The “$6 Secret,” Butter Girl Fall, Dupe Truths and More Viral-Beauty Trend Insights With NYX Professional Makeup Global President, Denée Pearson

0:00The following podcast is a dear media production.

0:07Welcome to Breaking Beauty, the podcast all about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins.

0:20Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Breaking Beauty for a very special episode in your feeds this Friday. Hello, Jill. Hey there, Carlene. Hey, everyone. I hope that you're enjoying the sniff, sniff last weekend of summer. How dare, Jill? How dare you bring that up? I don't care. I'll say it. I'm ready for fall. I need my fall clothes. I need layers. I just can't look at my summer clothes anymore. I'm done. Yeah. Time to transition into my Birkenstock Bostons and all the new beauty launches. Don't forget. Yes. Heck yeah. So if you're new around here, welcome. We are two longtime beauty editors turned beauty podcasters.

0:57and every week we're chatting about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. Although this week we have two episodes in your feed. And today's uninterrupted bonus episode is brought to you in partnership with our friends at NYX Professional Cosmetics. They're actually celebrating a huge milestone this year, 25 years of glam. We're chatting with Danae Pearson, global brand president of NYX Cosmetics. And I would say she's not like other brand presidents. She's a cool brand president. You know what I mean? Absolutely. She's been working on NYX for about five years now, having worked her way up from an intern at Lancome, followed by Maybelline.

1:38And under her leadership at NYX, she's like a viral product whisperer, having developed TikTok famous products like Shine Loud, High Shine Lip Color, Fat Oil Lip Drip, and Brow Glue, all during her tenure. And the brand, it's just on fire. I mean, I was reading Women's Wear Daily last week, their Beauty Inc publication that comes out. And they said that NYX is the third ranked beauty brand by earned media value. So that basically means like editorial mentions and how much is just out there in the public and in the community. It's like unpaid, unsponsored content, how much we're talking about them.

2:12And it says that they've earned$460 million, so almost half a billion dollars in earned media value, which is like incredible. Everyone's just a certified yapper when it comes to NYX. They can't shut up about it. And NYX has increased its Instagram impressions by 24%, TikTok by 80%, YouTube by 27%. So just in this type of climate, any growth like that is just kind of off the charts. Yeah, they're winning. I mean, they're winning. And it's no wonder that NYX is the number one gloss brand in the US. And a while back, we had NYX's founder, Tony Ko, on the podcast. We're going to link to that episode in our show notes and on our website, if you want to go back and learn about how the brand came to be.

2:55But one of the things that I think is so incredible about NYX is how they're keeping the flames alive. Jill, you and I have talked a lot about once a brand founder leaves, sometimes it's like the brand loses its soul and they become kind of, yeah, just kind of lost and irrelevant. And it's like the opposite has happened with NYX. As you say, they're absolutely on fire. And I think a lot of that is thanks in huge part to Danae, who we're speaking with today. So in today's episode, Danae is going to share what it takes to create a viral moment, whether that's Cardi B at the Super Bowl or the sneak peek that she gives us about the Knicks and Beetlejuice collaboration.

3:37That's a big part of Danae's tenure as well, this sort of beauty entertainment. So I was really excited to kind of get the inside scoop on what's dropping. that's actually coming out next week, everybody. We find out what Danae thinks of dupe culture and she shares the number one product that we all need in our makeup bags this fall. And stay tuned to the end to find out the secret weapon beauty product that she's no longer gatekeeping and the number one NYX product that she believes will still be alive and well when we're talking about NYX on its 50th anniversary. Yeah, that's right. And this is the best part, everybody.

4:10We've partnered with NYX for today's episode. So for a limited time, NYX Cosmetics is generously offering an exclusive 30 % discount for all of our listeners at NYXCOSMETICS.COM with code BEAUTY30. That might be one of the best promos we've done yet, Jill. I'm so here for this. So once again, you can visit NYXCOSMETICS.COM, that's spelled N-Y-X COSMETICS.COM to save 30 % at checkout with our exclusive promo code BEAUTY30. And note that this offer will exclude any newer sale items on the site during the time of promos. So, you know, it's a perfect time to stock up on your NYX tried and true staples or anything new that you wanted to try.

4:49Some exclusions apply. And this is a special offer that cannot be stacked with other promotions. The code will expire on September 30th. So, I mean, why not get shopping straight from this episode? Denae dropped so many golden nuggets on fan favorites that I personally want to try after our chat. I'm sure you'll feel the same way too. You can always follow at NYX Cosmetics on social media for more info on the brand and their latest offerings. Welcome to Breaking Beauty, Janae.

5:22Bretman to Earth, Earth to Bretman. Girl, you already know who it is. It is I, singer, songwriter, actor, actress, athlete, activist, and your newest favorite podcast host. I welcome you to the Baddest Radio, hosted by yours truly, me, Bretman Rock. Duh. Here, I'll be talking Talking about everything from funny personal stories to raw and unfiltered conversations. I'll be showing you how to live your best life unapologetically. Catch me on here every fourth day of the week, which are Thursdays, if you didn't know. You already know where to find a bad bitch. Don't forget to follow, rate, and like.

5:59You can follow me at BretmanRock on everything. And follow the podcast at TheBaddestRadio on all social media. Except for X. Because who the hell uses X? Like.

6:18Welcome to Breaking Beauty Podcast, Danae. For our audience who may not be familiar with your journey, your career, you started as an intern at L 'Oreal. Is that right? Yes. Yes. So it's been a full rags to riches story. Was a business major at Rutgers University. So shout out to New Jersey. And so I spent my summer as an intern, actually with Lancome, which is in our luxury division of L 'Oreal. And I was planning makeup artist events at the local Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom's with the teams. And these events are where, you know, you see women from all over and they're coming to learn how to perfect their makeup, skincare routines.

7:00and at the time, Lancôme had this national makeup artist. His name was Ross Burton. He was... I met him. Yeah. He was quite the man. And anyone who met him loved him. You know that. And he'd come in with such charisma and really just help women look their best. And, you know, they'd leave there with so much confidence. And, you know, you would actually see people who would be in tears because of what was created and what they've learned. And it was really where I fell in love with beauty because I never thought I would be in beauty until I experienced that. I was like, wow, this really has impact.

7:38And under your leadership, Danae, I feel like, you know, NYX has evolved into this beauty entertainment brand. So there was a Super Bowl commercial featuring Cardi B, and that's to launch the very cheekily named the Duck Plump High Shine Lip Gloss. Yes. And in recent years, you've also had partnerships with Barbie the movie, Disney's Avatar, a Netflix series, and most recently, Chef Gordon Ramsay. So tell us tell us about like what's behind this strategy. I think for us, we always want to keep our community on their toes. There's a joy at NYX that I have to say. And, you know, we enjoy bringing goodness, making people laugh, you know, making you feel good when you touch our products and see our campaigns.

8:23specifically to Gordon Ramsay. We just launched this product called Buttermelt Blush. And you can imagine it's silky smooth blush. It glides on the butter. So it has like all of that blendability and softness to it. And that's why the name Buttermelt. And so it was funny because with the team, we were thinking of someone came up with it and it was what is a better crossover with buttermilk and baking and beauty. Yeah. And the team came up with partnering with Gordon Ramsay. And it's been quite hilarious with, you know, how everyone has reacted to it. It's like, this is a collab we didn't know we needed.

9:03Yeah. Heck yeah. Because it's a choice. It's a choice to go for Gordon Ramsay and not Ina Garten. You know what I mean? Right, right. Like, it's definitely a choice. And I need to know, what was it like to work with Cardi B? because I feel like she just was hamming that up. She had the most fun with it, seemingly. And it was like her first ever beauty campaign, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. Which is crazy to think. Yeah, she's, Cardi is gorgeous and she's hilarious. And for us, it was like the perfect partnership because NYX is the brand of entertainment and she is the ultimate entertainer. And of course, talented, no question.

9:39And really like the NYX brand is so bold and we pride ourselves on being our authentic selves. And that's exactly who she is. You know, she really stands. She stands on business. This is my violin coming out of me. She stands on business and what she believes in. And so for us, it was natural. You know, she's a full glamour queen. You know, she's makeup obsessed like us. Her looks are always inspiring. And even bigger than that, she's been a longtime user of NYX. And she always talks about how before she came into the spotlight, you know, she was going into the drug stores in New York. And, you know, she, Nix was the brand that had accessibility and like that had affordable products and the right level of shades.

10:26And so, you know, there it it it made sense and it was authentic. And it was like it was a dream come true because I'm a personal fan of her. there's a sneak peek that dropped on Nix's Instagram about the next big movie franchise that you're partnering with. I understand it's going to be Beetlejuice. Yeah. What can you tell us? Yes. We just announced today Beetlejuice the movie. I think we've all loved Beetlejuice. Like it is just a cultural icon. I personally have dressed in costume three, three off my Halloween. Wow. I love the stripes. And I think, you know, just the fantasy of what Beetlejuice brings in terms of makeup artistry, you know, that world that Tim Burton has created is magical.

11:15So you'll see like our Bob sponge. Yeah. Yes. It's so funny. It's like Brat Green, by the way. You couldn't have timed that better. Yeah. You'll see things like that. And, you know, we brought to life the afterlife. There was a product called Juice Gloss that we had launched. It was limited edition, but everyone loved it. And so we brought it back from the dead, you know. So it's very thoughtful in what is the story and what are the characters and then how can we bring that to makeup? And the names too. I was just reading them. It was like the dead, cold, reusable under eye patches because they're actually like clear, but they say, do they say Nix on them or Beetlejuice or what do they say?

11:56They have beetles on them. Okay, they beetles. Oh, cute. I can see this. I mean, this is the thing with NYX is like I can see this coming to life on TikTok already with people doing their Beetlejuice looks and, you know, using the NYX products. I mean, that's really the genius behind NYX right now. What's the secret sauce, in your opinion, to crafting these viral moments, these viral campaigns that actually pop off? Because let's be honest, we've all seen big swings that maybe don't land so well. So what what is the secret sauce to creating a viral product, a viral moment? Yeah, it's true. You know, I think that these types of flops happen when you partner with brands or partners that don't align with you.

12:40Yeah. Our first evaluation is we always ask ourselves, you know, what does Nick stand for and what do our partners stand for? We have a lot of people at the table. That's one of the things about Nick's. It's not a one person decision. It's really we have different creatives and different experts and we sit and we debate these things. The second thing is that when we say, OK, you know, this partner is very aligned with who we are and what we stand for. It's that going, as I was saying, into the story of what they've created and then how can bring that to life. It's never just putting a logo on a product.

13:18I think that is like our number. If we don't have the time to do it right, we will pass on the partnership because that's the worst thing that you can do is take an old product and then just stamp your logo on it. So we always make sure that our storytelling comes through in this authentic way. We go deep in our messaging and we like to embody the story. Like if I were to take, for example, we partnered with Barbie the movie last year and we were sitting around the table and it was it was actually I love this moment because we've all had grown up with Barbie in our lives at some point. And, you know, depending on what generation you are, it affected us differently.

13:55But one of the things that everyone talked about was that Barbie flip phone. And so we talked about, OK, this was like always, you know, the staple of your Barbie products. What is your staple in your makeup bag? And it was like, oh, having a mirror, you know, to your makeup. And so created the flip, the Barbie flip phone mirror, Barbie the movie. And that was it completely sold out after two days. It was the hit. Wow. It was being resold for crazy amounts. That's so fun. Wow. Just because it was bringing that nostalgia and then combining it with things that are so important in makeup. And you created two shades of the lip, right?

14:42Yeah. So I think for me, one of the key values of NYX is walking the talk on diversity. And with Barbie, as we know, they have the iconic, Barbie pink, right? It's 219C Pantone. Oh, she's got an encyclopedic knowledge. That's what I call that Pantone. Watching Barbie movie, it was like that Pantone was plastered everywhere. It's true. Yeah. But what we all know in makeup is that, you know, a pink on me will show up very differently than you, Jill and Carly. And so for us, it was how do we develop a color that can work that once I put it on and once you put it on, we're seeing the same iconic Barbie pink.

15:31Yeah. We made sure we ended up launching two lip colors that way because we wanted to make sure that everyone could wear the Barbie pink. And when we went into campaign, there were 14 Barbies and Kens, all different sizes, races, ethnicities, wearing that pink that looked the same no matter what your skin tone was. I love that. Yeah. That for us was like an important moment. Where does your product innovation inspiration come from these days? My roots are in product development. I love being in it. It's one of those things that, you know, you just have a passion and you can't let it go. Like I am the first person in the lab taking a selfie with my goggles and my laptop.

16:17It's my happy place. I think product and smell, it comes from everywhere. You know, I also, you know, I live on TikTok. I spend a lot of time with makeup artists, just like picking their brains, you know, as we're shooting campaigns and things like that. It's really interesting to hear them and then take that back to, you know, our R &I teams, to our product development teams and create together. I'm really obsessed with influencer hacks or makeup artist hacks. And like, how do we actually bring what people are hacking into our products? It's small things to big things. For example, we have, you know, a product called Jumbo.

17:00Shout out to Tony Co. That was, it's one of our products that has been around for 20 plus years. And everyone, you know, there's matte and there's shimmer shades. And with the shimmer shades, what we were finding was the hack people were using it as highlighters on their cheek, etc. But it was an eye formula, so it's not as blendable. So, for example, we took that hack and we launched jumbo highlighters because, you know, you wanted blendable shimmering shades on the cheeks. And that seemed easy to use format in a stick. And so we launched it and it was a huge hit. And people were like, oh, you listen to us, you know.

17:36So done things like there's been hacks where some of our community was using their brow products as eyeliners because the browns are softer and we're moving out of these harsh lines. Oh, you know, it's essentially different shades of browns that people wanted to use. It's more natural. And so we just launched Epic Ink S'mores. it's five different sheets of nudes from like very light to very deep and depending on the intensity of your liner you have it there but all of these coming from from hacks and and taking those hacks a lot and creating i love that i hope there's many other brand founders who are listening and learning from dene right now because these are incredible insights so i'm going to go even a little further how do you create a product that's destined to go viral tell us how all your secrets by not thinking too hard about it becoming viral that's that's the number one thing I find all the products then you're like we have to make a viral product and then they launch it and everyone's like nothing you're trying too hard no I think reality comes through insights always so it's it's really listening like when I tell you we spend so much time on TikTok it it's true because you start hearing what people are having conversations about, what's in trend, what's in their makeup bag.

18:59You also hear what they don't like. And answering the insights instantly when it launches, the community is very excited about it. So I think like first and foremost, it's what's being said in makeup. What do you need? What are they talking about? What are their answers today? Not just like what's it, you know, what's in your graphs and your Excel sheets. It's like really understanding that part. Yeah. And second piece is, you know, understanding what, you know, your point of view is, what the next point of view is. And then disrupting, finding crazy memes, finding crazy ways to bring it to life.

19:39making sure that the palette of shades is really wide and like, you know, throwing in a surprising lilac in a powder that you're like, where did that lilac come? Oh, this lilac is going to brighten this type of skin tone, you know, being able to take people to the next level of what they're asking for, but then bringing our expertise and giving them a little bit more and having a little bit of a surprise with it. Yeah, very cool. I love that answer. I think, you know as you were speaking I was thinking about how it must be so important for a brand like yours to also hear criticism from content creators who you respect about products that they don't like or what you know what they don't like about it and it doesn't even just have to be criticism of the brand it could be criticism of makeup products in general yeah yeah right we had launched the OG of the original story of fat oil, for example, came from a lot of complaints where people were over liquid lip color and just how dry it was.

20:48There was this need for care on the lips and oils were, you could see that trending and you saw the criticism of dryness of other lip colors. And so fat oil was built off of that, of switching it up. We've had a lot of liquid lip colors. And so it was time to offer something to those that were looking for much more care and shine in their cup bags. And it was immediately, I mean, of course, the name plays apart the way that we bring life and formula and the storytelling, no question. But it was off of the insight of, okay, here's the shift that's happening and we need to share with the right products.

21:26So hearing what was going on helped us to create the right offer. Yeah. Swinging that pendulum, just like in fashion, right? Yeah. And you kind of touched on this already. The makeup artistry is like baked into the product and to each and every innovation. So for like novice people to use it, or if you're like a real makeup junkie, you're going to be impressed with the performance. So how do you achieve that level of product performance and make it accessible to everybody? Because it's kind of tricky to do. Our most important part of the product is the formula. We never compromise on quality and we use the highest level of vegan and cruelty ingredients in our formula.

22:07And that is the place where it is protected at all costs. And this is where you get high quality makeup at next, because that formula is key. Yeah. Where we're able to make it accessible is through our packaging. You know, we keep it fun, but we We also keep it simple. It doesn't have, you know, the frills of the gold and the foils and things like that. You may have it other brands. So that's where we cut back. But in our formula, we guarantee to have the best shades, the best colors, the best textures. And that's always protected while simplifying in the packaging. Smart. Yeah. And I wanted to just circle back.

22:48You were talking about being really responsive to, you know, kind of like your audience, really, like the generation TikTok. How do you toe the line on keeping the products and the campaigns timely to what's happening, whether it's, you know, bratty summer or being demure and mindful when, you know, traditionally you would be creating products like two years out? Has that just completely shrunk the timeline or how do you manage that? Next, we definitely work fast. We're in a much shorter timeline than most brands. But it's true that, you know, when Demure is happening, how do you say that? And what's fortunate is that we have a lot of Demure.

23:32They're in mind. They're in mind for products in our portfolio. And so that's where we, through content, we tell that story. Right. You know, it's the combination of being able to be a part of the conversation and being relevant there and and creating and then of course when we see like full trends of behaviors that are happening that's when we develop products like talked about earlier for that so yeah it's like when brat was happening we have brat oil you know we were ready for it not the same green by the way so we're what's the pantone on that green tonight

24:15I love that. It's brilliant. And, you know, we know that TikTok has made so many NYX products go viral. If I'm not mistaken, I think NYX Cosmetics was one of the first beauty brands on TikTok. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And so it's made so many products sell out, including my personal favorite, which is the NYX Thicket, Stick It, Brown Mascara. I buy it. I love it. I've gotten so many people onto it. But with the advent of TikTok shop, how are you noticing consumer habits changing? Because people can like discover and shop in all in one place now. So what are the pros and cons of shopping on social media, in your opinion?

24:52Yeah, I think now, you know, makeup has become a lifestyle because of that. It's instant gratification as you're, you know, as you're watching your entertainment or you're looking at your favorite celebrity, you know in the love island reunion what is she wearing and then you know you're you're deciding on oh i love her lip how do i get it and you can instantly go and purchase it i think that's the beauty of the technology so you know the pros are to have some to be able to have something immediately and have that impulse and have that convenience i think is what's amazing about things such as TikTok shop.

25:33And then also having things, your algorithm that's tailored to your interests and to you, you know, what your beauty product faves are. And so that you're able to see things that are catered to your needs and your interests, which I think is great. I think that the cons are, you know, I'm old school also, you know, I spent a lot of time behind the counter as well. I think the cons are that you lose the personalization of being, you know, in front of the product and being able to touch it and having, you know, a sales associate or a beauty advisor really talk to you and hear you out and customize.

26:13And so that's a lot of the things that we do with, for example, our technology is without having a beauty advisor physically there, how can we provide that service for you? because, you know, makeup is very personal. It's not only just your skin tone, it's your textures, you know, it's your skin type. It's the shape of the face that you want, you know, and the way that you want to adjust that. All of that plays a role in it. And so I think having that personal expertise is really important. And so that's, those are the things that we have to create in the social space and with tech innovations.