ABOUT US
Our Story
Our story opens 15 years ago, when pink, red, and beige enslaved the prestige beauty market. Heaven forbid you wanted purple or green nails, because you’d either have to whip out a marker, or risk life and limb with that back alley drugstore junk. Flying in the face of this monopoly, Sandy Lerner (cofounder of Cisco Systems) made a bold decision: if the cosmetic industry’s “big boys” couldn’t satisfy her alternative makeup tastes, she’d satisfy them herself.
Fatefully, Sandy’s business manager, David Soward, introduced her to fellow visionary Wende Zomnir. A creative businesswoman (and makeup addict almost since birth), Wende also recognized the color void and determined a shake-up was in order. Over high tea, the two forged a pact that led to renegade nail polish mixing sessions in Wende’s Laguna Beach bungalow. Sandy, David and Wende unleashed Urban Decay in January of 1996 with a line of 10 lipsticks and 12 nail enamels. Inspired by seedier facets of the urban landscape, they bore groundbreaking names like Roach, Smog, Rust, Oil Slick and Acid Rain. The first magazine ad queried “Does Pink Make You Puke?,” fueling the revolution as cosmetics industry executives scrambled to keep up.
Today, Wende steers Urban Decay’s ongoing growth as Executive Creative Director, with Eric Jimenez (Worldwide Retail Director and Global Makeup Artist) and Tim Warner (General Manager) completing our dynamic leadership trio. With more than 25 years of experience in the cosmetics industry, Eric inspires with his larger-than-life personality and insane expertise. Tim (aka “The Zen Master”) perfectly counterpoints the frenzy of activity in the office with his quiet, penetrating approach to running a beauty business. And although they push the teams at headquarters and on the sales floor to new heights, they do occasionally still leave time for old school UD pranks and hijinks. (Search “Happy Holidays from Urban Decay” on YouTube for a classic example. S**t hits the fan… or in this case, cake hits Wende.)
Our ever-expanding global presence proves what Wende and Sandy always knew – makeup wearers everywhere crave alternatives, hence our longevity well past the death of 90s grunge. In the US, hundreds of UD products now fill purple shelves at Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s, as well as the virtual pages of Beauty.com. Growing numbers of retailers in Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Singapore and the Middle East stock our line, too. And although UD fans around the world might approach our products in wildly different ways, we’ve noticed they share an independent spirit that unites them.
Maybe this hunger for something unique explains the passionate support we’ve received over the years. Urban Decay products appear in dozens of magazines every month. We’ve won some amazing awards, from Allure’s Best of Beauty (Hooray for 24/7 Pencils!) to PETA2’s Proggy for our cruelty-free and vegan efforts. We’ve even stolen prestigious packaging awards out from under brands like Avon and Revlon. And we would surely have failed by now were it not for the support of makeup artists who share our love of innovative performance products AND experimental color. We love to field their daily requests – usually because a celebrity client has stolen their favorite product. Our online reviews are off the charts; if we don’t get five stars, we just about cry. Thankfully, makeup junkies review our products more often and with more fervor than many of our competitors – you should see the comments for Eyeshadow Primer Potion! UD’s Facebook and Twitter communities are some of the biggest in the industry – we’re large in numbers and heavy on conversation. And we love our blogger friends! They’re like beauty editors, rabid cosmetics fans and makeup artists all in one. We do movies, TV shows and hot parties. Our lives are pretty great, and we’re fully aware that a million girls (and guys) would die for our jobs.
We’ve now become the largest independently owned color cosmetic company in the United States. Our moms are proud. “Urban Decay” is no longer such a crazy name for a makeup company. And young women today have never known a world where they couldn’t get purple nail polish over the counter. Mission accomplished.
The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC) consists of seven national animal protection groups banded together to help make shopping for animal-friendly cosmetics easier and more trustworthy. If a customer sees the internationally recognized "leaping bunny" logo on a cosmetic or a website, they know that the company has committed to The Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals, a voluntary pledge that companies make not to test on animals during any stage of product development. The company's ingredient suppliers make the same pledge and the result is a cosmetic guaranteed to be 100% free of animal testing. Urban Decay has made this commitment. To find out more about our friends at the CCIC, visit 
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than one million members and supporters, is dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. Companies that have joined PETA’s Caring Consumer Project have pledged—in writing—that they and their suppliers do not conduct or commission animal tests on ingredients, formulations, or finished products, and that they will not do so in the future. Urban Decay displays PETA’s cruelty-free bunny logo to assure our customers that we do not use or condone animal tests. We believe that you can have a killer look without killing or harming animals. For more information, please visit 
If you see Marley’s purple paw print next to a cosmetic, Urban Decay certifies that it is a vegan cosmetic, and does not contain any animal-derived ingredients. Although we are a cruelty-free company, and not a vegan company, we love vegans and want to make your shopping experience as pleasurable and informative as possible! Our first step in making UrbanDecay.com vegan-friendly was to identify these cosmetics and make it easy to shop. Currently, we are working with our laboratories to find out which of our non-vegan cosmetics can be converted. In many situations, there is a plant-derived or synthetic alternative to an animal-derived ingredient. For cosmetics where we do not feel our quality will be compromised, and we can deliver the same rich color and texture you desire, we will convert the cosmetic to 100% vegan ingredients. Be on the lookout for new additions to our vegan cosmetics, and thank you for supporting Urban Decay!
The pioneers and products featured in Splendora Eco Style won their editors over not only because they are gutsy and green, but because they are fusing fresh ideas with exceptional design. Splendora was impressed with our selection of vegan cosmetics.