December 2014 closed out a year that had compressed three category launches — Charlotte Tilbury US, Glossier, the Lancôme Miracle Cushion — into a single fall window. The bathroom counter on the first Tuesday of December had at least one product from all three of those launches, the year-end best-of lists were starting to land, and the New Year’s Eve party-makeup forecasts were dominating every magazine page. By mid-month the gift-buying triage was in full swing and the conversation had pivoted toward what 2015 might look like. Below, what we kept reaching for in the year’s closing weeks.
The 2014 best-of resolved around three brand stories
The year-end best-of lists across Into the Gloss, the major fashion magazines, and the early beauty-blog tier all kept resolving around the same three brand narratives: the rise of Charlotte Tilbury at US prestige, the launch of Glossier as a credible new direct-to-consumer model, and the arrival of cushion compacts at Western retail. The category-defining launch products — the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. lipstick in Pillow Talk, the Glossier Balm Dotcom, the Lancôme Miracle Cushion — all kept appearing in editor commentary as the products that genuinely defined the year.
The continuing-launch standouts were also worth flagging. The NARS Audacious lipstick line had matured from a May 2014 launch into a category staple by year-end. Maybelline’s Lash Sensational held its drugstore-mascara reference position. Becca’s Shimmering Skin Perfector was the highlighter of the year by every measure that mattered.
NYE makeup forked into glitter and gloss
The 2014 NYE makeup conversation forked along the same lines as 2013, but with cleaner products. The metallic-eye camp was anchored by Marc Jacobs Beauty’s See-Quins eyeshadow stick (which had its second seasonal moment in December) and M·A·C’s Pigment in Old Gold. The glossy-lid camp leaned into the trend NYFW Spring 2015 had set in September — a clear gel applied directly to the eyelid for a wet finish, easier to do at home in late 2014 than it had been a few months earlier.
The lip pivoted firmly toward Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk for anyone who could find one — by December the lipstick was being sold on resale at twice retail — or to one of the new NARS Audacious shades for anyone restocking. The cool-red camp held its annual position with NARS Cruella and Dragon Girl.
Last-minute gifting consolidated around three answers
The late-December last-minute gifting conversation resolved around the same three reliable winners as the year before. Diptyque’s candle library — Baies, Figuier, Feu de Bois — was the universal answer. Kiehl’s’s Limited Edition Holiday Creme de Corps held its body-lotion gift slot. Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment in the Rosé tint was the under-twenty-five-dollar stocking stuffer that resolved most of the gift-bag-filling problems.
The new entrant in the category was Charlotte Tilbury’s Lipstick Stocking Filler — a single Pillow Talk lipstick in a small printed gift sleeve, available at Bergdorf Goodman with a thirty-five-dollar price tag — that became the prestige stocking-stuffer of choice for anyone who could find one in stock by mid-December.
The post-Christmas skincare reset got a sheet-mask answer
The pre-NYE skincare reset that had become a real ritual by 2014 had a fully formed product set by December. The advice in every column ran the same direction: a sheet mask on December 30, a clay mask the morning of NYE, a hyaluronic-acid serum applied after the shower, then nothing else until the makeup. Tony Moly’s I’m Real Pomegranate kept its reference position; GlamGlow’s Youthmud held the prestige-clay slot; Sephora Collection’s own paper-mask line had widened its shade and ingredient range.
What we’re watching for January 2015
January 2015 will bring the resolution-skincare conversation, the year’s first cushion-compact restock cycle, the Glossier Phase 2 launches that the brand had teased in late November, and the inevitable second wave of US prestige launches following Charlotte Tilbury’s breakthrough — at least two prestige UK brands had been rumored to be queuing up US debuts for early 2015. We will see you on the first Tuesday of January 2015, with a year-in-review and a fresh start.