THE RETURN OF GLAM & BEAUTY BLOCKBUSTERS

Each month, MiNDFOOD beauty editor Megan Bedford considers the issues and approaches that play a key part in our beauty routines.

Earlier this month I was quietly confident I’d seen the back of Zoom press presentations. The transTasman and cross-border bubbles had burst and I’d had the first in-person catch-ups with PR people who had travelled to have coffee with me and demonstrate their brand’s new beauty products in person.

That’s instead of the pandemicnecessary precedent of having a press kit with product arrive, along with an invitation to log on at a certain time to see an expert talk about lipstick that barely anyone would wear because they weren’t leaving their lounge, and hairstylists demonstrate new techniques on a sassily-named head-on-a-stick hairdressing mannequin in their spare room.

“A TOUCH OF POLISH AND GLAMOUR IS MAKING A WELCOME RETURN TO OUR BEAUTY REPERTOIRE.”

Thank God that’s over, I thought! Less than a day later I had an intriguing invite landing in my inbox promising a big reveal, if i’d just sign this NDA and click the link at 8pm. You know it’s going to be good when you have to sign your life away, swearing you won’t spill before the product’s global embargo lifts, so my waning enthusiasm perked up.

Then two more similar invites, from different brands, also landed that week. Cue me swiftly discarding my previous pessimism, as there’s nothing I get more excited about than a big blockbuster beauty reveal! What’s really inspired my excitement though is the fact these launches – that host beauty media from all around the world – are kicking back in serious fashion as the industry ramps back up and life gets back to a new normal overseas. Though things have been less affected here, we all benefit from groundbreaking and exciting new beauty launches that have been delayed or put on the backburner in the past year.

Frustratingly, those embargoes remain for the time being, so I’ll tell you about the new arrivals in due course! I can tell you the common thread to those and many other recent launches, particularly in the makeup department, is that after seasons of keeping things decidedly low key, a touch of polish and glamour is making a welcome return to our beauty repertoire.

One exciting release that I can talk about in that vein is ghd’s new, more portable straightener called Unplugged, the first time the famous styling brand has done away with the cord on any of its heated hair tools. This development, and other upcoming hair-related releases, point to the return of favour for smooth, sleek styles – one way to enjoy a more considered aesthetic approach after months of wash-and-wear hair.

Even lipstick is back! Fashion and beauty website WWD recently reported triple-digit search volume growth in searches around lip cosmetics in the US on the back of mask mandates being removed. Plus, lip launches are plentiful right now (see page 70 for proof).

It is absolutely joyous to see media colleagues in the UK and US fizzing with the promise of a touch more freedom and embracing the idea of dressing up and going out, and now I need no excuse myself – anything to escape that screen!