Whatever you do, don’t call it a blush.
Though it may look like a blush — a tube of pink gel-cream — and act like a blush — applies via a doe foot brush on the cheek to create a wash of vibrant color — the K-beauty brand Glow Recipe insists that their upcoming launch into colour cosmetics, the Dewy Flush, is “not a blush, but a flush,” per its headline marketing copy.
More precisely, it’s a “tinted cheek serum” made with redness-calming Centella Asiatica and 3 percent niacinamide, a brightening ingredient typically found in skincare formulations. The pigments themselves are coated in jojoba oil, and the brand invested in clinical trials to show that regular application can measurably increase skin hydration, plumpness and tone. It’s available from Feb. 10 on Sephora’s app and from Feb. 11 on Sephora.com and Glow Recipe’s website.
“The construction is skincare,” said co-founder Christine Chang. “Even the pigments care for your skin.” Her other co-founder, Sarah Lee, demonstrated by dabbing a bit on her cheek and blending it out with her fingers.
Glow Recipe’s launch is the latest example of skincare brands getting into colour cosmetics, two areas that are increasingly melding as consumers seek makeup benefits from their skincare and vice-versa. Last year, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode released its first makeup product (also a blush) while influencer-founded skincare label Summer Friday has found viral success with its tinted Lip Butter Balms.
This product is also a glimpse into the future of the 11 year-old label, which last year generated over $300 million in revenue on the strength of its dewy-skin proposition. Its next frontier expands into makeup (or “no-makeup” makeup) products; Dewy Flush is the first entry into that category.
“We want everyone to really feel excited about the new strategy, the new innovation pipeline that’s to come even beyond Dewy Flush,” said Chang.
The brand is planning a multichannel approach to Dewy Flush’s marketing, working with makeup artists and influencers on social media as well as partnering with Sephora, where the brand launched in 2017. Chang said that Glow Recipe is the retailer’s #1 independently-owned brand worldwide — a feat made more impressive by the fact that it isn’t yet carried in Sephora China or India — and Dewy Flush will launch at the retailer from Feb. 14.
They also plan to lean on the brand’s highly-engaged community “to help with education as well, to share with their audiences,” Lee explained. “And if I look back at how Dew Drops became such a success, it really was the power of the community. We never told them what to do.” The brand’s largest demographic, in its customer base and social following, is the 18–34 age cohort, followed by 35–44 year-olds; teens comprise less than 10 percent of Glow Recipe’s following, according to the brand.
Dew Drops, which launched in 2020, was inspired by Korean makeup artists who used oils or serums to achieve an editorial “glass skin” finish.
“Around the globe, we were selling one bottle every 12 seconds,” Lee said. After hearing from customers who mixed Dew Drops with their cosmetics, the brand created a tinted version — called Hue Drops — made with bronzing pigments.
By April, the Dewy Flush will feature prominently in Sephora locations around the world on front tables and in window displays. In North America, nearly 300 Sephora doors will also receive end-cap displays that feature Dewy Flush in the context of the greater Glow Hues line, including Hue Drops.
The buildable formula is lightweight and sheer to counter what the co-founders call “blush blindness,” which occurs with subpar formulas or user error and results in patchy or streaky application.
“The flushed, natural, soft pink tone is what people in Korea are absolutely in love with,” said Lee. “But we haven’t seen a formula that started with a skincare base.”
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