The ‘just-left-Ulta-still-in-the-car TikTok’ and the viral power of foundation

October 15, 2021October 17, 2021 Mary

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On TikTok, the hashtag #foundation has 1.6 billion views. After many women spent 2020 mostly bare-faced, the hashtags are a sign that makeup is back. In March of this year, TikTok collectively embraced a full face of makeup, which had fallen out of fashion. Embracing no-makeup-makeup — or no makeup at all — was the trend at the start of the pandemic.

In March of 2021 was when KVD Beauty launched its Good Apple Foundation. The brand planned a robust marketing campaign for the product, confident in its quality. But then, on March 13, TikToker Carla Del Ray (@carladelreyy, 5,200 followers) posted a video demonstrating the high coverage she saw from one coat of Good Apple. Soon after, creators like Mikayla Nogueira began stitching the video and showing their own first impressions. Together, the videos of Stephanie Valentine, AKA @glamzilla (1.1 million followers on TikTok) and Mikayla amassed 160 million viral views within a month of posting. The former’s post was a paid placement. Together, since Good Apple’s launch, KVD Beauty has garnered 400 million views on TikTok alone.

“It was a genuine reaction, and [there was] a genuine ‘wow’ effect to the transformation,” said Tara Loftis, global vice president, brand marketing and public relations at Kendo Beauty Group. In multiple videos, you can see the featured creator’s jaw drop or their expression dramatically change as they watch imperfections being masked by the formula. The fact that the formula reportedly did not feel overly heavy also contributed to its popularity. In her post, Noguiera says, “I don’t know how to explain this; it’s like extremely full coverage, but very light.” The product quickly sold out, giving way to the advent of a category we’ll call “just-left-Ulta-still-in-the-car TikTok.”

“People weren’t even willing to wait to buy it online,” Loftis said. “They would buy the foundation. They would sit in their car. They would create a look in their car mirror, all on TikTok.”

Of the KVD foundation, Nogueira told Glossy Pop, “That went extremely viral. [It’s] probably the most viral foundation TikTok has ever seen…because it’s extremely unique and different. It’s in this thin compact, it’s a cream product — it’s not your regular foundation in a bottle. People were showing the insane before-and-afters, and I think that’s what really draws people in — you see the [immediate] results. But also, TikTok is [all about] reviews and makeup videos from ordinary, regular people. It’s very relatable and different than a Maybelline ad on TV.”

Covergirl has seen not one, but two of its foundations go viral on TikTok. Incidentally, its Simply Ageless Instant Wrinkle Defying Foundation took off when it was noted as a dupe for Good Apple by TikToker Jada Irene Collins (jadacmakeupartistry, 30,000 followers). That initial video has 12.5 million views. Collins continued to post more videos, monitoring how the foundation wore throughout the day. The second, “foundation update” video has 150,000 views.

Kevin Shapiro, svp of U.S. marketing at Coty, said there are a number of explanations for the product’s viral success. There is, of course, the perennial hype around finding and sharing a good “dupe.” There’s also the “skinification” of makeup, a trend around makeup with the same caliber of ingredients customers expect from skin-care products. Though Collins does not speak to the product’s ingredients in the video, Shapiro said Gen Z has taken interest in Covergirl’s skin-care-forward ingredients. The Simply Ageless franchise features hyaluronic acid.

Covergirl’s planned promotion of Simply Ageless included a partnership with 46-year-old Niki Taylor. Seeing Collins’ content spurred Covergirl to promote the product to a younger audience. “We knew that we were onto something, because [Collins] was talking about the product in a new and different way that we felt would bring a new set of consumers to the fold,” Shapiro said. She called Collins the perfect candidate to deliver the message, as she’s a “prosumer” — she works at Ulta and is, therefore, more educated on beauty than an average customer. Shapiro noted that, on TikTok, there’s a “generation of consumers who, from the minute they learn about a product, are already interested in trying it.”

Fortunately for Covergirl, in September, it had another foundation go viral on TikTok: its Skin Milk Foundation. Nogueira also stitched and filmed her reaction to this product as she tried it. That video has 9.2 million views.

Nogueira called foundations a reliably popular category of makeup on TikTok. “Foundations and complexion products tend to be very popular and very viral. because people are constantly searching for the best foundation for their skin,” she said. “Every single person is going to have a different foundation and complexion product that they’re going to love. And we’re just consistently looking for what’s going to best suit our skin. Anytime I talk about a foundation, it tends to go viral, because people like to see foundations that make your skin look flawless and beautiful and smooth.”

As the Simply Ageless foundation took off, Covergirl engaged MikMak, a global e-commerce acceleration platform, to help make the product easily shippable from a link via TikTok. The results were impressive. “One out of every two people who saw [Collins’] Tiktok ended up adding to cart, which is insane. It was a 53% add-to-cart rate,” said Rachel Tipograph, MikMak CEO and founder.

“This was a symbolic moment,” Loftis said, of the brand’s March madness. “It showed that consumers are ready to embrace transformational makeup. They’re ready to play with makeup again.”

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Caudalie’s clay mask is TikTok’s current favorite

File this week’s Glossy Pop newsletter under “things Mikayla Nogueira helped popularize.” A more recent example is French brand Caudalie’s Instant Detox Mask. Nogueira has a knack for picking up on products that will hit big with the TikTok audience. She often stitches smaller creators’ videos with her own, trusted two cents on the product in question. The clay-based mask is perfect for those with oily skin types looking to cut down on excess oil.

Away launches new fashion-forward collabs

On Thursday, Away launched its new capsule collection featuring collaborations with designers Sandy Liang, Tia Adeola and Ji Won Choi. For Liang, the collaboration is her second to launch in a matter of weeks — she’s also featured in Target’s latest designer collection, which went on sale in late September. In a Q&A on Away’s website, Liang explained the inspiration behind the bold florals features in her Away designs: “I wanted to incorporate a bold pattern, and I’ve really loved using the classic flower shape in my recent designs. In this case, I warped the flowers so they looked spacey and whimsical. Then I dropped in some anime eyes to add another element of playfulness.”

Goop delves deeper into sexual health

In advance of the October 21 premiere of its second Netflix series “Sex, Love & Goop,” Goop released its second vibrator. According to the brand, the white-and-navy, $89 Ultraplush Self-Heating G-Spot vibrator is “the ultimate vibrator for internal exploration.” Its first sex toy, the Double-Sided Wand Vibrator, has been a massive hit — at launch, it sold out in less than 24 hours. So Goop fans, you’ll want to check out the new model sooner than later.

Trend of the week: Ripped tights are all you need for TikTok’s new favorite shirt

The newest iteration of the “just-been-mauled-by-a-bear-but-make-it-fashion” look (think: ripped jeans, Yeezy,…) is #subversivebasics, which has 31.5 million views on TikTok. On the platform, this has manifested via thousands of users documenting their process of upcycling their tights into tops. Coined in April by TikTok trendspotter Agus Panzoni, subversive basics are “all about basics that rebel up to the point of losing their utility,” Panzoni explained in her influential video. In other words, subversive basics have the versatility of traditional basics — simple, muted colors and layering-potential — but also a provocative twist. Enter: mesh and cutout details. The trend has been seen on the likes of Bella Hadid (see this sheer bodysuit by designer Nensi Dojaka that she wore in March) and Olivia Rodrigo (who sported this tank adorned with abstract cutouts on the cover of Vogue Singapore). Brands like Chloé, Jacquemus and Clarissa Larrazabel have brought variations of the microtrend onto the runway in 2021. And on TikTok, where Amazon dupes are more commonplace than a $500 sheer bodysuit with cutouts, users are coming up with their own versions of the latest microtrend.In August, TikTok user Nikelle Powell (@nikellesworld, 17.5K followers) posted this video (3.9 million views, 761,000 likes), demonstrating herself cutting holes in a pair of black sheer tights to yield a prime example of a subversive basic: a sheer crop top complete with finger holes, an asymmetrical neckline and mismatched holes along the arms. Similarly, Juliana Fernandes (@fairy.c0wgirl, 41.6K followers) posted a tutorial in September titled “Pt. 1 #subversivebasics” (11.7 million views, 2 million likes), demonstrating how to make a similar cutout shirt out of tights. In October, Vanessa Seurat (@cherienesss, 6,243 followers) posted this TikTok titled, ” top idea #diy #tighttop #grunge #nosewtop” (2.4 million views, 195,000 likes). And Megan Le’s (@mwganle, 7,348 followers) #subversivebasics #diy tutorial (990,000 views, 232,000 likes) takes users step-by-step through the process of making the stocking shirt. — Nitya Rao