“Everyone around me—in many ages and many professions—is on Instagram at least three times a day,” Emily Weiss said in 2014, the year she launched Glossier on the platform in a then-renegade move. She cast models by sliding into their DMs; a growing fan base posted a steady stream of bathroom selfies, faces aglow with the Perfecting Skin Tint and multipurpose Balm Dotcom from the original four-product drop. Nearly eight years later, this corner of the world has seen totemic shifts. Today’s average Screen Time report proves that we’ve come a long way from “three times a day,” to say nothing of the TikTok effect. The lineup of cult products runs the gamut from Boy Brow (early to the fluffy, tweezer-averse trend) to results-oriented serums. Glossier, which bills itself as a “people-powered beauty ecosystem,” has navigated through a period of outpaced ambitions and corporate restructuring before once again securing its footing in the direct-to-consumer landscape it pioneered. In April, Olivia Rodrigo, fresh off her triple Grammy wins, signed on as the brand’s first-ever celebrity partner, solidifying the ’90s-meets-Gen Z bridge. And just this week, Weiss tapped Kyle Leahy to be the new Glossier CEO, with the founder leaning into new roles: executive chairwoman and, soon, mother.
What hasn’t changed? “I’m a forever fan of Glossier, and I’m just as excited about the brand now as I was when they first launched,” says Euphoria makeup designer Donni Davy, who is among the 17 people—filmmakers, performers, editors, and more—who have shared their go-to Glossier product picks with Vanity Fair. The occasion is, in the obvious sense, a sale: Today through May 31, the brand rolls out a 20% discount across the entire site, along with collected bundles for streamlined shopping. But this roundup is just as much about replenishing the creative reserves as the literal ones. Readying yourself for the summer ahead can be a crowdsourced mission, from a never-fail highlighter to the tinted lip balm that hits all the marks.
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