Launch Digest: New Year Inspo, Skin Barrier Repair, A Whole Lot Of Lip Service, And New Flavors Galore

The Year Of The Skin Snake

Chinese New Year doesn’t hit until later this month (January 29th, mark your cal), but that doesn’t mean the Year of the Snake isn’t already among us with some skin-first launches (this matters because snakes shed skin, FYI).

Sulwhasoo launched a Limited Edition Lunar New Year First Care Activating Serum VI to fortify your moisture barrier (we’ll get into barriers later) while addressing the 10 visible signs of aging. The results are rumored to be immediate, and while the bottle is snake-inspired, your skin will be anything but dry or scaly. 

Tower28 released its latest LipSoftie® shade in honor of the Chinese New Year, Red Bean Mochi. Its derm-approved, award-winning formula boasts food-grade red bean flavor and you get a FREE lucky red envelope with your Mochi purchase. 

Lip Balm And Carry On

The eyes might be the window to the soul, but the lips? Now the lips are the open door for innovation for brands who know better. And if we’re going to keep our lips sealed, we want our balms and glosses to be skin-supporting, face-loving, and pout-popping. 

Nécessaire—you know Nécessaire—one of our most beloved clean beauty, environmentally conscious body care brands, decided to start mouthing off (the lip puns will never get old) with The Lip Balm, a multi-ceramide, do-it-aller for chapped or compromised lips. You’ll also find ingredients you would cherish in your most hydrating face serum like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and omega 6/9. If that’s not a winter holy grail, then I simply don’t know what is.

Never forget that Angela Bassett once did the thing, and this week, so did Iris&Romeo (whose tinted SPF we j’adore). As the meeting point between makeup and skincare, it was only natural that they’d become the Boss of Gloss with their Lip Cocoon Barrier Peptide Balm. This never-sticky, translucent balm uses tetrapeptides for literal skin repair, so you can keep your glow-up on the go. And they’re using recyclable materials in their packaging. Talk about it! 

Makeup By Mario, which is led by Mario Dedivanovic, one of the most followed makeup artists on the internet, launched SuperShine™ Lip Gloss in 11 (!) specially curated shades that give your lips a wet look without feeling over-glossed. You can count on nature-forward ingredients like pomegranate extract and jojoba oil for extra moisture-led protection.

It’s A Barrier Bonanza

If we have learned anything about inflammaging, it’s that our skin barriers act as a superhero shield to protect our skin from external stressors that cause premature aging, irritation, and dryness. 

Beauty brands like REFY and ILIA said, “It’s about time we do this,” with skincare products that show the rest of us that they’re more than just pretty faces. REFY hit the ground running with two new allstars—Face Sculpt and Face Cleanse. This iconically simple two-step routine is meant to set the perfect stage for makeup application. Both products provide a next-level, moisture-locking boost with a heavy dose of innovation (we’re talking about the Face Sculpt’s literal built-in facial roller that has been inspired by lymphatic drainage techniques to cool, depuff, and lift your skin as you apply it).

ILIA is in the mood to build, back, barrier with their ultra-calming Barrier Build Skin Protectant Cream that helps to reinforce the skin’s natural barrier function to desensitize skin over time. Colloidal oatmeal, which is an FDA-approved skin protectant, is their primary active ingredient, supported by a whole host of other non-comedogenic, derm-tested ingredients that are accepted by the National Eczema Association. 

I know we mentioned Iris&Romeo already “did a thing,” but did I mention they actually did two things? Their Skin Cocoon Barrier Glow Serum promises to be a serum, moisturizer, and oil all in one, so you can raise your hand when someone asks if you have a skincare routine without needing to participate in one million steps. This serum helps to restore firmness and repair the skin barrier with 11 concentrated actives and lipids, so you can keep going with the glow.

We got to know Topicals because of their legendary discoloration serum, Faded. Now, they’re back at it again with a clear focus—acne. Their latest skin-clearing regimen, Clearly Breakout Routine, is the iconic duo we’ve been waiting for. It’s a simple two-step routine that—what?!—supports the skin barrier to help clear and calm active breakouts while preventing future blemishes from showing up. 

iota’s latest pH-balancing Supermochi Body Exfoliator+ reminds us of a nutrient-dense Erewhon celebrity smoothie in skincare form. It’s a gentle-exfoliating, brightening scrub that combines that smooth buffing power of Balinese sea salt, Korean red bean, and sweet rice with purple ube, face-grade lactic and hyaluronic acid for a well-rounded collagen, hydration boost. We’ll be in the shower until further notice.

Be A Good Sport

Are you the type that loves sports documentaries but can’t imagine tuning into Sunday Night Football? Doesn’t matter. Whether your head is in the game or not, it’s time to be a team player.

Activewear brand Adanola teamed up with Kendall Jenner for an effortless 90s “cool girl” vibe that keeps you cool while you workout, has a pretty reasonable price point, and is the ideal uniform for all Erewhon parking lots (had to bring it up again, sorry).

For those of you who are deeper into the sports scene, but also want to be avant garde in the process, “boy, do we have news for you.” Skims’ Emma Grede (icon), designer Kristin Juszczyk, and Fanatics joined forces to transform fashion, football, and sports with Off Season, the most exciting thing to happen in sports according to someone who knows nothing about sports. All pieces are expertly made and crafted, but might require you to do some research about who you’re reppin’ before you type in your credit card number.

Less sports, but more sporty, Sleepy Tie released The Sporty Set for all of the moments you need to capture yourself in the mirror either during or post-workout. This silky set includes their Sporty Sleepy Tie and Sporty Headband to help keep your blowout intact no matter how hard your HIIT session is.

Savor The Flavor

Sometimes less is more…unless more is more, which is why I’m just going to list out a bunch of brands we love and the new flavors they launched this week.