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At the end of May, Bubble gathered nine creators for a staycation at Fouquet’s, the upscale hotel in NYC’s Tribeca neighborhood. Their rooms were stocked with full Bubble skin care routines — the brand, which launched at the end of 2020, has 27 SKUs today. But the focus was on Cosmic Silk, which officially hit Ulta Beauty, its exclusive launch partner, on June 12.
Cosmic Silk, a hydrating milky toner, represents Bubble’s biggest bet yet on expanding beyond the teen market. “Our audience is not the same age they were when we launched,” said Shai Eisenman, Bubble’s CEO and founder.
The new product is entering a crowded market, but at $16 for 3.4 ounces, the price is competitive. In fact, all of Bubble’s products are under $20. According to Yipit Data, on Amazon, two of the five top-selling toners are milky toners, both from K-Beauty brands. They include TirTir’s Milk Skin Rice Toner ($13 for 1.69 ounces) in second place; and Anua’s Rice 70 Glow Milky Toner ($21 for 8.45 ounces) in fifth. Rhode also helped to popularize the format, and according to Yipit Data’s product team, it’s version is outselling both of the bestselling Amazon toners. On June 4, however, the Hailey Bieber-founded brand changed the size of its popular Glazing Milk to 4.2 ounces from 4.7 ounces, keeping the price at $32, but bringing its cost per ounce up. Other popular offerings in the category include Laneige, Byoma, The Ordinary and the K-Beauty brand I’m From.
Eisenman is confident that Cosmic Silk will be a hit, regardless. Bubble has been teasing it since March, when the company first started pre-seeding lab samples to creators. In recent years, it has begun to invest heavily in clinical studies and plans to market the findings from the study on Cosmic Silk: In a study of 104 people over seven days, 98% said Cosmic Silk felt gentle
on sensitive or irritated skin, and 96% said said parched skin felt rehydrated. The product’s hero ingredients include fatty acids oleic and linoleic acid, plant-based ceramides, skin-soothing arnica and allantoin, and hydrating hyaluronic acid and maple sap water.
According to Eisenman, Bubble’s community — which includes 794,000 Instagram followers and 3.4 million TikTok followers — has been asking for more product options beyond moisturizers and serums.
To launch Cosmic Silk, Bubble is making its largest investment in paid partnerships since its Ulta Beauty launch in 2022, said Marianne Robinson, its senior director of community marketing. It has tapped 22 paid partners for the launch, and their dedicated posts began rolling out in April.
In early April, Kristyn Hoffman (337,000 TikTok followers) shared a teaser post with the text, “pov – an affordable brand is launching one of the best milky toners you’ve ever used and you have to keep it a secret for another month.” The post has 1 million views and over 102,000 likes. Later that month, at Ulta Beauty World, 2,500 consumers, Ulta staffers and influencers received the product over a month before its official launch.
At Fouquet’s, the creators ranged in age from 18-38, reflecting the brand’s concerted effort to not be solely affiliated with the tweens it so often made headlines with last year. According to Robinson, the guest list reflected a mix of existing, meaningful relationships and “exciting new energy.” Along with Hoffman, it included creators Haley Kalil (14.3 million TikTok followers) and Demi Ngai (3.3 million TikTok followers).
“Cosmic Silk represents a major milestone for Bubble,” Eisenman said. “We made a significant investment because we saw it as a pivotal opportunity to evolve how the brand is perceived, especially by a more mature audience. Every aspect of the launch was intentional, from our first-ever custom in-house packaging design to the creative direction, marketing strategy and carefully selected influencer partnerships.”
The packaging was custom-tooled, which requires a significant investment. One only needs to shake the bottle to dispense the desired amount of product. As for the creative direction, a brand representative said it is more “moody and ethereal” than past campaigns. “Usually our colors are super bright and upbeat, but we wanted to tap into darker tones.”
“This isn’t just a product launch — it’s a moment to expand the conversation around who Bubble is for,” Eisenman said, noting that she has family members from ages 9-77 who use Bubble.
Since 2020, Bubble has experienced exponential growth. When it launched, it exclusively sold direct-to-consumer; today, it has over 17,000 points of distribution across not just Ulta Beauty, but also Walmart, Target, CVS and Boots. In 2024, it earned nine figures in revenue and saw a 100% year-over-year increase in sales. In 2025, it expects revenue in the range of $100 million to $200 million, a representative said.
“I know our products are the best in the industry,” Eisenman said, noting that Bubble has a team of two in-house chemists, three product developers and nine advising dermatologists.
When asked if a rebrand, or perhaps less colorful, and therefore youthful, packaging may be in the brand’s future, she was adamant that neither is being considered.
“[Our packaging] is about being playful and being joyful — there’s no age for that,” Eisenman said. “I do think the millennial demo, which sees price as a signal of quality, [likes] a very specific aesthetic — and that aesthetic has been the [dominant] aesthetic for the last 10-12 years.” But Gen Z, she said, sees things differently, and the oldest among them are now approaching 30. “They understand that price tag is not necessarily a signal of quality, and they understand that clinical packaging doesn’t necessarily mean the product is better than a product that [looks] playful — and we’re proving that with our clinicals.”
Cosmic Silk presented a moment for Bubble to expand its roster of creators, too. “Makeup artists were a new category for us, in terms of paid creators,” Robinson said. For example, it tapped makeup artist Todd Harris (12,000 Instagram followers). In his post, he speaks to how he uses the product both as skin care and in combination with makeup. “This product makes for a great base, mixed with foundation,” Robinson said. Bieber has been known to blend her Glazing Milk with foundation, too.
“We want Cosmic Silk to speak to a more elevated consumer,” Robinson said. “So, we wanted to tap into creators who had slightly older audiences — because, yes, milky toners are super buzzy, but this is also a luxurious experience. It’s true innovation.”
Collab of the week: Lilly Sisto x Viani Milano
Influencer Lilly Sisto (116,000 Instagram followers) and Italian shoe brand Viani Milano have partnered for the second time, on a nine-piece capsule collection dubbed “Round Two,” inspired by Sisto’s European travels. Round One, which debuted last April, sold out in eight minutes.
“Sofia [Lombardi, Viani Milano founder] and I have such a similar creative eye, and we really click when it comes to design. We both love pairing unexpected elements together: cool color combinations, different materials,” Sisto told Glossy.
“Lilly’s vintage-meets-contemporary style is so aligned with the Viani vibe that it felt natural,” said Lombardi, Viani Milano founder. “It’s special to be able to create these special pieces alongside someone who appreciates the art of craftsmanship and the value of handmade pieces that are meant to be cherished.”
The first collaboration came about after Lombardi gifted Sisto a pair of shoes. She loved them so much, she decided to shoot her shot and asked Lombardi if she would be interested in co-creating a collection.
“We’ve promoted this collection completely organically; we didn’t spend a dime on paid promotions or even a photo shoot,” Sisto said.
As for the shoes themselves, the collection includes boat shoes and iterations on Mary Janes that work “whether you’re walking the streets of New York, lounging in Paris or relaxing in Nantucket,” Sisto said. They’ll be available on the brand’s site on Monday, June 16.
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