Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
After a short hiatus, I’m delighted to welcome you back to Haul of Fame, your weekly roundup of the launches, campaigns and expansions driving the industry forward.
Included in this week’s issue: Clinique, Dries Van Noten, Fara Homidi, Firn, Killabrush, Lilly Lashes, Medicube and Olaplex.
But first…
The Manchester, UK-based clean girl makeup brand Refy built its reputation on digital savviness. Now it’s pushing deeper into the real world with its most expansive retail launch to date.
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This month, the brand is entering 57 Sephora doors across Europe, alongside a full assortment on Sephora’s regional e-commerce platform. Though the brand has been available across the region via its own direct-to-consumer store since 2021, the Sephora rollout marks the first time continental customers will meet Refy physically. A curated assortment will be offered in-store in a dedicated bay, with the full line available on Sephora.com.
“We’re very fortunate to have our own data from DTC, and we’ve been having conversations with Sephora across each different market, to gather as much information as possible. We also have our global testers,” Hunt told The Business of Beauty. Across the region, Refy bestsellers have resonated: the brand’s Brow Sculpt, Lash Sculpt and Lip Gloss have been the biggest successes.
But despite the demand there, the expansion itself was years in the making — and took some learnings from Refy’s October 2025 rollout to Sephora in the Middle East, which vastly exceeded expectations. According to the retailer, a selection of hero products — the Gloss Highlighter and Brow and lash Sculpts — accounted for 40 percent of all sales during the first two months. Lash Sculpt sold out the first week. Nobody at the brand saw it coming.
“We underestimated stock levels, but it was an amazing problem to have,” Hunt said. “Now, we have the resources, infrastructure and attention to give our European community the launch it deserves.” Hunt and co-founder Jenna Meek Bootstrapped the brand for its 2020 launch.
For Refy, whose products are designed around blendable texture and easy application, stores are less about distribution than about education. “We launched during Covid when everything was digital,” said Hunt. “But what we’ve seen since is this craving for real-life moments. Makeup is meant to be played with. Our community wants that human connection.”
Digital-first brands have spent the last decade proving that they can build audiences online, but Europe’s cosmetics market still leans heavily on physical retail, particularly for complexion and colour cosmetics. But it’s a fragmented market: makeup brands, especially, have to tailor their assortments carefully to suit different routines and preferences.
There are, of course, similarities. According to market research firm Euromonitor, the region’s colour cosmetics market continues to expand across key territories including Germany, Italy, Spain and the Nordics, although growth is moderating as post-pandemic demand normalises — encouraging for Refy. But, at the same time, the minimalist “clean girl” that defined the early 2020s makeup category — and which Refy became known for — is evolving. Consumers are still prioritising skin-first beauty, but increasingly want room for individuality and self-expression rather than uniform minimalism, Euromonitor added.
It poses a sticky situation for Refy, which must both navigate a deeply nuanced market, and one where the brand’s defining aesthetic is not as ubiquitous as it once was.
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But Hunt isn’t worried about being left behind. From the brand’s own European data, feedback from Sephora and Refy’s own testers, Hunt’s overall takeaway of the region’s consumers is that less is more: Though European consumers might be experimenting with bolder colours, they still need to lift their lashes and stick their brows. “The look is super effortless, and I really feel like these products speak to that.”
But beyond the thread of simplicity that defines Refy’s core approach, the brand is thinking locally. While bolder lip products have been pushed and received more enthusiastically in the Middle East, in Europe the brand is focusing on the minimalist products it has already seen success with, creating an exclusive bundle of the bestselling Brow Sculpt, Lash Sculpt and Lip Gloss that has resonated in the region.
Utilising Sephora’s deep local expertise, pop-ups are also scheduled for major capital cities in the coming weeks, including Paris and Madrid, with the brand currently in conversations on how to effectively enter Italy. “We’ve been speaking directly with our community in Europe and figuring out exactly what they would like to see,” said Hunt. “It feels like a great way to test the waters.”
What else is new…
Skincare
Who: Medicube
What: Booster Pro X2 ($299)
When: June 15
Why: Typical — I take two weeks off and Medicube decides to “evolve” its bestselling Booster Pro. In my absence, the brand has added an additional three treatment modes, AI-guided skincare in the Booster app and a sheet mode to pair your device with your favourite (and presumably also Medicube) sheet mask.
Makeup
Who: Clinique
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What: Black Honey Collection (from $18)
When: June 24
Why: Clinique’s Black Honey is arguably makeup’s best nostalgia success story, with the brand selling seven tubes of the Almost Lipstick every single minute. Last week, the brand franchised its success with a limited-edition collection, expanding the Black Honey magic to a nail polish ($18), eyeshadow quad ($44) and mascara ($35).
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Who: Fara Homidi
What: Essential Blonzer Compact ($98)
When: June 29
Why: I’m a huge fan of Fara Homidi’s slow-and-steady release of makeup artist approved essentials. The latest addition is a “blonzing compact”, a velvety blush-and-bronzing-hybrid powder for juicy, flushed cheeks.
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Who: Firn
What: Glowing Skin Unifying Milk ($46)
When: July 1
Why: Here come the complexion “milks.” Firn, the French biotechnology-inspired skincare brand, partnered up with celebrity makeup artist Charly Salvator on its first complexion product: a smoothing, brightening complexion-enhancing tinted milk in eight shades. The coverage is lightweight, and it comes packed with ceramides.
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Who: Dries Van Noten
What: Tinted Lip Balms ($42)
When: June 2
Why: Dries van Noten has reimagined its bestselling lip balm into a tinted iteration. The weighty tube doubles up as a blush, is made with juicy rosehip and pomegranate seed oils and are refillable.
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Who: Lilly Lashes
What: Bratz Collection ($14 each)
When: June 30
Why: I often have no patience for the endless IP-well that is Bratz (stop slapping the logo on sweatshirts, I beg) but this makes sense: a collection of lashes inspired by the four main dolls from Lilly Lashes, the brand beloved by SZA, Zara Larsson and me. My favourites are the choppy Jade pair — she always had the best style, after all.
Hair care
Who: Olaplex
What: o7 Shine Serum Oil Mist ($38)
When: June 23
Why: Clinique isn’t the only one franchising. Building upon its widely popular Number 7 hair oil, Olaplex has added a hydrating, lightweight mist that promises to deliver all of the same benefits.
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Who: Killabrush
What: Brand launch
When: June 29
Why: These days in beauty, you don’t often see a world first. But Killabrush, a brand from Tangle Teezer executive Matt Lumb and Beauty Works architect Penelope Cheshire, is the first bacteria-killing hair brush on the market. It claims to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and fungus that grows between brushes, keeping the scalp and hair healthy.
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