Has anyone had a crazier year than Alix Earle? The 22-year-old TikTok star and podcaster started rapidly amassing followers in January 2023. That was largely thanks to her relatability while taking followers along for the ride as she got ready for nights out as a University of Miami senior. Her...

Since Kyle Leahy took the helm as CEO, Glossier has sped up the cadence of its new launches — now every 4-6 weeks, versus 10 weeks. In addition, it’s embarked on its first national college tour, launched a foundation through a second partnership with the WNBA, reopened its Soho flagship...

Despite being less than 3 years old, Hally has managed to insert itself into youth culture by taking a diversified approach to connecting with college-age students. In February, it became the first beauty brand to officially collaborate with universities on a beauty product. It’s also built an ambassador program of...

Neutrogena spent 2023 focusing on what it does best: “making science simple and accessible to everyone,” said Natasha McClean Haubrich, the brand’s head of equity and strategy. It’s done so with bold campaigns and activations.

Victor Casale has been thinking about sustainability since the ’80s, when his brother-in-law, Frank Toskan, co-founded MAC Cosmetics. Casale became MAC’s chief chemist. In those early days, when the brand was a small, family-operated business, “we were creating a lot of garbage and small plastic pieces. So we started ‘Back...

In August, when Susan Yara sold Naturium to E.l.f. Beauty for a $355 million cash and stock deal, she became one of the first true content creators to sell a brand. That’s excluding expert-founded brands like Jen Atkin’s Ouai, which sold to Procter & Gamble in 2021.

2023 has proven a big year for Victoria Beckham’s 4-year-old namesake beauty brand. In September, it introduced a new fragrance category, with three scents co-created with Jerome Epinette, the perfumer known for his work with major fragrance players like Byredo. Victoria Beckham said she’d been working on the scents for...

Helming E.l.f.’s brand presence is Laurie Lam, who joined the brand 16 months ago after spending two decades at L’Oréal. She has since co-led some of the company’s biggest moments of 2023. That includes its first-ever Super Bowl ad, starring Jennifer Coolidge, which E.l.f. conceptualized and completed in just three...

Two weeks ago, several pre-teen and younger youths served as sources for an edition of this newsletter titled "Get Ready With Me, 9-Year-Old Edition — Aspiring beauty influencers are getting younger." All were chosen because they spend time on TikTok and use it to source recommendations about skin care and makeup...