The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: Is “The Substance” Real?

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a sneak peek of some lipstick stilettos.

Included in today’s issue: Burberry Beauty, Designme, Doré, E.l.f., Loops, Oak Essentials, Prequel, Summer Fridays, Tarte, Tirtir, and Zara.

But first …

If you don’t have regenerative aesthetics on your bingo card for 2025, make room. The phrase is in a “loose glitter” phase — haphazardly scattered but easy to spot — and keeps creeping up in medical spas and dermatology TikToks.

This week, regenerative aesthetics is getting lots of play through Radiesse, an injectable manufactured by Merz Aesthetics making a big press push this quarter in America and Asia. The injectable “biostimulant” claims to trick older skin into rebooting its collagen and elastin production, plumping deeper wrinkles and folds in the face and the tops of the hands. Is Radiesse the same synthetic jolt seen in the bio-horror movie “The Substance?” Hardly — for one thing, you don’t get Margaret Qualley as your scheming stunt double during cheat days. But the idea that the fountain of youth is actually an $800 syringe is certainly part of the IRL brand’s promise, which vows to renew your skin’s appearance by re-training the skin’s cells to renew themselves.

The idea of regenerative aesthetics ties into the recent trend in “biomimetic” skincare, which infuses topical creams and serums with ingredients that claim to spur our bodies into youth-repair mode. That includes affordable items like Osea’s Andaria Algae body lotion, which goes from $18 to $48, and super-expensive ones like Valmont’s Hydra3 Regenetic Cream. (It is $380, and, annoyingly, worth it. My skin is bouncing after a month … ) Buxom’s $16 lipsticks claim biomimetic powers to help your lips look fuller; Living Proof’s $33 serum says its biomimicry helps banish frizz. Just this week, L’Oréal-backed Deinde Beauty dropped a biomimetic moisturiser, and OneSkin’s biomimetic formulas helped raise an additional $7 million in funding for the brand, which promises to “slow skin ageing.”

But can anything make your body “act” younger besides a time machine, a re-see of Mean Girls, and / or extremely fun sex? Science is still iffy. We’ve all heard the rumours about that beautiful (and relatively young!) beauty mogul who supposedly mainlines human growth hormone to stay gorgeous. We’ve also heard facts about how clean water, nourishing food, ample sleep and exercise do more for the body than any secret injection. And that’s exactly why regenerative aesthetics and biomimetic ingredients are trending today.

There are no easy answers, and the ones we have cost more time and money than most people can manage. The overt messaging on social media is that nobody is coming to save us. Biomimetic ingredients and regenerative aesthetics promise that instead, we can save ourselves. Or at least our selfies.

What Else Is New

Skincare

E.l.f.’s Thirst Burst drops hit shelves on Nov. 9, with niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. They’re $12 and so far, only available on the brand’s site and app.

Congratulations to Summer Fridays for their massive new billboard on Sunset Boulevard, which debuted on Nov. 12 and basically shrink-wraps the Soho House LA building. Perfect placement, A+, no notes.

Prequel’s new oil cleanser is $20 and meant to help “dissolve” makeup or SPF. It hit shelves on Nov. 12 and is made with cica oil, an extract from centella asiatica, a.k.a. tiger grass, an Eastern medicinal plant used for centuries to help reduce inflammation. The plant itself looks a lot like a clover.

On Nov. 12, K-beauty brand Tirtir opened its first US pop-up shop in New York. You might know the label because of its egg-shaped compacts in deep metallic red … or because Tiktok influencer Nic Kaufmann posted tons of content from the opening party. The line is already around the block.

On Nov. 12, Loops launched Dew Cloud, a stand-alone lip jelly that goes along with their Dew Cloud fibre face masks. It’s $22, and unlike the rest of the Loops lineup, you can wear it over Zoom without any weird looks.

More cumulus vibes: Oak Essentials introduced its Cloud Foaming bath oil on Nov. 12. It has coconut oil and sage extract, and retails for $52 on Nordstrom and Shopbop — a site I haven’t thought about in a hot minute. Should I be checking their beauty drops more often? (Are you?)

Laneige made a candy cane version of its lip sleeping mask that debuted on Nov. 12. Tweens, start your engines.

Doré and Clare V. collaborated on a $145 holiday kit including her face balm, gel milk cleanser, moisturiser, and her version of the very famous (and very French) micellar water for “no tears” eye-makeup removal. They’re packaged in a green Clare V. makeup bag, which usually costs around $100 by itself.

New Orleans dermatologist Mamina Turegano has done an excellent job being an “expert source” for USA Today, Town & Country, and the Daily Mail. Now she’s launching a supplement with the excellent how-is-this-not-trademarked-yet name Beautycore. Turegano’s co-founder is a man named G. Eric Kuskey, who licensed Iman and Heidi Klum’s makeup lines while at the PR firm Full Picture. (Full Picture’s other big clients include several Kardashian businesses.) Interesting!

Speaking of Kim Kardashian, SKKN has a giant holiday drop on Nov. 15 including a 12-shade eyeshadow palette ($50), a $27 lip shimmer, and a $40 mini lip liner set with five shades. Packaging is minimal: colour payoff is deep.

Makeup

Burberry Beauty quietly trickled onto Nordstrom.com on Nov. 8, with an in-store rollout slated for March of 2025 — not coincidentally, the same time as the brand’s Fall 2025 show. The most noteworthy item is the foundation with “trench protect technology,” which promises “breathable protection” like the iconic garment sharing its name. I’ve tested it out and the claim is solid; good coverage without a cloggy feel. It’s $60 though, which is a lot!

Essence Cosmetics unveiled a range of $4 tinted chapsticks called Juicy Bombs on Nov. 10. They look a lot like Maybelline’s old Baby Lips Balms and come in six shades, including a warm brown called “Wake Me Up Before You Coco.”

On Nov. 12, Gen See debuted a double-sided eyeshadow brush for $20 that’s “especially good for layering metallic shades over the mattes.”

L’Oréal’s Paradise Big Deal mascara hit Ulta on Nov. 12 with Cara Delevingne as its face. It’s $17.

Tarte’s $26 faux freckle stamp launched on Nov. 15 — just in case you want to stick with the matte version of the glitter spots that recently went viral on Taylor Swift’s cheeks.

Haircare

On Nov. 4, Zara debuted its Hair Shine collection, which gives locks a flexible but shiny hold, and begs the question — is “hair highlight” the new “makeup highlight”? Also, the model for this collection is Chloé’s resident blonde Rosalieke Fuchs, and if V Magazine doesn’t do a spread with her called “Zero Fuchs Given,” then perhaps print truly is dead.

Remember when Nordstrom quietly rolled out its Gen-Z kiosks and “young adult” site silo? On Nov. 12, Canadian hair brand Designme landed there, with pastel products from $13 to $76.

Fragrance

WeWoreWhat has paired with Parlux to drop its first ever fragrance, “a woody gourmand” that costs up to $79. The scent was developed by Jérôme Epinette, who’s also behind perfumes by Byredo, Phlur, and Sol de Janeiro. In other words, this is a very smart move by influencer Danielle Bernstein, who says her brand is on track for $40 million in sales this year.

And Finally

I got to see the Balmain lipstick shoes in person this week. The heels are pretty substantial — the “lipstick” is a really thick slab of metal — and the effect is extremely fun. Alas, Balmain doesn’t sell actual cosmetics right now, but their intentions, like their accessories, are very good.