Sartaj Singh
Presenting a less painful and skin-friendly alternative to waxing, Aliyah Marandiz stepped onto the stage of ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ in Season 16, episode 3 with Sugardoh, her fast-growing plant-based grooming company. As a woman of color, Marandiz struggled with the expensive and inflammatory process of waxing and created an alternative at home using simple, natural ingredients. Sugardoh aims to replace its dreaded wax counterpart with a cost-effective, at-home solution that promotes sustainability.
Sugardoh: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
The initial inspiration for Sugardoh was born out of the need for a better waxing solution. Having a dark complexion, sensitive skin, and coarse hair, Marandiz came out of a painful $60 waxing session with red, irritated skin and began searching for a subtler and smoother hair removal option. Her extensive research led to a life-changing discovery: sugaring, an alternative to waxing prevalent in the Middle East. She made the first batch of Sugardoh in her freshman dorm room kitchen using simple ingredients. Even in the first experimental batch, the results were astonishing. Compared to the inflammatory strip waxing she had been enduring, it left her skin feeling soft and smooth with half the pain, less hyperpigmentation, and fewer ingrowths.
She worked on perfecting her kitchen recipe over the next five years, treating it as a DIY project. She continued working different jobs, switching from event management and coordination to tech marketing in 2017. Working for minimal pay, Marandiz began to feel burnt out in the coming years. Her husband suggested that she begin selling her sugaring solution, and her research began anew. The budding entrepreneur discovered that sugaring kits were sold as DIY projects or at professional salons, and there were no options to buy a ready-to-use solution from a local store.
In 2020, Aliyah Marandiz started creating Sugardoh in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, with her living room becoming the first base of operations. She completed her research and development with the help of family members, discovering a manufacturer who could scale her recipe for production. In September 2020, the brand was officially launched, and Aliyah began marketing through TikTok videos. The videos served as tutorials for new users and highlighted the product’s benefits over traditional hair removal methods. One of them went viral, generating a ton of sales that continued to snowball. The entire operation till this point was bootstrapped.
Sugardoh began to resonate with younger millennial and older Gen Z women, who formed their core customer base. Realizing that the product had a learning curve for effective use, its marketing focused on tutorials and advertising it as a simpler, eco-friendly solution. As the Austin, Texas-based business expanded, Aliyah Marandiz sought to develop her own retail knowledge, which was essential for further growth. She joined the 2022 Target Takeoff Beauty Accelerator Cohort, attending five weeks of curriculum geared towards beauty brands seeking to prosper in the retail space. Marandiz put her new understanding of retail to good use, and by September 2023, three years after its launch, Sugardoh was available at 1,300 Ulta Beauty stores.
Sugardoh: Where Are They Now?
Sugardoh products can be bought from their website, Amazon, Walmart, Urban Outfitters, and Ulta Beauty. The kits are based around DOH, the viscous gel that has a firm and a medium variation. Firm DOH is beginner-friendly and can be applied anywhere, while the medium version is for those with thinner hair. They come in two color variations: mocha and coral. To apply it to the skin, reusable cloth strips, an applicator, and a facial applicator are provided in the kits or sold separately. For additional skin care, the company also sells Pre-Sugaring Body Powder to help the solution stick and Post-Sugaring Soothing Gel to heal inflammation or irritation.
The Sugaring Starter Kit is priced at $85 with a discounted rate of $68. It includes all the abovementioned items and options with a 14 oz Classic Sugaring DOH. The Essentials Kit is available for $78 after a discount brings the price down from $97. It has the addition of a Lazy Bag to carry the kit and two 6 oz Mini Sugaring DOH jars, one firm and one medium. The biggest bundle available is the Full Body Sugaring Kit, priced at $149 with a discounted rate of $98. In addition to the comprehensive list of gels and applicators, it has a Lazy Bag and two 14 oz Classic Sugaring DOH of the medium and firm variety. The Big Doh Kit (Vintage) includes six cloth strips and a 14 oz jar of Vintage Big Doh with either variation for $42 after a discount from $48.00.
The jars can be bought separately, including the 14 oz Big Doh, which costs $40 with new packaging and $32 with vintage packaging. The Mini Duo contains two 6oz jars for a discounted rate of $38, down from $50. The Mini Doh 6oz jar is available for $20, the Pre-Sugaring Body Powder costs $11, while the Post-Sugaring Soothing Gel is priced at $13. To prevent ingrown hairs, the Ingrown Magic Wand is priced at $20, offering an effective solution for smoother skin between sessions.
Sugardoh also sells essential tools individually, such as the Reusable Sugaring Applicator for $11, a set of 6 Reusable Cloth Strips for $9, and the Face Applicator, priced at $1. The Sugaring Tools Kit is priced at $16 and includes a reusable applicator, six cloth strips, and a face applicator, providing a convenient bundle of tools for sugaring. For on-the-go convenience, the Lazy Bag can be purchased separately for $24, designed to store and carry all the sugaring essentials.
Sugardoh’s retail reach continues to grow, with Urban Outfitters adding their products in March 2024. Aliyah Marandiz attended the 2024 Ulta Beauty Field Leadership Conference in April 2024, and a few months later, Sugardoh was awarded Ulta’s black-owned brand of the year. The company continues to market through e-commerce platforms like Amazon, with occasional discount sales and bundle deals. In September 2024, Sugardoh completed four successful years, going from Aliyah Marandiz’s living room to a multimillion-dollar brand.
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