Links 004: A hater's guide to the Blake Lively hair care launch
Guacamole lips, "the Margaux bag of plastic surgeons," and a Pubic Service Announcement
Welcome to this week’s edition of Skin Type Links! Special hello to the new subscribers who are here on the recommendation of
, and major thanks to Jess for putting me in such talented company.Today’s post will be too long to read in your inbox, so click “view entire message” for a dissertation on Blake Lively’s new hair care line. I don’t usually go this long, I promise.
Light coverage
Contrapposto is in WWD! Just click! As a longtime client and devotee of Casey’s, I’m elated to see his artistry get the attention it deserves. The Axelrod-Welks are doing everything right with their studio and I trust no one else with my face.
Wonderskin and Chipotle teamed up this week on the limited-edition Lipotle, a green shade of the viral Wonder Blading Peel and Reveal Lip Stain Kit in celebration of National Avocado Day. Chipotle’s VP of Brand Marketing “explained” the collab in a press release: "With the popularity of mukbangs on social media, we noticed our fans [needed] a smudge-proof lip stain to enjoy their Chipotle on the go.” A more honest rationale is that Wonder Blading is designed for maximum impact on socials, and seeing that mask in lime green is an undeniable scroll-stopper.1 I also think this collab is fodder for a fresh round of engaging Chipotle-centric content that will obscure the last whispers of the portion size discourse.
Source: GCI Magazine Salute to Self for publishing a size-inclusive sunscreen guide, which distills body surface area math into an easy-to-use chart.
The FDA has issued a warning about five brands’ at-home chemical peels due to their high concentrations of AHAs, BHAs, and TCAs. We’re not talking Dr. Dennis Gross–level peels, here: the products called out by the FDA are comprised of 70% glycolic acid, 80% salicylic acid, or straight-up 100% trichloroacetic acid. The latter formulation is offered by two brands specifically as a whitening agent for Black skin. Get their asses, FDA.
It would be really easy for a distorted version of the headline – “the FDA says AHAs and BHAs cause chemical burns” – to go viral, so I’m naively crossing my fingers and hoping that salicylic acid slander doesn’t take over the Internet.
Kiehl’s has debuted its first personal and intimate care products – a body deodorant and an ingrown-correcting serum – but I’m here to talk about its marketing campaign. The brand has tapped Ilana Glazer and creator Chloe Franklin for its “Pubic Service Announcement” ad.
Oglivy PR’s Christine Cotter tells Glossy that the products and talent alike are geared towards Gen Z2. Cotter explains that Gen Z’s apparent shyness about intimate issues “produced this interesting tension for us. ‘When nothing is supposedly off-limits for this generation, why are they still so shy about these intimate moments?’” I don’t know how well the ad spot answers that question, tbh; the clip is muddled and drawn-out. Let me know how you feel about it.
Even e.l.f. can’t win ‘em all. Just last week I highlighted the brand’s cute Hot Girl Walk Championship clip, but I’m cringing at the relaunch of Mikayla Nogueira’s Marriage Material Lip Kit. The Boston-accented copy is exaggerated in a knowing but insufficiently self-aware way that reminds me of Katy Perry trying to explain the “Women’s World” music video (derogatory).
Source: e.l.f. The lip kit is already sold out, so maybe I’m just a hate-ah. Air Mail has a must-read profile of Dr. Julius Few, known as the “holistic plastic surgeon” to Goop denizens and dubbed “the Margaux bag of plastic surgeons” by Brennan Kilbane. The piece is tied to the arrival of Dr. Few Skincare, but it unpacks the ethos and mythos of the Paltrow-backed doc.
“By his own claim,” Kilbane writes, “he has come up with Botox lip flips and tear-trough filler; he invented ‘stackable treatments’; [and] he popularized the cannula as a safe alternative to the syringe for injections.” Dr. Few also organized a seminal study proving Restylane’s safety in patients of color – though “he grounded his argument not in the spirit of diversity but of commerce” – and refined the technique for performing thread lifts. (I can’t resist a celeb MD profile; I recommend recent pieces about veneer king Dr. Michael Apa and surgeon-cum-socialite Dr. Neil ElAttrache if you can’t either.)
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Medium coverage
Topical estrogen is good, probably, maybe
“Is Estrogen Cream the Fountain of Youth?” asks Linda Wells at Air Mail. Betteridge’s law of headlines says no. The article and other recent press about topical estrogen say… TBD? The drop in estrogen brought about by peri/menopause does result in “thinner skin, an increase in the number and depth of wrinkles, increased skin dryness, and decreased skin firmness and elasticity,” per a study in Clinical Interventions in Aging, and there is evidence that estrogen “can alleviate the changes due to aging that occur in human skin.”
The recent surge of curiosity about topical estrogen, previously relegated to vaginal use only, has felt organic, the latest instance of women taking care into their own hands as menopause remains under-studied and poorly understood. But – of course there’s a “but” – the buzz has been heightened by a brand-backed and much-publicized study Wells mentions in her piece.
In research commissioned by Alloy, she writes, the company’s M4 Face Cream provides “statistically significant improvements after 12 weeks in overall skin health, including elasticity, hydration, texture, radiance, firmness, and pore size.” Musely has also recently introduced, and heavily promoted, an Rx Estrogen Boost Cream. Both products are formulated with estriol and estradiol, as they are gentler on skin than estrogen (think tretinoin vs. retinol and retinoid) and have not been found to absorb systemically.
I’m trying to temper my excitement about the products, as this space is ripe for both innovation and exploitation. Wells’ reporting instills some faith that topical estrogen will ameliorate the skin concerns of women experiencing peri/menopause, as long as they’re not expecting “fountain of youth” results.
Full coverage
Beautiful hair, bad brand (Skip if you just want product recs)
Blake Lively let us in on the secret to her stunning hair this week: she doesn’t condition. “I don't know anyone who uses conditioner in my industry,” she revealed to Vogue. “It’s not that people in the entertainment industry are gifted with better hair. We’re using a different hair system than the process promoted to the mass market.”
So, what’s the clandestine A-lister system? Hair masks.
It is with this celeb whistleblower angle that Blake Lively announced her hair care line, Blake Brown, this week. The eight-product assortment features two shampoo and hair mask “systems” (one for strengthening, one for nourishing), a pre-shampoo mask, dry shampoo, mousse, and an all-in-one leave-in shampoo-conditioner. There are five scents across the line, including Bergamot Woods and Milky Sandalwood. Blake Brown launches at Target and its own D2C site this weekend.
Unfortunately, I hate it. I don’t want to be this much of a hater, but my heart, eyes, and knowledge base insist. Here are three reasons Blake Brown bothers me so.
The false premise
Blake Brown “[helps] you achieve healthy hair by finding the right balance of strength and moisture,” according to Elle. While the moisture vs. protein distinction is a valid lesson from curly-girl forums, Lively’s conditioner vs. masking dichotomy is dishonest.
As Cosmetic chemist Perry Romanowski explains to Allure, “From a formula standpoint, [conditioners and masks] are not different. They do the same things… but [masks] are just a thickened up version of regular conditioners.”
Lively says as much herself, according to The Cut. “Conditioner is just like a diluted mask,” she explained at a press event, “so I condition, but with a mask.” I’d let this slide as a bad press angle for launch if not for the inclusion of a pre-shampoo mask and a leave-in conditioner “potion,” not to mention a shampoo to correspond with each mask. The “Hollywood secret” isn’t skipping conditioner, but combining needless SKUs with a bogus story to make consumers feel they need every product.
The dated-ness
Lively has said she started developing her line with Give Back Beauty seven years ago, and it shows in the products.
There is design potential in the stacked modularity of Blake Brown’s packaging, but not in a mass-market line and definitely not with these faux wood and metallic plastic components.3 Brands like Kristen Ess offer affordable products in sleek, modern packaging that belie their low prices. After staring at the packaging, the restaurant-menu-viewed-under-an Edison-lamp wordmark, and the Target endcap, I finally clocked the look: global village coffeehouse. Give Back Beauty should know better, too, since the company produces Millie Bobby Brown’s adorable Florence by Mills line.
In terms of the formulas, multiple Allure reviewers remarked on the products’ potent smells. One writes that they “are all quite richly scented and… capable of filling a room. It was so intense I skipped my usual spritz of fragrance.” This is a fundamental misfire: in recent years, many consumers have switched to fragrance-free products due to skin sensitivity concerns or personal preference. The fragrance space is ever-growing, with luxury fragrances, perfume sets, and body spray outperforming other beauty products in Q1 per GCI. Blake Brown’s gourmand fragrances will inevitably layer poorly with consumers’ existing favorites, and possibly each other.
Lively name-checks a few of her scent inspirations in the Allure interview: the now-discontinued Burberry Beat, Tokyo Milk Kabuki, and the Votivo No. 96 Red Currant Candle. “Shout-out to the millennials out there,” she says, “because you're like, ‘Oh my God!’ when you smell that [Votivo] candle. It just brings you back to a place in time.” It’s a revealing quote that leads to my last issue.
The marketing
I never feel more marketed at than when Ryan Reynolds is pushing something, whether it’s a cell phone plan or Deadpool & Wolverine.
The launch of Lively’s line has been carefully sandwiched between the release of her husband’s smash Deadpool and her upcoming film It Ends With Us. It’s a three-way marketing blitz, fueled by that Reynoldian brand of smart-alecky smarm, pop culture references, and knowing sarcasm.
Lively plays the game just as well as Reynolds, I realized, with that millennial shout-out in Allure and a promo post listing all the Y2K-era references in Deadpool that made her feel “so seen.” She’s gunning for the girls who watched Gossip Girl as teenagers and wished for Serena van der Woodsens’s hair (and life). Relatable plus aspirational is a winning formula, and we’re in for a lot more of it as the Blake Brown rollout continues.
Fair play to them, because the whole thing works: Lively has a beauty empire ahead of her – Blake Brown’s trademark registration also covers skincare, makeup, fragrance, and home goods – while her husband has a record-breaking hit movie. And I’m over here writing about conditioner.
Under review
I do positivity too!
Kulfi Lassi Lips Staining Long-Lasting Hydrating Lip Oil in Caramel: This too-long product name piqued my interest with its seemingly contradictory claims. I’m a skeptic no more, though, because this is a beauuuutiful lip oil. It leaves a lasting wash of color without feeling dry like a traditional stain. After getting lip blushing in 20224, I’ve kept my lip looks simple, but Kulfi makes me want to play with color again – specifically, the rest of the shades in the line.
Crown Affair’s Texturizing Air Dry Mousse: I am forever in pursuit of a product that makes my fine 2A hair look polished and frizz-free without heat styling. Other formulas have weighed my hair down, made it crunchy, or decimated what little curl pattern I have – not so with the Air Dry Mousse. My hair also felt super-soft once it dried, which was a welcome surprise. I would like to use it more before I add it to my list of Holy Grails, but my hair loves this stuff.
never misses!
Thank you so much for reading Skin Type. If you read this edition all the way through, we should probably be (or already are) friends. I’d love to hear what you think of the stories I’ve covered above, so jump into the comments and let’s discuss.
Have the best weekend! <3
For what it’s worth, I’ve tried the original Wonder Blading Kit and got subpar results after a needlessly involved application process.
I think Oglivy underestimates Ilana’s enduring appeal to a certain strain of super-online, Broad City-obsessed millennial.
I’ve read comments that reject the honeycomb packaging design. Some note the similarity to Fenty Beauty products (I can see it) and others are confused by a vegan line evoking honey as an ingredient by dint of its design (I see it… not as much).
An absolute game-changer that I’d be glad to write about here if there’s demand! Here’s my before-and-after:
The times over the years that I've exclaimed to the sky that I want Blake Lively's hair. But the truth here is-- no amount of product will give me her genetics. I don't like the name Blake Brown either it also feels dated somehow
I just got back into fragrance after a long time-out. I recently sampled Dear Polly and am obsessed, which is not a great thing since it’s so $$$. And you?