March is the most optimistic month in beauty. The light returns, the air starts to soften, and the industry’s spring launches begin to land in earnest. This year’s calendar was unusually rich: Pat McGrath dropped the Mothership X palette, Drunk Elephant rolled out its first take-home professional peel, Saie continued its quiet expansion, and the broader skincare conversation shifted from winter barrier repair to spring-glow brightening. We spent the month testing every new launch we could get our hands on while also figuring out what was finally going to come off the shelf for the season ahead, and these are the products and trends that defined March 2023.
Pat McGrath Mothership X Ego Trip
The most-anticipated launch of the spring landed mid-month: Pat McGrath Labs‘s Mothership X Ego Trip palette. The tenth installment of the Mothership franchise leaned into a loud, holographic-and-jewel-toned color story that felt like a deliberate counter to the previous Huetopian Dream’s softer warm-cool play. At $128, the palette was the priciest mainstream eyeshadow launch of the year, but the formulation — buttery shimmers, true-color mattes, and four genuinely new metallic textures — made the case.
The Mothership X dropped into a category where Pat McGrath had near-monopoly control of the high-end palette conversation. Natasha Denona remained the closest competitor, with the Yucca palette getting renewed attention through the month. Victoria Beckham Beauty‘s smaller-scale eye palette range was the prestige-but-not-extravagant alternative. We expected Mothership X to remain the single most-discussed eyeshadow palette through Q2.
Drunk Elephant Bouncy Brightfacial
Drunk Elephant‘s Bouncy Brightfacial — the brand’s first take-home, pro-style polyhydroxy peel — launched March 9 at $84 and immediately sold through Sephora’s allocation in under a week. The product fit a category that had been quietly heating up for two years: the at-home equivalent of a dermatologist’s office acid peel, formulated to deliver real exfoliation without the downtime. The PHA-and-mandelic blend was gentler than a glycolic peel but still strong enough to deliver the visible-glow result the marketing promised.
The bigger trend behind the launch was that home-peel products had moved from one-product novelties (such as Dr. Dennis Gross’s Alpha Beta Peel pads, the original of the category from 2009) to a serious category supported by half a dozen prestige brands. Dr. Dennis Gross kept its market-leading position. The Ordinary‘s AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution remained the under-$10 entry point. And the new Bouncy Brightfacial fit neatly between them as the prestige-but-approachable middle option.
The spring brightening reset
The skincare conversation pivoted decisively from winter barrier repair toward spring brightening through March. Vitamin C was the through-active. SkinCeuticals‘s C E Ferulic remained the gold-standard prestige answer at $182. Naturium‘s Vitamin C Complex Face Serum was the under-$30 best-of-class. Glow Recipe‘s Guava Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum continued to ride a TikTok wave.
Around the active-ingredient conversation, the wider spring routine was about layering: vitamin C in the morning under sunscreen, niacinamide twice a day to support pigment regulation, retinol two or three times a week. The “less is more” reset of January had matured into a clear set of routines that consumers were now buying products for. We expected vitamin C launches to keep landing through Q2 — and for the category to start consolidating around encapsulated and stabilized formulas after a long stretch of irritating high-percentage launches.
Saie’s quiet expansion
Saie, founded by Laney Crowell in 2019, had been on an almost-too-quiet trajectory through 2022, but March 2023 was the month it caught proper momentum. The brand’s Glowy Super Skin tinted moisturizer launched mid-month and was the rare prestige base product to actually deliver on the no-makeup-makeup brief, and the existing Glowy Super Gel highlighter and Dew Blush kept their everyday-rotation slots in our makeup bags.
Saie’s competitive position — clean-formulated, plant-derived but not preachy, prestige-priced but at the lower end — was a sweet spot that the brand had grown into rather than designed for. We expected the launch trajectory to accelerate as the brand rolled out into more international Sephoras through the year.
Glossier at Sephora — month one assessment
By the end of March, Glossier had been a Sephora brand for one full month, and the early data was telling. The launch had driven a real lift in Sephora’s beauty category foot traffic, the SKU-level sell-through was strong on Boy Brow and Cloud Paint (the two “starter” Glossier products), and the deeper skincare line was being discovered by Sephora regulars who had never engaged with Glossier‘s direct-to-consumer site.
The next strategic question — international Sephora rollout, additional product launches, possibly a return to limited physical stores — was the conversation Glossier’s leadership now had to start answering. The brand had successfully made the leap from direct-to-consumer to a major retail partner; the next twelve months were going to be about whether they could compound that success or whether they had simply preserved their existing customer base in a different distribution channel.
March gave us a clear thesis: a serious palette launch from Pat McGrath, Drunk Elephant entering the at-home-peel category, vitamin C reasserting its place in the spring routine, Saie growing into a real prestige presence, and Glossier proving its retail pivot. We will see you on the first Tuesday of April.
Shop the edit
- e.l.f. Camo CC Cream — the complexion hero behind the e.l.f. run.
- Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink — a long-wear lip for awards-season polish.
- Glow Recipe Watermelon Dew Drops — a spring glow serum.
- L’Oréal Paris Lumi Glotion — an easy lit-from-within base.
As an Amazon Associate, Tried & Tested Beauty earns from qualifying purchases. The links above are affiliate links.