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Early last year, Glow Recipe’s as-yet-unreleased bronzing drops went viral when creator Aysha Harun posted them with the clickbait-y hook, “Did I accidentally get sent an unreleased Glow Recipe product?!?”
Since then, leaks in beauty have become somewhat of a thing. In June, to cite just one example, creator Shelby Ann Bell leaked Hard Candy’s new setting spray. Though Bell did have a paid partnership with the brand tied to the launch, the early leak post was not part of the deal. In some cases, it seems brands simply forget to include an embargo, though in others, influencers may be willing to take the risk of upsetting a brand in order to boost engagement.
On TikTok, it has become downright common to see an influencer unbox a product while telling the camera they’re not sure if they’re the first person to see this product.
Harnessing the success of the accidental early release of its bronzing drops, more specifically called the Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Hue Drops Serum, Glow Recipe decided to try something similar with its new Prickly Pear Peptide Mucin. The mucin serum comes in a larger size and is priced lower — $32 for 1.35 ounces — compared to the brand’s other serums, which typically cost $38–$45 for 1 ounce.
The brand seeded over 1,800 lab samples, labeled simply “MUCIN,” to a wide range of creators across the globe. “We were excited to drum up curiosity and excitement and have people wondering what this could be,” said Sarah Lee, co-founder and co-CEO of Glow Recipe.
The strategy did, indeed, drum up excitement — with over $500,000 in earned media value before the brand’s promotional product mailers even went out.
On July 21, creator Theresa Krug (@theresa360 on TikTok, 2.9 million followers) posted the mysteriously labeled box, the inside of which reads, “Is Glow Recipe launching a cruelty-free snail mucin?” The box contained no further information. Krug’s post has over 307,000 views and 27,000 likes, and has been saved over 1,800 times, as of this story’s publish date.
On August 3, Stephanie Valentine (@glamzilla) posted a Reel on her Instagram (1.1 million followers), in which she directs viewers to a product page on Sephora.com where the lab sample is pictured — something Sephora has, in fact, never done before.
“We had to ask for it, obviously,” Lee said, of getting Sephora to pre-list the product on its site, in the format influencers were receiving it in.
“At first, they said, ‘We don’t do this’ — but, strategically, it made sense,” Lee said. “We made a case, because we were saying: ‘This is a great way to capture traffic and make sure you get [interested customers’ email addresses] out of this. Why would you let that slide instead of capturing it?” Those entering their email address on the page aren’t signing up to receive a lab sample, however. Instead, they will be notified when the final product becomes available on August 26.
In Glow Recipe’s own August 6 teaser post on Instagram, where it has 2 million followers, it is conducting a giveaway of 75 bottles of the new serum to members of its community. That post has over 17,000 likes, and the brand shared it has been viewed over 630,000 times.
Many comments on that post refer to one of the brand’s central focuses, when it comes to marketing this launch: the fact that the mucin isn’t snail-derived at all.
For example, one commenter asked, “Is it cruelty-free? Or made from snails?”
The answer reflected Glow Recipe’s reason for the launch. “Snail mucin [has been] very trendy [but we] never curated snail mucin because we didn’t believe in anything that was cruel,” the brand stated, in response. It’s worth noting that, prior to launching its namesake brand, Glow Recipe launched as a curated marketplace of Korean beauty products.
When Lee and co-founder and co-CEO Christine Chang looked deeper into snail mucin, they couldn’t find a good, humane method for extracting a large amount of mucin. “As part of the brand’s reveal and launch strategy, it will be sharing more about the fact that it couldn’t find evidence that the harvesting of snail mucin is cruelty-free,” said Stevie Chong, Glow Recipe’s vp of global PR and influencer strategy. Typically, Chang explained, snails are either electrocuted or sprayed with salt or acid to increase mucin production, noting that snail mucin is “so widespread [and popular], but there’s little information about how it’s [sourced].”
“The goal is not to scare or fear-monger or anything like that,” Chang said. “It’s just providing information in a factual way and inviting conversation around this, because the conversation needs to be had.”
The Prickly Pear Peptide Mucin is, in fact, 81% prickly pear mucin. “We thought this might be a great way for us to excite the community with the mucin texture they all love and the benefits that they’re really appreciating with snail mucin, but with a vegan alternative,” Lee said, noting that one of the serum’s hero ingredients is also used in the brand’s Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner.
As the brand always pairs its fruit-based products with other clinically effective ingredients, the serum also includes a bioactive peptide at 3%. In clinical studies, Glow Recipe found that 100% of testers showed a clinical improvement in hydration and skin barrier strength after just one use. The formula is further boosted with ectoin, a recently buzzy ingredient which Chang noted is “great for soothing and great for the [skin] barrier,” as well as galactomyces ferment filtrate, which is rich in amino acids and antioxidants, according to Chang.
In addition to educating consumers about the product being cruelty-free, Chang said, in marketing the launch, the brand will “lead with benefits — because, ultimately, that’s what drives the customer’s interest in purchasing. “We want people to know that vegan mucin gives you bouncy, supple skin, smooth skin,” she said.
Lee added, “It’s for people who have used mucin, and it’s for people who have never heard of mucin … Plus, the texture is really fun, and that is a nice perk of using this product.” The launch imagery leans into the bounciness of mucin.
Collabs of the week
Merit x Baina
For years, Merit has leaned into working with like-minded brands to establish itself as the beauty brand of choice for an elevated, fashion-minded type of customer. See: the earrings it co-created with Completedworks in December, in tandem with the launch of its first fragrance, Retrospect. There were also its bag collabs with fashion brands like Proenza Schouler and Tove.
Merit’s new cleanser, the $32 Great Skin Double Cleanse Makeup Removing Cleanser, launched on Tuesday. On the brand’s website, customers can add sets of washcloths from the “it” girl towel brand Baina to their carts before checking out for an all-in-one experience.
“Collaborations are a way for our team to share what we love with our community, which is why they’re always with brands we’ve personally used or admired through the years,” said Merit CMO Aila Morin. “We operate in the world of routines, which goes far beyond beauty, [extending] to the bag you carry, the earrings you wear and the towel you use. With Great Skin Double Cleanse, we talked about how cleanser is often the most overlooked step in a skin-care routine, and this partnership felt like a way to re-emphasize the importance of that simple step.”
Merit has been teasing the towels in brand-owned social content and UGC since mid-July, prior to the official collab announcement. They come in sets of two in two colorways, blue and carnelian, for $26 each. The partnership is part of the cleanser’s launch campaign and will be promoted via social, email, text and the brand’s website.
Odele x Susan Alexandra
It seems everyone loves a Susan Alexandra accessory, and Odele is the latest beauty brand to join in on the trend, launching a Susan Alexandra bag charm made to hold its powder-based dry shampoo.
“We love when function meets fashion, and [we’re both brands] that prioritize the details, from design to function to ingredients [or materials] used,” said Odele co-founder Lindsay Holden, adding, “One plus one equals more than two, when it comes to aligning and celebrating the talent of craft with fellow female founders.”
Holden called the holder “wearable art,” noting that it celebrates the versatility and portability of the brand’s powder-based dry shampoo, which can go from “gym bag to travel bag to handbag, or from strength training to brunch.”
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