The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: Scaring Is Caring

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and an intriguing argument for Hedi Slimane at Chanel. (Hint: lipstick.)

Included in today’s issue: Credo Beauty, Cyklar, Evolvetogether, Finneas, Glossier, Lionel Messi, Mooncat, Mustela, Oak Essentials, Oribe, Prequel, Ralph Lauren, Roblox, Smashbox Cosmetics, Solawave, Topicals, and Twinkies.

But first…

In August, Rare Beauty launched a lip and cheek duo tied to “Only Murders in the Building” and its winsome leading lady, Mabel Mora, played by Rare’s founder, Selena Gomez. “Only Murders” is the rare TV comedy that’s actually funny. “Only Murders” is the rare TV comedy that’s actually funny. It’s also focused on Jane Lynch getting shot in the heart, then thrown into an incinerator so her body turns to dust. Should that sell beauty products? No. And yet, Rare’s gift set sold out in three days.

“Only Murders” is fictional, but the true crime genre that dominates podcast charts and Netflix documentaries is also a stealth beauty converter. That’s most obvious on the YouTube channel Murder Mystery and Makeup, which follows a simple formula: Beauty influencer Bailey Sarian applies MAC eyeliner and Haus Labs blush into the camera while talking about serial killers, sexual predators, and secret cannibals. Sarian has nearly 7.5 million subscribers on YouTube alone and is successful enough as a content creator that she’s signed to WME, the same mega-agency that reps Gomez herself.

When a reporter asks how you’re making cold hard cash from cold-blooded violence, the smartest thing to do is ignore her interview requests — which Sarian did. (Cue “Jurassic Park” voice: Clever girl.) So I rang up Dr. Honor Doro Townshend, a criminologist in London who studies the public fascination with true crime.

“From a brand perspective, I see why beauty companies link to true crime content,” she said. Townshend explains that ultimately, true crime content is considered entertainment by its fans. “We might not talk about deriving pleasure from the experience of true crime, but that is part of it.” True crime content has also been found to promote feelings of security and self-awareness, two intended byproducts of cosmetic application.

And while some brands use Halloween to tread into gorier territory — perhaps as a plausible shield of deniability for anyone objecting to the tactic — others have used darkness in evergreen marketing. Makeup brand Rituel de Fille has a vein-matching lipstick called Written in Blood that featured in ads for season nine of “American Horror Story.” Urban Decay’s original 1990s lip colour “Gash” is also still going strong, along with a gunmetal shade called “Uzi.” Black Moon cosmetics sells lipsticks in tiny coffin carriers, and has hue names like “Elm Street,” “Hellraiser,” “Omen,” and “Dracula.” The perfumer Kilian has a $295 Black Phantom fragrance that claims notes of cyanide (!) and TokyoMilk made an Arsenic scent in the mid-2010s that remains a top seller on resale sites. There’s even an entire Florida-based brand called “Makeup a Murder” that sells $20 glitter palettes inspired by various crime scenes, alongside knife-shaped lip glosses. And CrimeCon, the gathering of wannabe CSI directors that Gomez herself has attended, sells a $10 cosmetics bag with an “I Know Things” graphic.

Is this a scary smart move on behalf of brands? “It’s clearly working, but it’s odd!” said Townshend with a laugh. “But, you know, listening to true crime stories can be a form of self-soothing behaviour. Makeup application is another way that some people self-soothe.” The link between beauty and death can also manifest in many people’s obsession with their own mortality. Looking “more youthful” can help us pretend we’re not inevitably going to die. Likewise, listening to stories of someone else’s demise can reassure us that we’re still among the living—and that we have the power to help stop killers, and therefore help prevent death. In that way, said Townshend, the leap between applying blush and obsessing over a stranger’s murder “isn’t as big a cognitive switch as you think.”

What Else Is New

Skincare

In 2004, Gwyneth Paltrow showed up for the “Anchorman” premiere in a strapless dress that revealed bruises from a spa cupping treatment. (Classic!) On Oct. 16, the influencer and Finneas video star Claudia Sulewski debuted a $20 “body toning cup” as part of her Cyklar beauty line, which also includes a $35 “sensory cleanser” and $29 body cream. I cannot wait to debut my own pooled blood marks under an Isabel Marant strapless dress this weekend. Goop vibes, undefeated.

Oak Essentials premiered its Nourishing Cleansing Milk on Oct. 15. It’s $45 and makes a fascinating claim: Apparently, this stuff “counters the effects of hard water.” Honestly, I love that a liquid soap is coming for the booming (and landfill-loading) shower head market, and this won’t be the last time we see that kind of messaging in a cleanser this season. Stay tuned.

Solawave’s LightBoost Topicals line dropped on Oct. 16, with four products—a face serum, a neck serum, a moisturiser, and an eye cream—that claim to work alone and enhance the results of SolaWave’s “light therapy” gizmos. They cost $38 to $56 each.

Prequel’s Gleanser + SA, a face wash with 1 percent salicylic acid, dropped on Oct. 15. It’s spelt with a “g” because of glycerine, which features heavily in its $20 formula, and aims to tackle the delicate balance between zapping zits and keeping the face moisturised.

Credo Beauty now stocks three deodorants from Evolvetogether. They hit shelves on Oct. 15.

It’s a big week for Thea Green, the beauty founder whose Nails.Inc and Holler & Glow brands just got acquired by the Pacific World Corporation. That’s cool, but the “yippee!” moment for shoppers might be with Green’s other brand, Inc.redible. On Oct. 14, it dropped a collab with Twinkies and Pop Tarts. The merch includes “frosted” strawberry and vanilla body washes, plus tiny sponges that look like snacks. The Twinkies one is particularly fun.

Makeup

Celine’s first lipstick, a satin red shade called Rouge Triomphe, hit shelves on Oct. 15. It’s $75 and claims to be the brainchild of Hedi Slimane, marking the designer’s first public steps into franchised colour cosmetics. If Slimane ends up at a mega-luxury brand like Chanel, he might need—or want—to be more involved in its beauty business, especially since it accounts for so much brand revenue. This lipstick is particularly good, formula-wise. It’s also a built-in vehicle for Slimane to prove he can lead a fashion brand that’s also a beauty company.

On Oct. 15, KJH.brand introduced Soft Smudge Lip & Cheek stick, which costs $24 and promises “the longevity of a powder with the effortless application of a cream product.”

Glossier brought back its Cookie Butter, Espresso, and Biscotti lip butters for the holiday season; you can get them as singles or part of a little ornament duo. Adorbs.

Isamaya Beauty has three new shades of Liplacq 2.0 serum, including Ultraviolet, Beetle, and Lotus. They’re basically shimmery lip glosses and cost $38 each.

On Oct. 13, Smashbox Cosmetics unveiled FlashFX lipstick in shimmer-infused red shades. They’re limited-edition holiday colours and cost $22 each.

Mooncat’s Pandora Unboxed collection hexed itself into existence on Oct. 18. It includes four shades including Green Eyed Monster, which glows in the dark and costs $15.

Haircare

If you would rather pay $$$ than gift wrap anything yourself, Oribe is your friend. On Oct. 10, it launched six gift sets with vibrant packaging by the Kenyan artist Thandiwe Muriu. At $50 to $295, the boxes are costly. But if you get night sweats thinking about scotch tape and corner-edge folding, perhaps the value here is undeniable.

Mustela’s Detangling & Nourishing Cream Shampoo dropped Oct. 18 on Amazon. It’s $14 and made for children with tighter curls and tangle-prone hair, although the kid in the “before” and “after” pics looks perfect both ways!

On Oct. 15, Nutrafol introduced Active Cleanse, a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner formulated for men. Why the gender designation? The brand says it’s because “men have a weaker scalp barrier” that needs some extra care. This care specifically costs $44.

Fragrance

Do you want to smell like Lionel Messi? His eponymous cologne hit JCPenney on Oct. 9 with notes of cardamom, cyprus, and vanilla. The fragrance is distributed by Sheralven, whose CEO Steven Koss says, “We are confident that with Messi’s devoted fan base, we will hit the projected retail sales of $100M by 2026.” BRB, setting a calendar alert to check back in 14 months…

More in athletic smells: Lewis Hamilton is famously a Tom Ford dude, but his fellow F1 driver Lando Norris is the newest face of Ralph Lauren Fragrances. On Oct. 15, he debuted as Polo Red’s new campaign model, wearing a red racing suit and clutching a bottle of cologne in the ad pic.

Rather smell like an extremely talented and perpetually underrated Disney star? Ashley Tisdale’s fragrance line, Being Frenshe, dropped a $15 scent called Moon Milk on Oct. 15. It has notes of orange, nutmeg, bergamot, cardamom, cinnamon bark, warm oat milk, and vanilla. If you don’t want to mist yourself with it, try ordering that flavour combo at Starbucks. Sounds amazing.

Fine’ry is “the fastest-growing fragrance brand at Target,” according to Fine’ry. On Oct. 15, they unveiled a new Roblox space that combines super-soothing chime music with giant computerised bottles. It’s cute!

And Finally

Did you peep the Topicals under-eye masks backstage at the Victoria’s Secret show? VS doesn’t sell the brand… but gosh, what if they did?