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On February 4, InnBeauty Project threw a birthday party for its 1-year-old hero product, the Extreme Cream Anti-Aging, Firming & Lifting Refillable Moisturizer. Since it launched in February 2024, Extreme Cream has become Sephora’s No. 3 best-selling moisturizer, according to industry sources.
The party also fêted the brand’s second-ever brand campaign, which, in many ways, echoes its first. For example, both feature three influencers. Last year, they included beauty and fashion creator Hannah Chody (200,000 TikTok followers), athlete Ayan Broomfield (92,000 Instagram followers), and makeup artist and creator Erica Taylor (1.9 million TikTok followers).
This year, InnBeauty tapped Cosmopolitan beauty editor-at-large Julee Wilson (75,000 Instagram followers), makeup artist Kelli Anne Sewell (330,000 Instagram followers) and fashion creator Caroline Baudino (797,000 Instagram followers) to be featured in a similar out-of-home campaign. But, this time, the campaign was inspired by the “meaning of birthdays,” said Alisa Metzger, co-founder of InnBeauty.
“We don’t want women to feel like they have to try to look younger. It’s like, ‘Yes, I want to look my best, … [but] I want to be who I am,” she said of the campaign, which cast women of all ages.
The campaigns have been effective in garnering social media buzz. From February 2024 to January 2025, Extreme Cream garnered the most earned media value across InnBeauty Project’s product lineup, at $2.3 million from 274 creators across 563 posts, said Alexander Rawitz, Creator IQ’s director of research and insights. Notably, Extreme Cream saw momentum in January 2025, when the birthday campaign launched, surging to its highest monthly EMV since its all-time high in April 2024.
“Back in the day, [in a] meeting with Sephora, we said our goal was to have a top 10 moisturizer at Sephora. … Then it was a top-five moisturizer,” Metzger said. In just a year, InnBeauty has surpassed both goals.
So far, Extreme Cream has sold upward of 600,000 units, driving at least $28 million in sales. In addition, the brand offers $40 refills for the moisturizer, and 40% of direct-to-consumer customers come back to purchase one within 45 days. At the end of 2024, 5-year-old InnBeauty announced it had reached $50 million in revenue.
Not including a discontinued formula included in the brand’s launch assortment, Extreme Cream is InnBeauty’s second moisturizer.
“It was very strategically positioned to fill a white space in [the moisturizer] category that’s been dominated by [other] top moisturizers — by Tatcha, Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe,” Metzger said.
According to Jen Shane, her co-founder and the brand’s head of innovation, most people are prone to either wrinkles or sagging — but most “anti-aging” products are designed to address wrinkles, not sagging. Sagging was the skin challenge she wanted to solve.
“Wrinkles are easier to treat,” she said. “You can plump up fine lines and some [less severe] wrinkles with just hydration. … But when you’re looking to lift and firm the skin, some people don’t even think it’s possible.”
Shane acknowledged that while, of course, Extreme Cream’s effects aren’t equivalent to cosmetic surgery, they may help “stave off a face lift.”
Extreme Cream leverages a peptide called Versillin, which is not used in many beauty products. InnBeauty spent $100,000 on third-party clinical trials to prove Extreme Cream’s efficacy. It found that, within a month of use, 96% of users feel their skin is more plump, nourished and glowing, and 93% of users feel their skin barrier is healthier and their skin is brighter.
When InnBeauty first launched, it targeted Gen Z, having observed a gap in the market, Metzger said. “There was a lot [that was] old and boring and needed a refresh,” Metzger said. Now, however, it strives to be a brand that 20-year-olds and 70-year-olds alike want to shop.
InnBeauty has identified its focus as facial skin care and wants to “own the moisture category,” including eye cream, serums and moisturizers, Metzger said. She noted that she’s content to leave “ancillary” categories, like facial mists, to other brands.
Even the brand’s lip oils — part of its original assortment — are no longer an area of focus. “Our lip oils were extremely strong when we launched, and then everyone and their mother launched a lip oil. … I don’t know that we can compete with some of these brands, and I don’t know that we want to,” Metzger said.
Extreme Cream is where the brand can truly compete. “We’re delivering a superior product with a superior benefit,” she said. “Our moisturizer competes with brands that are 10 times our size.”
On social media, influencers often liken Extreme Cream to a “dupe” for Augustinus Bader’s Cream or Rich Cream — the latter is $305 for 1.7 ounces, compared to $48 for 1.7 ounces of Extreme Cream. Metzger doesn’t love the term. “We didn’t set out to ‘dupe’ anything. We set out to create the most high-performance, credible moisturizer, and we’ve done it,” she said. She noted that the comparison may result from both products’ elegant textures.
On March 7, InnBeauty will debut Extreme Cream Eye, also $48, which will mark the brand’s entry into franchise territory — though “franchise” is another word Metzger doesn’t like.
“I don’t know that that’s how customers shop,” she said, suggesting that shoppers are more likely to shop by concern or budget. Regardless, franchises like Neutrogena’s Hydroboost, Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair and Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch exist for a reason: They help build brand loyalty and make it easy for customers to navigate increasingly large product assortments. For example, if a customer understands the ANR serum is geared toward anti-aging benefits, they will likely understand that other products in the ANR family work toward the same goals.
For its part, Extreme Cream Eye treats different concerns than the brand’s existing Bright & Tight Eye Cream, which is designed to address dark circles. “With [Extreme Cream Eye], we looked at everything that happens in the eye area as you age: crow’s feet, fine lines, dehydration lines and deep wrinkles. [We asked] ‘How do we address those? How do we get those to soften in length, width and depth?’ Also, no one else was talking about puffiness,” which can have different causes, she said. “The new formula seeks to target them all.”
Powder blush is back
After years of every brand scurrying to add a liquid blush to its lineup, powder blushes are making a clear and definitive comeback. Kosas debuted its Blush is Life Baked Talc-Free Dimensional + Brightening Blush in May 2024, and Urban Decay’s Face Bond Long-Lasting Blush Suede hit shelves in January. On February 25, Saie’s SuperSuede Powder Blush will become available to purchase, which will quickly be followed by Tower28’s GetSet Blur + Set Matte Powder Blush, on March 12. The latter bills itself as “the first-ever blush and setting powder in one.”
“We’ve recently seen the pendulum swing from dewy skin to more blurred, matte looks, and powder blush making a comeback is part of that shift,” said Tower28 founder and CEO Amy Liu. Fortunately, she noted, their formulas have come a long way since the versions of the past that got a bad rep for emphasizing texture, dryness or pores.
When Tower28 launched its setting powder last summer, it was a hit with the brand’s community, Liu said, adding, “Its blurring effect and lasting power was a game-changer.” The new blush builds on those innovations with added color.
For Saie, its new powder blush marks an expansion to its successful cheek category — its cream “Dew Blush” is reportedly the No. 5 top-selling blush at Sephora. According to Laney Crowell, Saie’s founder and CEO, the brand’s customers were asking for a powder blush. “But they wanted a formula without the powdery, dry look of traditional powders,” she said. In response, Saie created a talc-free baked blush with a “silky, soft texture that easily melts into the skin for a diffused flush of color,” she said.
Both founders recommended layering their new powder formulas over their cream (in Tower28’s case) or liquid (in Saie’s) blush. Crowell said this method will help “intensify and set the look.”
Unsurprisingly, more powder blushes are on the way, too. At a joint “Galentine’s Day” event with Jennifer Aniston’s hair brand, Lolavie, Selena Gomez previewed Rare Beauty’s next blush — its fourth —the Soft Pinch Matte Bouncy Blush.
Collab of the week
Purveyor of cool girl T-shirts and more, Leset has joined forces with Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila on a cozy collection dubbed The Cocktail Attire Collection. It includes T-shirts, cardigans and pant sets in tequila-inspired hues. Some items, including Leset’s Margo and Lauren sets, also feature embroidery of cocktails.
“Given Kendall’s support of Leset over the years, this partnership felt authentic and aligned with our overall vision,” Leset founder Lili Chemla told Glossy. “This entire collection is playing on the idea of redefining cocktail attire.” The pieces are designed to take the wearer from a plane to a meeting a “big night in,” she said.
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