October 2018 was the month the holiday gift sets landed at Sephora, the Allure Best of Beauty list confirmed what we already knew, the post-Fenty market closed its second year of structural change, and Halloween makeup softened further into the editorial preference for “soft costume” rather than full SFX. The first weekend of the month brought genuine cool air, the kind that justifies the heavier moisturizer and the second cup of coffee. The bathroom counter had pivoted fully to fall — the Mothership III still on the rotation, the Lash Slick + Lidstar combination, the Drunk Elephant evening routine, the Tatcha Water Cream day cream, the Diptyque rollerball. October’s joy continued to be in the small details, and we were still committed to all of them.
The Allure Best of Beauty list, 2018
Allure‘s annual Best of Beauty list dropped in early October with the now-expected mix of established winners and emerging brand picks. Fenty Beauty‘s Pro Filt’r had earned a returning spot. Glossier‘s Lash Slick was the breakout mascara of 2018. Drunk Elephant won multiple slots across skincare. The drugstore tier had been strengthened — the L’Oréal Voluminous Lash Paradise had a returning spot, and the new Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink shades had earned drugstore lipstick honors. The Allure list in 2018 felt less editorially surprising than the previous year’s, which was probably the point — the categories had stabilized, the consensus had emerged, the brands that had won 2017 had earned 2018.
The second-year Fenty effect
One year after the Fenty launch, the post-Fenty market had stabilized into a permanently restructured industry. Every prestige foundation brand had expanded its shade range. New brands launching foundation in 2018 (Beautyblender’s Bounce, Estée Lauder’s Double Wear expansion) were launching with forty or fifty shades from day one. The conversation about who foundation is for had been permanently reset. The remaining structural fight was about whether the rest of the prestige category — concealers, powders, contouring sticks — would catch up. The honest answer by October was that they were starting to. The pace was slower than foundation, but the pressure was real.
Halloween makeup, softened further
The “soft Halloween” trend that had emerged in 2017 had become the dominant editorial mode by 2018. Full SFX prosthetics were largely retired in favor of single-element costume makeup — a graphic eye, a deep red lip, a single feather attached to a hair clip. We did the same single graphic black liquid eyeliner from the previous year and were not interested in exploring further. The conversation in beauty press through the back half of October was about whether the editorial industry had collectively gotten tired of Halloween or whether the maturing consumer simply preferred the simpler look. We landed on the second.
The holiday gift sets, year-three iteration
By the second week of October every prestige retailer had committed to its holiday gift set assortment. Charlotte Tilbury‘s holiday gift architecture was the strongest in prestige beauty for the third year running. Diptyque‘s holiday candle architecture was, again, the gift to give the friend you do not know that well. Kiehl’s released its annual artist-collaboration holiday tin, this year designed by Trina Merry. Glossier‘s holiday set — a small kit of the brand’s most-gifted products in a pink pouch — earned the under-$50 gift slot. The gift conversation in 2018 had effectively crystallized around four or five reliable answers. We were buying accordingly.
The rise of clean prestige skincare
The “clean beauty” conversation that had been gathering since early 2018 had matured by October into a real prestige category, with brands like Tata Harper, Beautycounter, and the broader “clean at Sephora” assortment landing on dedicated retailer endcaps. Our position remained that “clean” was a marketing word, not a regulatory one — but we had to admit that several of the brands marketing in this category had built genuinely excellent formulas. Kosas‘s color-cosmetics line had built a cult following on the strength of the formulas, not just the clean positioning. The category was real, and we were buying for the formula, not the label.
Closing
By the last week of October the calendar had cooled, the gift lists were drafted, the Halloween makeup was again a single graphic eye. November will bring the Sephora Beauty Insider holiday event, the Black Friday beauty sales, and the long pre-Thanksgiving gifting push. We will see you on the first Tuesday of November.