Hourglass Cosmetics
Founder Snapshot
Carisa Janes
Founder & CEO, Hourglass Cosmetics, Hourglass Cosmetics
Carisa Janes got her start in the early days of Urban Decay, helping build an iconic brand, and the first real makeup I ever owned. She studied at Parsons, and consulted for beauty brands for years, learning and understanding the beauty industry. The genesis of Hourglass was that she wanted to build a modern luxury color brand that didn’t smell too fragrant or old, and didn’t compromise on performance. She launched Hourglass in 2004. Hourglass brought something different: minimal, architectural packaging; groundbreaking formulas (the Veil Mineral Primer became a cult product almost immediately); and a commitment to cruelty-free ingredients when almost no prestige brand had done so before. In 2017, Unilever acquired Hourglass. I typically wouldn’t write about a Unilever brand because they have so many resources to grow brands, but Carisa stayed as CEO and she's still there. Under her leadership, the brand committed to going fully vegan by 2020 (it did), developed industry-first vegan alternatives to carmine (the pigment Red 0), which is another reason Hourglass is worth talking about.
Veil Mineral Primer
$56
The product that put Hourglass on the map, and it still hasn't been beat. This mineral-based primer blurs the look of pores and fine lines while creating the perfect base for any foundation. Oil-free, fragrance-free, and lightweight enough that it disappeared into skin before people even had a word for that. Wears all day. A perennial best-seller for over a decade.
Shop NowMy Take / Katie Galano, Female Founded
“Hourglass pigment looks and feels different. I don’t worry about smudging it or if I over-did it when I wear it.”
My first introduction to Hourglass was in my early 20s when I had a makeup loving roommate (hi Linds!). I had almost no experience with makeup outside of my Urban Decay Naked palette, and wanted to explore lips. At the time Sephora had these trial boxes with maybe 10 different lip colors from different brands. Hourglass was the only one I used. And it was a really deep sultry red, which was a pretty big jump from being a chapstick only girl for years.I still haven’t found a lip color that I feel as comfortable in as that red lipstick. The packaging is also amazing. I leave it out on my makeup tray, and not hidden in my makeup bag.
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