First off, I want to thank Fawnia, who’s on vacation this week, for holding things down here. I’ve had a lot of middle-aged chaos lately! My oldest kid just got his first big-boy job post-college and is moving to a different city. I underestimated both the logistics and the emotional toll — it is A Lot. (Experienced empty nest parents — how long were you sad??) A reminder we are taking the last two weeks of August off, but we’ll still send out our bonus issue next week.

This week, instead of a larger story, I decided to take on some Gen X-focused newsy beauty bits that require more discussion than our usual “You Oughta Know” link roundup. So please enjoy me snarking about male celebs launching beauty brands and ruminating about hair stuff. Then, in news, Keanu’s weird new thing, a sad goodbye, and Road House.

Per usual, you may need to read the entire newsletter in your browser.

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Celebrity Skin

By Cheryl

Photos: Instagram; Art: Fawnia

What Are We Doing Here, Guys?

It’s been a confusing month in celebrity beauty announcements, almost all of them involving men.

First up, Brad Pitt, fresh off a publicity tour for his latest movie, F1, announced that his skincare line, Beau Domaine, will be refreshing its packaging to be more eco-friendly, with lighter glass bottles and oak caps.

Oh, sorry to bury the lede there: yep, Pitt has a beauty brand, launched in 2022 in conjunction with the family that helped run the vineyard in France that he owned with Angelina Jolie. It’s made with some of the leftovers of the wine-making process, which are reportedly loaded with antioxidants.

There was much head scratching when it debuted, because he is no Pharrell or Jared Leto, both of whom are known for their almost vampiric ability to age in reverse. (Both of them also launched skincare lines, but Leto’s imploded in spectacular fashion in less than a year, after a falling out with his co-founder. Pharrell’s, called Humanrace, is super cool-looking but I have no idea how it’s doing.)

Of note, Beau Domaine’s prices were $310 to $385 at launch, but the brand has since dropped the prices to less than $150. While one could argue that all celebrity brands, and, indeed, all beauty brands generally, are cash grabs, this one seems egregiously so. It definitely seems like Pitt’s using all the good publicity he has accrued with F1 to remind the world that he has a skincare brand (while the media has generally ignored Angelina Jolie’s 2016 allegations that he was violent with her and his children), in the guise of touting his eco-friendly bona fides.

For actually good wine-adjacent skincare, I’d rather support Caudalie. I have a mini bottle of its cult favorite Beauty Elixir in my fridge as we speak. Perfect for a summer face refresh.

Moving on to another questionable skincare launch. Jesse Metcalfe, arguably best known for his role as the shirtless lawn boy on “Desperate Housewives,” (OK, fine and John Tucker Must Die) very much still leans into that persona. In June, he launched a “gender neutral” brand called NUTRL Skin. The 46-year-old says he was inspired by his teenage fight with acne and also by how many people are always asking him how he’s so young and good-looking still. (I’m paraphrasing.)

It’s a small range, offering a cleanser, serums, and a moisturizer for $60 to $90. For a so-called gender neutral line, the brand’s Instagram is almost entirely young women, except for some beefcake shots featuring Metcalfe himself, like this:

nutrlskin A post shared by @nutrlskin

I’m mostly just really offended that in the video he is applying all that skincare right on top of his chlorine-y, pool-water face without proper cleansing first.

I have some makeup news, too. Billy Porter announced an inclusive beauty line called Black Mona Lisa Beauty. The range features serums, lipsticks, and some glittery products, with nothing over $50. Now this one makes a ton of sense to me. His many fabulous red carpet personas feature a lot of creativity, including makeup.

blackmonalisabeauty A post shared by @blackmonalisabeauty

“It’s been a lot of the work that I’ve done where I have really been exploring how I present myself beauty-wise to the public, and it’s been really magical,” Porter told WWD.

Guy Fieri, on the other hand?

Fieri partnered with Revlon to drop a limited edition tinted lip balm inspired by chicken wings, called, of course, Flavortown. This happened because apparently National Lipstick Day and National Chicken Wing Day overlapped this year. Not to be pedantic here, but lip balm is really different from lipstick. Let’s not adulterate our fake marketing holidays.

Over on Reddit, someone who bought it said, …“it’s just a regular white tube of lip balm” that comes with small stickers to decorate it. “Does it taste like hair bleach and sweat?” someone else asked. It’s not even flavored or scented! If you’re going to do a gimmicky product, please go all the way with it.

revlon A post shared by @revlon

Food and beauty collaborations are everywhere lately: Chipotle and Wonderskin launched “Lipotle” and Dunkin’ has made donut-scented deodorant with Native and lip balms with Tarte. I mean, it’s a tale as old as Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers.

Anyway. There are too many beauty products in the world.

Neutrogena, I Was Not Familiar With Your Game

I haven’t purchased Neutrogena for anything other than sunscreen in decades probably. When my sons were going through acne treatment, we became a CeraVe household. So I was tickled to see the brand leaning into an elder millennial and Gen X audience, just like a bunch of other brands are now. I missed Neutrogena when I wrote my report on how the beauty industry has been courting us:

A few months ago, Neutrogena started running ads featuring scenes from “Beverly Hills, 90210” and saying “if you remember” moments from the show, it’s time to start using their retinol products.

neutrogena A post shared by @neutrogena

Bethenny Frankel, a Gen X former “Real Housewife” who has become a beauty influencer on TikTok and is popular with millennials who love the OG “Housewife” franchise, pops up on the brand’s feed. Jennifer Garner has been a longtime paid rep for the brand, too, and has posted some ‘90s content.

jennifer.garner A post shared by @jennifer.garner

A publicist recently sent out a pitch (h/t Lesa from Starving for Beauty) from the brand that read, “The ‘90s are calling and they want more youthful-looking skin back! As Gen X enters their prime, their skincare needs are evolving along with expectations.” It was for Rapid Wrinkle Repair.

I like being wanted, even if you’re trying to make me feel bad about my wrinkles. If anyone uses Neutrogena, tell me what’s good that I should try.

Some Gen X Celebrity Beauty Brands Are Dying

Speaking of celebrity beauty brands, there are a few Gen X-founded lines that seem to be heading to extinction.

Back in September, Puck reported that Gwen Stefani’s beauty brand, GXVE, was hella kaput, laying off a chunk of the staff. (That’s pronounced like “give,” but I like to call it “GIX-vee” in my head to make myself laugh.) Since then, it had apparently posted pre-scheduled posts on Instagram, promoting products even as customers in the comment section said they were unable to buy them. The brand hasn’t posted since May. There are a few products left on Sephora marked down 50%. Stefani has not said a word about the brand, but has been actively promoting her LAMB line of glasses.

Then there’s Drew Barrymore’s Flower Beauty, previously sold at Walmart. I liked this brand and thought it punched above its weight. Flower hasn’t posted since December. Its website directs you to a store locator, which does not work. Another link leads to Ulta, where there is a mishmash of products left, all on sale. On Walmart, there are a few products available, but they’re sold by third-party sellers.

Barrymore’s housewares brand, Beautiful by Drew Barrymore, seems to still be active. I once bought a frozen drink maker from the brand on a whim because I wanted to make frozen margaritas, and it exceeded my expectations.

Why don’t these celebs, or the companies they’ve partnered with to launch this stuff, just announce that they’re closing? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Please stop leaving your beauty litter all over the internet.

The Rachel vs. The Cunty Little Bob

Moving on to a few celebrity hair things. I mentioned in a newsletter a few weeks ago that Chris McMillan, the beloved hairdresser who gave Jennifer Aniston “The Rachel” and Leslie Bibb her “cunty little bob” for “The White Lotus,” is launching a line of hair products. As I have also written, Aniston herself has her own hair care brand, LolaVie. (It’s good and smells fantastic! I really like the leave-in.)

The two were previously in the hair care business together when they were promoting Living Proof in the 2010s. McMillan will sell his products at Sephora; LolaVie is at Ulta. They are still very close and she doesn’t seem to let anyone else touch her hair. So I’m wondering how this is going to work. Will he use his products on her publicly? He often posts his clients on his social media. Maybe he will use both brands on her head.

jenniferaniston A post shared by @jenniferaniston

I’m imagining tension here that probably doesn’t even exist!

Gray Hair, DO Care

One final celebrity hair thought. I have not been able to stop thinking about this post from author and friend of WNVM, Kirthana Ramisetti. She has been ruminating about when/if to let her hair go gray, something I also think about a lot, especially in the days after I spend hundreds of dollars to blonde myself into oblivion. I’m currently reporting a larger story about gray hair, but I wanted to talk about this now and get your thoughts, if you have any.

Ramisetti mentioned a recent story in The Cut focusing on Salma Hayek’s “salt and pepper” hair. It starts with the sentence, “Salma Hayek is all the proof I need that we shouldn’t fear going gray.”

salmahayek A post shared by @salmahayek

Hayek has about four total visible gray hairs on her head in the included pictures. Some of the commenters at The Cut noted this also. And to be clear, she always looks fantastic! But if this is what passes for a younger writer’s perception of “having gray hair,” we have more work to do as a society. (I mean, duh.) At least she didn’t write that Hayek was so brave for stepping out with those errant gray hairs.

We are two Gen X journalists who celebrate people of our generation doing cool things, as well as analyze all the ’80s and ’90s nostalgia in current pop culture, fashion, and beauty. Read more stories like this one here!

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You Oughta Know

More celeb beauty junk: Martha Stewart launched a skincare brand called Elm Biosciences that includes supplements. Meh. -CW [Martha Stewart Instagram]

I’ve been a fan of Sarita Choudhury since 1991, when she starred opposite Denzel Washington in Mira Nair ’s Mississippi Masala. So interviewing her ahead of what’s now the series finale of “And Just Like That” was a life dream. We talked about that “Bette Davis Eyes” karaoke “rom-com” moment, and, yes, I had to ask her if she watched “The OC.” -FSH [Elle]

This is exactly right: Road House (starring Patrick Swayze) is the “best bad movie.” Every single time it’s on, I stop and watch it. -CW [NYT, gift link]