Three years ago, REHAB was packing orders from kitchen tables and garages. Last month, the self-funded beauty brand opened its Prescription Bar at Selfridges, taking residence inside The Beauty Spot.

The move marks both its retail debut and the next phase of a business that says it has grown 5,030 per cent since launch, remained profitable year on year and built a 70 per cent repeat purchase rate, all while expanding from haircare into bodycare and now skincare.

For co-founders Vicky Ellis and Anastasia Tozer, skincare was a natural extension of what they describe as the brand’s core mission: to be “the experts in oiling”.

“We’ve always wanted to own oiling across hair and body,” says Ellis. “Our customers were already suggesting we launch a face oil.”

Retail Gazette sat down with Ellis and Tozer, to discuss the brand’s skyrocket surge in demand, its new bricks-and-mortar retail debut and how, as a small brand, it scaled its supply chain to reflect its sudden growth.

Why physical retail matters

Although born online, the founders say physical retail has always been part of the vision.

“We’re such an ecommerce-led brand that I think we’ve always wanted to have a space where people can see and touch and feel,” Ellis says. “We’re so visually connected with our brand.”

Ellis and Tozer say the Selfridges residency, which comes as the first haircare brand at the Beauty Spot, allows for more than shelf presence. The Prescription Bar format allows for both consultations and interactive touchpoints, allowing shoppers to directly communicate with the team.

“We’ve done pop-ups in the past, but having a space where it’s not just hair, not just body, not just skincare, it’s our brand and our ethos, it’s such a moment for us,” Ellis says. “We’re so excited that we could have something bigger than just a shelf.”

And the founders are clear that this is not a one-off experiment. Over the past twelve months, they’ve grown a lot in the retail space over the past 12 months, across different retailers launching in Boots, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges and HBeauty.

Looking ahead, Tozer says the brand would want to focus on growing their partnership with Selfridges and continuing developing in-person engagement alongside ecommerce.

Scaling supply operations behind the scenes

Rapid growth has required continuous adaptation across sourcing, logistics and forecasting, the co-founders say.

“We are completely independent and self-funded,” Ellis says. “We are reinvesting continuously.”

With 72 products in its range, the business has outgrown warehouse spaces since its early days and now operates through a third-party logistics partner. Freight routes are chosen case by case, balancing speed and sustainability. The two founders say supplier relationships have also expanded geographically, particularly with the move into skincare.

For its face cream, the brand turned to Korean manufacturing after extensive testing. “If we were going to make a face cream, it needed to be the best, and it needed to be from the best,” Tozer says.

Restocking speed is also now central to supplier conversations. “Typically we try for under six weeks to two months,” she explains. “We do discuss with every supplier how quick they can restock.”

Yet, for REHAB, forecasting still remains part science, part instinct. The brand says demand is modelled on previous launches, but volatility remains a factor, particularly when entering new categories.

“It comes with trial and error,” Ellis says. “We try and forecast, but sometimes we surprise ourselves.”

Yet, despite the step into department store retail and skincare and the scaling-up of its supply chain, pricing remains unchanged. “We haven’t changed pricing and it’s not something we’re planning at the moment,” Ellis says, describing REHAB. as a “customer-led brand”.

The 70 per cent repeat purchase rate justifies that decision. “Seven out of 10 people are coming back,” she says. “That speaks volumes.”

The transition into skincare builds on REHAB.’s unit-dose capsule format, designed to remove guesswork and standardise dosage. In a saturated beauty category, the founders believe that format, already familiar to existing customers, provides both differentiation and trust.

“We’re really owning the capsule space,” says Tozer. “At our core, our formulas really, really work.”

That confidence was tested at launch. The brand’s collagen cheek mask sold out within hours, and then sold out again after a rapid restock.

“We weren’t expecting it to go as fast as it did,” Ellis admits.

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