How to Sell the Same Lipstick Twice

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and Nars for boys.

Included in today’s issue: Amouage, Australian Gold, Aveda, Biossance, Ceremonia, Colourpop, Decorte, Dolce & Gabbana, Dr. Dennis Gross, Dr. Jart, Drmtlgy, D.S. & Durga, Eos, Estée Lauder, Eva NYC, Farmacy Beauty, Gopure, Iris & Romeo, JLo Beauty, Kiehl’s, Le Labo, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup by Mario, Milk Makeup, Moroccanoil, Nakery Beauty, Neom Wellbeing, Not Your Mother’s, Oribe, Osea, The Outset, Prequel, Round Lab, Sam Edelman, Smashbox, Teoxane, Thrive Causemetics, Tower 28, Tula Skincare, Uni, Victoria Beckham Beauty, Youngblood, and Madonna!

But first…

Once upon the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, teenage girls wore Petit Bateau baby tees with giant Gap carpenter pants, sent urgent gossip via AOL Instant Messenger and dabbed their faces with Clinique Chubby Sticks. One of the first hybrid pigment products that could be used anywhere — eyes, lips, cheeks — the fat, gleaming crayons came in three shades (pink, pinky-beige and beige) and fit snugly into the crook of a Kate Spade nylon purse or at the bottom of an ironic Barney tote bag.

The year was 1997, and Chubby Sticks — along with Clinique’s Happy perfume, with an anti-angst ad campaign that starred fresh-scrubbed, smiley models Karen Elson and Maggie Rizer — presented a refreshing alternative to heroin chic’s flat-eyed, hungry apathy. They brought dew and flush to the face. They had the word chubby right in the name. It was okay to be enthusiastic about life, and certainly about health and friendship and fun. It was even, maybe, glamorous.

Clinique hopes to bring that casual optimism back with its reintroduction of Chubby Sticks, which came out Jan. 6. The souped-up collection includes the three original chubsters, plus tinted lip shades, contour sticks and highlighters, all in buildable, balmy pigments. When I showed the range to various teen cousins over Christmas, they were impressed by the product’s ease. (“Not trying too hard” was the rave review from Edith, 15.) But it was my Millennial and Gen X friends who really took the bait. “Ohhhhh, I used to have these,” they cooed, begging to swatch them along their wrists, smelling them like the T-shirt of a crush. Even a 30-something waitress at Bufon, the new restaurant in the Lower East Side, stopped when she saw me pull one out of my bag. “Those are back?” she sighed.

Nostalgia is a well-worn tactic for beauty brands; so is 1990s and Y2K worship. But Clinique isn’t referencing a bygone era with stunt casting or makeup artistry. It’s reviving the exact same product from 1997 with identical packaging and formula. ChatGPT would say something insipid about all this, like, “It’s not just a reference point. It’s a resurrection.” But that’s not totally wrong.

Of course, Clinique is not the first — nor will it be the last — brand to put its archives on blast. This week, Chanel relaunched a collection inspired by its Rouge Noir shade of nail polish that debuted on the brand’s runway in 1994; Lancôme juiced its Juicy Tubes from 2000 last summer; Urban Decay did a five-second reissue of its 2010 Naked Palette in the summer of 2024. The moves echo fashion’s rush to capitalize on nostalgia with reissued accessories like Balenciaga’s revamped City Bag and Chloe’s wooden wedges. The difference, of course, is that people can still find these early pieces on resale sites. Buying a 30-year-old used handbag is cool; buying a 30-year-old used lip gloss is gross.

That means beauty brands have a bit more of an edge in the resurrection business, but they’ve got to get it right. As Lindy Segal reported in Glamour last year, Glossier had a Reddit riot when it reissued its famous 2014 Balm Dot Com without the original, non-vegan formula. Hard Candy caused a Gen X freakout when it introduced iridescent press-on coffin nails in lieu of its beloved pastel lacquer. Don’t get anyone born before 1995 started on the revamped Herbal Essences shampoo formula. Don’t get anyone born after 1995 started on the Boy Smells core fragrance revamp. When it comes to fully nailing an archival beauty relaunch, stop doing the most. Copy and paste the hit product straight into the new world.

To that end, perhaps the most charming part of the Chubby Sticks relaunch is that the balms even smell the same — waxy and slightly earthen, like the sketch pad aisle at an art supply store. Sure, Clinique could have given them “gourmand” scent upgrades to play into the foodie makeup craze. But feeding a trend instead of filling a need is how beauty brands go broke, and the whole point of “archival” makeup is that nothing’s ever topped the original. For best results, let it stay that way.

What else is new…

Skincare

Welcome to your body era, Tower 28. The “clean” brand by Amy Liu launched SOS Rescue + Relief Body Wash on Dec. 30, marking its entry into the body care category. The sensitive-skin formula retails for $22 and bills itself as “a medicated bath in a bottle.”

Some retail news: Drmtlgy hit Ulta Beauty on Dec. 26, with 10 products; they’re available online and in 1,400 retail locations. Meanwhile, GoPure is going to Target. On Jan. 5, the bodycare line rolled out its hero products, including Tighten & Smooth Body Cream and Tighten & Lift Neck Cream, in over 1,800 doors across the country.

Aveda’s Advanced Botanical Kinetics range debuted on Dec. 28 with a mousse cleanser, serum, lotion, cream, and an “essence lotion” (translation: toner) from $40 — $90. Everything’s vegan, including the peptides.

You know I love a formula-tool combo. On Jan. 5, Nakery Beauty dropped Lift-TOX Triple Powered Define + Firm Serum, a dense liquid for the neck, jawline and cheeks that comes with a rollerball applicator to massage the product directly into skin.

Jennifer Lopez says that her new Spotlight Silhouette Firming Neck Serum is “a beautiful way to care for yourself all the way down.” (I just know her cool teenage kids are like, “Mommmmm, you can’t say that!”) It’s $69 and debuted on Jan. 5, and although the messaging is a little kooky, the formula itself feels luscious when applied.

Those Cryo Rubber face masks that made Dr. Jart+ famous in the 2010s? The soon-to-be-ex-Lauder brand revamped them with updated formulas and new brand faces from the K-pop group Ifeye. The $16 Firming Peptide and Moisturising Face Masks still feel slimy and jiggly on application — in other words, delightful — and hit stores on Jan. 5.

Uni’s Marine Plush Shower Oil hit Ulta Beauty as a $33 exclusive on Jan. 5. It’s the brand’s first emulsifying formula and includes kelp extract and niacinamide, along with a cedar and juniper fragrance.

Speaking of Lauder, its flagship brand debuted Revitalizing Supreme+ Sculpting Serum, aka a “5D Facelift in a Bottle” on Jan. 5, with hexapeptides, collagen, moringa and hibiscus. Should you cancel your appointment with the Juliana Clinics? Indeed not, but for $145 per bottle, you might as well try this topical solution before any knife activities ensue.

Teoxane sent a special delivery from its Swiss labs on Jan. 5 — an RHA Hydra Mask that’s “clinically proven to increase skin hydration by 20 percent” thanks to its “resilient hyaluronic acid.” (That’s like regular hyaluronic acid, but it’s been gentle-parented.)

Ten years ago, Decorte hit the US market with an exclusive at Saks Fifth Avenue and a massive campaign with Kate Moss. (She took selfies with beauty editors in the elevator after a press conference at the Four Seasons.) On Jan. 5, the Japanese beauty brand released Youth Power Essence, a toner that harnesses lipids and fermentation for added moisture and “bounce.” It’s $142.

Foam party! On Jan. 6, Farmacy Beauty rolled out Bright On Daily AHA Foam Exfoliator, a $38 tube of sudsy cleanser with mandelic acid, panthenol and fermented lemon peel, along with mandarin orange juice for breakfast-with-no-food vibes.

The unstoppable Paige DeSorbo became the face of Tula Skincare on Jan. 5 with a campaign focused on their probiotic formulas and glowy performance promises. Meanwhile, no fewer than three men in my life asked, “Is Tula good?” over various holiday functions, leading me to wonder if I’ve been underestimating this Procter & Gamble brand and its grip on urban Millennials.

After dominating Erewhon shelves and rival marketing brand conference calls for nearly two years, Osea has finally released its long-awaited “body retinol” cream. Officially, it’s called Dream Bio-Retinol Body Serum, and it’s a pale pink formula with algae-derived vitamins and seaweed extract that promises a smoother, firmer body feel after one month of use. Each small bottle costs $52 — so, about one reformer Pilates class that can also help with those results.

Paging Dr. Kiehl’s? On Jan. 7, the brand introduced a medicated version of its Ultra Facial Cream. The clinical tests are impressive — it reduces flaking by 89 percent and redness by 71 percent — and the cream comes in a bright red jar so there’s no confusion with the other Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream that’s likely buried somewhere else in your bathroom.

On Jan. 7, The Outset dropped Total Clarity Dark Spot Treatment, a serum that’s calling itself a “Vitamin C alternative” for more brightness with less potential irritation. It’s $68.

Prequel’s Barrier Therapy Rich Skin Protectant Cream hit shelves on Jan. 7 with colloidal oatmeal, allantoin, and adenosine, which is also used to treat irregular heart rhythms. (Really!) It’s $20 per tube, and formulated for use on the face and body.

Aussie Gold wants you to multitask. On Jan. 7, it launched SPF 30 Facial Bronzer Serum, a lightweight formula that has UV protection and a beachy glow.

Biossance launched its Squalane + Growth Factor Firming Moisturizer at Sephora on Jan. 9, with a $64 retail price and a “cyclic peptide” molecular structure that allegedly helps fill in fine lines.

Birch extracts are often used in body and muscle creams to reduce inflammation and soreness. K-beauty brand Round Lab is going a different way, harnessing the tree bark in its Birch Juice Moisturizing Intensive Cream to help lock moisture in during freezing weather. It’s $40 per jar.

Scented tweens, rejoice! On Jan 9, Eos expands its Cashmere Body Wash collection to include pistachio, strawberry, jasmine and pomegranate-raspberry scents. They’re $12 each.

Makeup

Do we need another lip and cheek tint? No. But when Makeup By Mario drops one, we definitely want it. On Dec. 26, the artist-driven label debuted Jelly Jar Lip & Cheek Balm, a little pot of sheer, buildable colour in six shades. They’re $28 each and yummy.

Smashbox Precision Contour Sticks debuted on Dec. 28. They’re creamy balms packaged in a thin pencil, which gives you more control for shaping. Smashbox says the five shades were formulated for “more realistic overtones” so you can contour for in-person makeup instead of TikTok.

Iris & Romeo added three more lip oils shades on Dec. 28, including Suede (taupe), Cameo (peach) and Iconic (burgundy). They come with SPF 30 and remain an under-the-radar favourite.

Tinted gloss? From a skincare brand? Groundbreaking. (But still fun!) On Jan. 6, Dr. Dennis Gross entered colour cosmetics for the first time with a quartet of plumping, smoothing lip tints in four shades, for $25 each.

Tinted gloss from a haircare brand really is interesting, though, and Moroccanoil is here to fascinate us. On Jan. 5, the brand dropped three tubes of argan oil and peptide balms, including a minty sheer shade, a berry pomegranate, and a pinky nude. They’re $22 each and smell fantastic.

Pro tip: The only eye shimmer that sticks to the waterline comes from Victoria Beckham Beauty. On Jan. 7, the brand dropped its latest shade — Silver Glaze Satin Kajal Jewel Liner — with a cool gray sparkle. At $35, it’s frustratingly expensive for a single eye pencil, but it also really works.

Thrive Causemetics introduced Empower Gloss, a $28 tinted balm that comes in a sheer pink and a juicy red-orange. It hit shelves on Jan. 8.

Can runway beauty return to its sphere of influence? MAC Cosmetics is gently testing the game with its new Powder Kiss lineup, which hit shelves on Jan. 8 with a lipstick and a lip / cheek tint “inspired by backstage artistry” like the chalky candy lips at Chloé, Conner Ives and August Barron last season.

Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics debuted its volumizing mascara, ‘Til Midnight, on Jan. 8. It’s available at Nordstrom, and comes with an hourglass-shaped wand to get more directly into the lash line. (You can also hold your mascara wand vertically instead of horizontally for more precision — a trick Diane Kendal showed me backstage in Paris a million years ago.)

Colourpop’s Brow Boss range launched on Jan. 8 with pencils and brow gel, both $9. The formulas come in six shades each, including two different blonde tones, which is useful for those with sparse brows who just want a little definition instead of a harder line.

Hair Care

Not Your Mother’s released a new silo called Aura Boost on Dec. 28 that comes with “functional fragrances” — and plays into Gen Z’s obsession with signature scents. The line includes shampoo and conditioner in scents like Apple Wood and Pistachio Coconut. Target and Ulta Beauty are the retail points, which seems right.

Oribe rebooted its Eternal Curls Collection on Jan. 1 with 12 products including shampoo, conditioner, a leave-in mask, styling creams and a new Polish & Protect Oil ($56) made with apricot, castor seed, and coconut extracts.

“Hair gloss” is coming, thanks to Babba Rivera. The Ceremonia founder got frustrated with her less-than-slick braids and buns and launched Pequi Flyaway Gel on Jan. 5 to help keep hairs in-place. It comes in a mascara-like tube, costs $18 and leaves hair a little shinier.

Do you think Milk Makeup’s jelly tint started a texture shift? On Jan. 8, Eva NYC released H2-Whoa Hydra-Jelly Hair Mask, which has hyaluronic acid to add shine and reduce frizz, plus a bouncy gel texture that’s more similar to Milk’s hit lip-to-cheek than most deep conditioners. It’s $16 at Ulta Beauty.

Fragrance

Sam Edelman’s Duet fragrance entered Ulta Beauty on Dec. 26, marking the fragrance’s first foray into dedicated beauty retailers instead of department store perfume counters. Singer Charlotte Lawrence is the face of the scent, which is packaged in a massive, metallic pink “ballet slipper” bottle that owes something to Carolina Herrera Good Girl and another thing to LoveShackFancy.

Neom Wellbeing debuted three essential oil pens at Ulta Beauty on Jan. 5, including formulas for calming, energy and sleep. The aromatic rollerballs cost $22 each.

Cowgirl Grass is now part of D.S. & Durga’s permanent collection — something you might have seen coming if you read this piece on the prairie girl archetype’s skyrocketing popularity in the fragrance world. The D.S. version features bergamot peel, “flowering grass” and musk.

If you failed to get your favourite Le Labo scent for Christmas, here’s a new chance. On Jan. 5, the brand unveiled CYPRÈS 21 Indigo, an all-caps candle in a deep blue jar with notes of juniper, star anise and clove.

Amouage released its second Trio of Essences on Jan. 6, with Line 618 (smoky), Remain (spicy), and Sequence (fruity) available for $475 each. This is absolutely one of those fragrance launches where every phrase sounds like slam poetry and/or AI on acid, but out of duty and amusement, I’ll tell you that this perfume threesome allegedly “unveils three striking interpretations of the geometry of time, each inspired by a distinct form—a straight line, a single point, and a circle. Together, they explore the poetry of movement, stillness, and continuity.” Amazing. Also, seriously, can I have whatever neon tab you licked off a Jonathan Adler tray in your palace?

Madonna reunited with Dolce & Gabbana on Jan. 8 for The One, a fragrance with vanilla, amber and black currant. The pop goddess co-stars in the campaign with Cuban actor Alberto Guerra; they’re lounging on a bed with satin sheets and vaguely bored, “please stop interrupting us” expressions. It’s pretty fabulous.

Personnel

Juliet Dowman, who worked with Supergoop! and Sarah Creal Beauty last year, is Victoria Beckham Beauty’s new Senior Manager of Product Development for Complexion and Skincare. (She’s pulling a reverse Sarah Creal, who left VB Beauty to start her eponymous line.) Also: Milk Makeup is hiring a new creative director!

And finally…

If you spot a used Nars bronzer stick in a guy’s bathroom, does that mean he’s got some other girl shacking up at his place, or that he sneaks a few swipes before taking you for dinner in Greenpoint? It was next to a half-used jar of Dr. Jart+ eye cream, if that matters.

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