Links 013: Disco lips and butter skin
An exhaustive guide to the year's shiniest lip launches
Happy Friday! If
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The IP invasion I mentioned back in Links 009 continues this spring with new launches: NYX x A Minecraft Movie (extremely cool promo TikTok below), Dr. Squatch x Call of Duty, ColourPop x Toy Story, and Lush x Hello Kitty. The throughline is nostalgic gaming and pop culture properties with cross-generational appeal to consumers, boardroom-speak for easy money.
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These collabs follow a winter of sweets-focused partnerships, like Native x Jarritos, Native x Dunkin', and Dove x Crumbl. Of course, beauty’s food obsession isn’t going anywhere – more on that below – but the I hope we’re free from the dark days of overly specific, incongruent products like Crumbl Confetti Cake deodorant,
A stray thought: Pat McGrath’s recent Candy Crush collection sits at the intersection of these gaming and food collab trends, yet was broadly (and rightfully, imo) panned as a nonsensical brand match. The Candy Crush junkie simply isn’t the Pat McGrath client – and vice versa – and the ill-fitting collab again raised the question of what’s going on at the Mothership. (I still have high hopes for her work at La Beauté Louis Vuitton, however, which debuts with 55 lipsticks1, 10 lip balms, and eight eyeshadow palettes this fall.)
To new readers, please know that this is probably my favorite section. To all readers, please know that I did the first session of a polynucleotide series for my eyes at Contrapposto a couple of weeks ago and will report on my results after the second session.
Brand new phrases: “Rent the Runway for breast implants.” “Rib remodeling” as a form of “body contouring.” The “Wild West” of the beard transplant industry.
WSJ and CNN both reported on younger people getting facelifts, while THR published its guide to “the newest cosmetic craze,” blepharoplasties. I wouldn’t say it’s “new,” but blephs are certainly being talked about more openly of late – e.g., Nikki Glazer on The Tonight Show, which I loved – and consultations with Dr. Groth are booking out a year and a half in advance. (Ask me how I know.)
From the literature: A study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined the link between lip size and perceived facial attractiveness. It was a small study, but its findings were compelling: that “lip plumping will mostly appeal to women rather than men (who prefer thinner lips), and [that] exposure to expanded lips renormalizes attractiveness to a larger baseline and may lead to lip dysmorphia.”
Apologies if that “joke” has been made elsewhere2, but reading about “butter skin” does make me feel a little crazy. We’ve returned to food in the post-”glass skin” scramble for clicky descriptors of makeup finishes, and “butter skin” aligns nicely with butter yellow’s ascent in fashion this spring.
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The term is sufficiently broad to include any look that’s not outright shiny, with a focus on supple, healthy-looking skin. It has been variously described as “classic, bombshell faces that are glamorous without being glazed;” “a luminous makeup look that disappears into the skin for a discreet, natural effect;” and “a natural, satin-like finish [that’s] hydrated and glowing but never overly shiny.” It is, essentially, a westernized “dewy dumpling” look.
Beneficiaries of this trend, should it take off for real, may include NYX’s Buttermelt line, Rhode’s Barrier Butter, and the dairy industry, somehow.
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Beauty’s other favorite for spring is in the produce aisle, with a ton of cherry-themed collections in stores right now: Glossier’s Black Cherry Collection (early to the trend with a January release), Fenty Beauty’s Cherriez Gone Bad Collection, Essence’s so cherry! happy Collection, and Tarte’s Cherry Crush Collection.
It’s not just makeup, though, with cherry being touted as a skincare ingredient and trending in fragrance. The surest sign that a trend is popping off is an over-the-top headline featuring Hailey Bieber… and Who What Wear made it happen last week.
Typically, I report on trends through a media lens, aggregating what’s being talked about and breaking it down for you. This little project happened organically, though. I started seeing a shimmer-lip resurgence late last year, with the popularity of Dior’s Liquid Sequin Lipstick for holiday and the relaunch of MAC’s classic Frost lipsticks. Then I started seeing shimmer everywhere.
I’ve been diligently tracking the year’s new lip releases, from luxury to drugstore, and they’re uniquely shiny – not traditionally glossy but glittery, iridescent, holographic, pearlescent, and metallic.
I’m not the only one who’s noticed: Harper’s Bazaar and Bustle scooped me last week with pieces on “disco lips.” I’ve been compiling lippies for too long to just link to their press coverage, so here is the Skin Type round-up of the year’s glittery lip offerings3.
These products and more shiny selects can be found on my ShopMy page. True to my “no affiliate links” promise, I have monetization features shut off.
I’ve spent too much time chronicling these products – and trying quite a few! – so drop a comment if you want guidance on picking one based on finish, format, etc.
Thank you so much for reading, and talk soon!
55 lipsticks?
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In a beauty context. I know it’s a Real Housewives of Orange County episode title!
Notes on methodology: These graphics feature new products or shades that have dropped this year, with the exception of Merit, which dropped “sheen” shades of the Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil just after I finished my round-up; Rhode, whose glittery “sugar cookie” Peptide Lip Tint sold out upon release last month; and a few late-breaking drugstore options I added to the ShopMy shelf. Isamaya’s Lip Lacq Is new to Sephora and thus new to many consumers, so it made the cut.