Gordon Ramsay: Can You Stop Releasing Ridiculous Beauty Brand Collaborations?
Sorry, Chef Gordon Ramsay, but I’m not interested in your new makeup partnership.
Something’s wrong with the beauty industry. Celebrities and brands we don’t normally associate with the space now want a piece of the $2 trillion gold mine — and we’re getting sick of it. (Can I interest you in the $23 Erewhon and Sabrina Carpenter smoothie collaboration? No? Yeah, neither). The usual move for non-beauty brands is to release products just to shock people with a beauty-related twist to get them talking. Since you’re on this page, I assume it’s an effective ploy and actually gets us talking — but at what cost?
I first noticed the onslaught of seemingly unrelated brand partnerships in 2022 when Old Spice teamed up with Arby’s to create a tracksuit covered in roast beef burgers. When the news hit my inbox, I immediately requested a sample for my dad as a Father’s Day gift. The silly gift got a laugh, but it’s no surprise that the tracksuit has yet to be worn in the back of my dad’s closet. And lately, beauty product launches have been equally ridiculous.
These launches are exhausting, and the beauty industry and consumers deserve better
To be honest, I’m suffering from partnership fatigue. Earlier this year, Hidden Valley teamed up with Burt’s Bees to release four lip balms inspired by their popular salad dressing—because salad dressing-scented lip balm is exactly what we’re all missing in our lives. Even as someone who has been eating Hidden Valley Ranch dressing for years, I never want my lip balm (or anything other than salad) to smell like Buffalo Sauce or Crispy Celery. The collaboration reeked of desperation, to the point where it made me give up on buying Burt’s Bees lip balm and Hidden Valley salad dressing. Their collaboration is just a weird, completely inappropriate one, and I refuse to endorse their stupidity in any way.
The absurdity doesn’t stop there. It turns out Erewhon isn’t the only grocery store or coffee shop jumping on the limited-edition smoothie collaboration bandwagon (if you can believe it). Over the weekend, Brooklyn coffee shop Hibiscus Brew teamed up with eva nyc to launch a limited-edition smoothie inspired by the hair brand’s viral glitter spray. All of which is a no-no for me. Personally, I’d rather wear glitter than drink or eat something inspired by it. Why? Because I’m not a preschooler—that’s why.
The beauty industry has created countless innovations that empower consumers with functional beauty products that enhance life’s everyday moments. Guide Beauty’s unique eyeliner tip is a great example of this. This eyeliner tip features a flexible precision tip that won’t irritate sensitive eyes, instead making it easy for those with weaker hands to create cat eyes and sharp eyeliner lines. Actress Selma Blair, who has multiple sclerosis (MS), was brought on board as the brand’s creative director, a seemingly natural fit with the added bonus of raising awareness and potentially funding MS research.
Of course, not everything has to have a charitable angle—but the bottom line is that unrelated beauty partnerships seem cheap and downright insulting to consumers like you, who 100% deserve better. These gimmicky collaborations are clearly a money-making exercise that only serves the company’s needs and, in turn, are a complete waste of your time and hard-earned money. We’re all feeling the effects of inflation, and as a beauty editor, it’s my job to be honest about industry trends and help you shop smart. The honest truth is, I would never waste my paycheck on these collaborations, and I feel it’s my journalistic duty to encourage you not to.
The Gourmand Fragrance That No One Asked For
So, what’s the latest beauty brand collaboration I’m rolling my eyes at? Well, it turns out that today, August 13, Auntie Anne’s, the mall’s mainstay food store, launched Knead fragrance at a pop-up in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood. Their original salty pretzel inspired the snazzy scent, which promises to be “warm, creamy, and slightly sweet,” hitting exactly the notes you’d expect from a pretzel-scented fragrance.
Knead is (obviously) a joke gift—perfect for someone who feels
