The first Tuesday of January 2015 carried two competing pressures. The 2014 best-of conversation had not finished — the year had been so packed with launches that the post-mortem was still going — and the 2015 resolution-skincare conversation had already started. By January 6 the bathroom counter was a hybrid of the late-2014 holiday gifts (a Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk that had finally arrived after three sold-out cycles, the Lancôme Miracle Cushion compact a friend had given as a Christmas present) and the new-year minimalism intentions that we always announce on December 31 and stop honoring by mid-month. Below, what we kept reaching for as 2015 opened.
Resolution skincare narrowed the routine
The January 2014 conversation about cutting the routine down had been a moment; the January 2015 version had become a movement. The dominant framing in every editorial column ran the same direction: pick four products, do them consistently, swap things in and out one variable at a time. CeraVe kept its drugstore reference position; La Roche-Posay’s Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer had quietly become the editor-recommended lightweight daily cream by the new year, getting heavy airtime in every January routine column.
What was new in the 2015 version of the conversation was the patience expectation. The resolution-skincare advice in 2014 had been “pick a routine and stick to it.” The advice in 2015 had become “pick a routine, stick to it, and do not expect to see meaningful results for at least eight weeks.” The skincare-influencer conversation had matured to the point where the ingredient-stacking and quick-fix promises of earlier years were getting actively pushed back on.
Glossier launched Phase 2
Glossier’s Phase 2 launch in mid-January 2015 was the year’s first significant product release. The brand expanded beyond its launch four-product set with the Boy Brow gel — a clear-or-tinted brow-grooming product in a small mascara-style tube — and Generation G, a sheer matte lipstick. Boy Brow specifically was the breakout. The product was simple, the price was right at sixteen dollars, the format was foolproof, and the result was the polished-but-not-overdone brow that the brand’s aesthetic had been trying to define since launch. By the end of January 2015, Boy Brow was sold out at every restock cycle, and the back-order list ran into the thousands.
What the launch demonstrated was that the Glossier model could sustain past the launch novelty. The Phase 2 launch was the first proof point that the brand could keep producing successful products through its direct-to-consumer channel without traditional retail support, and the analyst commentary that had been cautiously optimistic in October became confidently bullish by late January.
The cushion compact category had its full Western year
The Lancôme Miracle Cushion that had launched in September 2014 was on its first full restock cycle by mid-January 2015, and the early shade-range complaints had been at least partially addressed with a January expansion. Dior’s Diorskin Forever Cushion was rumored for a spring 2015 launch; Yves Saint Laurent had its own Cushion confirmed for later in the year. Lancôme kept the early-mover position but was about to face real Western prestige competition through 2015.
The Korean original conversation continued in parallel. AmorePacific’s IOPE Air Cushion remained the format reference for the K-beauty-aware editor; Sulwhasoo’s Perfecting Cushion was getting attention as the prestige Korean alternative.
The matte-lipstick conversation matured
The matte-lipstick conversation that had cracked open in early 2014 was at peak maturity in January 2015. The format had genuinely solved its comfort problem. Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution lipstick line was getting strong editorial coverage as the holiday-2014 gifts settled into actual everyday use. NARS’s Audacious lipstick line continued its restocking-out-fast pattern. M·A·C’s Retro Matte Liquid Lip Colour had landed late 2014 and was being reviewed in detail through January.
The drugstore matte conversation had become genuinely competitive. Maybelline’s Color Sensational Creamy Matte line held the workhorse position; L’Oréal Paris’s Colour Riche Matte was the alternative for anyone who wanted slightly more comfort in a matte finish.
The K-beauty conversation crossed into mainstream
The K-beauty story we had been documenting since the sheet-mask Tony Moly era of February 2013 fully crossed into mainstream US beauty consciousness in January 2015. Sephora had a dedicated K-beauty section in its New York stores by the new year; Peach & Lily’s e-commerce business was getting national editorial coverage; the “ten-step Korean skincare routine” was a phrase that was being explained in every January magazine column, even ones that were actively skeptical of it.
The brand most often discussed was COSRX, the Korean drugstore-tier brand whose Acne Pimple Master Patch was being widely imported through Peach & Lily and was becoming the go-to spot-treatment recommendation in editor circles. The simplicity of the product — a translucent hydrocolloid sticker placed over a blemish overnight — explained itself, and the under-five-dollar packs of twenty patches felt like genuine value.
What we’re watching for February
February 2015 brings NYFW Fall 2015 in the second week, V-Day red-lipstick coverage, and what was rumored to be the spring launch of Dior’s cushion compact. We will see you on the first Tuesday of February.