e.l.f. × Liquid Death: A Challenger-Brand Collab That Sold Out in 45 Minutes
Two self-declared challenger brands built a black-metal makeup vault, sold it out in 45 minutes, and came back two years later with lip balms shaped like beverage cans.
The partnership at a glance
e.l.f. Cosmetics and non-alcoholic beverage brand Liquid Death paired their shared irreverent, challenger-brand identities into a black-metal-themed makeup vault called Corpse Paint, released in March 2024. Nearly two years later, in January 2026, they returned with Lip Embalms — a lip balm line packaged as miniature Liquid Death cans.
Both drops leaned on a shared original character, "Glothar," and cross-promoted through TikTok Shop, e.l.f.'s Roblox experience, and original music and ad content.
Category and timeline
- Category: Beauty × beverage (CPG co-marketing)
- First drop: March 2024 — "Corpse Paint"
- Second drop: January 2026 — "Lip Embalms"
- Channels: TikTok Shop, Roblox, original music and video
The results
- 45 minutes to sell out the 2024 drop
- Millions of social video views on the first release
- Two drops across 2024 and 2026 — a confirmed repeat collaboration
Why it worked
Neither brand had to explain itself to the other's audience. Both are self-described challenger brands built on the same joke: taking a category that takes itself seriously and refusing to. That shared identity is why the creative could go as far as it did — a black-metal makeup vault would read as a misfire for almost any other beauty brand.
The invented character gave the collaboration continuity. Glothar meant the second drop was a sequel rather than a restart, and it gave both brands a shared asset neither owned alone. And by routing the launch through TikTok Shop and Roblox rather than a traditional retail window, the partnership met the audience where the fandom already lived.
What partnership teams should take from it
- Brand-fit-driven virality beats reach-driven pairing. Audience overlap matters less than tonal overlap.
- Build a shared asset — a character, a world, a running joke — so drop two costs less than drop one.
- Selling out fast is a distribution decision as much as a demand signal. Scarcity is a lever, not an accident.
Sources
e.l.f. Beauty newsroom and investor relations; Beauty Packaging; Marketing Dive; MediaPost (March 2024, January 2026). Figures are as officially disclosed or reported by named outlets and have not been independently audited.
Last updated September 5, 2026.