The Business of Beauty Haul of Fame: MAC Teaches Sex Ed

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a scented parade route.

Included in today’s issue: Abé and Mason, Ami Colé, Bonjou Beauty, E.l.f., Ever/Body, Khloé Kardashian, Koba Skincare, Marlowe, Maybelline, Le Mini Macaron, Morphe, Neiman Marcus, Nest New York, Neutrogena, Ole Henriksen, Pat McGrath Labs, SurfaceDeep, Tata Harper, and scary water.

But first…

Great news for people who think makeup has gotten boring: MAC is making condom-covered cosmetics a thing for December.

Their latest campaign, called “This Lipstick Protects,” features their famous Viva Glam lipsticks covered with latex contraceptives. The ads will run as posters, digital videos, and online photos, and officially debut on Dec. 1 to coincide with World AIDS Day.

“We thought, ‘Maybe Mac has been too quiet in the past few years,’” said Aïda Moudachirou-Rébois, Mac’s Global Vice President. “We’ve been doing advocacy for 30 years, but now, all brands claim they are ‘allies’…Not everyone does what we do. We can be louder about that. We can be bolder.”

MAC’s Viva Glam campaign began in 1994 with a dedicated lipstick, the sales of which were donated to AIDS relief. RuPaul was the project’s first face, followed by celebs like Pamela Anderson, Mary J. Blige, and Lady Gaga. This year, singer Kim Petras is the Viva Glam campaign star. The brand says it has donated over half a billion dollars to ending AIDS, which still affects an estimated 40 million people worldwide.

“We will never move away from HIV/AIDS because it still remains a problem,” says Moudachirou-Rébois. But the brand is widening Viva Glam’s focus to include sexual, racial, gender, and environmental equality, reflected in their very literal Viva Equality set of four neutral-toned matte lipsticks.

MAC’s sex education campaign will also include TikTok creator partnerships and activations on college campuses, providing free HIV testing along with branded condoms and product samples. The brand’s new sex ed activation debuts on Dec. 3 at the City University of New York’s Baruch College. Rollouts at other locations are set for later this winter.

I wondered if spreading the safe sex gospel, while admirable, could work strategically for a decades-old company like MAC to capture new customers in an on-brand way. “When it comes to sexual education, it’s important people understand the choices and consequences of their decisions,” Moudachirou-Rébois said. “That gives people confidence. Wearing makeup is one way people express that confidence. To me, the two ideas go together.”

She added that the brand isn’t worried about America’s incoming conservative administration trying to censor its graphic content. “We’ve been doing this since 1984. We’ll keep going and do what we do.”

What Else Is New

Retail

Black Friday sales now include biotoxins. On Nov. 25, Ever/Body released its Botox special, offering a $450 rebate on the procedure. Wonder if any of the anonymous politicians who admitted frequenting the medi-spa to the Wall Street Journal will take advantage of the deal?

If you’re at a Neiman Marcus beauty counter for Black Friday, you may receive a cute jute pouch with any $150 purchase. That bag was created by a female Bangladeshi collective with natural fibers and is the work of Accompany Creative, the “positive impact” marketing firm that helped place similar biodegradable fibre bags in Target.

Skincare

Marlowe launched 103 Santal body wash on Nov. 21 with the instructions to “lather,” then “conquer your day.” It’s $17.

Tata Harper has paired with the loonies at Moonsisters to create a Cosmic Beauty Calendar, a page-a-day model that tracks moon phases and nature cycles with six skincare products and includes a cosmetics bag. It’s $400 and so Gwyneth-coded that I fear I need it immediately.

Abé and Mason’s Haguro moisturising cream hit shelves on Nov. 21 after a few weeks of “oops, we sold out” desolation. It’s $210 and contains a “sacred trio of pine, wakame, and rice ferment.” If you need to hold space for that description, I completely understand.

Neutrogena debuted its Collagen Bank moisturiser on Nov. 22 with a “Fan-xiety” campaign meant to tie the stress of football season with the fine lines and wrinkles you can get from frowning. This feels a little wacky, but Collagen Bank does have SPF 50, which is essential if you’re gonna be sitting outside screaming for a football team this weekend. Neutrogena’s is $20.

Wild released their Fairy Tale collection on Nov. 22 with scented natural deodorants like Sugar Plum Fairy and Arctic Ice Queen. The refillable tubes are available via Amazon, along with limited-edition lip balms for $12.

Koba Skincare hit Credo Beauty on Nov. 25. Its Congolese founder Thérèse M’Boungoubaya worked at L’Oréal before launching her own line. The range’s key ingredient is safou oil, which comes from the atanga fruit, also known as the African pear. It looks like a really long grape and is native to Central African forests.

SurfaceDeep’s new $28 pH Balancing Skin Wash dropped on Nov. 25 with a fruit-based glycolic acid to clear clogged pores and dead cells.

Flamingo’s Glow Shave collection hit stores on Nov. 26. It includes a scrub, oil, and serum; each are $10.

Makeup

After scoring Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, and Blake Lively for their red carpet wins, Armani Beauty has signed British actress Nathalie Emmanuel as its latest face. She has 6 million Instagram followers and 52 million TikTok posts tagged with her name… and another 32 million tagged “Natalie Emmanuel” instead.

More casting news: Joey King is the new face of E.l.f. On Nov. 21, the brand also introduced Glow Reviver Lip Oil Glimmer in eight shades, including my favorite, “Crystal Baller,” which is packed with pink opalescence.

Le Mini Macaron’s $10 Lunegloss pen hit shelves on Nov. 22. It’s filled with an overnight serum meant to revive nails and cuticles, and comes with three ingredients — black algae, black açai, and black caviar extract — that sound like a gorgeous pre-sushi salad.

Maybelline’s Sky High glitter mascara debuted on Nov. 22. It’s a clear $12 formula with tiny drops of glimmer that makes your lashes look frosted.

Morphe’s Bi-Liner hit Ulta as an exclusive on Nov. 24. It’s a $14 double-ended gel eyeliner in combos like “Truth or Dare” (black and charcoal) and “Now or Later” (lilac and purple). If you still haven’t recovered from the disappearance of Marc Jacobs Beauty’s gel crayons, this formula might make you stop trawling eBay for expired boxes. (They’re there, though.)

Ole Henriksen’s got three new shades of its Pout Preserve lip gloss, and all are sparkly. (Festive!) They’re $22 each and come in Crème Brulée, Lingonberry Jam, and Citrus Sunshine. Yes, I had to look up “lingonberry.” It’s basically the red berries on Christmas wreath holly.

Bonjou Beauty’s new Teen Line dropped on Nov. 25 with 10 items, including $15 shimmery gloss and $30 mascara. It was inspired by founder Samantha Wharton’s nieces and their obsession with “clean beauty.”

Restock alert! After landing on Oprah’s favourite things list, Ami Colé briefly sold out of its Desert Date Cream Multistick Vault, a $94 pack of five tinted balm sticks. As of Nov. 25, it’s back onsite with the tagline “You get a multistick!”

Want Taylor Swift’s red lipstick, Elson by Pat McGrath Labs? It’s sold out online… unless you buy it as part of the brand’s $35 mini lipstick trio, available Nov. 25. Smart.

Haircare

If your first thought watching the Netflix rom-com “Our Little Secret” was, “Wait, who did Lindsay Lohan’s Marilyn-blonde hair?” then voila: It was Tracey Cunningham (Lohan’s colorist of a decade-plus) for Schwarzkopf Professional.

Fragrance

Attention, London! Khloé Kardashian’s first fragrance, XO Khloé, debuted at Harrods on Nov. 25 with “crystallized rose petals, a touch of praline [and] sexy musks.” The $78 scent won’t be anywhere else in the world, including Ulta, its main online retailer, until Dec. 1.

Nest New York scented their own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float on Nov. 28, along with the 2.5 miles from Central Park West to Macy’s Herald Square flagship. If you’re standing in the float’s line of fire, you’ll smell Nest’s Holiday candle, a mix of pomegranate, clove, pine, orange, and cinnamon. Is this gone-too-far fragrance madness? Yes. Is this a brilliant marketing stunt that a bigger brand should have done years ago? Also yes. If you’re camping out to see the new Spider Man balloon on Sixth Avenue, don’t forget to inhale.

And Finally

Google searches for “drinking water chemical” have spiked in the past month, likely because people can’t remember how to spell fluoride, the common mineral that delights dentists and freaks out RFK, and is currently in 72 percent of American drinking water. This is not a warning about your hydration — unless you want to discuss the microplastics in many bottled waters, in which case, bring it — but this kind of data makes the rise of “clean” shower filters seem inevitable. Anyone wanna try acquiring Jolie?