Solo Episode: The Devil Wears Lancôme? Movie Marketing Gone Wild, Jo Malone Zara Drama and Can Acne Ever be “Sexy”?

11:52Gisele:So Jill, as we all know, the body care category has completely exploded in the past year. I feel like I'm getting a press kit a week about a new body care brand that has launched. And we know that this is really being driven by the skinification of body care trend.

12:09Jo Malone:Well, we have skin from head to toe. Exactly.

12:11Gisele:And I think that's the whole idea is like, why does our body need to be left out from textural innovations and like the sensorial gorgeousness and the benefits that we get? There was actually a headline in Business of Fashion the other day, Who Will Be the Next Aesop? Talking about how there are so many challenger luxury brands now and they're vying for space at luxury hotels to try to, you know, get their buy-in and all of that. But the prices are over the top now. So like a luxury body wash, maybe you'd pay$50. Yeah. And these days, like, I don't know if you've seen, it is$90 US. Wow. Like in this economy, what is happening?

12:56Gisele:So Dove asked us to talk about their new serum plus oil body wash. I'm holding it here. And I was like, heck yes, because with these prices going on, And we need to talk about what's happening in this new category that's like premium accessible beauty. So it's mass brands that are basically just stepping it up because they have been doing body care for so long. And they're like, wait a minute, all these brands are stepping in. We have the R &D. We've been doing this for so long. So I feel like they are now rising to the challenge. Rising to the occasion. Yes. A perfect example of this is Dove's new serum plus oil body wash collection.

13:38Gisele:It really taps into that idea of bringing a luxury body care ritual into your everyday routine.

13:44Jo Malone:Oh, yeah, absolutely. It even looks more premium.

13:47Gisele:The bottle, if you want to hold it. If you're just listening and not looking at it, the biggest difference here, Jill, it's a cylinder. It's not one of their rectangular bottles. And then it has the gold ring around the top. And at the bottom, you can kind of see through it. And you see this beautiful amber. amber. It's like peekaboo. Fluid inside. So when you I'm going to demo it here, Jill, it's literally in my shower. I'm obsessed. It's really kind of like a thicker version of a body oil, which we all love because it's so nourishing. But what they've done is they've made it kind of like the North American version where it foams up.

14:25Gisele:So it starts out this beautiful oil, like a serum oil. Little goes a long way, by the way. Yeah. And it does foam up. So I don't know if you remember this, Jill, but like 18 months ago, Tower 28 came out with their cleanser that was an oil to foam. Yeah. Remember? Yes. And then a whole bunch of brands did that afterwards. And I was like, this is so genius. And in my head, I was like... That was face cleanser, right? Yeah.

14:49Alix Earle:Yeah.

14:50Gisele:And I was like, this should be a body product. And I feel like Dove is now doing it with this. Right. Where you get that luxury. And of course, the thing with a cleansing oil is it's getting it's moving around on your face. It would be makeup, but on your body, it's great for sunscreen. It's my fave, which is hard. So it kind of loosens it. But then as you work it in, it actually lathers up into a foam so that it rinses off without any grease or oil.

15:18Jo Malone:But even if you don't have that on, I've tried this product. And just because because we're coming out of winter. It's like, it's so scaly out. Like my skin has been so, it's so scaly. And Dove, you know, they're going to be like very moisturizing as well. And I definitely get that from this product. Yeah.

15:36Gisele:Because it is that oil. So in my hotel room, I was using this in the bath last night because my room was so dry. Yes. I could not even wear the silk skirt I wanted to wear. It was stuck to me everywhere. So I was like, I need to get in the bath and get this oil going. So I was lathering this all over. It is brilliant to shave with. Yeah. Because it's just like so, so soft. Love. And then it just gives you that radiant look. And part of the reason is it's 50 % glycerin in there. That's I'm obsessed with that. We don't see that a lot. And it's also, again, another skincare trend. We've been talking about how glycerin is the ultimate humectant, like hyaluronic acid who?

16:18Gisele:Yeah. Right. So when you look at the inky list, the ingredient list on the side, glycerin is actually the number one ingredient.

16:25Jo Malone:Yeah. Can I say it again?

16:26Gisele:Yeah. There's two different versions you can get. There's the Dove Serum Plus Radiance Oil Body Wash. And then there's the Dove Serum and Soothing Oil Body Wash. That one comforts the skin with almond oil and sandalwood, whereas the Radiance has jojoba and manoi flower.

16:44Jo Malone:The manoi flower is one of my favorite scents. sense. Oh, yeah. Like Tahitian Manoy is in a couple of perfumes that I used to wear constantly. Yeah. And it's just like very nostalgic for me. I'm a sucker for almond oil.

16:58Alix Earle:Oh, interesting. With the soothing.

17:00Gisele:But they are developed with dermatologists as well. So this is where it's like you get these big brands. You have the R &D. It's clinically backed and they are $14.97 Canadian for this massive.

17:13Alix Earle:Wow.

17:14Gisele:How big is it? Let's see.

17:15Alix Earle:Bottle. So I think it's like. 100 ml? It says on the front.

17:18Gisele:It's 452. Okay, great. So it's like 10 bucks American. So I think that this is the direction where we've seen all these indie body care brands that are like getting all of the attention. And now what we're seeing is these more accessible, premium formulas that are kind of following suit now. So it's great. And you can discover the new Dove Serum Plus Oil Body Wash at dove.com slash CA now available on Amazon and in stores nationwide. That's www.dove.com slash CA.

17:54Jo Malone:I love it. Well, we're going to close it out, Carleen, because you talked about a book. Pardon me. I'm the reader of this duo. By the way, I'm reading Strangers. Is anybody reading that? The Scandalous Manoir by Belle Burden. I feel like it's every female is talking about it. But what is this French pharmacy book you're talking about?

18:14Gisele:So I am so excited to get this book. I have the PDF version. The actual book is on its way to me. It's called The French Skincare Bible. Okay, fantastic. What a genius idea this is. Everybody loves French pharmacy skincare, but not everyone can read French to figure out what these things do. So it's like, you know, you look at TikTok, you go into your French pharmacy haul because so and so bought it and it's cool, but you don't really know if it's right for you. So this is really a decoder that explains everything. It explains like the history behind French pharmacy products, how they're unique in the market, what have the core principles are.

18:56Gisele:And the best part is that it's written by Dr. Maureen Vincent, who is legitimately a French pharmacist. Okay. And she's the founder of the French pharmacy, which is what is based. It's a store and it's in Marlebone. Oh, in London. In London. Yeah. OK. And so you actually can go and shop there. And now there's an online version as well. So she wrote this book. And I think in the UK, she's very well respected. She is interviewed a lot. She has blurbs for this book from Nadine Baggett. Oh, yeah. Fantastic. Times beauty journalist. She says super chic, elegant and crammed full of beauty expertise and knowledge.

19:39Gisele:She also got a blurb from Mathilde Thomas, the founder of Caudalie. And so if you want to understand the difference between La Roche-Posay and Bioderma, she really teaches you how to build your skincare routine according to your skin type using French pharmacies. And it just launched April 23rd.

20:01Jo Malone:So hot off the press.

20:02Gisele:Yes. Although that was in Europe. The North American version will launch May 5th in the U.S. and in Canada. And I think it's really long awaited and I'd love to have her on our show.

20:18Jo Malone:Yeah. One day. One day we need to get to London. One final note that I want to end on is just the Alex Earl launching her real active skincare brand. Do you have any thoughts on that?

20:29Gisele:Not a lot. I mean, the skincare, again, the ka-ching of it all, like when there's money to be made, they're going to do it. I think that she had a very organic story when it comes to acne because of her journey. But I think the fact that she launched with this whole sexy marketing thing. Make acne hot again. I think that was a mistake. I think that what she needed to come out with was before and afters. That would be difficult with herself because she's already in the afterlife of her acne, thanks to probably professional treatments and lasers and things like that.

21:13Jo Malone:She did partner with her dermatologist on these formulations. So I think it's brilliant. That's smart.

21:18Gisele:I mean, that is, I feel like that's honestly a given at this point. Yes. If you're going to be a celebrity in 2026 and come out with a skincare line, I think it was unfortunate that she didn't launch with the science first because there's so much skepticism. Like the before and after would have been the thing to do. The clinicals, yeah. Make herself vulnerable and show those befores and the after. And then maybe just like talk about the sexy later, if that's your vibe.

21:45Jo Malone:Yeah, I think, well, she clearly resonated with her fans because sales reached the$5 million mark in the first day. So it is absolutely massive. And I personally think that, yes, maybe the imagery and the creative around it wasn't really speaking to me, but she got out in front on social where it really counts and said, this is why it has shea butter in it. I already knew you were going to say that. And here's why. And then here's my skin journey. Here's my skin in 20, like green screen, March 2021.

22:17Alix Earle:She did a timeline. Yeah.

22:19Gisele:Trying to explain when she got off her meds. Yeah. But again, it was a bit like me think thou dose per test too much. It's like she was ready with that. The receipts. She knew that they were going to ask because, yeah, they're going to ask. Yeah. I just think it's not a strong way to come out when you're backed into a corner. Right. That's not the best way to come out. having said that, as you said, the numbers don't lie. Yeah. And that is why these celebrity brands will persist because you guys are out there buying them.

22:51Alix Earle:Yeah.

22:51Gisele:Or her fans are.

22:52Alix Earle:Yeah. In my opinion. She's a business person.

22:54Jo Malone:She's like Kim Kardashian-esque, right? Yeah. Dancing with the Stars. They have their own show coming out. I would love to have her on the show. I've talked about her for years. Okay. Well, then I take back everything

23:04Gisele:that I said and you're welcome.

23:06Jo Malone:I think you could say it. That's the thing about her is I truly do think she... can handle herself. And she would sit right here and tell you that. Right. And I think that that is the new age of these Gen Z influencers where the knee jerk reaction of a millennial or Gen X, let's let it die down. Not going to talk about it. Yeah. Right. We've seen that on our show. People don't want to touch it if like maybe the launch didn't go so well. And then, you know, the lipstick lesbians as well. We talked a little bit about the launch on our show. And I just can't believe how this has been so fumbled since we initially talked about it.

23:45Jo Malone:They're actively real time changing on their website, what the products do, what they're about. No, you do pay. No, you don't. Whatever. So it has been, I think, a lot of lessons learned probably for them on their rollout and including they launched a brand and they went to Korea on a press trip and they weren't really like boots on the ground. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

24:08Alix Earle:And they had this reaction video. They took it down. Well, if you want to hear the original, we will link to our episode where we talk about that so you can have the backstory.

24:18Gisele:If you love this episode and you want more of these point of view episodes where we get a little bit spicy, we bring you up to date, please let us know. Let's keep it going, you know? Let's do it.

24:31Jo Malone:Okay. Well, thank you everyone for tuning in and we will see you next week. Be sure to tune in and every single thing that we mentioned today, we will link to on our website, which is breakingbeautypodcast.com. See you next week.

24:46Alix Earle:Thanks for listening. You can find details on every product mentioned in today's episode, along with our exclusive promo codes on our blog at breakingbeautypodcast.com.

24:55Jo Malone:While you're there, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

24:58Alix Earle:Every episode will be delivered directly to your inbox so you won't miss a single thing. And get social with us. Let us know what you think of the episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Breaking Beauty Podcast. And did you know we also have a private Facebook group? Just search Breaking Beauty Podcast chat room. You can even leave us a voicemail at any time with questions or feedback at 1-844-227-0302. And don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast fix.

25:25Jo Malone:Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts, where you can show us some love by writing a review.

25:32Alix Earle:See you next Wednesday.

25:50Alix Earle:Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.