There’s a New Neuromodulator on the Block
Plus, has the skin scent trend gone too far?
We have officially survived one week of February—well done everyone. I can’t decide what I’m more sick of: the cold weather or all the headlines about which federal agency has been most recently gutted! We’re continuing to update our reporting on what Trump’s tariffs (the proposed, the enacted, and the “lol nvm”ed) will mean for the beauty industry. For a more general look at Our Current Situation, I’ve seen multiple people I respect shout out fellow Condé Nast site Wired’s reporting on everything (1!) going on (2!) right (3!) now (4!), so let me be another to enthusiastically recommend you subscribe.
Under the Knife
Our executive beauty director Jenny Bailly spent last week at the IMCAS (that’s the “International Master Course on Aging Science,” of course) conference in Paris, schmoozing with the world’s top aesthetic surgeons and taking incredible content like above.
Whenever any of us editors goes on one of these trips, we always drop a few takeaways into the Group Chat channel in our Slack. Usually that stays between us… but now that I have this newsletter, you all get a lil peek too:
I'll be sending you guys a bunch of news from last week's IMCAS conference in Paris. Let’s start with these gems shall we?
Merz Aesthetics (the people behind Xeomin, Radiesse, and more) shared a survey that they did of 15,000 people (!) around the world who have had an aesthetic treatment in the past or are open to having one in the near future. There’s a ton of data to share but some interesting stats off the bat: 73% of respondents reported that they “feel empowered” after having an aesthetic treatment and 69% seek them “to reflect how they feel inside.” 56% said they are very or somewhat comfortable discussing aesthetic treatments and 40% fear judgment… this definitely varies from country to country. I spoke with one Dutch dermatologist who said that people in the Netherlands are still quite hush-hush about doing neuromodulators or fillers or lasers. Also on the topic of regional differences: People in South America are feeling way better about what they look like than the rest of us. 66% of the respondents from Latin and South America feel confident when they look in the mirror, compared to 51% of people in North America and Europe, and 47% in Asia-Pacific.
There is a new neuromodulator on the block 💉 Galderma recently got approval in the EU, UK, and Australia for Relfydess (for frown lines and crow's feet). Their clinicals showed that one-third of patients see results on day one, and that results last beyond six months. (Remains to be seen how it compares to Daxxify, which has also made longer-lasting claims.) One big point of difference for Relfydess that it's a liquid—all other neuromodulators require the injector to reconstitute a powder. They say this makes things easier/faster for the injector, produces less waste, and avoids the dosing inconsistency that can come with reconstitution. All FDA trials are completed, now it's just a waiting game for approval in the U.S. Since things in Washington are going super-smoothly right now, I'm sure we'll all be able to enjoy Relfydess soon 🙃
Ultherapy has gotten an upgrade that's apparently been 10 years in the making (the OG Ultherapy launched in the US 11 years ago and in the EU 15 years ago). The new Ultherapy Prime machine still uses ultrasound to tighten and improve skin quality but now has real-time visualization to help treat the patient’s skin more safely at multiple depths. Its processing time is also 10 times faster, so treatments are done in 20% less time. Which is good because everyone seems to agree that Ultherapy hurts. Some doctors were saying that they use Pronox (basically laughing gas) to help patients through it, and also that a dark room helps keep people calm 🧘🏼♀️
Sayonara, Skin Scents
When Kara Nesvig said she wanted to write an essay about how sick she is of “skin scents,” my response was “This resonates with me, a person whose gag reflex is triggered by the idea of a ‘skin scent’ no matter how hard I try to like them.” If this category—whose name makes it sound like it was created specifically for Buffalo Bill—is your yum, I’m not here to yuck it. But if you, too, are sick of smelling like yourself, Nesvig has some great recs for gorgeous, in-your-face alternatives peppered throughout this fascinating analysis of how we got here. As she puts it, “Go ahead, try something out of your comfort zone. Now is not the time to be demure.”
One to Watch
Yes, Allure editors give hundreds of products a Best of Beauty Award every year. But that’s once a year—and sometimes, we can’t wait that long to shout something out. So whenever a new launch really wows the team, we give it a One to Watch seal to make it clear that, of the approximately ten bajillion products that come out every month, this is one that’s actually impressed us. This week, that honor went to EltaMD for their brand new, green-tinted mineral sunscreen, which our reviewer Sophia Panych called “pretty damn miraculous.”
In Other News
Beyonce’s announced the Cowboy Carter tour, striking fear into many of our reader’s bank accounts. Glorilla became Fenty’s “first-ever partner” across all the arms of Rihanna’s empire. Marc Jacobs and Pat McGrath kicked off New York Fashion Week. Celebrities looked very nice at the Grammys. And finally, Ulta, Sephora, and Sally Beauty saw other large retailers rolling back DEI programs and said “Couldn’t be us!”
If you buy one thing this week, make it…
I am very excited about this new brand, Tilt Beauty, which just launched this week and, according to its press release, is the first makeup brand to receive the Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use Certification. Founded by a 21-year-old who has psoriatic arthritis, the brand’s packaging has a soft matte finish and bulbous shapes which does, indeed, make it all very easy to open and use. I’m a big fan of the Lashscape Mascara: It’s a great everyday formula that gives just the right amount of length and volume. But there are plenty of mascaras that hit that criteria already on the market! What makes this different is how short the wand is. As a nearsighted person who has yet to figure out a way to do my makeup while I’m wearing my glasses, I have to sit suuuuuper close to the mirror to apply it so I can see. This can be an issue with standard size products, because they bump into the mirror when I’m trying to use them. Not with this wand!
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