The beauty dealscape is heating up, with the world’s biggest beauty company getting in on the action again.

L’Oréal has signed an agreement to acquire Color Wow, the hair care brand started 12 years by serial entrepreneur Gail Federici that is best known for its hero product called Dream Coat Supernatural Spray. The brand said one bottle, $28, is sold every 4.4 seconds.

Overall, Color Wow is thought to have sales slightly over $300 million and sources indicate the brand was looking for a $1 billion valuation. That would be in line with the most recent multiples of the biggest beauty deals this year, with E.l.f. Beauty snapping up Hailey Bieber’s Rhode in a deal value at $1 billion and Church & Dwight spending $700 million for Touchland, a brand with $130 million in 2025 net sales.

L’Oréal in early June said it had signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in British cometics brand Medik8. Reports circulated that was a 1 billion euro deal.

L’Oréal and Federici declined to comment on the purchase price for Color Wow.

The brand will live in L’Oréal’s Professional Products Division, which generated 4.89 billion euros in sales in 2024, according to the WWD Beauty Inc Top 100 and grew about 5 percent on-year.

“We are absolutely thrilled and proud to welcome Color Wow into our portfolio,” said Omar Hajeri, president of L’Oréal’s Professional Products Division. “The brand offers a unique range of products that have gained a loyal and devoted following amongst stylists, media and consumers. The arrival of this innovative and high-performing brand marks a strategic milestone that further strengthens our increased position in the hair care market and in the styling category. Color Wow brings unique expertise and exceptional growth potential, and we are eager to unleash its full global reach.”

Currently Color Wow is sold in salons, Sephora and on Amazon and ulta.com in the U.S., as well as in Sephora in the U.K., E.U. and Dubai. “We have a major opportunity to expand internationally,” said Federici, who was a key part of the team that started and sold John Frieda Professional Hair Care to Kao Brands for $450 million in 2002.

About a decade later, Federici noticed that her sisters were increasingly going gray but didn’t have an effective solution to cover up the re-growth in between dye sessions. Working with Dr. Joe Cincotta, the same chemist who developed Frieda’s Frizz East, she created and launched Color Wow Root Cover Up Powder.

It remains a bestseller, as is Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer, Dream Cocktail Carb Infused Leave-In Thickening Treatment and Raise the Root Thicken + Lift Spray.

Federici said that in the last three years Color Wow has doubled sales and then doubled again. “We knew we needed more expertise than we have to go from the size we are now to the next step,” she said in an exclusive interview with WWD. “At the same time, we have our own ethos and culture that is a key part of our success. As we spent time with L’Oréal it was clear that if we could have a home, this is the one that it should be.”

In addition to Federici and Cincotta, marketer Ann Bell and Federici’s two sisters and brother have also been a part of the core team since the John Frieda days. As far as integration goes, Federici said she will still be very involved in the brand “definitely for a while,” declining to specify a time period.

As far as building a brand in the last decade versus the ‘90s when she got her start: “It’s been extremely stressful, because the whole landscape has changed so much since the days when we started John Frieda,” Federici said. “Back then there were not all of these platforms you had to address — we created commercials once a year. Today, we’re creating content every minute and the algorithms are constantly changing. So you learn something and you think you’ve nailed it and then it changes. It is way more complicated.”

This acquisition is the  third big deal in as many years and comes at a time when many are hoping that a very tight M&A market might be loosening up. “It’s a crazy time, but I think we’ve been lucky. We have a very healthy company and that’s key,” Federici said. “People are very risk averse right now. Our numbers give a form of safety to people in this uncertain environment.”

As for what’s next? “More of the same. It’s what I do,” Federici said. “Sure, there are days when it’s like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me. But overall, coming into an office with people who you’ve known for a while, who you really like, who are super smart — it’s people looking out for each other and enjoying the ride.”

Federici started Color Wow at age 64 — and she’s not necessarily done yet. “I’m always thinking,” she said, when asked if she has one more brand in her. “I don’t want to break up our band. That’s what motivates me — the fun of thinking of ideas that will help people. I always say when we’re thinking about products, we try to do products that matter. It’s not money first.

“If we can think of something that really makes a difference to consumers, then we’ll be back at it, expect for in hair care,” Federici said. “If you make something that matters to people, then people will come.”

Houlihan Lokey advised Federici Brands on the deal.