New Skin Care Moisturizers From Eighth Day, Dieux and More
Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Moisturizer
Available for $68 at Sephora.
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Photo courtesy of Dr. Dennis Gross
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare is adding a nourishing step to follow its hero product, peel pads.
The new Alpha Beta Daily Moisturizer, which is designed to be part of a regimen following the brand’s famous Alpha Beta Peel, is meant to provide a nourishing last step to the brand’s bestseller.
“Alpha Beta Peel is our hero product, our reason to exist, and the locomotive that started our brand,” said Carrie Gross, Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare’s chief executive officer. “It’s really defined so much about how we formulate products, and the benefits we want to deliver to our consumer.”
Enter the moisturizer, which combines squalene and ceramides alongside naturally derived AHAs, and is intended to “lock in the benefits of the peel, continue to strengthen the moisture barrier and protect the acid mantle,” Gross said.
Gross added she expects it to resonate broadly, given that its oil-free formula made it universally applicable across skin types. “Sephora is using this in its beauty studios to prep the skin before every makeup application,” she said. That’s going to have a huge impact on our sell-through.” She didn’t quantify sales expectations, although industry sources estimate it to reach $5 million in sales for its first year on the market.
Dieux Instant Angel
Available for $45 at dieuxskin.com.
Come for the accessible price, stay for the thoughtful formulations.
Such is the philosophy of Charlotte Palermino, cofounder and chief executive officer of Dieux, which is rounding out its product line with its first moisturizer.
“We found a gap in the market for a luxurious, really rich moisturizer that doesn’t go on super thick,” Palermino said. “It isn’t super expensive, but it feels expensive, and works for different skin types. We wanted to create a true moisturizer in that it’s just for repairing and hydrating the skin.”
Palermino, who is known among her social media followers — north of 223,000 on Instagram alone — for her in-depth knowledge of cosmetic chemistry, has seen the brand’s success with minimal marketing.
“Our core audience are people obsessed with skin care, but it’s also people who are burnt out by overshot marketing claims,” she said. “We haven’t done any ads and we sold 10,000 units in one week. It’s all through paid social [media] and our newsletter.”
Palermino declined to comment on the brand’s sales, but industry sources estimate it to have reached $3.1 million in net sales during 2021.
Eighth Day The Reparative Moisturizer
Available for $180 at eighthdayskin.com and Violet Grey.
Photo courtesy of Eighth Day
Dr. Antony Nakhla, founder of Eighth Day, is taking his proprietary ingredient, Peptide-Rich Plasma, to a new category.
The brand, which overtook the bestseller page on Violet Grey’s website, has introduced its second stockkeeping unit, a follow-up to its debut Regenerative Serum.
Called The Reparative Moisturizer, it combines a plethora of antioxidants with ceramides, and is meant to be used conjunctively with the serum.
“The goal with Eighth Day is to give people extraordinarily high-potency skin care products,” Nakhla said. “We’re not interested in creating a thousand skus to offer stock formulations.
“Science is the new luxury, and if you look at the new luxury category, the consumer now wants to pay for results — not only beautiful packaging,” Nakhla continued. “Eighth Day is a movement, a philosophy, the idea that beauty is innate and it’s something we can tap into.”
That message seems to be working. “At Violet Grey, our two skus are two of the three best sellers,” he said, adding that he is leveraging digital retailers to widen the brand’s footprint. Nakhla did not specify sales expectations, but industry sources estimate it to reach between $5 million and $10 million for its first year on the market.
Skinfix Skin Barrier Restoring Gel Cream
Available for $48 at skinfix.com and Sephora.
Photo courtesy of Skinfix
In a bid to broaden its reach, SkinFix is creating a lighter alternative to its hero product, the Triple Lipid Peptide Cream.
“We felt there was this untouched segment of the market,” said brand founder Amy Gordinier. “The Barrier Plus Triple Lipid Peptide Cream is suited for all skin types, but leans toward drier skin. We’ve had people say, ‘I have oily skin,’ or ‘I live in a humid climate,'” she said. “Then, there’s this segment that’s probably really acne prone.”
To that end, the Gel Cream formula also includes active ingredients geared toward oilier skin types, such as niacinamide as well as antimicrobial agents like zinc PCA.
Given the product’s versatility, it seems to be resonating. “Out the gate, this sku really exploded,” said Gordinier. “We’re probably capturing a pretty broad audience just based on the sales trajectory so far, but we’re hoping it’s also appealing to the consumer who might be more acne-prone.”
Gordinier did not elaborate on the product’s sales expectations, although industry sources estimate it will reach $10 million in its first year on the market.
Augustinus Bader The Ultimate Soothing Cream
Available for $280 at nordstrom.com.
Photo courtesy of Augustinus Bader
One of skin care’s buzziest brands is adding another moisturizer to its lineup.
Augustinus Bader has created a richer alternative to its two hero products, The Cream and The Rich Cream. Dubbed the Ultimate Soothing Cream, the product is actually a more stable form of one of the brand’s first prototypes.
“We gifted it to some people in L.A. and called it NDS, which was the ancestor to the Ultimate Soothing Cream, but it had to be refrigerated,” said Charles Rosier, cofounder and chief executive officer of Augustinus Bader. “A lot of people that loved those lab samples have asked us for it.”
Even beyond Rosier’s inner circle, the need for a richer cream that boasted the brand’s proprietary ingredient, TFC8, was clear. “Some people were mixing our rich cream with our face oil. The Ultimate Soothing Cream is a one-stop shop,” Rosier said. “The brand was built on very efficient moisturizers, so adding another one is adding optionality.”
Rosier expects the cream to catch up to its other top sellers, confirming sales expectations of $20 million for its first 12 months on the market.
For more from WWD.com, see:
Urban Skin Rx to Launch First Men’s Skin Care Collection
Blind Barber Expands Skin Care Line, Introduces Eco Packaging
Andrew Fitzsimons Launches Eponymous Beauty Brand With Maesa
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