Skip to main content

‘Outta the Gloss’ movement is taking the shine out of Glossier

Popular millennial makeup brand Glossier was born on Instagram and Facebook, using the power of social networking to win over a young, image-obsessed crowd. Social media may also prove its downfall.

Over the weekend a new Instagram account called “Outta the Gloss” sprang up, alleging abuses and discrimination. Perhaps the red lips and effortless dewy skin were too good to be true?

Recommended Videos

The account, called “Outta the Gloss,” says it is a collective of former Glossier retail employees, who have come forward saying they were misled by the brand’s public emphasis on progressivism and human connection. They instead allege that they had experienced abuse and racial discrimination both from customers and from Glossier during their time working there.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

On August 13, in several lengthy statements posted both on Instagram and an accompanying Medium blog, anonymous former retail workers told stories of feeling overworked because of understaffing, working in unsanitary and hostile conditions — including allegations of unsanitary working conditions in NYC buildings — as well as an unresponsive HR system.

The employees also alleged that while most of the retail workers were people of color and/or LGBTQIA+, the upper management of the company was comprised overwhelmingly of white women.

The Outta the Gloss account took off when it was launched, garnering more than 6,000 followers and tens of thousands of likes and comments in a mere three days.

The movement seems to have been in the works for some time. Staff been furloughed in May and then laid off at the beginning of August, according to Women’s Wear Daily, but a note on the account indicates that this action had been planned since before those layoffs occurred.

The name of the anonymous account is a play on the blog that Glossier founder Emily Weiss launched in 2010, which was called “Into the Gloss.” Weiss eventually parlayed that huge following into the makeup and social media juggernaut now known as Glossier.

Glossier officially launched in October of 2014 as a direct-to-consumer brand, with the tagline “democratize beauty.” Through the savvy use of social media and careful deployment of millennial pink-branded products, the company garnered huge attention and competed with giant legacy brands like Estée Lauder and Revlon.

The social media appeal of Glossier was baked in from the start: The makeup wasn’t heavy-handed or advertised as something that would completely transform your face.

The messaging of the site — which told customers that they’re great the way they are, maybe just put a little lip gloss on — grew a cult following. In March 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal and Forbes, Glossier was valued at $1.2 billion. Its growth, previously fueled solely by the internet, included the launch of several pop-up stores and two permanent brick-and-mortar retail locations in New York and Los Angeles. It was at these retail locations that workers alleged they began to experience problems.

But now, the company is fending off the accusations as they spread on the very social media platforms it previously leveraged for its success.

Weiss herself has responded quickly, first on a blog on its website, and then the brand responded on its own Instagram, which still boasts 2.8 million followers. On Instagram, the company issued an apology, and detailed an action plan that was the result of “many hours of Zoom meetings.” It included instituting new metrics for performance evaluations, having on-site human resources, and regular corporate anti-racism training.

Glossier did not respond to a request for comment, and Outta the Gloss told Digital Trends its members were not able to speak yet, but in another post on the Instagram account, the collective said that while it appreciates the apology, “this is only a first step.”

Maya Shwayder
I'm a multimedia journalist currently based in New England. I previously worked for DW News/Deutsche Welle as an anchor and…
Google has some ‘good ideas’ for putting ads in Gemini
Gemini Advanced on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google is exploring adding ads to Gemini AI. CEO Sundar Pichai floated the idea in an earnings call but did not mention a specific date, according to The Verge. He also noted that the company has "very good ideas" about how it could appear in the future.

This year's focus remains on enhancing user experience features and broadening subscription offerings. Pichai noted that advertising has been essential in scaling other Google services, such as YouTube, possibly hinting that ads will eventually come to Gemini. However, Pichai did not mention how Google plans to integrate ads into Gemini when they appear in the AI. He also said they are committed to making the products work and delivering them to a vast audience.

Read more
iPhone 7 owners are getting $200 in class action lawsuit, and here’s how you can track yours
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Settlement payout from the iPhone 7 class action lawsuit against Apple are starting to roll out. Those who participated in the class action lawsuit have started to receive payments, with amounts varying based on whether you spent any money on repairing the iPhone 7 or the iPhone 7 Plus.

Some of the co-applicants in the lawsuit have started to receive around $200 as part payment from the $35 million settlement, 9to5Mac reported. While the payout is less than the maximum of $350 initially approved by the court, it should still feel satisfactory to the appellants.

Read more
The EU is cracking down on labels in Windows 11’s Start menu
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

To align with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), Microsoft is updating Windows 11's Start Menu Search, but only for users in the European Economic Area, as Tech Radar reports. The software giant is introducing more transparent labels to distinguish between web search results and local ones. This move is part of broader changes that let users uninstall Edge and turn off Bing integration, reinforcing transparency and user choice.

The changes are in a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build, build 27764. Notably, X user @alex290292 shared a screenshot that shows the new Start menu user interface with the "Windows" and "Web search from Bing" sections. These changes are great news since they give users more control over Windows 11. Specifically, the modifications include adding custom web search providers to Windows Search, letting users remove the Edge browser, and turning off Bing web search.

Read more