The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: Nordstrom’s Approach to Gen Alpha Beauty

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a serious question: Do you actually want to buy Wicked beauty products?

Included in today’s issue: Acaderma, Anisa Beauty, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Byredo, ColourPop, Deinde, DKNY, Dior Beauty, Ellis Brooklyn, Good Molecules, Hanhoo, Innbeauty, IT Cosmetics, Manicurist Paris, Patrick Ta, Pixi, r.e.m. Beauty, Starface, Sally Hansen, Three Ships, Valentino Beauty, and Elphaba.

But first

In 1942, the first official “young adult” novel — a melty romance called Seventeenth Summer — hit bookshelves, sparking a movement meant to hook teens on the joys of habitual reading. Eighty years later, Nordstrom’s beauty team is making an official claim for the “young adult” beauty space, hoping to lock down tweens and teens on the joys of habitual self-care.

Nordstrom rolled out a series of lavender kiosks on their teen apparel floors in August, packed with “YA” beauty hitmakers like Kiramoon, the emoji-happy skincare line, and Kaja, the K-Beauty brand with viral lip gloss charms, alongside racks of clothes from teen-friendly brands like Pacsun and Asos.

So far, the YA beauty niches are at just six locations, including Seattle, Chicago, San Jose, Tampa, and Washington D.C. But the category is virtual, too, with Nordstrom claiming “Young Adult Beauty” as an online category silo. It currently boasts over 850 products, from the expected (Kylie Lip Gloss) to the giggle-inducing (a body oil called “Birthday Sex”).

“Young shoppers today are very interested in self-serving,” said Debra Redmond, Nordstrom’s VP and division merchandise manager for beauty. “They’re already on a mission. They’ve done the research on their phones. They’ve seen the TikTok videos. They’ve read the reviews. They’re incredibly educated about the product before they walk into stores.” In the past, the purpose of beauty kiosks was more geared to product discovery. Now? “They’re really there to see and touch it in real life.”

The move is timely. 2024 has seen the emergence of an arms race for Gen Alpha beauty dollars. High school students are spending 23 percent more on beauty products than they did last year, per investment bank Piper Sandler. Youth-friendly categories like lip gloss and body mist experienced record revenue spikes. “Sephora Tween” is the 2024 version of the ‘90s “Mall Rat.”

For Nordstrom, it’s also a potential cash pipe. In August, the retailer reported better-than-expected earnings, but acknowledged a softer luxury market is forcing a focus on alternate revenue streams. By investing in “Young Adult” beauty, it’s taking a smart stab at including, instead of deflecting or shaming, the very real demands of young shoppers.

They’re also realising that YA beauty doesn’t mean glitter eyeshadow. Redmond says her team relies on the usual data points — TikTok analytics and searches on Nordstrom.com — to see what categories are peaking. After “everything shower” started trending on TikTok, for example, it added shaving brands like Oui the People and Truly Beauty, which have seen a positive response, Redmond said.

It’s a strategy that has big payoff potential: Just as Zara’s kids division has succeeded by making “cool” but age-appropriate clothes like wide-leg jeans and peacoats instead of pink-and-shiny everything, Nordstrom is leaning into beauty brands like Saturday Skin and Le Monde Gourmand, which are youth-coded without being babyish. In Redmond’s words, “we’ve seen that when you’re doing things geared toward young Millennials and Gen-Z, Gen Alpha wants that, too.”

Now they’ve got some lilac kiosks, and a growing online product silo, to help them find it.

What Else Is New

Skincare

Big week for post-zit recovery. On Oct. 9, Starface introduced its Recovery line of pimple patches, which contain Vitamin A and aloe to help reduce skin stains after cystic acne. The same day, Korean line Hanhoo unveiled Post-Blemish Corrector with Ceramide, an $8 tube with niacinamide and tranexamic acid, which is also used as a blood clotter. (And also used in Good Molecules’ new Brightening and Dark Spots bar, which slid into Ulta Beauty on Oct. 1.)

Ellis Brooklyn introduced Vanilla Milk Shimmer Oil on Oct. 7. It smells like dessert and looks like it belongs in a J.Lo video circa 2005. This product is gorgeous, but at $70, you’ve got to really want that dipped-in-gold-dust kind of glow.

Acaderma dropped its Rainbow Radiance Face Oil on Oct. 8. It costs $125, includes extracts from tomatoes, green tea, lemon basil, and blueberry, and comes in a bottle that looks like Christopher Kane’s prism dresses from 2011. (You can buy them on eBay for around the same price as the face oil. Choose your fighter, etc.)

Deinde released its Barrier-Building Moisture Cream on Oct. 8. It claims the rich and long-lasting results of a heavy cream with the finish of a lighter gel, and costs $64.

Dior Beauty’s Retishot hit shelves (and Instagram) on Oct. 9. It features a concentrated hit of pure retinol and claims similar brightening, tone-balancing results to a laser facial.

On Oct. 11, Three Ships launched biodegradable Off Duty eye masks, infused with sea algae and “bio-peptides.” It’s $32 for 60 patches, which will hit Credo shelves exclusively on Oct. 14.

My friend Jess Graves from The Love List swears Innbeauty’s Extreme Cream is as good as an Augustinus Bader moisturiser. I am sceptical but as of Oct. 4, Sephora has a $22 travel size, so I’m willing to try it out and see.

Makeup

Do we need a separate category for Wicked beauty tie-ins? On Oct. 6, Ulta Beauty debuted a spell of Wicked tie-ins, including pink and green makeup brushes from It Cosmetics, OPI press-on nails (for jazz hands, presumably), Beekman 1802 body cream in pink and green, and an entire collection from Ariana Grande’s R.e.m. beauty based on her movie character, Glinda. Stanley’s Wicked water bottles come out on Oct. 15; the actual movie doesn’t hit cinemas until Nov. 22.

Also on the tie-in front, Colourpop and Bratz launched a range of eyeshadow, lip glaze, glitter body gel, eyeliner, and hair and face jewels on Oct. 10. If you love Bratz vibes (vibez?), this is all fun, but it’s hard to believe Colourpop customers don’t already own mauve shimmer shadow and mocha lip gloss.

Anisa Beauty’s blush brushes hit shelves on Oct. 10. They’re engineered to distribute powder in a deliberate fade along the cheekbones for better contouring. I tried them with chalky drugstore blush and even then, they were quite good.

Sugarlash Pro introduced its Lash Growth Serum on Oct. 8, which promises “visible results in 30 days.” It’s $99 and if you use it — and see anything “visible!” — DM us.

If you still watch the Barbie movie once a month, come on over to Patrick Ta. The brand releases its Major Volume Plumping Gloss Duos on Oct. 12 and they are the same shade of power pink that Issa Rae rocks in the party scene.

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics teamed up with wedding dress designer Ines di Santo on Oct. 8 for a wedding dress collaboration on a Bridal Essentials Kit, including mini sizes of their moisturising primer, highlighter and cream eyeshadow, along with full-size waterproof mascara and lipstick. It’s $147 and seems like a great bridal shower gift.

Happy 25th birthday, Pixi! The brand released a limited-edition highlighter compact on Oct. 8 to celebrate.

Sally Hansen dropped a Reese’s collaboration on Oct. 4 with a glow-in-the-dark topcoat and I am already abandoning my laptop to buy it, BRB.

Haircare

Bread released Hydra-Milk, a leave-in conditioning treatment, on Oct. 8 at Ulta Beauty. It’s a “hydrating hug for your hair” — cute.

Fragrance

Welcome to the world, Mojave Ghost Absolu! The fragrance brand amped up their best-selling formula with a more intense mix of ambrette, magnolia, violet, and musk. They’re saying something about “existing between the dual pillars of function and emotion” but really, all you need to know is that this fragrance smells like someone going on a very promising third date.

On Oct. 7, DKNY’s new 24/7 fragrance launched at Ulta Beauty. The bottle looks a bit like an infinity sign (cool, actually) and the campaign stars Georgia Palmer, a UK model whose agent is… checks notes… Kate Moss.

And Finally

Both E.l.f. and Truly Beauty just dropped at Sephora Mexico, along with lip kits from Laneige. Mira este espacio; this is the beginning of a big beauty push for Central American shoppers.