Makeup mavens Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson are eyeing a new category for expansion.
Under their brand Polite Society — their second act following their departure from Too Faced in 2022 — the duo are taking a stab at skin care, starting with a face mist. Called French Rose Milk, the mist will debut on the brand’s website and with Ulta Beauty on Dec. 21, retailing for $23 for 30 ml and $36 for 50 ml.
Blandino said that, given Polite Society’s 2023 launch with “immediate makeup transformation and long-term skin care solutions embedded into the products,” the extension was a natural one.
“There’s this whole glass skin makeup artistry [trend] and it takes so many products. It’s sticky, it’s complicated and it’s hard,” Blandino said before nodding to the product’s namesake ingredient, rose sourced from Provence. “I also love a face mist, so we put these two ideas together to create the French Rose Milk, which is a glazing mist powered by insanely active ingredients.
“It’s not cheap skin care, it’s not cheap actives, and this micro-mist gives you an instantly glazed, glossy skin. It’s a makeup effect, but with meaningful, plumping moisture that will improve your skin both immediately and over time,” Blandino continued.
The mist is meant to be buildable, meaning that a single mist provides a lower-wattage dewy finish and multiple layers gives “full glass skin,” Blandino said. He also thinks that makeup is re-entering its maximalist period and plans to cash in. “I think we’re moving from this no-makeup-makeup, clean girl aesthetic,” Blandino said. “I think we’re going from clean girl to wanting more dramatic results, and you’re going to see that in makeup.”
The brand’s ethos toward product development is resonating, particularly as it grows internationally. After launching in Mecca in Australia, Polite Society also expanded in tandem with Ulta to Mexico and the Middle East. “The people who grew up with me at Too Faced are there, and there’s a new generation coming behind them,” Blandino said, noting that while Polite Society mainly appeals to Millennials, Gen X and Gen Z are also showing interest.
Among the brand’s next launches are a bronzer serum with bursting beads of cacao for pigment, set to debut in 2026. “It’s plumping and moisturizing especially in the summer, when you want extra moisture and radiance,” Blandino said. “I’m actually working on a setting spray right now, which is a mist. It’s so complicated and so technical, which is not the fun part, but it’s necessary.”
