Elf Beauty CFO Mandy Fields talks consumers, pricing, and building a foundation for cosmetics

CNBC CFO Council Member Mandy Fields Helps Lead elf beauty Significant growth in recent years has taken this cosmetics and skin care company from a small budget-friendly makeup brand with a focus on cruelty-free products to a global powerhouse.

This includes its $1 billion acquisition of lifestyle beauty brand Lord in 2025, its $355 million acquisition of skin care company Naturium in 2023, and its own internal growth. The company recorded its 30th consecutive quarter of net sales growth in August. Elf’s annual net sales for fiscal year 2026 (ending March) were $1.636 billion, an increase of 25% from the previous year.

Fields, who was appointed CFO in 2019, said that despite the expansion, Elf has prioritized maintaining its original values. “We will stay true to our mission of making the best of beauty available,” she said. “It’s really something we think about and talk about all the time.”

Like many retailers, Fields sees consumers “choosing how they spend their money.” But the company is in a good position because Elf is affordable, she said.

“75% of our portfolio is under $10,” she says. “[Consumers]still vote for Elf because of the value proposition we offer, innovation, fun marketing and digital, and accessibility.”

This mission to make beauty accessible faced significant headwinds as the Trump administration rolled out its tariff policies.

Elf, which sources about 40% of its products from China, took a hit of more than $50 million last year. In August 2025, the company increased prices across its product portfolio by approximately $1, a decision that was motivated by both tariffs and inflation.

Although the company has been transparent about its price hikes, and Elf CEO Taran Amin told CNBC’s Jim Cramer at the time that consumers appreciated the openness, Fields said the price hikes ultimately contributed to the decline in sales.

However, since the tariff policy was invalidated by the Supreme Court, Elf received approximately $50 million in tariff refunds, as well as a portion of the interest associated with the tariffs. As a result, net income for the first quarter ending in August increased by about 100% from a year earlier, and gross profit margin increased by 14 percentage points, according to the company’s earnings report.

When these tariffs were refunded, the company reversed many of its previous price increases. However, the results showed that only 10% of products saw a significant increase in sales. Elf uses a portion of the refund to keep certain items at their lower price points.

Fields said the bulk of Elf’s refund will go toward marketing, which is its top priority.

Marketing has helped build and maintain the company’s brand. “We spend 23% to 25% of our net sales on marketing and digital,” Fields said. “We’ve used that marketing to stay connected to the community.”

A big part of Elf’s strategy is leveraging social media influencers to spread the word about its products and increase brand awareness.

“Influencers and creators have greatly changed the overall beauty market,” she says. “People look to influencers to educate them and tell them about what’s new and hot.”

While Elf works with some big influencers, Fields said the majority of its spending goes to smaller and mid-tier creators. “They have a more authentic connection to the community,” she said.

“A lot of the posts about elves were spontaneous,” Fields said. “So we might send them some product, but it will be their choice whether to talk about it in the community or not.”

Across its brands, Elf also pays close attention to what consumers want on social media.

“We’re saying there’s zero distance between us and our community,” Fields said. “That’s what we’re really about: getting closer to our community, reading the comments on our social media posts, and listening to what they have to say when we go live on TikTok.”

Time and time again, Elf has taken this feedback and turned it into product innovation. For example, the company launched Bronze Drops after community members requested it on TikTok Live, and created Pickle Lip Cream after pickles became a big trend on social media.

“We’re always listening and trying to respond to those requests as quickly as possible. I think that’s kind of the elf’s secret sauce,” Fields said.

Understanding what resonates with consumers and how that translates into numbers has long been a passion for Fields.

“I love thinking about what motivates people to buy products,” she said. “When you look at the numbers behind it, why is one product more successful than another? Why does this marketing work better than another product? That’s really amazing. When you sit in the CFO’s seat, you see everything across the company.”