How Fara Homidi Uses Cool to Sell Cosmetics

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and an eyeliner resurrection.

Included in today’s issue: Aora, Beauty of Joseon, Danucera, Dermalogica, Fenty Beauty, Florence by Mills, Flower Knows, Guerlain, JVN Hair, Haus Labs, Isle of Paradise, Key West Aloe, Matière Première, Maybelline, Naturium, Ogee, Portals Perfume, Revolution Beauty, Saltyface, Sandy Liang, Sweed Beauty, Teletubbies, Trixie Mattel, Wild, Zure Solaris and feminist dinosaurs.

But first…

What do beauty shoppers want from their brand founders?

It’s a question Fara Homidi has been pondering lately. “I have this crazy point of difference,” says the makeup artist, who began her career doing fashion editorials for cultural gatekeepers like i-D and The Gentlewoman before becoming an on-call makeup artist for Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen at the Row and Hedi Slimane at Celine. “As a professional artist, I have access to nearly everything on the market. I understand what you’re going to keep grabbing for,” she says. “On the other hand, there are celebrity brands that have a kind of name recognition.” Homidi is more of an IYKYK figure. Beauty junkies worship her. But she does not have the universal fame of a founder like Hailey Bieber — although the Rhode founder certainly enjoys her products.

Homidi became something of a celebrity makeup whisperer in the mid-2010s when she handled runway beauty looks for It Girl labels like Proenza Schouler and Celine. We first met backstage at the Off-White show in Paris circa 2018; she was dusting powder across the bridge of Bella Hadid’s nose. The beauty look was the type that dudes describe as “low maintenance” and women know as “deft artistry,” with eyelids just a notch darker than their normal colouring, a “kiss-me-here” white glimmer at the very edge of the top lip and super-sheer peach bronzer used in place of pink blush. At the time, Homidi told me, “I’m not really thinking about if the look I do is pretty. It’s more like, I want it to be alive.”

The idea of “makeup with a pulse” is harder to find than it used to be. In the ’90s, labels like Prescriptives and Stila pushed its limits with super-flush cheeks, lips that looked like they’d just bitten a plum, eyelids that glistened like they’d been blinking back sweat at a rave. “I loved that era,” said Homidi, who emigrated from Afghanistan as a young child and grew up in the San Francisco Bay.

When it came time to launch her own line in 2023, Homidi wanted to channel that kind of visceral appeal with her formulas. She started with a now-famous $88 lip palette that looked like a powder, but pressed into the skin like a plush cream. It came in an electric blue compact that became something of a status accessory for fashion folk, along with Homidi’s famous clientele. In February, Sandbridge Capital acquired a minority stake in Homidi’s brand. On June 4, she’ll launch a powder-to-cream bronzer in a rich brown compact.

“There are a lot of bronzers on the market, but honestly, they’re off. They’re too orange or brown, and they’re sparkly.” Instead of mimicking the showgirl look, Homidi’s blush has a suede-like texture and pink undertone. “The dead matte look isn’t going to work for me. Instead, it makes you look like you’ve been out in a humid climate. It’s the golden sun-kissed look and tightness your skin gets from salt and sand at the beach, and that bit of pink. It’s like a toasted pinkness. That’s what you’ll get.” She’s been testing the product backstage at fashion shows and magazine shoots for almost a year.

“We’re slowly working our way toward building a collection of essentials you can do a full face with,” says Homidi, who takes the phrase “slow beauty” more literally than most. Two years in, she’s made just four colour cosmetics, a move that has helped create a cult-y mystique around her products. Homidi swears this isn’t for scarcity’s sake; it’s just because it takes a long time to make a product that lives up to her definition of “perfect.” Still, the impulse to hold back instead of crank out helps her brand feel more genuine, and certainly more valuable.

Could you say this is a similar vibe to Rhode’s constantly sold-out lip peptide shades, or even the Row’s carefully limited stash of Margaux bags? Sure, but both those brands have paired product scarcity with cultural ubiquity — social media photos of the Olsens and Hailey Bieber count billions of “likes” on Instagram alone. Homidi has the same wavy flaxen hair and cool California gaze as Ashley, Hailey and Mary-Kate (all of whom she’s worked with) but she’s not exactly a celebrity outside the world of beauty.

Still, her expertise, point of view and dedication have commanded both sales numbers and Sandbridge megabucks that are outpacing some celebrity beauty brands. I ask Homidi if the recent capital infusion has added more pressure to her role as a brand founder. “It’s more that I’m very, very competitive with myself,” says Homidi. “I look at metrics from year one, year two. I ask, ‘How can we move into new spaces without completely changing who we are? How do we tap into a market that isn’t into the things we naturally excel at?’ And I stay really involved in every single thing: Every piece of copy. Every campaign shot. … Your community pays attention. If it doesn’t feel real, it doesn’t work.”

But though Homidi has ready access to the inner spheres of fashion and celebrity culture, she isn’t planning on becoming a famous face any time soon. “There’s so much room for trained artists to thrive just by doing their best work,” she insists. “Not everything needs to be on camera.” And as Homidi’s shoppers prove, not everyone wants to buy makeup from somebody famous. Sometimes, they’d rather just get it from someone really cool.

What else is new...

Skincare

Congrats to Cerave on the launch of its new mascot, Sarah Vee. It’s a giant goat, because the brand claims it’s the GOAT of skincare. Baa-hahaha. 🐐

Sandy Liang is a skincare girlie now. The New York-based designer (pictured) is the new face of K-beauty label Beauty of Joseon, modelling the brand’s tinted sunscreen ($20) while wearing her own Spring 2025 collection. Cute, but Sandy — where’s the powder-pink lipstick from the runway show?!

Clear Start is trying to make sunscreen a Gen-Z necessity. The Dermalogica sub-brand launched its Golden Hour Hydrating SPF 30 Stick on May 25 with jojoba seed extract and squalene, plus the tagline “a breakout-free glow” to help teens dispel TikTok myths about sunscreen breakouts.

On May 27, Key West Aloe launched Sunsorb, an SPF that’s water-resistant for 80 minutes. It’s available on Amazon and doubles as a makeup primer — but really, anything does if you believe hard enough.

Wild has partnered with UK accessory label Cath Kidston on a printed case for its refillable sticks. It hit stores on May 27, but if you’re not into little illustrated birds, the brand continues to have solid colours and Kusama-ish polka dots on offer, too.

Saltyface is known for its self-tanning formulas, but on May 27, the Vancouver brand introduced its first mineral sunscreen. Called Daily Shield, the $42 formula has chamomile and green tea extracts along with SPF 30.

Danucera dropped D7 Glow Serum on March 27. Created by aesthetician Danuta Mieloch, better known as the founder behind Rescue Spa, the formula “mimics the effects of vitamin D without sun exposure” and includes ashwagandha and chicory root in its $155 formula.

Life finds a way… and so does luxury skincare. On May 28, clever girl Scarlett Johansson launched The Outset Skin Survival Kit, a Jurassic World Rebirth tie-in that includes a cleanser, moisturiser, serum and skin balm. Alas, no dino DNA inside, but maybe that’s for the best.

Isle of Paradise introduced an SPF 50 body mist and a face serum on May 28. They promise a “glow-enhancing finish” along with UV protection, and retail for $26 to $30 at Sephora.

There’s a lot going on at Zure Solaris, the British “post-sun” brand that uses words like “skin longevity” and “ancient botanical wisdom” to explain its formulas. The tl;dr is this: There are four products from $58 to $148 that promise to nourish, repair and supercharge skin that’s been damaged by the sun. That includes a cleanser, serum, moisturiser and something called a “cooling infusion” that promises to even out the skin tone.

Naturium would like you to know that its Revealer Sulfur Body Wash, which drops on May 30, can also double as a face cleanser. I would like Naturium to know that I’ve been using their $16 body washes on my face for months. Oops?

Makeup

More screen time = more lip gloss? Fenty Beauty is betting on it with Grape Splash, a limited-edition shimmer gloss that you can only buy inside Roblox. The product debuted on May 15. It’s very cute, but I’m old-school, so I’m waiting for Jennifer Behr to drop a cherry red Miss Pac Man hair bow inside a boardwalk arcade…

Meanwhile at Maybelline, five shades of Lifter Honey’d Lip Gloss hit shelves on March 15, including honey, caramel, maple, toast and toffee. The $11 formulas look a little basic in the tube, but on lips, the shine is undeniable.

It’s kind of amazing that Millie Bobby Brown didn’t start her beauty brand with a flavoured lip balm, but at least it’s happening now. On May 15, Florence By Mills unveiled Butter Crème Lip Balms, a quartet of $15 glosses in Glazed (clear), Watermelon Sherbert (light pink), Angel Food Cake (deep pink) and Toasted Sugar (caramel). The brand photographed each shade to look like piped icing, an effective and fun visual that likely didn’t cost much. Cute.

Swedish makeup brand Sweed Beauty’s bronzer and highlighter hit shelves on May 21, with buildable, sheer formulas and “elastic and lightweight” textures. Each palette is $45.

Do mermaids have their own version of Versailles? Flower Knows is like, “Yeah, duh.” The over-the-top makeup brand dropped its Shell’s Jewel collection on May 27 with shimmery shadows and glosses, all packaged in gilded and pearlized compacts and tubes that go for Baroque. The highlight is a $20 highlighter balm that doubles as a bag charm. I mean… can your Labubu contour?

Revolution Beauty’s Super Dewy Blush Burst hit shelves on May 28, costs $9 and claims to be so portable, you can fit one inside a tiny Jacquemus bag for summer. (Did we just turn those little guys into bag charms or…?)

Bienvenidos, Aora! The Mexican cosmetics line arrived in America on May 28 with plastic-free packaging and includes a solid lip serum, eyeliner and a spacey gold shadow palette that you could stick in a contemporary art museum, or an episode of Andor, with zero reservations.

Guerlain’s Terracotta Blossom launched on May 28 with a tortoise-shell palette and floral doodles stamped into the pressed powder by artist Laura Gulshani. The press brief says it’s “too pretty to use,” but for $60, please swipe that sucker if you want a bronzy blush.

Over the hills and far away, Trixie Mattel came out to play. On May 29, the drag queen and makeup maven introduced a Teletubbies collab with eye shadow, lip gloss, blush, lashes and brushes. Big hug!

Ogee’s Perfecting Concealer arrived on May 29. It’s a $38 formula available in 30 shades.

Born this way? Shop this way. Starting June 1, Lady Gaga’s Haus Labs will donate $1 from every one of their products purchased at Sephora to the Born This Way Foundation, which funds community spaces and support networks for the LGBTQ+ community.

Hair Care

On May 28, JVN Hair debuted Perféct, a $28 dry shampoo with a French accent and a formula that includes micellar molecules, which are also found in Bioderma and Garnier’s best-selling makeup removers.

Fragrance

The pop singer Melanie Martinez has been quietly building a fragrance brand, Portals Parfums, since 2023. It’s a partnership with Flower Shop Perfumes, an indie shop by Isaac Lekach, the former fragrance consultant for Paris Hilton, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry. On May 15, Portals launched a quartet of concentrated extraits in metal pendants that look a bit like vintage Christmas ornaments. They’re $82 each.

On May 21, Matière Première said “bonjour” to its newest fragrance range, Vanilla Powder (pictured). Created by Gucci’s former nose Aurélien Guichard, the scent includes palo santo, coconut and white musk, and comes as a traditional perfume, a hair mist and a lotion.

And finally…

At Caviar Kaspia last night for Assouline’s Santoni book launch, I counted no less than five women wearing liquid cat-eye liner, including actress Michelle Monaghan, Editorialist founder Kate Davidson Hudson and art strategist JiaJia Fei. Meanwhile at a New School graduation event, a 60-something documentary photographer asked me to redo her liquid eyeliner in the bathroom before she gave a speech. Gen-Z may not be into it, but if you’re over 30, start practicing your Lauren Conrad eye-corner flick ASAP.

Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.