Links 009: Thirteen terrifying new collabs (aka beauty's IP invasion)
Youthforia's big hire, Glossier You's expanded universe, and more beauty news
Grab your Goop Kitchen x Kosas Inner Glow Soup & Salad Set and throw on your workout blush, it’s time for this week’s links!
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“Ozempic blew up in this country partly because of me,” says extremely confident gyno-to-the-stars. Or maybe we’re all in perpetual glow-up mode. (Guilty as charged.) The era of “undetectable beauty” is here. And “Baby Botox” is a double entendre, actually: according to The Atlantic, “the number of Americans ages 19 and under who got injections of Botox or similar products rose 75 percent from 2019 and 2022, and then rose again in 2023… According to Dr. Helen He, teens and people in their early 20s simply won’t benefit from Botox: Their skin is still so collagen-rich that it won’t form wrinkles no matter how much it moves.”
As I previewed last week, Beauty Independent has revealed its 27 Beacon Awards recipients. Usual subjects like Glow Recipe and K18 were feted along with smaller indie brands such as RAAIE, Enhanse, and Future Society. The nominees and winners are worth checking out; even I discovered some newness.
Is 27 honorees not enough for you? How about 357? Allure dropped its annual Best of Beauty list and it is almost comically packed. The broad categories are Skin, Hair, Tools, Body, Base, Lips, Eyes, Scent, Nails, Clean, Breakthroughs, Splurges, Steals, and Sensitive, with more specific awards in each field (i.e. Best Tinted Lip Balm, Best Plumping Lip Gloss, Best Lip Oil, etc.).
It’s a huge list designed to maximize the joint slay of mag and brand, so to speak. Brands can put the signature “Best of Beauty” stamps on their packaging and send emails promoting their wins, while Allure can make a ton of affiliate revenue on its website. Yet Best of Beauty remains a useful consumer tool, because more lip products hit the market every year than any sane person can track.
Glossier has unveiled Rêve and Doux, the first extensions of its bestselling You fragrance. Founder and executive chairwoman Emily Weiss differentiates them thusly: “Rêve is kind of this heady, almost bacchanalian night out… a sexy, sweet, petty, rich, nighttime moment.” Doux, on the other hand, is “quiet luxury. It’s the Toteme, the Row, the Khaite girl.” While I’m excited to try them, what if the really luxurious perfumes can’t be bought in stores?
Things are smelling less rosy for Blake Brown Beauty, according to Puck’s Rachel Strugatz. The Blake Lively-fronted line was Target’s most successful haircare release to date, per the CCO. However, Strugatz reports that weekly sales “dropped more than 87 percent between August 11, when sales peaked, and September 15.” (A normal post-launch dip is 20 to 30 percent.)
The sales drop-off is due in part to Lively pausing her formidable promo machine. She went dark on social media when the drama around her film It Ends With Us became a media obsession – wisely so, as posting through it may have caused further “Blakelash.” Two days ago, Lively returned to her 45.7 million Instagram followers with a cheeky Blake Brown Beauty post. Comments are turned off.
Meanwhile, Scandi It-girl Matilda Djerf seems to have borrowed Blake Brown’s “dual system” model for the forthcoming extension of her haircare line. One reaction on socials? “It’s giving Blake Lively.”
Welcome and good luck to Youthforia’s new product development lead. Uoma Beauty alum Oby Jemedafe has been brought on to reformulate the brand’s products and reputation after its shameful “Shade 600” scandal this summer.
“We now have consultants,” says Jemedafe in a WWD interview. “We’re working with makeup artists, beauty veterans, influencers, every step of the way — from product ideation to launch — to ensure we’re representing people in terms of skin color.”
And they should all be paid for their efforts! Namely creator Golloria George and cosmetic chemist Javon Ford, who received tons of racist hate for their honest and informative videos about the Youthforia Date Night Foundation. George is a talented and tenacious dark-skinned creator whose advocacy has spurred meaningful change from brands like Rhode and One/Size; a “come to the front” review from her is the beauty world’s Paul Hollywood handshake.
George is currently taking an internet break after days of virulent bullying, all for negatively reviewing a chalky YSL Beauty blush that was purported to “resonate with every skin tone” – and very much didn’t. To quote a redditor from r/BeautyGuruChatter, “I'd take one million Gollorias over just one Mikayla Nogueira any day of the week.”
We’ve hit peak brand collab
In recent weeks, a truly unholy number of collabs has been announced. We’re here because of the collision of Halloween launches and early holiday marketing - plus entertainment properties leveraging their IP to cash in on beauty buzz (synergy, baby!).
Lots of embeds and photos ahead so you can see the dire straits we’re in.
ZitSticka x Jonboy Tattoo Undercover Patches: I’m sorry to ZitSticka and Jonboy for putting this legitimately creative product on a list with bad cash grabs. These patches are the cool, slightly aloof older siblings of Starface’s youthful yellow stars.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserPleasing x Disney Fantasia: According to Pleasing’s website, it’s “a 30-piece collection that fuses Disney’s visual magic with a pinch of Pleasing wonder.”
Sigma x Disney The Little Mermaid: Announced in August, this collab hit shelves earlier this month. If you’re chrome-curious, skip the $59 Sigma eyeshadow palette and look to color queen Danessa Myricks’ Infinite Chrome Micropencil or Twin Flames Liquid Shadow instead.
Ulta x Wicked: Ulta is going big with this Universal partnership. A “multi-branded beauty assortment” will be paired with front-of-store displays, immersive activations, and photo ops starting October 6. Ten brands are doing Wicked-inspired product lines, including Beekman 1802, OPI, Caboodles, It Brushes, and Wella, but the headliner is Ariana Grande’s r.e.m. Beauty capsule collection. A lot of pink and green is in our collective future.
Bath & Body Works x Emily in Paris: The holiday partnership features “more than 50 très chic products” in four scents: Champagne in Paris, Paris Amour, Lavender Luxe, and Macaron Cloud. Looking at these promo stills gives me a headache tbh.
Source: PR Newswire Melt Cosmetics x Universal Monsters Collection: This collection references Creature From The Black Lagoon, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Bride of Frankenstein.
Source: Trendmood Essence x Harley Quinn and Catrice x The Joker: These collections bowed internationally earlier this year but have recently landed stateside. Gaga not doing something Joker-y with Haus Labs is a missed opportunity, I think.
ColourPop x Stranger Things: “Inspired by Season 1 of the show, this release comes in anticipation of Season 5.” I’m tired. Aren’t you tired?
Source: Beauty Packaging Wet ‘n’ Wild x The Nightmare Before Christmas: I’m begrudgingly giving props to this collection only because it covers the Halloween and holiday bases.
Curology x Funfetti: A cute if slightly off-brand tenth birthday celebration.
Glamlite x Hostess: Sure, why not.
Glamlite x Coca-Cola: Founder Gisselle Hernandez has been killing it on TikTok Shop Live with these launches – past collab partners include Nightmare on Elm Street, Chucky, Betty Boop, Icee, and Garfield – so I’m keeping a (wary) eye on her business model.
@glamlite🥤Are you ready to experience the magic of Coca-Cola?👀 We don’t think you’re ready! A collection inspired by everyone’s favorite beverage is coming to refresh your everyday look! EARLY ACCESS: The magic arrives on our TikTok Shop THIS THURSDAY 9/26 at 12pm PST! Available on our website this Sunday!Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserPatrick Ta x Barbie: A year late, maybe, but his holiday palettes are famously hot pink, so it makes some sense.
Ulta Beauty x Mini Brands: This collab might be the worst on the list because, in a twist, there are no products involved, just tiny plastic toy replicas of Ulta’s bestsellers. The collection, which goes live on October 6, “features products by 13 fan-favorite brands and will be sold via mystery packs of five minis priced at $9.99.” The collection will include “two ultra-rare ‘frozen moment’ minis by Truly Beauty and OPI.”
I know that Mini Brands’ products are hugely popular with kids, and that Zuru Toys’ canny mystery box packaging and rare, hard-to-find variants have contributed to kids feeling they constantly “need” to buy more1. It’s a model not entirely dissimilar to the adult beauty industry’s, but feels extra insidious since young kids will need to go into Ulta with their parents (or beg them to visit the website) to get these toys2… and because they are entirely decorative.
Time will tell if another “Sephora Tweens”-style moral panic ensues upon the Ulta x Mini Brands launch, bigger story is Zuru Toys’ needless plastic waste as it relates to the excesses of the beauty industry. According to a 2021 DePaul University study, an estimated 80% of plastic toys end up in landfills, incinerators, or the ocean, and toys comprise almost 6% of landfill plastics.
Sustainability, in its varied and flawed forms, is a well-documented concern for beauty brands and consumers. An estimated 88% of consumers want brands to help them to make environmentally-conscious choices3, so creating functionless plastic trinkets in the shape of popular products is an own goal.
Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate you spending time with me and I welcome any and all feedback.
Back soon with one of my favorite topics: trend reporting reporting.
A tactic as old as time; anyone who grew up watching Pokémon “gotta catch ‘em all” commercials has been sold to in the same way.
To be fair, if social feedback is any indication, plenty of adults are planning to scoop up the Minis too.
Not that relying on brands is a consumer’s best bet for consuming more “sustainably”… but you see what I’m getting at.