June 25, 2012

Number-One Wedding Brand TheKnot.com Launches Beauty and Lifestyle Site TheBlush.com

TheBlush.com and Sephora Partner for Beauty Content, Sweepstakes and In-Store Events

NEW YORK (June 25, 2012) – XO Group Inc. (NYSE: XOXO; www.theknotworldwide.com), a global media and technology company and founder of the #1 wedding brand, TheKnot.com, today announced the launch of TheBlush.com (www.theblush.com), a new women’s and lifestyle site focusing on beauty, fashion and career. With an existing audience of 10 million-plus women across the XO Group family of brands, TheBlush.com will provide daily inspiration, advice and deals on all things beauty, style and life.

“Whether they’re planning a wedding, setting up their homes or preparing for a new baby, beauty and fashion remain top-of-mind for our massive audience of women aged 18 to 34,” said Carley Roney, cofounder of XO Group Inc. “With the launch of TheBlush.com, our community of 10 million-plus women will now have a daily destination to feed their beauty, fashion and career fix – top searched-for topics across all of our brands – and the site will serve as an additional opportunity for our partners to target this engaged and active audience.”

In celebration of the launch, TheBlush.com has partnered with Sephora, the leading specialty beauty retailer, for beauty content, sweepstakes and in-store events. Kicking off today, TheBlush.com and SEPHORA have created a sweepstakes, The Blush + Sephora Beauty Haul Sweepstakes, which will provide women on TheBlush.com a chance to win a $250 Sephora gift card.

Features of TheBlush.com include:

  • Thousands of Beauty & Fashion Finds: Whether it’s the summer’s hottest hairstyles, finding office-appropriate shorts or the newest beauty trends, you can browse through thousands of photos and videos for ideas.
  • Behind-the-Scenes Style Inspiration: How do the folks at American Apparel dress versus the ones at Etsy? Get inspired with an insider’s glimpse at more than 200 photos of outfits from staff at leading companies like Match.com, Rue La La, Redbook and more via a weekly “How We Dress @” roundup.
  • Exclusive Expert & Celebrity Interviews: From Giuliana Rancic to Bethenny Frankel, read up on what celebrities and industry experts have to say when it comes to favorite fashion picks, great beauty buys and their best real-life advice.
  • Beauty & Style Giveaways: Sephora. Kiehl’s. Kohl’s. Score beauty and fashion freebies from top brands every day!

“Whether its hunting down the best beauty products or translating runway looks into actual wearable trends, TheBlush.com will provide young women with a much-needed daily destination that helps them realistically put their best look forward every day – after all, we know how busy they are,” added Ysolt Usigan, site director of TheBlush.com.

About TheBlush.com
From the creators of #1 wedding brand TheKnot.com, TheBlush.com is a new women’s and lifestyle site focusing on beauty, fashion and life. With a built-in audience of over 10 million young women, TheBlush.com serves as a daily destination delivering an honest take on all things beauty, style and life, and where trends are translated with a real-life approach. TheBlush.com is part of XO Group Inc. (NYSE: XOXO; www.theknotworldwide.com), formerly The Knot Inc., a global media and technology leader devoted to weddings, pregnancy and everything in between.

About Sephora Americas:
Since 1998, Sephora has been TRANSFORMING BEAUTY in the US. Today, Sephora Americas operates more than 300 stores in the US and Canada, as well as the world’s top beauty website, Sephora.com. In 2010, Sephora expanded into Latin America where it partnered with Brazilian beauty market leader Sacks.com; in 2011, it opened two retail stores in Mexico; and in 2012, it opened one retail location in Brazil. Sephora is well-known for its unique retail concept, which is rooted in its distinctive open-sell store design, the beauty expertise of its sales consultants and, most important, its unparalleled combination of over 200 classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, bath and body, smilecare and haircare, as well as Sephora’s own private label. Sephora has also been recognized as a leading digital brand and continues to advance in this arena through mobile and social media initiatives, including an active Facebook page, its online beauty community BeautyTalk, its mobile site and apps. In addition to its North and Latin American business and its initiative with JCPenney, which includes more than 300 Sephora inside JCPenney locations, Sephora today has more than 1,600 stores within 29 countries in Europe and 115 locations in China. Sephora was founded in France in 1970 and was acquired in 1997 by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group. For further information, please visit www.sephora.com.

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