Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and scented designer sneakers.
Included in today’s issue: Adidas, Beekman 1802, Cocolab, Glimpse Analytics, Glossier, Guy Fieri, Humanrace, Image Skincare, Kiehl’s, Kulfi, Kylie Cosmetics, Lalicious, Laura Geller, Make Beauty, Milk Makeup, Moon, Mooncat, NYX, Proven, Rael, Revlon, RŌZ, Saie, Saje Wellness, Sephora, Shades by Shan, Stella McCartney, Tatcha, Torriden, Urban Decay, Violette_Fr, Wild, and Cher Horowitz.
But first…
It started, as these things do, with Alex Consani.
On July 7, the 22-year-old hit the Schiaparelli Couture catwalk in an inky gown, a collar of crystal daggers and oily black lips with the same slick sheen as Elvira’s leather corsets. The clothes? They cost tens of thousands, and anyway, it’s couture — like two people get to buy them. The lips? Pat McGrath told Vogue you could do them with a $29 makeup pencil and a slash of clear, thick gloss.
Consani’s midnight pout served as the unofficial kickoff to “Summerween,” a goofy internet “holiday” that comes from the Gravity Falls cartoon, but really comes from TikTok. After a clip of the actress Kristen Schaal saying “Summerween? Sounds unnatural” went viral last year, Extremely Online friends began throwing haunted beach parties, making spooky cocktails and posting fanged beauty tutorials.
“Summerween is a thing,” insists makeup artist Katie Farhood, whose icky-gorgeous spiderweb makeup tutorial landed on TikTok two weeks ago, and now has over 875,000 views. “I hate when [people] only post spooky stuff in October!” But if Halloween is a classic horror movie in a dark theater, Summerween is a franchise reboot that you watch on the couch with all the lights on. There’s not even a pretense of fear, which makes the trend ideal for the current soft-and-fuzzy consumer preferences described in Mintel’s recent report as “Comfort Capital.” (I once accidentally described this report as “Comfort Commerce,” a term I will now repurpose for future Labubu discourse.)
That’s why Summerween merch leans more campy than creepy. In early July, Walmart debuted neon pink pumpkins and skulls in their home decor section; at T.J. Maxx, the displays included tiny ghosts on pool floats. So far, the only major beauty retailer to spook out is Bath & Body Works. On July 7, the mall hangout introduced almost 50 kitschy items, including “Vampire Blood” body mist and a pink foaming hand soap called “Ghoul Friend.” This week, Google searches for the line spiked over 2,800%. Meanwhile, when Nyx debuted its Summerween-adjacent “Wednesday” collab on July 23, posts received double the engagement from other recent partnerships, even though the show’s star Jenna Ortega isn’t part of the marketing campaign. (She’s got a Dior Beauty deal keeping her busy…) Ulta Beauty is testing the market with new Poison Apple and Haunted Cherry candles, too. Although Summerween’s marketing power is larval, data is crawling in: the hollow “holiday” can boost visibility, perhaps because it naturally stands out from the rest of the beachy, sunsoaked Instagramscape.
How are brands harnessing the haunted vibes without dedicated products? Glamlite went the Frankenstein route and assembled some existing hero products (Scream highlighter, KISS mascara) into an SEO-friendly Summerween shop on its website. Profusion Cosmetics made TikTok posts with goth-glam purple lip shimmers, and bumped its Casper collab back onto its homepage; and Pat McGrath posted backstage Schiaparelli videos to Instagram and TikTok that specifically dovetail with baby-Goth vibes.
You do not need a “Summerween” capsule collection to harness the harmless trend’s eerie allure. (And making unconsidered products that don’t align with your brand’s core values is a one-way ticket to the scariest place in the world — a landfill.) Still, it would be foolish to ghost on this silly holiday, especially as “Wednesday” gears up for an August 6 release date. Even Pat McGrath and her stable of megababe models can grin and noir it.
What else is new…
Skincare
Glimpse Analytics reports that “niaciamide” has been searched 4 million times this month, a peak for the year. Perhaps this explains why I keep seeing Nassif MD’s niacinamide serum in random TikTok videos? Or perhaps Real Housewives lore never dies…
Days after Jessica Grose roasted Dove’s Crumbl cookie deodorant in the New York Times, Wild announced a partnership with Chupa Chups lollipops on cola, strawberries & cream and watermelon deodorant. Too far? Its Chupa Chups cherry body wash launched July 15, and seems like a safer bet.
Image Skincare is adding to the pile of SPF glosses with its Daily Prevention Nourishing Lip Balm, a sheer $29 formula with SPF 30. It hit shelves on July 18.
The goats are back… wait… baaah-k. On July 20, Beekman 1802 introduced its newest goat-milk formula, Magnesium Milk Barrier Reset Jelly Mist. It’s $29, with an aloe-based formula that’s approved by the National Rosacea Society. Besides reducing redness, the spray claims to “reduce cortisol” — a first in the mainstream skincare category. Let’s keep an eye on this.
Laura Geller dropped a cold cream on July 22 that has the feel of old-school makeup removal lotion, but the shea butter and olive oil infusions more common to upscale indie brands.
Strawberry smiles forever! On July 22, Cocoshine debuted Berry Jam, a toothpaste made with Insta-famous Oishii strawberries, for $22.
Can a topical product really replace microneedling? K-beauty brand Rael swears they’ve done it with Microcrystal Activated PM Serum, which debuted on July 22 with azelaic acid and copper peptides, but not any bruising or “ouch!” moments at the dermatologist. Let’s see…
Data FTW. On July 22, Proven debuted SkinSpecific, a range of nine products based on its proprietary skincare database, which includes over 20,000 ingredients and 4,000 scientific papers about those ingredients. SkinSpecific’s new line includes trios for acne, anti-aging and hyperpigmentation; the bundles retail for $120 each.
Kiehl’s did a great job naming its latest scrub: Meet the “Gently Effective Acne-Treating Cleansing Paste.” The $29 tube launched at Kiehls.com on July 23 with charcoal and 2% salicylic acid, along with an implied promise to keep skin calm during a detox session.
Put on your most capable looking outfit from Fred Segal and head to the Beverly Wilshire Spa, where a Clueless-themed “Spa-cation” awaits in honor of the brand’s 30th anniversary. The treatment includes a coffee-infused massage, diamond face mask and foot mask. No word on whether Fabian, Cher’s masseuse, can stop by to talk about the tightness in your neck lately.
Violette_FR’s Balm Amour hit shelves on July 24. The $26 lip balm has a “totally waterless” formula with sunflower oil for moisture and a “phyto-collagen activator” for plumpness. It comes in a cerulean tube that looks a bit like Augustinus Bader’s Sofia Coppola tinted lip balm, but this one goes on shiny and clear.
One more reason to strive for an Ibiza summer: On July 26, Humanrace opens a “cold plunge experience” at Casa Jondal, the island’s exclusive beach club. The installation includes cold therapy sessions in a “mirrored cube plunge” meant to help with detox and muscle recovery. (Incidentally, I’ve also used the cold plunge pools at Aire Ancient Baths when my depression has been cratering, and though it’s painful to hurl yourself into nerve-crunching waters, it’s also quite a mood jolt.) No word on whether Humanrace founder Pharrell will be there to baptize bathers himself, but Adidas trainer Pol Cejas will be there for breathwork sessions over the weekend.
Makeup
First stop Miu Miu; next stop brown mascara. Days after Kylie Jenner’s campaign with Prada’s cool-kid label dropped, her cosmetics line launched Kylash, a volumizing mascara in a rich brown hue for $24. If you’d like to use it à la Kylie, apply the brown to bottom lashes and the black to top ones.
Make Beauty’s Multi-Chromatic eyeshadows just got shiny. The brand owned by accelerator The Center (which recently married off its daughter Phlur) released six palettes with large-flake glitter formulations, and shades like olive green, baby blue and yellow gold. Each one is $24.
On July 22, Shades By Shan introduced its $26 formula, which comes in a mocha-coloured tube and promises to donate “a portion of proceeds” to single-parent families in need. The money routes through the MamaBerries Nonprofit Foundation, which was set up by Shades by Shan founder Shan Berries to honour the hard work of her mum. (It is currently unvetted by Charity Navigator.)
It’s interesting to see Urban Decay’s newest palette go for utility over storytelling. Instead of a Glazed Banana Summer (or whatever!), the brand debuted a Multi-Tasking Eye Shadow Palette on July 22 with 14 shades and the mandate to “shape, define, sculpt, and highlight.” It’s a $56 kit, so still an investment — it’s just that now, UD is turning the value proposition into the story itself.
Revlon’s collaboration with Guy Fieri on a “Flavortown” Glass Shine lipstick is brilliant, and strangely, feels more believable than the idea that Madelyn Cline wears a red lip. Keep it up. (And let the Gen-Z queen wear her signature toasted peach nude!)
Pop quiz, e-comm teams: Which of these July 23 emails would you open?
Lancôme brought back one of its most successful faces of all time — not the actor Ed Westwick, but the character Chuck Bass — to promote its new Juicytreat, a lip oil extension of the Juicy Tubes that Westwick/Bass pushed back in May.
Kulfi’s first makeup primer hit shelves on July 25. It’s called Double Life and promises pore blurring and hydration, plus a reduction in hyperpigmentation thanks to tranexamic acid and niacinamide. Incidentally, Kulfi’s tubing mascara has really grown on me; it’s been a reliable melt-proof formula all summer.
Mooncat dropped 10 new nail lacquers on July 25, including holographic, chrome-tinged and metallic shades. The sci-fi range is called “Welcome to Paradise” and includes a colour called “Epilogue to Utopia.” Meanwhile, I need a nap.
Retail News
Welcome to Sephora, Torriden! On July 16, the K-beauty brand entered 350 doors with products like its best-selling Dive In serum. Like Laneige, Torriden leans more into the super-cute element of K-beauty culture; their fonts are big and bubbled, and their models look like they’d be in a Sarah Lawrence comparative literature class with Laufey.
The oral care brand GuruNanda hit Ulta on July 17 with five products, including its coconut oil-pulling formula, “fluoride-free” mouthwash (ehhh?) and whitening gel pens. Ulta Beauty also carries Moon, the toothcare line originally co-founded by Kendall Jenner and the Beach House Group.
On July 21, California-based beauty label Saie debuted its first podcast, a conversation between founder Laney Crowell and Amazon’s chief sustainability officer Kara Hurst. (Yes, that job title sounds like a massive contradiction. Hopefully the next podcast can point that out?) The video podcast dropped on Saie’s Substack account, where the beauty brand has also published stories on queer beauty icons and exceptional chocolate chip cookies.
Saje Natural Wellness entered 200 Ulta doors on July 21 with its storied line of essential oil roll-ons and creams, along with the tagline: “We are nature’s pharmacy.”
Another July 21 birthday for Ulta? JVN Hair. The brand by breakout Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness entered the superstore with 29 items, including full-size jars of its Instant Recovery Serum. (Which works!)
Hair Care
We love a clever origin story. After celebrity hairstylist and RŌZ founder Mara Roszak kept wrapping her hair in a sweatshirt from The Great instead of a regular towel, she collaborated with the brand on an actual sweatshirt towel to help reduce frizz during air-dries. It’s $62 at Goop, because of course it is.
Fragrance
Lalicious rolled out its hair and body mists on July 16. The $28 sprays include Sugar Kiss (sugary) and Endless Summer (beachy); the packaging looks like Love Island villa decor, which makes sense.
It’s been a minute since Stella McCartney launched a new perfume (sob!) but on July 22, she introduced something just as dreamy: “Compostable sneakers that smell like cinnamon.” The S-Wave Sport Trainers are part of McCartney’s Fall 2025 collection, and are woven with from Piñayarn, a fibre made from upcycled pineapple leaves. The soles are made with compostable, bio-based rubber, and the whole thing is “dyed with natural cinnamon, giving the shoe a delicate and unique scent.” The sneakers retail for $725 — about three bottles of Byredo’s Eyes Closed, which is the favourite cinnamon scent among the “I’ll never tell you what perfume I wear” types who frequent McCartney’s Soho boutique.
UK retailer Boots has announced a new fragrance concept store on July 25, set to open in London’s Broadgate Central in the fall. It’ll be stocked with 400 “luxury and niche” scents, according to a press release. Related: Did you know Boots carries Hérmes perfumes?
And finally…
Skincare brands continue to push into the wearables game. On July 22, Pamela Anderson’s brand Sonsie unveiled a limited-edition $165 “Sunflower Hat” in collaboration with Aussie designer Lorna Murray. Earlier this month, Dr. Idriss released a rashguard as part of her suncare collection. And of course, Tatcha’s answer to the ubiquitous Labubu — the Jiyū Chan — hit Ulta on July 20 as a $100 purchase gift. (You can see it dangling from Olympic gymnast Suni Lee’s Chanel purse.)
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