The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame

Welcome to Haul of Fame, a weekly roundup of the biggest beauty moments of the week, why they matter … and why some of them might not.

Included in today’s issue: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Cherries, Fenty, Hermès, Hero, Katy Perry, Pat McGrath, Starface, The Good Patch and U Beauty.

A Tale of Two Press Trips

Depending on the state of your algorithm, you likely saw one of two California dreams last weekend: The discreetly fabulous Hermès getaway in Palm Springs, or the not-so-quiet glamor of the Anastasia Beverly Hills hangout in Los Angeles. Both were luxe lures for beauty heavyweights and cultural forces, including Pace Gallery curator Kimberly Drew at Hermès and uh … Justin Bieber at ABH.

While Hermès centred its trip around its new Le Regard collection — elegant Pierre Hardy-designed mascara tubes, five eye makeup tools including a lash curler rimmed in lagoon blue enamel and a branded spoolie, and six shadow palettes — Anastasia Beverly Hills turned its Glow Seeking Highlighter launch into a metaphor. The makeup brand literally highlighted other female-founded beauty brands at an intimate “afternoon of wellness.” That those brands included social media mega-magnets like Rhode and Paris Hilton Fragrances was an indication that Claudia “Norvina” Soare, Anastasia’s daughter and the brand’s president and creative director, is positioning the brand at the intersection of its Hollywood insider past and its influencer-beloved present.

The Patch Wars Heat Up

On Oct. 17, The Good Patch launched a series of skin care patches that target acne, dark circles, puffy eyes and fine lines — a follow up to its popular wellness patches for period cramps, anxiety and insomnia. The move comes as Hero Cosmetics announced it has now sold over 1 billion acne patches; it debuted the Mighty Patch Forehead on Oct. 18 in 16,000 brick and mortar retail locations, including CVS and Target. Meanwhile, Florence by Mills told me their acne and under-eye patches are best-sellers, while Starface continues to dominate Gen-Z mindshare through a recent New York Fashion Week partnership with Collina Strada. One fallen comrade in the category: Dr. Jart+, who quietly pulled their Blemish Micro Tip Patch from US shelves earlier this year. It’s a shame, since these were the only ones that always worked on my cystic, imminent zits. There is now a tidy black market for unopened packages on Poshmark and eBay.

Other Launches to Note

First up, there’s Dauphinette’s foray into fragrance. You likely know Dauphinette because of their floral chain mail tops, as seen on Emma Chamberlain and Hilary Duff. The vintage-loving fashion line one could describe as Todd Oldham on strawberry flavoured acid. On Oct. 17, Daphinette delved into perfume with 369, a small batch fragrance with notes of lemon, fig, orchid milk and tomato. Attendees at the line’s Spring/Summer 2024 fashion show have already huffed it, though; designer Olivia Cheng scented her runway with the sweet-but-sharp aroma in September. She also created the bottle cap with a real dandelion pouf frozen in clear resin.

In other fragrance news, Katy Perry is the newest face of Dolce & Gabbana Devotion, a citrus-based fragrance from the Italian powerhouse. Is it mildly surprising that Perry, who often mobilises her pop star platform for human rights worldwide, is pairing with a brand embroiled in a 2018 racism scandal. Dolce & Gabbana has since appeared on similar wonder women like Lupita Nyong’o and Helen Mirren. Still, if there’s a press tour surrounding the campaign, it’ll be interesting to hear her speak on the brand’s evolution, and what — besides some flawless tailoring and, perhaps, a good amount of money — drew her back to the label.

Goop announced Good.Clean.Goop. its new mass beauty line, exclusive to Target and Amazon. Think of it as Gwyneth Paltrow’s version of Red Valentino or Heaven by Marc Jacobs. Goop joins Fenty Beauty, which rolled into Target on Oct. 1.

Speaking of Fenty, Rihanna’s billion dollar baby launched two new lip products: a glassy lip conditioner and a tinted lip moisture mask duo, featuring Aceola, otherwise known as Barbados Cherry. The fruit is loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C; it also has a nice tie to Rihanna’s island birthplace of Saint Michael.

U Beauty debuted their first face tint, Super Tinted Hydrator, this week. The line is calling it “one part next-gen moisturizer, one part intuitive skin tint,” making it a luxury bridge product. It’s a little like Saie Beauty’s Slip Tint if it also claimed anti-aging properties. U Beauty’s formulas have been super-impressive — you can actually feel the skin buoyancy increase after using their Resurfacing Compound. Still, I don’t know if a $108 foundation (foundation-ish? product) can move enough volume when so many others are on the market. Chanel’s version is $70 and Armani Beauty’s is $48.

Over at Google, searches for “Face Masks, Beauty” have risen over 120 percent in the past week, according to the platform’s Trends Newsletter. Honest Beauty, Caudalie and Elemis are listed as breakout names. And wouldn’t you know it, Honest Beauty was one of the female-founded brands getting hyped by Anastasia Beverly Hills at its gauzy wellness retreat last weekend.

PS: I’ve seen at least five women this week carrying Balenciaga’s cosmetics pouch as a handbag in downtown New York … Is this Gen-Z’s version of the Vuitton pouchette?