Hey Glams!
Are beauty embargoes officially dead? This week, we unpack what actually happens when embargoes are broken, whether there’s really a beauty blacklist, and why the rules seem to change once a launch hits the internet. Then, we get into Mikayla Nogueira’s decision to bring POV Beauty to Sephora—and debate whether ULTA Beauty might have actually been the smarter move.
Plus, in partnership with K18 through Gloss Angeles Confidential, 200 listeners put the new FutureIQ™ Biomimetic Hair Longevity Serum to the test for three months. It makes some major claims around shedding, premature graying and scalp aging, so did it actually deliver? The testers have thoughts.
Keep reading for highlights!
Kind of?
This conversation actually started in our Gloss Angeles Confidential Slack, where testers were confused because they were under embargo for a product they were already seeing creators post all over social media. And therein lies the problem.
In our editorial days, embargoes were serious business. We’ve both been yelled at by publicists over embargoes while watching other publications or creators post the exact same news early. And when you’ve spent days interviewing someone, researching a story, and preparing it to publish at a specific time, watching someone else casually post the news first is enough to make a beauty editor lose her mind.
The creator economy has made the whole thing even messier. We discussed the recent situation involving creator Golloria George and Haus Labs, in which she said she was asked to remove a negative review because the product was under embargo—even though she said she hadn’t been told about the embargo and the product had already appeared online elsewhere. That raises an interesting question: If the product is already public, does the embargo still count? And would the reaction have been the same if the review had been positive?
Technically, breaking an embargo can still get you removed from a brand’s communications or PR list. But practically? We’ve watched people build entire platforms around leaking beauty launches and still get invited to the party. So maybe the embargo isn’t dead. But the rules definitely aren’t being applied equally.
Mikayla Nogueira’s POV Beauty is officially heading to Sephora on September 3, and while the news wasn’t exactly shocking to beauty insiders, the retailer was.
If you aren’t aware, Mikayla started her TikTok career while working at ULTA. She hosted the first ULTA Beauty World. Her appeal has always been accessibility—she’s not selling you an untouchable fantasy; she’s your beauty bestie telling you what to buy. To us, that feels very ULTA.
There’s also the sheer competition at Sephora: Rhode. Summer Fridays. Makeup by Mario. Danessa Myricks. Patrick Ta. One/Size. The list goes on. We’ve talked to enough founders to know that getting into Sephora is only the beginning. Once you’re there, you’re fighting for shelf space, homepage placement, social support, and ultimately, attention.
At ULTA, we think Mikayla could have had an opportunity to be the proverbial big fish in a smaller pond, and potentially help usher in a new era of major founder-led brands for the retailer.
Of course, there’s a reason everyone wants Sephora. The prestige! The founder roster! The marketing machine! We get it. We’re just very curious to see how POV cuts through.
Reddit analyzed thousands of conversations for its first-ever People’s Beauty Index, and one statistic made us particularly happy: conversation around no-makeup makeup dropped 81% year over year, while conversation around experimenting with makeup jumped 400%. Even eyeshadow palettes are up 56%. Nature is healing!
More interestingly, the language people use around beauty is changing. Mentions of words like “fix,” “hide,” “cover,” and “correct” fell 87%, while “embrace,” “highlight,” “enhance,” and “emphasize” increased 220%. We love to see it!
Beauty feels a lot more interesting when the goal isn’t for everyone to have the exact same glazed skin, laminated brows, slicked-back bun, and barely-there makeup. Give us personality! Give us color! Give us an eyeshadow palette with more than three shades of beige and brown!
Also: seven in 10 people surveyed said they feel more confident buying a product after reading about it on Reddit, which is fascinating considering the platform’s less-than-stellar reputation for conspiracy theories and influencer takedowns. But when it comes to beauty reviews, it turns out Reddit can actually be incredibly useful—especially when you want unfiltered opinions from people who have really put a product to the test.
In Partnership with K18 and Gloss Angeles Confidential
When K18 first told us about its new FutureIQ™ Biomimetic Hair Longevity Serum, we were a little skeptical about its claims. The $120 nightly scalp serum is designed to address excessive shedding, early graying, and signs of scalp aging. It almost sounded too good to be true. K18 says that after three months, users can see fuller-looking hair, less shedding, an improved scalp barrier, and fewer visible grays. Those are big promises—and hair changes are notoriously difficult to evaluate—which is exactly why we turned to our Gloss Angeles Confidential community. We had 200 of our listeners use the serum for three months and report back.
The result? 90% said they enjoyed using it, with many saying they felt it delivered on at least one of its claims. We saw reports of baby hairs, thicker ponytails, and less visible grays. One tester even measured her progress by the fact that her ponytail holder now requires one fewer loop. That is not a feeling. That is math! Girl math!
The biggest hesitation was price. One bottle is $120 and lasts about a month, and 70 testers said that while they’d recommend it because they saw results, they weren’t sure they could justify buying it themselves once their free supply ran out.
Which leaves us with the ultimate beauty-editor question: If something actually works, how much are you willing to pay for it? If you’re already spending money on collagen supplements, scalp treatments, microneedling, and other methods in the name of healthier, fuller hair, $120 a month may not sound quite as wild—especially if you’re seeing results. As for us, we saw enough to keep FutureIQ™ in our routines going forward.
Are beauty embargoes officially pointless? Do you think POV Beauty makes more sense at Sephora or ULTA? And are you willing to spend $120 a month on a hair serum if you actually see results?
Interested in learning more about our Gloss Angeles Confidential program? Click here to learn how you can participate, as a brand or a tester!
You can watch and listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts (yes, you can watch us on there!), Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
K18 | FutureIQ™ Biomimetic Hair Longevity Serum 90ml
POV BEAUTY | Amp It Lip Ampoule
POV BEAUTY | Amp It Lip Ampoule
POV BEAUTY | Snatch It Eye Serum
POV BEAUTY | Snatch It Face Ampoule
Shop more of our favorite products here.
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