Tarte Cosmetics

Lavish trips full of free swag are no longer exclusively for the high-follower-count elites.

Despite the fast pace of makeup, skin care and haircare launches, it’s the brands with iconic, best-in-class products that dominate categories season after season. Executives from Nars, Too Faced and Tarte deconstruct how their brands’ best-sellers became heroes that scaled into volume- and revenue-driving franchises.

The ‘90s-inpsired sunscreen brand brings back a cult classic, and more industry news.

For nearly a decade the beauty brand has built its marketing around sending social media celebrities on lavish vacations, a practice that’s become increasingly controversial. Could a trip to New York for 13 ordinary customers and their plus-ones to see Beyoncé in concert alter that perception? One reporter tagged along to find out.

Influencer trips have come roaring back post-pandemic, sometimes to an opulent degree. A growing number of brands are toning down their events to deepen creator relationships without a PR headache.

Many brands have expanded their foundation shade ranges and added more black models to their marketing campaigns. But the uneven response to the George Floyd protests shows the industry has a long way to go.