InspireWho Owns Motives Cosmetics?
You’ve seen the name on a lipstick tube or a shop.com order and want to know who’s actually behind it. Here’s the ownership answer in plain terms, plus the brand’s real history and where it’s genuinely sold.
Motives Cosmetics is a Market America brand. Loren Ridinger, who co-founded Market America with her husband JR Ridinger in 1992, created Motives in 2008 under the company. It isn’t a separate business you could buy stock in or franchise on its own. Market America, Inc. owns the brand and sells it through its official sites and its independent UnFranchise distributors.
Key takeaways
- Motives launched in 2008, created by Loren Ridinger under Market America, the direct-sales company she co-founded in 1992.
- It has never been an independent company — Market America, Inc. owns the brand outright.
- Loren Ridinger’s daughter, Amber Ridinger McLaughlin, is now Vice President of Motives and runs its day-to-day creative direction.
- You can buy Motives through motivescosmetics.com, SHOP.COM, or a Market America UnFranchise distributor. It isn’t stocked at Sephora, Ulta, or other beauty retailers.
Motives Cosmetics at a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | Motives Cosmetics |
| Parent company | Market America, Inc. |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Loren Ridinger |
| Current creative lead | Amber Ridinger McLaughlin, Vice President |
| Sold via | motivescosmetics.com, SHOP.COM, Market America UnFranchise distributors |
Who founded Motives Cosmetics, and when?
Loren Ridinger created Motives in 2008. She and her husband, JR Ridinger, had already built Market America into a large direct-sales company by then, having founded it together in 1992 out of Greensboro, North Carolina. Motives launched as a color-cosmetics line under that company, branded from the start as “Motives by Loren Ridinger.” JR Ridinger died in August 2022. Loren Ridinger remains Co-Founder and CEO of Market America and is still the public face of the Motives brand.
What is Motives’ relationship to Market America?
Motives isn’t licensed out or independently operated. It’s a house brand, structured the same way as Market America’s other product lines, including Isotonix supplements and GoTrim. Market America is a direct-sales company: most of what it sells moves through independent distributors, called UnFranchise Owners, rather than traditional retail. Buy from motivescosmetics.com or a distributor’s replicated site, and you’re buying directly from Market America’s own brand, not a licensee using the name.
Where can you buy Motives Cosmetics?
Three official channels, all run by Market America. The brand’s own regional sites (motivescosmetics.com in the US, with separate country versions for Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan and Malaysia). SHOP.COM, Market America’s retail platform, which lists Motives alongside the company’s other brands. And independent UnFranchise distributors, who run replicated storefronts selling the same products at the same prices.
Is Motives connected to SHOP.COM?
Yes, indirectly. SHOP.COM is Market America’s separate retail platform (see our full explainer on what SHOP.COM actually is), acquired in 2010, and it carries Motives alongside Isotonix and the company’s other brands. Motives isn’t part of SHOP.COM itself. Both are owned by the same parent company, Market America, which is why you’ll see the brand listed there.
Has Motives Cosmetics worked with celebrities?
Yes, at least once in a documented way. In 2020, Motives partnered with singer Thalia on the THALIA X Motives Viva Eye & Cheek Palette, released alongside a Red Velvet liquid lipstick. The brand also ran a 2019 eyeshadow and lip palette line called the Visionaire Collection under the “Motives by Loren Ridinger” name. Both were real, dated launches covered in industry press releases, not fan speculation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Motives Cosmetics its own company?
Who founded Motives Cosmetics?
Is Motives Cosmetics going out of business?
Is Motives Cosmetics sold in stores?
Who runs Motives Cosmetics today?
“Motives Cosmetics is a real Market America brand, not a rumor or a knockoff. Loren Ridinger created it in 2008, and Market America, Inc. has owned and sold it ever since.”
The ownership question has a clean answer. What trips people up is the sales model, not the brand itself. Motives sells through official sites, SHOP.COM, and independent distributors rather than a mall counter, which is unusual but not a red flag.
Sources
- Company history and the SHOP.COM acquisition: TechCrunch.
- Founding, headquarters, and brand family: Wikipedia: Market America.
- JR Ridinger’s death and Loren Ridinger’s current role: Direct Selling News.
- Motives’ 2008 founding and the Thalia collaboration: PRWeb.
- The 2019 Visionaire Collection and Loren Ridinger’s title at Market America: MultiVu / PR Newswire.
- Brand and leadership information: motivescosmetics.com and shop.com.
