The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: Exclusive – Camila Mendes Is Really Good for Skincare

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a return to slime.

Included in today’s issue: Ciate London, Cover FX, Elemis, Hanni, Henry Rose, Joylux, Kiehl’s, the Lip Bar, Merit Beauty, the Outset, Pat McGrath Labs, Phlur, Prada Beauty, Snif, Tarte, Too Faced, Tonymoly, Tower 28, Undefined Beauty and the luscious reign of pond scum.

But first

When the sheet mask brand Loops looked at their 2024 numbers, they saw something new: Profitability. The New York-based company hit the scene in 2020 with a line of super-squishy face masks made in Korea — right when stay-at-home beauty rituals became a self-soothing mechanism for millions of quarantined Americans.

In 2022, the indie brand made its first big hire with CEO Meg Bedford, who began her career in magazine publishing before helping Tom Ford and Pat McGrath launch their nascent beauty lines.

Bedford’s strong digital background, combined with her Hollywood-adjacent career, put her in a unique position at Loops: She knew the indie brand needed to stay in its lane as “simplified skincare” — or as I call it, “drunk girl skincare,” which she didn’t disagree with — but also amplify its social media presence and diversify its product line beyond masks.

Enter the Wrapping Mask, a tube of extra-hydrating serum drops today. Loops claims has all the benefits of a hyaluronic sheet mask, but without the actual sheet. (In this way, it’s a bit like the “tightening” body creams that promise to be like invisible corsets. It’s launching today after a year in development in Seoul, Korea, and comes with a co-sign from Camila Mendes, the actress who also became Loops’ “creative director” in 2022, shortly after Bedford’s tenure began.

“We love her, obviously,” said Bedford, noting that Mendes has been styling and art directing shoots for the new product, along with a line of biodegradable skincare wipes for concerns like hydration, brightness, and oil, which also debut today. “She has such a creative mind, and is amazing at collaboration and connection.”

The popularity of Mendes is one reason Loops has hit their financial benchmarks, says Bedford, but the investment in quality formulas is another. “We try not to scale too quickly because we know if we don’t get the actual product right, it won’t matter,” Bedford explained. “It’s amazing that celebrities and influencers and micro influencers want to talk about our product.” (TikTok posts have included Loops Beauty products in nearly 4 million videos; according to social media analytics, Loop Beauty content has been viewed over 300 million times on that platform alone.)

Now, Loops Beauty is confronting something far larger, and less sexy, than celebrity buzz. “I lie awake at night thinking about air-shipping versus ground shipping,” she said. “We launched in CVS in April in 3800 doors. Now they want another 1500 doors. Do we meet the demand, but have less profitability because [of rushed production]? Do we lean into scarcity a little bit more? It’s such a good problem to have,” she laughed. “But it’s not going to be solved by star power.” Just good ol’ data analytics, and a lot of bouncy skin.

What Else Is New

Skincare

Indie skincare darling Tower 28 dropped SOS Daily Balancing Gel Cleanser on July 22. It claims to remove SPF and makeup in one go, and helps the skin replace electrolytes because Gatorade is cheaper than a facial.

Hanni has 10,000 aura points, or at least 10,000 people on its waitlist for Good Aura Body Oil. After being sold out for nearly a year, the product is back with new aluminium packaging for optimum recycling.

On July 23, Kiehl’s launched Auto-Tone Discolouration & UV Solution. But don’t let the name freak you out: It’s basically just SPF 30, in a formula that evens out the skin tone. It costs $52.

Also on July 23, a new brand — Heavenly by Nia — launched with a Soothing Star Moisturiser and Sky’s Foam Cleanser. The products are the brainchild of a young woman named Niamarie Vargas, who developed the line to help her little sister get clearer skin. They come packaged in Brat Summer green tubes, with throwback computer fonts last seen on Oregon Trail screens.

The skin barrier continues to prosper! Undefined Beauty debuted its R&R Repair Mist, “a versatile skin barrier boosting spray, supercharged with Hypochlorous Acid,” on July 23. It’s $18.

Also back in the spotlight: premium pond scum. On July 23, Elemis introduced its Pro-Collagen Future Restore Syndrome, which includes “marine microalgae diatoms” — tiny organisms that live in silica drops the way snails live in shells.

The gap between sex care and skincare continues to close. On July 22, Joylux rolled out a small red-light wand that it claims can help users “experience more natural lubrication, increased sensation, a stronger pelvic floor and a feeling of tightness.” So … Sola Wave for your uterus? It’s $400 and counts an OB-GYN, Dr. Sarah de la Torre, as a co-creator.

Ciate London launched a combo lip-balm-and-mask on July 19. It’s called Watermelon Burst and smells a tiny bit like a Jolly Rancher.

The Outset’s Cool Cream Smoothing Mask hit shelves on July 26. It promises a cooling sensation along with more moisture, and counts “electric daisy” — also called the “toothache plant” for its herbal healing history — as a key ingredient. Cue the ScarJo + Colin Jost video tutorial in 4…3…2…

Makeup

Prada Beauty released its ever-so-slightly green setting powder on July 22. It claims to control shine and deliver a soft matte finish, and costs $90. I’d wager that $80 of that is for the mixed-metal packaging stamped with Prada’s pristine logo, but hey, it’s extremely chic.

On July 25, The Lip Bar introduced its Nonstop Liquid Matte Lipstick in a hot pink, shimmer-infused shade called Very Rich. It is Barbiecore-adjacent and looks quite divine in colour swatches.

Tonymoly’s new lip balm dropped July 25, too. It’s a collab with the toy brand Squishmallows, and has tiny cartoon cats and pigs. Adorbs, but also: When is Jellycat going to release a jelly gloss line? Surely ColourPop or e.l.f. are on this beat…

Getting picked last in gym class always sucked. Getting picked last in the WNBA draft, though? That gets you a beauty deal, at least if you’re Cover FX. The makeup brand’s new campaign, “Ms. Irrelevants,” launched July 24 with basketball star Angel Jackson, tennis pro Solymar Colling, and soccer player Talia Gabarra — all of whom “are the last pick” of their respective league drafts, according to a press release. It’s always fun to root for underdogs, but a campaign like this needs a heavy dollop of wit to show the brand isn’t negging its talent. To me, the imagery looks a little too harsh to read as an inclusive, subversive gag. It’s not there yet. But the women’s foundation-dabbed skin? Flawless.

Palette news! Pat McGrath Labs launched two new shadow quads — Opalescent Orchid and Nirvana Nectar — on July 23. They both boast super-rich colour payoffs and ultra-fine grains of glitter. Also on July 23, Too Faced unveiled Appley In Love, an 18-shade compact that, like Elle Woods’ resume, is scented. (This one has a whiff of caramel.) Tarte has a new palette, too, for its 25th birthday. It launched on July 19 and has the 28 best-selling shades from the brand. It’s $54, so … uh … $1.90 per shadow?

On July 26, Merit Beauty debuted Brow 1990, a gel pencil in four shades. They tapped author and mental health advocate Gemma Styles to test it out on her Instagram — and show her super-thin brows circa 2010 in a flashback photo. It’s a cool way to tap into celebrity culture and cultural discourse all at once, and the formula looks effective onscreen.

Fragrance

Phlur’s new hair and body mists — Coconut Skin and Caramel Skin, which smell exactly like they sound — dropped on July 24. They cost $38, and speak to the fact that premium scents are going hard on the category, too. I’m still an eau de parfum girl, but I also still use PowerPoint instead of Canva. This body mist move feels like the fragrance equivalent.

Snif’s collaboration with YouTuber Monet Mcmichael is finally live on its website. The scent is called Rose Era, and has notes of flowers along with “clean laundry accord” — basically, just a whiff of soft cotton and fabric softener.

Michelle Pfeiffer’s brand, Henry Rose, introduced its Jake’s House BVI scent on July 22. It has “marine citrus skin musk” which sounds like you’re eating oranges in the ocean. Could be fun.

Also, wait, did you guys know Sabrina Carpenter was launching a perfume?!

And finally…

It’s really interesting that The Sloomoo Institute — a “slime museum” in New York City that’s part Instagram content factory and part extended gift shop — has poached Sandra Gil as its marketing head, since Gil was head of brand at Vintner’s Daughter. Is Sloomoo headed into a product expansion phase aimed at Gen Alpha? Slimy self-care could be a good bet. Plus, Sloomoo’s co-founder is Karen Rabinowitz also co-founded the influencer agency Digital Brand Architects, a cash machine for TikTok stars and beauty brands.