Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and tarot card palettes.
Included in today’s issue: Albion, Assoulin, Batiste, ByUR, Colourpop, Commodity, Cosmic Brushes, Emma Lewisham, Eos, First Aid Beauty, Hello Kitty, Hill House Home, Marc Jacobs Beauty, MAC Cosmetics, Medicube, Merit, Nars, Phlur, Revlon, Sabrina Carpenter, Studs, and Jenny Humphrey.
But first…
Much like American adolescence and the launch of a Taylor Swift album, pumpkin spice season is starting earlier and ending later than ever before. This is tricky for Starbucks girls who just want their gingerbread mocha oat lattes already, and even worse for beauty brands who find themselves in the middle of an actual pumpkin shortage.
In the gourd-rich state of Ohio, pumpkin production was drastically down this year, thanks to a moderate August drought. In Illinois, there were 90 percent fewer pumpkins expected in November and December than usual, according to the Associated Press. And in the UK, a warmer-than-normal summer meant pumpkin crops peaked in August. Not ideal for the production of best-selling face masks from Irene Forte, Malin + Goetz, Naturopathica, Peter Thomas Roth and Tonymoly, all of which boast pumpkin as an active ingredient. And why not? The orange fruit has proven exfoliation and brightening benefits and an abundant global supply chain.
rands like Lush are solving the shortage issues by getting creative. The British brand’s best-selling Mr. Pumpkin Face mask is made with “selected European pumpkin varieties” grown with regenerative farming practices, according to Lush’s ethical buying manager, Taylor Miller, and supplemented with pumpkin seeds from Quebec. Bliss now imports its pumpkin extract from North and South Carolina, but also Italy and Taiwan, where organic farmers in the province of Yunlin can better monitor water quality and soil nutrients. And at the Ritz Carlton in South Beach, a seasonal Pumpkin Latte Hydration Facial is made with fresh chunks of pumpkin procured from local supermarkets instead of imported purée. There are also beauty supply labs isolating and replicating pumpkin enzymes for mass market production using biotechnology — without a pumpkin patch.
For pumpkin-based scents, Snif’s Product Development Head, Kara Kowalski, says the actual fruit isn’t even necessary. “What you recognize as pumpkin is created through a carefully built accord,” she explained, noting that spices like ginger, cardamom and cinnamon make our brains think we’re smelling pumpkin itself. Lush perfumer Emma Vincent said the brand mirrors recipes, pairing cinnamon and vanilla notes to “make it reminiscent of a pie that you eat.” In fact, Lush’s pumpkin spice shower gel has flecks of biodegradable orange glitter, but zero orange plant pulp at all.
Why are we still going strong on pumpkin in December? Partly because it’s delicious (have you tried the pumpkin ravioli at New York’s Locanda Verde?) but also because pumpkin used to be a relatively cheap, extremely available ingredient. At least, it did boast an abundant global supply chain. As the climate crisis makes once-reliable crops unpredictable, plant-based beauty staples like pumpkin enzymes, tapioca starch, and olive squalane need more nimble sourcing strategies. Sometimes, that comes from synthetic substitutions at trusted labs. Other times, it means developing relationships with farmers on multiple continents, or at least in multiple states. And while swapping signature ingredients at the last minute is a product development nightmare, working with your marketing teams on creating a “story” — or at least a series of deadpan TikTok episodes — around your big pivot helps your brand stay transparent without looking unprepared.
How’s the 2026 Pumpkin Spice forecast? It’s still too early to tell, but December 2025’s shortage call is now coming from inside the house — literally. This week, Google announced “pumpkin bread” was its second-most searched food recipe for “cozy season.” Guard your enzyme peels, guys.
What else is new…
Skincare
Take your vitamins < wear your vitamins. On Dec. 1, the Japanese skincare label Albion released Flaruné Bright Charger, a box of 28 ampoules loaded with vitamin C in oil- and water-soluble formats, along with lemon peel extract and rose hip extract. Each kit is $60, so you’re paying $2.14 per tube. If you’re looking to spend substantially more, the brand also dropped a limited-edition $1,255 face cream packaged in imperial Japanese porcelain.
If you’re a sucker for gifts you don’t have to wrap, Emma Lewisham’s holiday pack is for you. The New Zealand native got abstract artist Judy Millar to paint her skincare set boxes with deep purple streaks and swirls; inside you’ll find serums, creams, and face oils neatly laid out in little rows. They hit shelves on Dec. 1.
Hello Kitty — and hello, face masks. On Dec. 2, ByUR debuted serum masks and toner pads, with packaging stamped with some of Sanrio’s most beloved animals. (Except, remember, Hello Kitty is not a cat, she is a British schoolgirl named Kitty White wearing a cat costume… even though My Melody is a bunny and Keropi is a frog and phew.)
Sofie Pavitt told me to spread Aquaphor on any raw skin patches this winter, but First Aid Beauty has a different solution. On Dec. 2, the Massachusetts-based brand launched Ultra Repair Hydrating Pillow Pads, which are toner pads soaked in a hyaluronic acid formula that you can use “as a targeted treatment for extremely dry spots.” Each jar is $39.
Makeup
Would you wear eyeshadow inspired by the death tarot card? Cosmic Brushes is betting on it. On Nov. 28, the U.K. brand unveiled its Death Tarot Shadow Palette, a mesmerising brick of 20 shades including Mourn (bone white), Closure (grey green) and Changes, a scarlet red. It’s kind of genius; I want them to do The Lovers (Arcana number six) next!
Revlon’s Super Lustrous Ultra Lipstick was spotted in Ulta starting Dec. 1. It comes in 10 shades with a super-satin finish, but another product — Revlon Photo Ready Instant Blur Liner — seems to have hit Amazon around the same time, with a soft matte texture instead.
Disney adults, this is your moment… again. Colourpop’s Ultra Glossy Lip Collection dropped a princess quartet on Dec. 4 including Ambitious Tiana (gold), Bright Ariel (silver), Courageous Rapunzel (lilac) and Mademoiselle Belle (rose — get it?). They’re $10 each or $34 for the “Princess Pout” set.
This summer, Ed Westwick brought in the most engagement for Lancôme’s Juicy Tubes campaign, even though the Gossip Girl veteran does not wear lip gloss IRL. This week, his former co-star Taylor Momsen hopes to replicate that result with her first MAC Cosmetics campaign, and it’s working — at least on Instagram, where Momsen’s single MAC post has triple the engagement of the average branded Insta. (We know we love it, xoxo.)
Haircare
Studs (the earring brand) and Hill House Home (the “nap dress” brand) have come together to make… hair bows! On Dec. 4, the labels released a $168 kit with two large hair ribbons, a tortoise shell claw clip and four tiny bow earrings.
Just in time for snowboarding season, Batiste has named Olympic champion Chloe King as a global hair ambassador. Drop the helmet head solutions, Chlo!
Fragrance
Assouline’s Library Collection of fragrances now has an incense component, so you can smudge your house before book club, when Chloe-From-Pilates raises her hand with “more of a comment than a question, because I just found it problematic for Sally Rooney call the book ‘Normal People’ without being prejudiced against weird people.” (You know what, smudge it after book club, too…)
On Dec. 3, Commodity debuted Ice(d), a fragrance with mango, eucalyptus and spearmint that aims to capture the smell of “a snowstorm on a tropical island.” Possible vision board: The Christmas Snow Globes at Margaritaville.
Sabrina Carpenter’s new scent is Sweet Tooth Lemon Pie, a butter-yellow bottle of citrus, vanilla and “buttery crust” that confirms the “wear carbs, even if you don’t eat them” trend is in full effect.
Speaking of carbs, Snif announced an extension of its Crumb Couture franchise — this one with almond cream — on Dec. 2. Pro tip: Secretly, the best almond croissants in New York are at Muffin Cafe on the Upper West Side. They’re extremely flat, so you get the full ratio of almond paste to flaky bread. The more you know, etc.
The lip balm to body spray pipeline continues. Eos launched its first fragrance expansion, Cashmere Body Mist, on Dec. 5 with eight scents including pistachio, vanilla, peach, coconut, and something called “Fresh & Cozy” that says it smells like “morning light.” The font on these bottles looks a lot like Baby Magic lotion, which I think is the point for a $13 scent for a thirteen-year-old at Target.
Marc Jacobs and Takashi Murakami first teamed up in 2003. This week, though, they released their first (but hopefully not last!) beauty project, a limited-edition Daisy Murakami bottle with a customized cherry blossom cap and limited-edition print box for $130. It debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach on Dec. 3.
Phlur released an “Afterglow” fragrance on Dec. 7 that’s got amber and coconut foam and “the spark of a first connection,” and if there’s ever a time to partner with Nars, like, please do an Orgasm / Afterglow bundle and watch TikTok explode.
And finally…
According to internal data, TikTok Shop had its highest Black Friday and Cyber Monday revenues ever, with over 1.7 billion views on the sellable content and over half a billion dollars in sales. One big winner: Medicube’s “glass glow” kit, which was a top five product for the entire weekend. Once again, K-beauty prevails.
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