient guidelines through the “Clean at Sephora” program. The company maintains its position in the expanding ethical beauty product market because it selects beauty brands that embrace cruelty-free production techniques and sustainable packaging processes.
Sephora’s Stands program promotes female entrepreneurs while providing training for transgender individuals in addition to funding local community initiatives as part of their dual commitment to societal responsibility and product development. Through these initiatives, Sephora maintains alignment between its customer touchpoints and its broad mission of fostering sustainability and promoting diversity and empowerment.
Does Sephora support Israel?
The Israel question remains complex due to Sephora’s ownership structure, together with the brands selected for their stores. LVMH’s Sephora retail chain came under fire from pro-Palestinian activists following Chief Executive Bernard Arnault’s decision to support companies based in Israel. Some of Sephora’s product choices allow customers to fund businesses that back Israeli interests, leading boycott supporters to charge that Sephora quietly supports Israel.
How much did Sephora sales decline during the boycott?
Part of the LVMH company’s US market decline resulted from Sephora experiencing a modest 3% sales decrease during the 2025 first quarter, according to earnings reports. A combination of competitive pricing from Amazon, economic uncertainty, softer beauty product demand, and market saturation resulted in this sales decline, rather than just boycott campaigns being the sole cause. Sephora’s sales slump has raised questions about potential boycotts, yet investigators have not established a causal link between political events and store revenue declines.
What impact has the boycott had on Sephora’s brand reputation?
The customer boycott campaigns have dragged Sephora into major political conflicts and social controversies that have damaged but did not destroy the company’s reputation. Social media reactions have divided public opinions while causing widespread public discussion that centers on two main issues: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and different influencer business deals. Sephora faces damage to its reputation because customers perceive either political partisanship or insufficient action regarding diversity concerns and political sensitivities. A 2019 glitch in Instagram’s delivery to Israel and Palestine triggered major disputes that damaged the brand’s reputation.
Sephora’s image became politically charged after terminating its partnership with Amanda Ensing because of their differing political viewpoints, leading to boycotts and counter-activism campaigns. As part of its commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, Sephora issued public statements about its values while also closing its stores for diversity education programs. The organization maintains attention from activists and consumer groups who sustain ongoing demands to boycott the company. The boycotts made Sephora act cautiously while making the company vulnerable to continuous reputation damage from social and political challenges.
Sephora Boycott: Impact on social media and customer sentiment
Social media activity about Sephora was greatly increased by the boycott, but a large portion of it was divisive and unfavorable. During the Amanda Ensing scandal, #boycottsephora was used by both political sides, causing a viral snowball effect in the discussion over Sephora’s stance on issues. Customer opinions diverged significantly. Following its breakup with Ensing, several users accused Sephora of being anti-conservative or restricting free speech, while others denounced the company for its association with problematic figures.
Customers of both political parties, as well as apolitical voices, voiced their dissatisfaction, and many suggested moving to rivals like Ulta. Fake and actual accounts were made just to stoke the topic because the criticism was so widespread.
Additionally, research indicates that, as a worldwide company, Sephora has little control over the narrative and facts that circulate on social media. While adept at official messages, it struggles with regulating hashtag discussions, vulnerable to sudden shifts from viral boycott movements.
