The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: Don’t Eat That

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and the glorious apex of Leo season.

Included in today’s issue: Beekman1802, ColourPop, Elizabeth Arden, Glossier, Jennifer Behr, Kylie Cosmetics, Le Prunier, MAC, Matrix, Norwex, NuFACE, Sephora Collection, Superegg, Victor&Rolf, Victoria Beckham Beauty, Westmann Atelier and a tiny bit of Olympic-beauty brand drama.

But first

We hear the phrase “safe space” a lot, though it’s generally not about fragrance. But scent is scientifically proven to evoke memory and emotion — key aspects of feeling secure — and once we’re done self-medicating with “Love Island” binges and adaptogen gummies, a comforting perfume seems like a natural next step.

Of course, aromatherapy scents and essential oils have long claimed to help calm the nerves; lavender and chamomile have been healing balms for centuries. But a new group of best-selling scents is challenging the idea that sensory comfort needs to smell like dried floral husks.

Instead, “gourmand” perfumes — food-smelling fragrances with base notes including vanilla, chocolate, berry, marshmallow, cherry, cream and brown sugar — are hooking shoppers, especially younger ones, by evoking sweet times (sorry) through scent memory. And those yummy tactics are making big gains: The global market for these fragrances has grown over 75 percent year over year, reaching more than $32.5 million, according to trend consulting firm Future Market Insights. Why?

First, perfume that smells like sugar and chocolate is approachable. The nose instantly knows that it’s a good thing, and a safe one. As Scent Beauty master perfumer Gil Clavien put it, “If I were to define Gen-Z’s scent profile, it would be a seamless blend of comfort and playfulness … This generation seeks fragrances that not only evoke nostalgia and a sense of security, but also inject a sense of fun as they navigate a rapidly changing world.”

Enter Le Monde Gourmand’s best-selling Rose Macaron and Chocolate Hazelnut scents, Prada’s Candy eau de parfum, Tom Ford’s Vanilla Sex franchise, Phlur’s Strawberry Letter spray and pretty much every fragrance Sol de Janeiro has ever made. DS & Durga’s best-selling pistachio scent is up there, too.

Will adding some top notes of carbs get Gen-Z to dive even further into the world of foodie scents? Auntie Anne’s is thinking definitely. The pretzel brand you last binged on during a college mall haul has just released Knead, an “Eau de Pretzel” fragrance with notes of butter, salt, sugar and dough. The spray drops online on Aug. 14, with a special New York pop-up store on Aug. 13 for true fans.

This is all fine, but if you prefer your gluten to smell a bit more expensive, try Snif. Their Crumb Couture scent has top notes of croissant instead, and now comes as a laundry detergent, so your sheets can also smell like a safe, and tasty, space.

What Else Is New

Skincare

Beekman1802 has a new collagen cream called Milk RX. It features the brand’s signature goat-milk proteins and calls itself a “better-ageing treatment” instead of an “anti-ageing” one. That’s good language; expect lots of other brands to copy it.

Sephora Collection’s Superglow Serum with Vitamin C and E hits shelves on Aug. 5. It’s landing page title is simply “Affordable Vitamin C Serum,” which is an excellent hint about their product strategy: Take back market share from pricier Vitamin C brands, partly through SEO tactics. Sephora’s version costs $21; Norwex’s Vitamin C Serum, which also launched on Aug. 5, is $56. The queen, though? Westman Atelier’s Supreme Vitamin C concentrate, which retails for over $300.

On Aug. 6, NuFACE introduced its IonPlex Hydra-Gel Power Patches, which swap the brand’s famous microcurrent therapy for glycerine, amino acids and magnesium. They cost $55 for 30 pairs, which means you’re paying about $1.83 per treatment. And honestly? The before-and-after photos on the NuFACE site are so good, they actually look like a scam. Will try and report back.

The good folks at Elizabeth Arden write, “Hey Faran, we’ve got another long-named skincare product for you.” Ok! Theirs is the Retinol + HPR Ceramide Capsules Rapid Skin-Renewing Serum, which launched Aug. 5. It comes in tiny little squeeze pods and contains 4 percent retinol. It’s $56 for a month’s supply.

Superegg debuted Infinite Layers Lip Care on Aug. 8, making it one of the few lip balms ever sold on Moda Operandi. It’s $28 and I cannot wait to ask Lauren Santo Domingo if she uses it. (I bet she does. It looks very chic!)

Makeup

Glossier’s Boy Brow Arch hit stores Aug. 6. It’s a pomade but “with all the ease and benefits of a traditional poured pomade” that’s meant to help define brows without making them heavy or severe. It comes in nine shades, including gray. An excellent move.

Kylie Jenner turned 27 on Aug. 7. Her birthday present? The Ulta Beauty rollout of Kylie Cosmetics Skin Tint Blurring Elixir, a lightweight serum with medium-weight colour coverage, which costs $32. (I’m sure Kylie also got, like, 10 new Vuitton bags for her birthday, but this is cool, too.)

Posh Balm by (who else?) Victoria Beckham Beauty launched on Aug. 7. It comes in four tinted shades — $32 each — with the tagline “Lipstick’s Little Sister.” Given the messaging, I wonder if the brand considered enlisting 13-year-old Harper Beckham as the product’s new face, which would have made it an instant news story. But I also think it’s wonderful they didn’t. Let her be 13!

ColourPop’s Instant Lip and Cheek Balm arrives on Aug. 10. It has super-cute heart packaging and comes in eight shades, including Larchmont Village, the Hollywood neighbourhood with a website that lists its celebrity denizens.

Fenty Beauty debuted Cheeks Suede Powder Blush on Aug. 5. It promises “rich, blendable shades that pop on all tones” and costs $28. (Is this the new going rate for blush? It feels like an inflation shock, but at least we know Fenty’s quality is 100 percent.)

Haircare

Matrix’s Instacure Build-A-Bond range launched Aug. 5 at Ulta Beauty with the fix-it promise of repairing damaged hair fast. The line’s four products include shampoo, conditioner, a liquid strengthening mask and a heat-protective sealing balm, and they retail from $24-$30 per item. Everything will be available at Amazon come September.

As of Aug. 5, Jennifer Behr’s coveted $200 hair bows come monogrammed. If you want a velvet or satin ribbon barrette that says your name — or maybe just your favourite Chappell Roan lyric — email them! H-O-T-T-O-G-O would look cute in baby pink.

Fragrance

On Aug. 5, Viktor&Rolf Fragrances debuted Spicebomb Dark Leather, an eau de parfum in a black-matte grenade bottle with notes of leather, black pepper and smoke incense. If this fragrance were a guy, half of us dated him our senior year of college.

Also in the smoky space, Le Prunier launched its first-ever candle, called Harvest Smoke, on Aug. 8. with notes of “falling leaves, ripe plums and a hint of smoke.” It sounds delicious, but let’s be real — wouldn’t all candles smell like a hint of smoke? Isn’t that what candles make?

Fragrance Du Bois launched Wild Orange at Neiman Marcus on Aug. 6. It is “designed to uplift and energise from bark to blossom,” which is a very cool phrase, but also makes it sound like this perfume is a functional fragrance for trees. As I understand it, it’s actually for humans? Meanwhile, if you want perfume for dogs, Dolce & Gabbana introduced Fefé — named for Domenico Dolce’s pup — on Aug. 6. It costs $108, but cheaper “pet scents” by Girl With Dogs are $18 and developed by a professional pet groomer. Check with your vet (or … uh … your tree doctor?) before using any of them, though.

Fulton & Roark unveiled 226 Club on Aug. 8. It’s inspired by a Chicago speakeasy and pizza restaurant where Al Capone used to hang out. But the perfume doesn’t smell like pizza, instead going for “sparkling tonic notes and orange bitters.”

And Finally

On Aug. 5, the remarkable runner Sha’Carri Richardson was photographed applying a lip gloss before an Olympic race. MAC makeup artist Dominic Skinner claimed it was the brand’s Squirt Plumping Gloss Stick. Tabloids amplified the news and linked the product — with affiliate codes, of course. MAC made TikToks about it, too. But a few days later, everything from MAC was deleted, and Tarte Cosmetics posted a near-identical video of the track superstar applying its Maracuja Juicy Lip Plump, another glossy lipstick. Whatever Richardson is wearing, she looks like a champion. But this little skirmish shows how hard it is for brands to react in real time without potentially stepping into potential litigation from talent or other brands. (It’s worth noting Richardson is an official partner of Olay, though that’s not in the cosmetics space.) Social media directors, we salute you.