Welcome back to Haul of Fame, the beauty roundup of new products, new ideas and a sneaking suspicion that “hair mist” is just tap water with a flower petal floating around. (Right?)
Included in today’s issue: Biossance, Bread, Cartier, Drunk Elephant, Gisou, Mirabella, Nerra, Ouai, Pat McGrath Labs, Peace Out, Prequel, Redken and Sofia Richie Grainge.
But first…
My neighbour Jaime Delane is a TikTok star. She makes videos about the dogs and cats she babysits, which are engaging and hilarious. Because she is young, cool, and extremely online, I can often see a trend coming because I see Jamie first; a month before Pantone screeched out its Peach Fuzz Colour of the Year, she was wearing a vintage Gap dress and matching sweater the shade of a bellini. So last week, when this Gen-Z avatar was running errands wearing Florence by Mills under eye patches, I was intrigued.
The under eye skin care category has exploded since 2020, thanks to work-from-home skincare routines hitting overdrive. But although social media is flooded with patch posing (indie cool girls prefer Dieux Skin, Alix Earle and her acolytes go for Peter Thomas Roth, etc), they’ve always been an indoor activity. Thanks to TikTok clips from Selena Gomez, who makes her own under eye patches at Rare Beauty, and Sydney Sweeney, under eye patches are starting to look like normal — and even cool — attire for the young and the restless (but who want to look well-rested) outside of the house.
Obviously, there’s precedent for this, even if it’s a little smaller: zit stickers are now so visible that they’re being used as New York Fashion Week runway accessories, in Victoria’s Secret ad videos and, of course, paparazzi reels. If under eye patches are the next private-to-public beauty ritual, they already have a template for possible brand extensions.
Now all we need is a cool TV show or movie to give the fad a push. Because frankly, once Emma Corrin’s beauty team on “A Murder at the End of the World” swaps their pale pink hair dye with some green Pixi swirls, it’s all over.
What Else Is New…
Peace Out makes under-eye patches, too, but their latest release — out Dec. 13 — is an Early Stage Acne Dot. It does not come in cool shapes like clouds or unicorns, but it does come with over 400 microneedles and 2 percent salicylic acid.
On Dec. 12, Drunk Elephant dropped a new deep moisturiser, Bora Barrier Repair Cream. It’s $69, but that won’t stop the teen girls in my family from buying it for wrinkles they do not have.
Prequel is launching their Lucent-C Brightening Vitamin C Serum on Dec. 13. It’s $23, and comes in a no-nonsense navy bottle with ingredients — niacinamide, inulin, ferulic acid, and 15 percent Vitamin C — labelled clearly on the box. (Can you tell an Insta-famous dermatologist made it?)
Also on Dec. 13, Biossance released their new Squalane + Ectoin Overnight Rescue, meant to “strengthen your skin while you sleep.” It includes magnesium, which is often in sleep supplements for deeper rest. The Biossance team says the mineral “inhibits the release of neurotransmitters that trigger stress” but many scientists aren’t psyched on that claim. Smooth skin, though? Great.
For skin not found on the face, Nerra just introduced a line of four body care products inspired by the Hammams of Turkey and Morocco. They pay special attention to the oh-so-satisfying practice of a deep body scrub.
Ouai released an in-shower hair gloss on Dec. 12 made with hyaluronic acid and rice water. I haven’t tried it yet, but the photos make the end result look super shiny. Redken dropped their own Acidic Hair Gloss range on Dec. 4. Now that red carpets are back to normal, I can see shiny starlet hair coming back in a big way.
On Dec. 14, Gisou premieres a bedazzled, honey-infused hair oil at a special NYC pop-up event. There will also be chances to score it in London, or win it on the Gisou website. Elsewhere in hair news, Bread released a clarifying shampoo and a ceramide conditioner on Dec. 8 with packaging cute enough for gifting. Cartier just dropped a hair mist, too, but this one doesn’t smell like self care, just gardenias and zero student loans.
And in makeup news, Pat McGrath Labs unveiled a collaboration with the Emma Stone movie Poor Things on Dec. 8; Emma’s character wears Matte Trance Lipstick in Forbidden Love throughout the film.
Mirabella launched their Bulletproof Matte Setting Spray on Dec. 14. I’m an Urban Decay loyalist, but a good matte finish is hard to find!
And finally, Sofia Richie Grainge just revealed to Porter that she’s planning to release beauty products under the name SRG. I’ve checked the US trademark database and haven’t found any claims yet, but it’ll be fascinating to see if she can spin her influence with other brands into tangible gold for herself. She already has a deal with Nudestix, but personally, I would buy something from her that would get me one of her signature smooth ponytails, one with no bumps!
