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Business of Fashion

The End of Glitter?

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and cigarettes that are really perfumes. (Sorry D.A.R.E., but they're cool as hell.) Included in today's issue: Augustinus Bader, Bliss, Byredo, E.l.f. Skin, Eos, Fable & Mane, Glowbar, Hammer & Nails, Laneige, Maelove, Noyz, One/Size, Paula's Choice, Practical Alchemy, Redken, Remedy, Sisley Paris, Typology, Wella Professionals and butter yellow hair. But first… If you're a beauty historian, you certainly remember Burberry's epic 'glitter tears.' They happened in February of 2016, when makeup artist Wendy Rowe smeared the music festival staple on Vittoria Ceretti and He Cong. What a surprise, then, for Burberry to drop an actual music festival campaign in June 2025 with a glitter dress on Alexa Chung… and zero shiny stuff on her face. Of course, Chung doesn't need any glitter to shine — but according to most beauty companies today, neither do their products. As 'wellness,' 'aura,' and 'vibes' become ephemeral goals for TikTok stars and the fans who swipe through them, shoppers are craving glowy, dewy, pearlescent textures instead of the heavy metals they wore for the past decades. The switch is starkly clear at Urban Decay, a brand rooted in glam rock that has swapped its signature K.I.S.S.-y face shadow palettes for more controlled shimmers and even (gasp) mattes. The pop queen Lady Gaga was once a glitter factory; now the breakout hit of her Haus Beauty line is a Glassy Highlighter that glints with no glitz. Kylie Cosmetics' new Dewy Highlighter and Glossier's Futuredew Solid are similarly illuminating. Last week, Too Faced founder Jerrod Blandino's second act Polite Society debuted Highlight Society which vows 'no glitter!' in its 'glassy' formula. Even Lush's new Super Milk Glitter Mist has swapped razzle dazzle flakes for microscopic particles of borosilicate, creating an earthy glow you'd expect from Vermeer instead of Van Halen. (Sorry guys. Love you.) Makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench champions an unglittery, sweatier sort of sheen in her makeup looks lately, like the one shown here. (Isamaya Beauty) 'I think it's fun to look like you've been at the club sweating, packed on the dance floor,' said makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench, whose recent master class in New York City featured a 'swamp fairy' look with slick, colour-shifting lips that mimicked the blurry iridescence of a giant dragonfly. Ffrench admits she'll always love glitter, but she's also become fascinated with a different kind of shine: a gleaming exertion, the kind you can only get from a joyful night out — the kind that, less than five years ago, was still a life-threatening idea thanks to Covid. In 2018, National Geographic reported links between cosmetic glitter and ocean pollution, prompting brands like Bleach London and Ganni to embrace cellulose versions. But the environmental stigma still lingers, along with a suspicion among some makeup artists and creative directors that glitter doesn't really suit our current times. Trading sweaty, slick shine for man-made flakes of glitter is both a return to 'natural' beauty and an endorsement of getting back out into the messy, beautiful tangle of human interaction. The goal isn't to abandon sparkle entirely, but to refine it into something that feels more integral to the skin itself. Of course, like skinny jeans and winged eyeliner, glitter makeup can't truly die. Addison Rae recently covered her body in it for her Spotify album release concert in New York to great effect. But culture moves trends, and trends move products, and this summer, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan aren't the only ones on a Sweat tour. Makeup formulators are, too. What else is new… Skincare On June 8, E.l.f. Skin said it's okay to be a Clean Freak. That's when the brand dropped its new $10 cleanser (called, yes, Clean Freak) with hyaluronic acid and a gel-to-foam texture. Dear men: I promise that getting a manicure or pedicure will not make you any less of a man. It's fine! Enjoy! Still, bro-geared salons like Hammer & Nails are thriving. On June 6, the 'grooming center for guys' announced its 50th brick and mortar location, with expectations to open 50 more by December of 2026, according to CEO Aaron Meyers. The franchise counts UFC fighter Urijah Faber as an investor, so if anyone makes fun of you for getting a man-icure, just tell him so he can beat down those bullies. Welcome to the world, Practical Alchemy! The personal care brand created by former IMG executive Doris A. Wong launched on June 10 with two key products: $48 cleansing wipes with SPF and aloe, and $20 clear pimple patches. Glowbar is going from spa treatments to at-home scrubs. On June 10, the skincare franchise famous for its 30-minute facial debuted its first-ever product, the Expert Cleanser, which has willow bark extract and alpha hydroxy acids, and retails for $28. Glowbar founder Rachel Liverman says its development came from the 250,000 hours of facials that her estheticians have performed since the brand began in 2019. Once upon a time, base-layer skincare was called a 'serum.' Augustinus Bader is raising the word game by dubbing their formula 'The Elixir' instead. Out on June 11, it's fast-absorbing with a silky gel texture, and promises accelerated skin repair. I used a swipe on my sunburned nose last weekend; it stopped the redness overnight. (And look, for the retail price of $550, it should!) For those Out East, the beauty activations are already popping. Sisley Paris began its Montauk Yacht Club takeover on June 11 with spa treatments and products available for purchase all summer long. Amazon is Bliss-ing out. On June 11, the online megastore added Bright Idea toning pads and Clear Genius gel moisturiser to its Bliss storefront; both launches are Amazon exclusives. US college basketball star Azzi Fudd is the new face of Paula's Choice, holding court at in-store appearances when she's not dominating the court during playoffs. The Seattle-based brand announced its NCAA partnership on June 11. A paradox: For moisturisers, 'skin tightening' is a promise. For cleansers, 'skin tightening' is a threat. Remedy swears there will be none of that nonsense with its newest face wash, Rich Cream Cleanser ($16) which turns from a cream into a foam because it is soap. Yep. Good talk. Eos made an orange lip balm as a tribute to Blue Moon beer on June 11. It's $5, so about the same price as a can of the summery booze at your local bodega. Laneige still dominates lip balm sales. Can it conquer the rest of the skincare aisle? The K-beauty brand is aiming to find out with its Perfect Renew cleanser ($32) and face cream ($56), which both launched on June 10. They join the Perfect Renew serum ($65), which dropped this winter with collagen, retinol and ceramides — a far cry from the boba and strawberry extracts in the brand's tween-coveted glosses. Makeup Byredo's newest lip balms arrived on June 12, and they're sooooo pretty! Created with makeup artist Lucia Pica, they include clear, baby pink, shiny magenta and a shade that could best be described as 'a latte with an attitude problem.' J'adore. Patrick Starrr doesn't want your skin to burrrn. On June 13, his beauty brand One/Size revealed a new matte makeup spray with SPF 28. Hair Care Can Redken make 'butter yellow' into a hair trend? They've got a secret weapon in OG 'butter' babe Sabrina Carpenter, whose blonde hair was transformed into a creamy pastel shade by colourist Laurie Heaps using Redken's Shades EQ gloss. You can see the shade in Carpenter's new Prada Beauty commercial… oops, sorry, her new music video, 'Manchild'... which premiered on June 6. Fable & Mane unveiled its Root Refresh dry shampoo on June 10, with tapioca starch and rosemary included in the formula. It's $30 at Sephora and smells like a savoury dessert. On June 11, Wella Professionals announced its sponsorship of 2025's F1 Academy, so if you've ever wondered how baby race car drivers have such great hair under their helmets… well… voilà. Typology is expanding into hair, or as they'd say in the brand's Paris headquarters, les cheveux. On June 10, the French skincare brand debuted its five hair care products in the US, including two shampoos, a conditioner, mask and scalp scrub. The formulas include extracts more common in serums and moisturisers, including caffeine, squalene and polyhydroxy acids, and range from $27 to $38. The same day, skincare brand Maelove also dropped its first hair products, including a scalp serum, shampoo and conditioner formulated for thicker, stronger hair. Fragrance I appreciate Noyz for insisting that its Honey, Please hair and body mist is 'sweet, but not too sweet.' The formula dropped June 12 with notes of honey, caramel, ginger and pink pepper. It's $42. Obsessed with Celui's Scent Pack Trio ($20), which packages three vials of fragrance in a cigarette carton inspired by old-school Marlboro packs. It's got a pink stripe instead of a red one, but otherwise, the box is so convincing that it was initially sent to my spam folder for inappropriate content. Obviously, that makes me love it more. Related: Over at the Times, Esther Zuckerman has noticed an uptake in 'cool' TV and movie characters smoking cigarettes again, to which I say, all American Spirit needs for a brand revival is that one perfect scene of Parker Posey in Dazed and Confused. And finally… Why are so many fancy skincare labels insisting that your abs need deodorant? Malin + Goetz, (The Business of Beauty Global Award Winner) Akt London and Salt + Stone have all released recent content with gorgeous people swiping deo on their stomach, all in service of each brand's 'full body' formulas.A pro-tip from my doctor: 'If your stomach really smells, you need medical attention.' Not a Sephora trip. K? Sign up toThe Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.