In case you missed it (and you definitely didn’t), Glossier has officially launched at Mecca.
To celebrate, we sat down with the visionary founder Emily Weiss while she was in Sydney to quiz her on the Glossier products she actually uses.
Naming Balm Dotcom in the scent ‘Birthday’ as one of her favourites (same), Weiss went on to share the story behind the iconic lip balm.
Why Glossier’s Balm Dotcom Is A Cult Favourite
“‘Birthday’ wasn’t actually the first extension,” she told us. “Like it wasn’t the first scented version we made — coconut was. I remember, I was sitting at my desk, in our first office, and my assistant at the time… she was like, ‘We can make a birthday version of Balm Dotcom to send to customers on their birthday.’ That was the original idea.”
“So we partnered with Momofuku Milk Bar, which is a [bakery] in New York. We worked with the chef there, Christina Tosi, to develop the flavour for birthday cake. And yeah, it’s still one of my favourite flavours
Given Birthday Balm Dotcomb smells so much like a freshly baked birthday cake, it may not be surprising that an actual pastry chef worked on the iconic formula alongside Weiss. After all, the founder herself admitted that she is constantly catching her two-year-old daughter, Clara, trying to eat her Birthday Balm. “I have to scrape it off my two-year-old’s tongue! She just eats it.”
The Story Behind Glossier’s Scent Glossier You
Weiss’s second favourite Glossier product is Glossier You, the brand’s only fragrance, which is designed to smell like the wearer (hence the name). “I think it’s interesting because [my two favourite products] are our least expensive product and our most expensive product. Those are actually the two best selling products of our brand too.”
Glossier You Eau de Parfum, $129, from Mecca, uses pink pepper on the top, with heart notes of ambrette seeds and deeper shades of musky ambrox. It’s those two molecules—ambrette and ambrox—that get to work to create a blank canvas, by reacting differently to the pH level of each person’s skin. That’s what makes the fragrance smell differently on everyone—soft, warm, familiar, like you—and why one of the perfumes is sold every 20 seconds around the world.
As for the one product that Weiss would avoid? “I would never say never. I mean, when we launched, I don’t think we dreamed of one day making deodorant. But then we said, ‘Why hasn’t someone nailed, like, the best natural deodorant?’ So we worked on it for years. Our deodorant is amazing, it’s so good.”
Celebrating 10 Years Of Glossier
Glossier launches into Australia as the brand prepares to celebrate its 10th birthday — it was founded in 2014, off the back of Weiss’s incredibly popular beauty blog-turned-website, Into The Gloss. In that time, Weiss has seen plenty of beauty brands come and go, especially ones that have tried to imitate what Glossier does so well. But when it comes to dupes, Weiss sees it as the ultimate compliment.
“When I was younger, I was much more angry. We were like, ‘How could you?!’ And I think, as we’ve grown up, it’s become like that phrase, ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’ It tells us we’re doing something really right, that is really resonating with people. We keep focused and continue to make sure we deliver on what we promise. One of the beautiful things about being able to work on the same product for 10 years is that we can constantly improve things. If our customers say, ‘Hey, we actually prefer this type of applicator, or this product, instead of this one,’ we can be like: ‘You’re right, good idea. Let’s improve it.’”
“I think beauty should be entirely in the hands of the customer.”
Words: Danielle Gay
Related article:
- What It’s Really Like To Work At Glossier
- An Open Letter To Glossier Founder Emily Weiss After The Beauty Company’s Value Hit $1 Billion
- 4 Makeup Essentials For A Natural & Radiant Glow
