Does the World Need Another Beauty Brand?

Nope. But you’re getting one anyway

If you thought you’d seen the last of new beauty brands launching, you are woefully mistaken. As a beauty editor of 20+ years, here’s my take on why the great beauty machine continues churning, in spite of the fact that we clearly have enough jars of skincare to cover the world’s collective epidermis several billion times over. And if you read to the bottom, I’ll explain why I’m personally adding to the pile.

Think of it like baseball

Just before lockdown, the Suits discovered a secret. That women, people who identify as women, boys who like makeup etc. feel about beauty the way that men feel about sports. Rabid and insatiable. In the same way that they find a team and root for them with all of their inner core, we find a brand that “gets us”, and flood our endorphins as card-carrying fans. In realizing that this fever is endless and ever evolving, these “GMs” began building out the Major Leagues, funding any player that could possibly make bank by connecting to a customer-in-waiting in a novel way.

Investors have for the most part now had their fill, but in the meantime, contract manufacturers have made brand-building as turnkey as throwing up a prefab house. Of course, ease doesn’t equal success, but it’s the reason that expertise-lacking celebrities are able to turn CEOs. (Notably, this year, we will see yet-to-be tapped baby boomers getting their own MVP.) And celebrities will need to make room for their Hollywood glam squads, many of whom are in the process of cashing in on their own well-publicized talent, competition be damned.

I must be nuts

Have we reached peak beauty brands? Absolutely, which is why the meeker will quietly exit the back door. So why would I, who am not a celebrity, nor an esthetician, not even an influencer with one million followers, launch a brand of my own? The neatest answer is that I do see a niche that I don’t believe is adequately being addressed. And that is, skincare for women my age. I mean, are the formulas out there? Sure. But do we want to wear the jersey? Not so much.

And while we’ve seen makeup brands come to embrace Gen X in a way that feels modern and cool (see: Merit, Atelier Westman, Sarah Creal,) I would argue that people still don’t understand how to represent 45+ year old skin without the veil of colour cosmetics. Because, how do you sell a wrinkle cream by showing a woman with a face full of wrinkles? Well, we damn well know that using a model half the demo target’s age isn’t the answer. And sorry to be the party pooper, but nobody wants to be defined by their perimenopause either.

Beauty editors, rise

Which is where I come in. As a seasoned beauty editor who has tested thousands of products, collaborated on photo shoots with people like Charlotte Tilbury, learned firsthand the makings of a trend from the Pat McGrath’s of the world backstage, interviewed countless ceiling-smashing founders like M.A.C’s Frank Toskan, and an Allure directory’s worth of dermatologists, estheticians and the like, I have managed to hone a rather well-cultivated beauty lens.

At the risk of over-blowing myself, it’s the same beauty editor goggles that Emily Weiss once wore when imagining up Glossier. As Ab Fab’s Edina Monsoon once hollered, it’s about distinguishing the “crap from the credible, dahling!” The power of researching, verifying, storytelling, finding a hook, providing service, creative directing and most importantly, knowing when something is worthy of your attention. In short, I intend to create highly edited products that I want on my own personal vanity, and that of my friends. They deserve nothing less, and that’s worth swinging for.

How do you feel about how the beauty industry speaks to women in their mid-life? And what are your fave brands? Drop them below!