Could Travel Sizes Get Sent Packing?

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and the Scarlet Witch of red carpet hair.

Included in today’s issue: Beauty Creations Cosmetics, Clare V., Commence, Glossier, The Inkey List, Jones Road, Lemme, Love Wellness, Maria Nila, Peter Thomas Roth, Ralph Lauren, Redken, Tarte, Thrive Causemetics, Tilt Beauty, Velour Beauty, Victoria Beckham Beauty and feeling the rain on your skin. (No one else can feel it for you — only you can let it in!)

But first…

“Travel size” labels may be headed for the exit.

On July 16, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced she was “questioning” the Travel Security Administration’s rule banning liquids over 50 mL, including gels, pastes and — in one very aggressive California airport — a Christopher Kane slime-embellished dress from carry-on luggage. If the government follows through with its promise, it might be the first time since 2006 when your full-size bottle of Ouai shampoo can sail through airport security.

The ban originated in 2006 after British authorities claimed they’d foiled a terrorist plot to smuggle explosive fluid onto a plane. But the rule was contested from the beginning. Couldn’t someone pretend their kerosene was contact lens fluid, after all? Pundits worldwide called the move “security theatre,” the practice of making air travel feel safer without actually negating danger. Former Federal Aviation agent Steve Elson took it a step further, saying that banning liquids was part of the TSA’s failure to “focus on all kinds of minutiae and crap rather than the items they need to.”

Travel-size items may not save lives, but they have been saving bottom lines. The tiny products are full-size revenue opportunities for beauty brands and retailers, especially stores like Hudson News that specialise in “TSA stole my conditioner, now what?” purchases like L’Oréal conditioner. In 2024, airport revenue from beauty and personal care sales hit $32 billion, according to JCDecaux. (For all you “Carmen Sandiego” fans, that’s the equivalent of the GDP of Papua New Guinea.) And in this economy, missing out on that kind of additional cash could be a pain point for indie labels and mega-brands alike.

What’s one solution if travel-size items suddenly lose their required-purchase status? Ask Revolve. Since 2022, the retailer has cannily trafficked in teeny-size products for their wildly popular advent calendar, which serves as an opportunity for marketing and exposure, said Revolve’s director of beauty and home, Trudy Arnold. A quick label switch could rebrand a “travel-size” necessity into a “discovery-size” treat to appeal to budget-conscious consumers looking for a shopping dopamine hit.

There’s also the possibility of bundling travel-sized products into a themed kit, which can resonate with holiday shoppers and beauty haul seekers alike. When Clare V. paired up with Garance Doré last year to debut a custom-designed skincare pack, designer Clare Vivier told me she appreciated the synergy between the two labels, but also “the opportunity to show Garance’s audience another French-American brand that has the same fun, easy attitude.”

And even if travel-size products are no longer required, they might still be desired. That’s because of “vacation nostalgia” — the idea that ‘80s and ‘90s Spring Breakers had more blissed-out experiences at the beach, because they weren’t tethered to their phones (or aware of the gentrification that tropical resorts can encourage). There’s literally a hit suncare brand called “Vacation” as proof of concept, though Sol de Janeiro, Hawaii-based Kopari beauty and Loewe’s Paula’s Ibiza perfume offshoot also bottle the idea of a carefree getaway with sales-proven expertise. In that way, labeling teeny bottles of toothpaste and hair gel as “vacation-size” instead of “travel-size” might be a playful way to repurpose inventory. It could be as simple as begging your design department to add a palm tree emoji to the label and calling it a (coconut-scented) day.

When will we know if travel sizes are taking a permanent vacation? Expect the news to come fast, since TSA mandates come directly from the Executive Branch of the government — specifically, the Department of Homeland Security. On July 8, DHS announced that effective immediately, airline passengers no longer had to take their shoes off during security screenings. Now that travellers can keep their Crocs on, keeping their full-size Cécred bottles seems like an imminent next step.

What else is new...

Skincare

Jones Road is claiming its SPF space. On July 10, Bobbi Brown’s five-year-old beauty brand debuted Everyday Sunscreen, a formula in four tints and one colourless shade that includes mineral SPF 30 and retails for $42.

Exosome Supremacy continues! On July 13, the Inkey List entered Ulta Beauty’s 1,450 doors, along with its app and website. The UK born brand had previously been a Sephora exclusive, which hints at both Inkey’s surging popularity and Ulta’s continued push into prestige and “cool girl” labels.

Some days, even Kourtney Kardashian doesn’t feel like making her signature salad. That’s why on July 12, the entrepreneur debuted Lemme Greens, a “superfood gummy” with vitamin D3, B12 and biotin. It’s $30 per jar, and unlike the Happier Grocery’s inevitably perfect green smoothies, you won’t have to wait online for 20 minutes to grab one.

Peter Thomas Roth hit TikTok gold with FirmX, an “Instant Temporary Eye Tightener” that became the brand’s best-selling formula. On July 15, the brand dropped a reformulation with faster-acting peptides. It’s $38.

Beauty of Joseon entered Sephora on July 17. To celebrate, the K-beauty brand dropped Day Dew Sunscreen SPF 50, an $18 “cloud-like” formula.

If you are on any social media, ever, you already know that Glossier dropped its Banana Pudding Balm Dot Com on July 17, that the limited-edition formula is a collaboration with Magnolia Bakery, and that Sabrina Carpenter also introduced a banana-themed lip balm for Prada Beauty earlier this month. Now we wait for one more banana lip balm before declaring August “banana girl summer,” then waiting for the inevitable Substack think piece about colonial oppression, eco-reclamation, the enduring resistance and glamour of Josephine Baker and — at the end — a series of well-placed affiliate links back to a bunch of lip glosses. Ah, the circle of life!

Makeup

Tilt Beauty hit Revolve on July 11. The accessible makeup range includes ergonomic packaging for easier grip — a feature the brand’s 22-year-old founder, Aerin Glazer, committed to after her battle with psoriatic arthritis made it tough to open most lipstick caps.

Like denim silhouettes, eyebrow shapes are very laissez-faire right now. For those who prefer theirs thick and defined, Thrive Causemetics introduced their own brow-shaping pencil on July 15.

If false eyelashes give you anxiety, Velour Beauty wants to help. The brand introduced Self-Stick Xtension Strips on July 15 for easier application — and no scary glue — when you’re applying the $18 eye enhancements.

Let’s hear it for the cheap stuff. On July 16, Beauty Creations Cosmetics dropped Tinted Luxe lip oils for $7 and blushes for $8. The formulas were developed with help from influencer and makeup artist Brenda Monique Orduno, so you know they can hold their pigment under an extra-strong ring light.

Victoria Beckham is a blush girl now. On July 16, her eponymous (and consistently high-performing) beauty brand dropped Colour Wash, a liquid cheek tint with a watercolour-paint effect and a $46 price tag. Beckham says it’s meant to mimic the flush “after a fantastic laugh, a day in the sun… or any other invigorating reason cheeks might show a little colour. I can think of a few.” (That’s some A+ beauty copy!) Also, the formula includes “activated sea water,” which I’m hoping is code for “will let you become a mermaid.” VB, please confirm.

On July 18, Tarte gave us “Smoldereyes” shadow liner, a multi-use formula that works as a liner or shadow. It’s $26 and comes in 11 shades, including matte and shimmer options.

Hair Care

I know what you blow-dried last summer? Actress Madelyn Cline used Maria Nila’s heat sprays and Great Lengths USA extensions before hitting the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” red carpet on July 14. Her hair was done by Marc Mena, who’s also responsible for Ariana Greenblatt’s new choppy bob.

It’s Avengers… with balayage? On July 16, Redken introduced its Artistic Ambassadors Network, a pantheon of 20 Hollywood hair professionals including Evanie Frausto, Rachel Redd and Jacob Rozenberg. As the collective works on stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Dove Cameron, they’ll be Redken’s on-call talking heads for trend reports, how-to content and behind-the-scenes videos.

They’ve got merch! On July 17, Brooke Shields’s beauty line Commence partnered with Clare V. on a “Beaux Cheveaux” t-shirt. Incidentally, I like drying my curly hair with an old t-shirt instead of a towel because it reduces frizz. I wouldn’t do it with this $100 one though!

Fragrance

We’ve reached peak “vacation scent.” The proof is Snif’s newest fragrance, Spray Tan ($28 at Ulta Beauty), which smells like “the nostalgic scent of tanning oil” but doesn’t actually bronze your skin. Remarkable.

Usher is the new face of Ralph’s Club, a Ralph Lauren scent with black currant, mandarin, bourbon, and moss accord. In the ads, the musician poses in an Oscar-worthy white tuxedo with a black bowtie; he’s accompanied by the Ralph’s Club bottle, which looks (in the best way) like a 1920’s silver whiskey flask.

And finally…

The supplement and body brand Love Wellness hit 5,800 CVS pharmacy doors on July 17, which might put Lo Bosworth ahead of every other Hills alum in terms of retail power rankings. That said, the time seems very right for Lauren Conrad to seize TikTok’s surging Y2K nostalgia and make some kind of liquid eyeliner and blonde-enhancing dry shampoo. Not that I’ve heard anything about that happening… but wouldn’t it be fun?

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