Indie Sneeze: Why Niche Fashion Wants In on Fragrance

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and cereal milk soft serve ice cream. Heaven.

Included in today’s issue: Avène, Bath & Body Works, Bioelements, Blank Beauty, Clean Reserve, ColourPop, Curology, Cyklar, D.S. and Durga, Dyson, E.l.f. Beauty, Eos, Fazit, Fenty Hair, Guerlain, Laundry Sauce, Merit Beauty, Murad, Naturium, Neen, Norms, Olehenriksen, Olive & June, OneSkin, PCA Skin, Pat McGrath Labs, Patrick Ta, Polite Society, RMS Beauty, Rosy & Earnest, Solawave, Summer Fridays, Trixie Mattel, Yensa and The Wedding Planner.

But first…

Perfume used to be the crown you wore after you’d built a major brand. Make sex expensive with silk and leather? Reap your reward with Tom Ford Black Orchid. Tilt your favorite It girls into a bohemian rhapsody? Claim your Eau de Chloe prize.

But the world is upside-down and fragrance — one of the fastest emotional litmus tests we have — is also flipping its lid. Today, nascent fashion labels are incorporating sniff tests from the get-go, scenting their runways before they’ve even got a retailer in place. It happened at Dauphinette in New York, where designer Olivia Cheng realized she could manufacture her own small-batch scents “for less money than I sometimes spend on runway samples.” In London, Chopova Lowena spritzed their kilts (which have become street style bait outside every big fashion show) with a Bulgarian floral elixir. Vaquera ensured its new fragrance, Classique Perdu, was mentioned in backstage interviews. Everywhere, it seemed, brands with cultural cache but limited capital were suddenly smelling the roses… or the vetiver… or in the memorable case of ERL, the sunscreen left over from 1994.

“Nobody taught us how to be a brand,” said Emma Chopova, one half of the CL duo, when I asked her about this phenomenon. “We started our line right out of [Central Saint Martins] and the only thing we’ve ever known how to do is tell stories through fabric! We’re really good at world-building. We’re less in tune with how a fashion brand is ‘supposed’ to be. And we were just like, ‘Yeah, fragrance is emotional and a little secretive.’ We, as artists, are emotional and maybe a little secretive. Of course that’s part of our world.”

This month, Chopova Lowena debuted a trio of $150 fragrance bottles and candles at Dover Street Market in New York City. Etched with hand-drawn doodles and topped with a silicone doll head, each perfume is crafted in Chopova’s native Bulgaria and hits hard with a sweet note at first, then pulls back to reveal a whispered and weird undertow. It’s a lot like their clothes, which combine the slumber-party aesthetics of cheerleader skirts and heart-shaped beads with the soft-but-strict structure of a tailored sheath dress. “People are very drawn to the scent visually,” admitted Chopova. “But it takes a minute for them to figure out what the notes are. It requires a pause, and a moment of thinking, which I love.”

The designers paired with award-winning animator Phoebe Jane Hart to launch the bottles — puppets were made; cardboard bunnies were built. But though “it felt like the most fun art project” to the group, Laura Lowena said the world-building aspect “was really in service of seeing how our brand lives outside of clothes… And we know our clothes cost a lot, because they’re made so carefully. Beauty is meant to be a way in for people who might not be ready to invest in the collection yet. So why wait?”

Designers like Chopova Lowena are among the first to have a DIY DTC pipeline straight to their customers. Brand fans can DM them, Venmo them and click their Shopify pages without going through a retailer. Meanwhile, the designers themselves can DM, Venmo and click through manufacturing sites worldwide — a practice that would be impossible even 20 years ago. Why not apply the same plucky spirit to creating a fragrance arm of your brand as early as possible?

Both ERL and Vaquera were sherpa’d into the fragrance world by Adrian Joffe, the enigmatic president of both Dover Street Market and Comme des Garçons. (He was also involved in Setchu’s scent debut this summer.) Is it a coincidence that the female-founded labels, Chopova Lowena and Dauphinette, are making the stuff on their own so far? Emma shrugged. “I don’t think it’s about being girls,” she said. “I think it’s about being very, very determined to just get what’s in our heads done. And wondering what our brand, our world, would smell like, that’s been in our heads for such a long time.”

“I think I mentioned once in school that fragrance is an early part of design,” said Laura. “I feel like people didn’t get it. Maybe they laughed a little.” But for cult brands like Chopova Lowena, there’s nothing more important than building a community in real life. “And scent is one way to claim space that isn’t, you know, only on the internet,” said Laura. “You can’t smell your screen.”

“Not yet!” said Emma with a groan. “I mean, thank god.”

Next month, Chopova Lowena will debut solid scents. Lip balms, they think, are next.

What else is new…

Skincare

Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria, Guerlain! On Oct. 20, the French skincare brand entered Blair Waldorf’s domain with a 22,000 square-foot spa that includes 16 treatment rooms, a cryotherapy chamber and little bees embroidered on the linens. The spa menu features a “Spirit of Achievement” massage named for the hotel’s famous Art Deco sculpture and the relentless perfectionist streak of NYC (and of Ms. Waldorf herself).

There is no way you could confuse Milk Makeup with Milk Bar’s new Bath & Body Works collection, because only one makes a giant candle that smells like cereal milk soft serve ice cream. (There’s also a giant Milk Bar ice cream truck nightlight, if that’s more your speed.)

Avène named its newest drop the “Tolerance Foaming Facial Cleanser” and if you thought it was some kind of an NGO tie-in for world peace — I mean, same. The “tolerance” part actually refers to the way sensitive skin reacts to the $20 cleanser, which includes glycerine and niacinamide to reduce redness. It hit shelves on Oct. 20.

There’s now a boutique hemorrhoid clinic in Soho, New York. It’s called the Norms Clubhouse and it’s got creams, wipes, sprays and a hefty dose of “this is not a big deal, just feel better.” Cool.

If you live for a robot face, get so excited. On Oct. 21, Solawave dropped its latest gizmo, a $400 pink face cage called the Wrinkle Retreat Pro Light Therapy Face Mask. It claims to use four “targeted wave lengths” to tighten and brighten skin, and each session only takes three minutes.

OneSkin wants to kiss you. On Oct. 21, the San Francisco-based “biotech beauty” company launched its first lip product, OS-01 Lip Mask. It’s got collagen and elastin (good) but comes in a little pot, so you have to swipe with your finger and therefore find your hand sanitizer whenever you want to apply (not so good).

Growth factor peptides are no longer enough. Now they’ve gotta be micro, according to PCA Skin. The brand claims its $161 jar of MGF Age Renewal Cream can “penetrate 10x deeper” because of its teeny molecules. The formula also boasts a “cooling sensation to help with menopause,” which is actually pretty great.

Pause and Effect is not the worst name for a menopause skincare range. Bioelements founder Dr. Hadley King made two serums for its launch — one with peptides for elasticity and one with hyaluronic acid for moisture. They debuted Oct. 22.

Much like Taylor Swift, Naturium needs you to calm down. On Oct. 21, the E.l.f.-owned brand released Multi-Calm Cream Cleanser, a formula that combines glycerine with colloidal oatmeal. It retails for $20 and comes with a promise to reduce redness in sensitive skin.

Speaking of the soft stuff, Eos debuted its Coco Cashmere, Caramel Cashmere and Peppermint Cashmere body mists and body lotions this week. They’re $10 to $13 at Target and there’s a 75 percent chance your tween already smells like them.

Edibles

“Matcha Cowboy” is the name of an actual drink mix by Cowboy Colostrum, the Erewhon-sold supplement brand that paired with TikTok ranch hunk Mark Estes on its latest launch. The lean green powder hit shelves on Oct. 21.

Murad just made a capsule collection. On Oct. 22, it announced the Pure Skin Clarifying Supplement, a $45 jar of pills that “helps balance the gut-skin axis to clear and prevent breakouts from within.”

Makeup

Collect ‘em all, lip gloss edition? Summer Fridays released its Vault Collection on Oct. 17 with a complete set of 12 lip balms, plus a red carrying case in pebbled-pleather. This is a Christmas no-brainer for “hard to shop for” teens but it’s $220, so make sure they’ve loaded the dishwasher and folded the laundry before adding it to your cart.

Last week, I told Priya that King Kylie should do a kitschy TikTok Shop livestream à la QVC. But of course, the big brains at E.l.f. Beauty beat me to it! On Oct. 17, the makeup brand announced it was hitting Twitch with its own shopping livestream. Can’t wait.

Curology is a makeup girl now! On Oct. 18, the brand entered the cosmetics space with Dayprime RX, a prescription acne treatment that doubles as a makeup primer with a 12-hour hold, along with a list of zit zappers like salicylic and azelaic acids.

C is for cookie; it’s good enough for Ulta. On Oct. 16, Polite Society launched a gingerbread lip gloss in collaboration with Solvang Bakery. It’s a $21 brown shimmer formula with a tiny cookie charm, plus a little clip so you jangle it on your bag.

K-beauty brand Yensa remixed its Skin On Skin BC Foundation; starting Oct. 20, the formula has SPF 40. (But it still comes in 16 shades.)

Welcome to Sephora UK, Fazeit! On Oct. 20, the glitter freckle experts entered the international market for the first time, with a special appearance at the Cardiff Sephora in Wales. (Go Wrexham!)

On Oct. 21, RMS Beauty introduced the Lip2Cheek Locket, a collaboration with the jewelry company Hart based in Charleston, South Carolina (also where makeup artist Rosemarie Swift resides). The wearable lip gloss charm comes loaded with RMS Beauty’s lip and cheek tint in Beloved, a sheer but buildable red, and retails for between $170 and $250.

Eyeing Merit Beauty? They thought so. On Oct. 22, the brand unveiled Solo Shadow, a $26 single palette of buildable cream colour for lids in six nudes that range from pearlescent cream to a mid-pink mauve.

Trixie Cosmetics is on a roll. On Oct. 22, the brand by drag queen Trixie Mattel debuted the Queen Pin collection, a shadow palette, highlighter and lip gloss that capture the kitsch of a Betty & Veronica bowling date. And speaking of drag-founded labels, Kimchi Chic Beauty hit Ulta on Oct. 16!

Amelia Gray is a current face of MAC Cosmetics but on Oct. 22, she modeled Pat McGrath Labs lip gloss in an e-comm campaign shot backstage at Victoria’s Secret. This girl is the American dream. (And maybe her lawyers are really good at negating non-competes, IDK?)

In ninth grade, I wrote emails to two women and begged for a job: Stella McCartney and Jeanine Lobell, the founder of Stila. Both wrote lovely responses that said, basically, “Finish school, kid.” I did, but also, I wept. This month, McCartney’s runway was full of ’90s style references, and on Oct. 22, Lobell dropped a new Neen lip gloss called Belle, based on the OG mocha glaze that Jennifer Lopez wore in The Wedding Planner. Is my teen heart healed? No. But we’ll work on that.

Brown mascara is evolving. On Oct. 22, ColourPop introduced burgundy mascara, a $10 formula in a deep, satisfying shade of “give me more wine.”

I have this theory that “magnetic” manicures are so popular right now because their 3-D glitter patterns are soothing to young people in the same way as a glitter jar. Blank Beauty might prove me right — on Oct. 22, they debuted a magnetic nail collection that lets you DIY your own shimmer pattern, then stare at it on the subway until you stop freaking out.

If you’re looking for a more permanent manicure, Olive & June would like a word. On Oct. 23, it unveiled the Builder Gel System, a DIY kit that lets you create longer, thicker nail looks that can last up to three weeks. Will try and report back.

Olehenriksen introduced Vanilla Bonbon lip balm on Oct. 23. It’s a $23 formula available at Sephora.com and if you’d like to know what a chokehold it has on college girls, consider this: The brand claims to sell one of its Pout Preserve tubes every 20 seconds.

Ooohhhh, shiny. On Oct. 24, Patrick Ta added three new glosses — For the Girls (hot pink), Mainstage (cranberry) and Unavailable (burgundy).

Fragrance

Rosy & Earnest is a tiny Canadian fragrance brand with a big pedigree: nose Nathalie Feisthauer worked with Hermés and YSL before pairing with the “clean” indie label, which is the second-ever eau de parfum to get certified by the Environmental Working Group. (Michelle Pfeiffer’s Henry Rose line was the first.) On Oct. 17, Rosy & Earnest made its US retail debut on the Ulta Beauty Marketplace.

You’re smelling violet, Violet! On Oct. 22, D.S. & Durga released Meet Me in the Powder Room, an exclusive Violet Grey candle with notes of lipstick, cigarettes, leather and violet leaf. It’s $70.

Clean Reserve Skin Intense hit shelves on Oct. 23. It’s a vanilla, caramel and musk mix with the tagline “skin, but make it extra.”

Laundry Sauce made a hypoallergenic fragrance called Himalayan Cashmere. It’s got notes of ambrette, carrot seed oil and white mimosa, and I tried a drizzle on my Italian cashmere when I hand-washed it in the basement sink. It’s lovely!

And finally…

Did you know the RealReal will take your gifted Cartier and Dior candles? Underpaid beauty editors: Assemble!

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