Makeup has been around for approximately 6,000 years now and during that time there have been a lot of different trends and styles throughout each decade of makeup. During the past 20 years there was an unprecedented number of trends in the makeup industry. The look has gone from glossy lips to matte, thin eyebrows to thick, and a full face of makeup to a simplistic routine.
Glossier founder and CEO Emily Weiss wanted to create a simplistic makeup line. She saw that many makeup lines didn’t focus on young people and had an overly glamorous ideal. She first started “Into the Gloss” in 2010 which was a beauty blog. In 2014, Glossier came out with just four products. The soothing face mist, priming moisturizer, balm dotcom, and perfecting skin tint. By 2020 the brand had 36 different products ranging from makeup, skincare, body care, and fragrance. The most popular products are “Boy Brow” which is brow gel and “Cloud Paint” which is a liquid blush. The “Cloud Paint” blush was one of the first liquid blushes to gain popularity for its unique thin but opaque texture. Glossier’ s unique product names also caught a lot of attention from consumers.
Glossier is a company that is very successful with their advertising and marketing strategies. In 2018, celebrities wore a new product of Glossier to the Oscars which was a liquid eyeshadow called “Lid Star". Many viewers were interested in purchasing the eyeshadow worn by Oscar celebrities that night, but the product was yet to be released. Glossier is one of the few makeup brands not available via makeup stores such as Ulta or Sephora. Glossier has a strong following of fans and a strong social media presence. The philosophy of Glossier is “skin first, makeup second”. Lots of people started to move away from the heavy full face of makeup and prefer a more minimalistic routine. The philosophy is to enhance what you have rather than covering it up. Glossier was born in the age of influencers and the “cool girl look” which is to make it seem as though you didn’t put much effort into your makeup application. Since Glossier started when Instagram really took off, the company did very well with their social media presence. They now have 2.6 million followers on Instagram. One of the more interesting things about Glossier’ s Instagram account is that you see most of the products surrounded by other brands of cosmetics. Most companies just focus on the product itself but Glossier takes a more realistic approach, such as a photo of their product causally sitting on a night stand amongst other cosmetics because most people do not just have one brand they stick with.
At first, Glossier was an online store and products could only be purchased online. The majority of customers purchase Glossier online because the company has very few stores. The first store to open was in 2018, in New York City where the headquarters are located. Currently that store is closed due to the economic repercussions from Covid 19, but there is hope to bring it back. There are stores in Seattle, Los Angeles, London, and recently a location opened in Miami. Glossier also has occasional pop-up stores in select cities. Each store has a different interior and aesthetic making no two stores alike. The store also incorporates in its design cultural aspects related to the city in which it is located. There is a lot of thought and process to the actual architecture. Entering a Glossier store consumers will notice that the product line is well laid out and organized.
The philosophy of Glossier is “skin first, makeup second”. Lots of people started to move away from the heavy full face of makeup and go for a more minimalistic routine. The philosophy is to enhance what you have rather than covering it up. Glossier was born in the age of influencers and the “cool girl look” which is to make it seem as though you didn’t put much effort into your makeup application.
Overall, there are now many beauty brands that have same marketing of “less is more” regarding makeup but Glossier was the first company to build its success on this philosophy.
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