Fazit Glitter Freckles: How Taylor Swift Helped Turn a Cult Brand Viral (3,500% Surge + 7-Figure Weekend)
In this episode, Andi sits down with Aliett Buttelman, co-founder of Phase It Beauty, the brand behind the viral glitter freckle makeup patches worn by Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, and thousands of festival girls around the world.
They talk about how a “witch in a dorm room” and a self-proclaimed consultant turned a COVID-side project into a multi-million-dollar, profitable company stocked in Walmart, CVS, Amazon, Urban Outfitters, and more—all with under $200,000 raised and a whole lot of scrappy execution.
From the reality of viral moments and fulfillment nightmares to Inc. Female Founders lists, manifestation rituals, and beauty industry fundraising, this is a grounded look at what it really takes to build a playful, maximalist brand that still runs like a serious business.
Andi and Aliett share:
How Phase It Beauty started with “unsexy” skin patches for bumps, ingrowns, and scars—and morphed into the first-ever glitter freckle makeup patches.
The early viral moments on TikTok and Instagram, and why Patch Peel content became their core growth engine.
The Coachella catalyst: how two non-influencer girls wearing samples to the festival sold out 100,000 units before product even hit the warehouse.
The Taylor Swift earthquake: exactly how they strategized getting product near Taylor’s world, what happened on the night she wore the gold glitter freckles, and how Phase It handled seven figures in 48 hours.
How two twenty-somethings in New York—“a consultant and a witch making potions”—became co-founders, and why their friendship came after the business.
The division of strengths: back-end product development and logistics versus front-end branding, retail, and strategy.
The money side: 100+ VC rejections, a $50K accelerator check, a modest friends-and-family round, and how they stayed profitable and cash-flow-driven.
Why Aliett believes the “pitch deck and a dream” fundraising era is over—and what early-stage founders should focus on instead.
Her manifestation practice for calling in rooms, recognition, and big moments like the Inc. Female Founders 500.
The reality of scaling fast at 29—learning to lead, manage, and make operational decisions on the move.
The Patch • Peel • Play Framework
Phase It’s story shows up in a simple framework you can apply to your own product or brand—even if you’re not in beauty.
1. Patch: Start with something practical
Phase It began with problem-solving products:
Acne scar patches
Ingrown hair patches
Nose pore patches
XL shapes for areas other brands ignored
These were not glamorous products. They were useful, specific, and visually satisfying. That “useful but oddly compelling” energy made them perfect for social.
2. Peel: Lean into what people can’t stop watching
Across platforms, one thing became clear:
People loved watching the patch peel off.
Before-and-after content performed again and again.
The visual reveal did the selling.
Instead of chasing every trend, they doubled down on Patch Peel content—over and over, across formats and product types.
3. Play: Turn utility into joy
A year into the skincare patches, the team noticed their community loved experimenting with makeup.
Nina, Aliett’s co-founder, quietly started testing a new idea: cosmetic patches that would apply glitter freckles and faux freckles with a cosmetic adhesive.
They launched:
Gold glitter freckles
Silver glitter freckles
Faux freckle patches
Within hours, a simple Coachella seeding play turned Patch + Peel into a new category: playful, maximalist makeup patches that still borrowed the ease and precision of skincare patches.
Cult-Brand Beauty Moves to Steal
You may not be building a glitter freckle brand, but these moves translate across categories:
Go where your people already gather
Phase It gained early traction by recognizing that TikTok loved Patch Peel content and feeding that appetite.
Coachella became a strategic testing ground: a dense concentration of their exact customer in one place, primed for experimentation and photos.
Make a bold, ownable visual signature
Glitter freckles are instantly recognizable.
On Taylor’s face, on a stranger at a concert, or on a shelf, you know what you’re looking at.
The product itself is the content—no complicated tutorial required.
Use maximalism with intention
On TikTok: chaos, experimentation, and volume.
On Instagram: a curated, differentiated aesthetic that doesn’t look like every other beauty brand grid.
They let each platform do what it does best instead of trying to force a single, polished identity everywhere.
Founders to Watch
Aliett calls out 4AM Skin as a brand to keep an eye on:
Minimalist, clean, skin-first products that sit on the opposite end of the spectrum from Phase It’s maximalism—but serve the same girl at different moments.
Strong founder-led content from Jade, who has turned honest storytelling and education into real brand equity.
A product journey that looks a lot like the customer’s day: go out in glitter, come home and treat your skin.
Together, these brands sketch a new kind of beauty consumer: playful, informed, and unbothered by old rules.
Ways to Go Deeper with Oui, We Studio
If you’re building a brand, especially in beauty, CPG, or founder-led spaces, here are ways to stay close to these conversations:
Out of Office Club — A community for founders and creatives who want monthly challenges, grounded strategy, and a front-row seat to Andi’s dual journey with Oui, We Studio and Casa Noon.
Smart Girls Mastermind & Intensives — Higher-touch support for founders navigating fundraising, product launches, or brand repositioning who want an experienced founder in their corner.
Casa Noon Updates — Follow along as a hydration-first, sun-drenched beauty brand is built from scratch: from manufacturer pivots to investor conversations to launch strategy.
The Swift Effect (And What It Really Took)
The Taylor Swift moment did not come out of nowhere.
Phase It had already:
Built and shipped multiple SKUs.
Tested product-market fit with earlier viral hits.
Strengthened operations and warehousing.
Built a recognizable Patch Peel content style.
Then came a very intentional strategy:
Get product to Taylor’s makeup artist via her agency.
Send product to Sabrina Carpenter’s team.
Seed the wives and girlfriends sitting in the VIP boxes.
Keep building social proof so the patches felt “everywhere” before they truly were.
On October 7, Taylor walked into Arrowhead Stadium wearing gold glitter freckles with a Vivian Westwood look.
Within hours:
A random content creator DM’d Phase It saying, “I think she’s wearing your product.”
The internet flooded with close-ups: sports accounts, celebrity pages, gossip outlets.
Most of those early posts didn’t tag or credit Phase It.
The response:
All night, Aliett and the team manually reached out to journalists, ID’d the product, and asked for Phase It to be added to coverage.
They pushed on PR and credibility, not just sales.
Within 48 hours:
Website traffic and sales increased over 3,500%.
They did seven figures in revenue.
CBS called for a live on-air demo.
NBC Peacock filmed in Aliett’s living room about “the Swift effect”—before she even fully understood the long tail of it.
The part that mattered most:
They did not sell out.
Because behind the scenes, a large inventory order was already landing. Their warehouse and manufacturing partners doubled teams on the spot. They had been working for two years to be ready for “something big,” without knowing exactly when—or if—it would hit.
Building a Profitable Beauty Brand on Scrappy Money
Phase It did not raise millions.
The path looked like this:
~100 venture capital pitches with a prototype and a rough website: all no.
A $50K accelerator program in St. Louis—won through a pitch competition.
$13K of founders’ own savings.
A friends-and-family round around $175K.
In total: under $200K raised.
From there:
Every dollar went toward getting to the next proof point: better product, more data, better retail positioning.
They built around cash flow, stayed profitable, and never had to raise again.
Today, they are:
Multi-million dollar revenue.
On shelves in Walmart, CVS, Urban Outfitters, Amazon, and more.
Rolling out special Walmart displays tied to key cultural moments like Taylor’s album drop.
Takeaways
Viral moments favor brands that have quietly built the systems to handle them.
A “girls’ girl” product can be a serious business asset when it sparks real-world conversation.
In 2025, fundraising is less about a slide deck and more about proof, relationships, and timing.
Under $200K, used well, can build a multi-million dollar, profitable brand—if you stay close to cash flow and learn fast.
Manifestation is more effective when paired with action, data, and a willingness to be seen.
Your social strategy does not need to be complex. It needs to be consistent, specific, and grounded in what actually works for your audience.
Links & Mentions
Subscribe to The Unschool Newsletter (now matching the pod)
Intuitive Biz Academy (limited Black Friday return; updates included for current students)
Cult Brand Accelerator (January interest list)
Out of Office Club (join the challenge: Vibe • Viral • Value)
Oui, We Studio on Instagram (education hub)
Follow Fazit Beauty on Instagram
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