Beauty Notes | 28 October
Real Techniques Calls Time on Dirty Makeup Sponges
When did you last replace your makeup sponge (and be honest)? If you can’t remember, you’re far from alone. A new Real Techniques survey of 500 women found that 64% have used a sponge they knew was dirty, and one in five has gone four months or more without swapping theirs. Some even admitted their sponge is older than their current relationship (or situationship). It’s all part of the brand’s Swap Your Sponge campaign, a reminder that even a favourite sponge doesn’t last forever. Real Techniques recommends washing yours weekly and replacing it every 30 days if you use it regularly.
Kylie Jenner Moves to Trademark Stormi’s Name for Beauty
Could Stormi Webster be next in line for a beauty brand? Kylie Jenner has applied to trademark her eight-year-old daughter’s name for a long list of beauty products, from skincare and cosmetics to fragrance, haircare, and nail polish. The application, filed on 24 August, is still pending, and Jenner hasn’t announced any plans for a brand. It wouldn’t be the first time a Stormi venture has been teased, though. In 2021, Jenner hinted that her daughter had a secret brand in the works, and she filed to trademark Stormi World the following year, but neither turned into an actual launch. For now, it’s one to watch.
Bouf Expands Into Lashes and Brows
Bouf has launched its Flouf Factor Growth Lash & Brow Serum, designed to make sparse lashes and brows look longer, thicker, and fluffier. Co-founder Rachael Wilde says it came about after customers kept asking whether they could use the brand’s tonic on them too. The lightweight formula combines peptides, prebiotics, and hemp seed oil, and it’s free from prostaglandins, ingredients found in some lash serums that can cause irritation. In the brand’s eight-week clinical test, 90% of users saw an increase in brow density. It’s available now in the UK at Boots and in the US at bouf.com.
Samantha Ravndahl’s Auric Officially Closes
It’s the end of an era for Auric. Samantha Ravndahl’s beauty brand has officially shut down, almost three months after it first announced the closure in August. At the time, the brand pointed to shifting market conditions, unstable tariffs, and rising production and shipping costs, saying they’d made the business too difficult to sustain. Ravndahl, who launched Auric in January 2021, marked its final day on Instagram, thanking everyone who’d supported the brand and calling it “the learning experience of a lifetime”. She also shared a glimpse of products that never got the chance to launch. Over five years, Auric built its name on versatile makeup and refillable, reusable, or recyclable packaging.
Elle Sera Rethinks Vitamin D for Winter
As the days get shorter and darker, vitamin D is about to matter a lot more. Elle Sera’s new spray, The D.Light, focuses on absorption, not just dose. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, so dietary fat can affect how well it’s absorbed, but not everyone has time to sit down to breakfast. The brand’s answer is to wrap its vitamin D3 and K2 in liposomes made from sunflower phospholipids, or what it calls “the little fat jacket”. It’s just five vanilla-flavoured sprays a day, with no tablets or water needed, and the bottle is designed to look good enough to leave out on your dressing table. It’s out now at elle-sera.com, shipping to both the UK and US.
Pigmentation Brand Fade Out Gets a Makeover
Fade Out is looking a little different. The UK-made skincare brand, which has spent more than 40 years specialising in dark spots and uneven skin tone, has unveiled new packaging across its Advanced, Pure Glow, Collagen Boost, and Anti-Wrinkle ranges. The refresh comes alongside new research from the brand, which found that 52% of 2,000 UK women surveyed weren’t confident they understood what hyperpigmentation is. The formulas still lean on familiar ingredients like niacinamide, white mulberry, and lactic acid, which help address the look of pigmentation, so if you’re already a fan, don’t worry — it’s just the packaging that’s changed.