Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and failed French revolutionaries.
Included in today’s issue: Allies of Skin, Amika, Being Frenshe, Birkenstock, Boy Smells, Ciele Cosmetics, Colourpop, Curie, Drmtlgy, ESW Beauty, Face Reality, Gisou, Hero Cosmetics, Hourglass Cosmetics, Initio Parfums Privés, Maed, Manicurist, Mantle, Miu Miu, Moira, Nakery Beauty, Neutrogena, Odele, Pattern Beauty, Schwarzkopf Professional, Tatcha, Typology and Camila Cabello’s scented tour strategy.
But first…
You don’t need me to tell you about Starface. Your boss probably yells about them every day. Like A24 and Liquid Death, Starface is one of those brands that other brands claim for themselves. “We’re the Starface of romance novels!” “We’re the Starface of window screens!” are two actual phrases being uttered, or perhaps muttered, in marketing meetings circa 2025. That’s what happens when you launch astral zit stickers in 2019, hit $90 million in annual revenue by 2024, and get everyone from Hello Kitty to Victoria’s Secret co-signing onto your idea of affordable, “flaw-driven” cool.
Exactly a year ago, Starface launched the equivalent of its sophomore album: a quartet of scented lip balms with smiley faces stamped on top. They named the shiny plastic chubbies “Star Balms,” rolled them into Target for $7 each, and waited for the verdict from tweens, teens and the holy trinity of Hadid / Bieber / Jenner approval. Like Olivia Rodrigo’s “Guts” and Led Zeppelin’s “II,” Starface Star Balms were a respectable follow-up. They’ve sold over one million units at Ulta Beauty, CVS and Target, and somehow wound up in Naomi Campbell’s hands on Instagram. Star Balms drive 32 percent of the brand’s sales at Ulta Beauty, and 20 percent of their direct-to-consumer sales, Starface added.
“I could lie and say we didn’t know it would work,” said Starface co-founder Julie Schott, calling from her Ojai, California home. “But it was the number one requested product from our customer base, and also, it just felt right. We saw the prototypes and felt like we already knew them.”
I should tell you here that I already knew Julie Schott before she became a beauty founder — way before. She was one of my editors at Elle, and we have worked together on a few extracurricular projects that have nothing to do with stars or faces. Even Hello Kitty wasn’t involved, and gosh, I was bummed about that. But I’ll never be bummed about knowing Julie, both as a thinker and as a human.
Beauty CEOs can be elusive, but because of our shared history, I was able to phone Schott on the eve of Star Balm’s first birthday. (It’s a Leo! Hurrah!) I asked if she had any advice for launching sophomore products. “It really is like sophomore albums,” she said. “I’m thinking of Addison Rae. Nobody expected her to come out and prove she was a musician, an artist. But she was so thoughtful with her comeback, and that’s what we knew we had to be. We couldn’t do ‘another Hydro-Star.’ We had to say, ‘Hydro-Stars are interactive, fun, emotional, a little outside the lines. What’s the next piece of that story?’ Because data is great, but your own instincts have to validate that… To bring it back to music, there was no data saying, ‘Make Brat green a thing.’ They had to see it and know it in the room.”
Schott credits Star Balm’s “nostalgia loop” as a key piece of its success. “If you’re a Gen X or a Millennial, fruity lip balms were everything to you growing up. So our flavours are so juicy and visceral — watermelon, coconut — to play into that. But if you’re 12 or 16, it might be your first experience with cotton candy or watermelon, or strawberry. And you become part of that nostalgia circle by discovering them for the first time.” Schott said she knew they were a hit when she heard they were getting shoplifted from drugstores at nearly the same rate as Hydro-Stars. “I also check Ebay and Depop; the limited-edition ones are getting resold. That’s a huge green flag for me.”
With about $9 million in early-day sales, the balm is settling into cult IYKYK status — the kind of item that can comfortably float along as a niche favourite while Starface considers building a third hero pillar. “There has to be something else coming down the pipeline eventually,” Schott admits. “But it isn’t right now. When we feel like it’s time for another step forward, we’ll go back to our original purpose. Tell the story we came to tell. But ask ourselves, what do you know now about ourselves and the world that we didn’t the first time?”
Until then, Star Balm will release new flavours in October. Schott swears that none of them will be Brat green.
What else is new…
Skincare
Gentle parenting, but make it skincare? On Aug. 14, Drmtlgy introduced a Gentle Acne Serum for sensitive or reactive skin.
Face Reality’s first eye gel hit shelves on Aug. 15. It’s got peptides and N-Hyrdroxysuccinimides, which are tiny compounds that easily bind to iron, helping reduce dark circles by flushing out pooled blood. This feels like a missed opportunity for some vampire marketing, but still: cool.
A big shoutout to Rachael Kelley, the former Kiehl’s publicist currently at Karla Otto who’s single handedly making Birkenstock foot care products into glam necessities. The instructions she sent to editors last week about how and why to use a pumice stone were clear and encouraging. (Birk’s pumice stone, by the way, is made of “100% recycled glass to reduce calluses and remove dead skin cells…but only if you use it correctly”!)
Welcome to Ulta, Nakery Beauty! The “clean body care company” by TikTokker Liz Folce hit the site on Aug. 18, with plans to enter 305 Ulta doors in October.
Props to Mantle, the Scandinavian skincare line that debuted its “Longevity Serum” on Aug. 17, thereby hitching a ride to wellness SEO trends while highlighting its “cellular regeneration” properties.
The twist? Tatcha also dropped a “Longevity Serum” on Aug. 18 that claims to have the same restorative power. Tatcha anchored their brand story in the “Blue Zone” of Okinawa, where human lifespans are longer. Okinawa’s local flora — including ginger and shikuwasa lime — just happens to be included in Tatcha’s $80 formula.
Neutrogena continues to explore its place in the chatter-sphere. (This is a compliment.) After testing partnerships with Extremely Online celebs like Tate McRae and Nicola Coughlan, along with unlikely hero John Cena, the drugstore label has enlisted makeup artist and founder Danessa Myricks. On Aug. 19, Neutrogena dropped co-branded $7 makeup removal kits with Danessa’s photo on the pack.
ESW Beauty and Liquid Death are making sheet masks together. Can they replicate the sold-out success of E.l.f.’s 2024 collab with the canned water brand? Eh. The E.l.f. project was kind of a gag — they named it “corpse paint” and everything — whereas these $6 ESW packs are pretty sincere tributes, with formulas that nod to Liquid Death’s mountain spring and mineral waters. They hit shelves on Aug. 20.
Hero Cosmetics introduced its Dark Spot Corrector at Ulta on Aug. 20. The $20 formula has 15% vitamin C and a “Gen Z purple” tube.
Violet Grey said salut! to Founder’s Essence on Aug. 20. It’s a limited-edition “light reflecting serum” by Allies of Skin with ellagic acid (found in nuts and berries), probiotics, copper sulfate and ectoin.
Wonder why it’s called “Pattern Beauty” and not just “Pattern Hair”? Because Tracee Ellis Ross is going for world domination, duh. On Aug. 21, she launched her first foray below the scalp: A five-piece bodycare collection including scrub, wash, oil, lotion and cream that goes for $32 to $36.
If your hobbies include the E! network and cuticle care, pay attention to Manicurist. The French brand’s Glossy Booster Duo hit shelves on August 22 with a glycolic peel pen for cuticles and a mini-buffer stick. It’s $18 but it won’t help you win a riff-off.
Makeup
Be honest: When you hear “seal setting spray,” do you think the formula is for marine mammals? I did, but the K-beauty brand Moira was like, “No, it’s a 16-hour makeup spray for humans that’s $10.” It launched Aug. 14.
This one’s for the girls with Bottega Veneta tissue box covers: On Aug. 14, Hourglass Cosmetics dropped a $94 gold makeup palette with $18 charms shaped like letters, zodiac signs and tiny moons and stars. Each palette has two blushes, bronzer, highlighter and finishing powder inside, so… bargain?
My love for Ashley Tisdale runs deep (Hellcats! Incredible!) but on Aug. 17, she debuted four lip balms for her Target self care line Being Frenshe and named the category “Lip Wellness.” This is a gloss too far.
Does your blush need SPF? My dermatologist says no, but that hasn’t stopped Ciele Cosmetics from adding it to its $34 compacts of Flush + Protect powder. They debuted Aug. 18 in seven shades.
Maed made its best-selling Revive Day + Night Lip Balm into a colour cosmetic! Starting Aug. 18, the formula is available in clear along with a new plum shade called Reckon and a dusty peach called Vow.
Shrek having a beauty line is like Oscar the Grouch having a home fragrance candle — and yet, it’s kinda perfect. On Aug. 21, Colourpop releases its ogre-themed collection with six products, including lip oil, a shadow palette, glitter body gel and a cheek balm. Don’t worry, the Donkey gets his own lip gloss.
Hair Care
Lipstick case? Please. On Aug. 12, the downtown New York fashion babe Susan Alexandra debuted a dry shampoo case made with iridescent beads, a cloud charm and a paracord that can cinch to your purse. The bag charm was made for the haircare brand Odele, and retails as part of a travel set for $50.
Bella’s like butta. On Aug. 18, Ms. Hadid debuted a creamy blonde shade created by Jacob Schwartz using Schwarzkopf Professional’s Vario Blond Super Plus. She matched her hair with a butter yellow mini-dress by With Jéan and Giuseppe Zanotti sandals.
Typology’s R41 Restorative Hair Serum hit shelves on Aug. 18. It has “low molecular weight hyaluronic acid to draw moisture” and promises to reduce frizz.
Fragrance
Camila Cabello was a Victoria’s Secret Bombshell model in 2022, but it seems the pop star’s fragrance taste has grown up — or at least, her partnerships agreements have. Cabello’s hair will be misted with Initio Parfums Privés during the August leg of her Asia Pacific tour, including Musk Therapy in Tokyo, Atomic Rose in Bangkok and Oud for Greatness in Sydney. Breathe deep, Camilizers!
Cherry Woods is a new juicy scent for Curie’s deodorant that debuted on Aug. 18 — but really, it should also be the name of Elle Woods’ less popular, more rebellious little sister. Hello Sunshine, give them a call.
After Ouai and Moroccanoil both bottled their signature smells into “hair mists,” Amika is getting into tress scents with Amika:Aura, a $28 hair and body mist with grapefruit, vanilla and orchid.
There’s one more chance to make it a Brat(z) summer. On Aug. 20, Boy Smells dropped its Bratz collaboration scent, a body mist with strawberry, vanilla orchid and “plastic doll accord.” It’s an odd turn of phrase, but in a very American way, we all know what that smells like.
And finally…
Is it gonna be a Guillotine Fall? Days before Town & Country declared “Marie Antoinette Is Back” with its excellent Kirsten Dunst cover, Miu Miu dropped its newest fragrance, Miutine. Parent company L’Oréal says the name nods to “mutine,” which means “mischievous” or “rebellious” in French. But “mutine” is usually more aggressive, referring to a violent mutiny or the overthrow of an established hierarchy. Including, one would assume, the top luxury brand of 2024 according to the Lyst Index, which would be… Miu Miu.
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