Today marks this site’s fifth birthday. To put that in context, five years ago, Instagram didn’t exist, same-sex marriage was only legal in seven states, Gigi Hadid was just a volleyball player in a little town called Malibu, and I was sitting on a beach in Norwalk, Connecticut, one late summer day, telling my parents and now-fiancé how I wanted to start a beauty blog. “But it will be more than a blog,” I said, “It’s really more of an online magazine idea. It won’t be about me, it will be all about other people—like, beauty made cool. Nothing like this exists. I wish it would.” I was right about two things: that nothing like it existed, and that it would be more than a blog.
When I think of Into The Gloss today, I think about a community. There was a third thing that went through my head way back when—a real worry—and that was, “I wonder if anyone else will care about this.” My hunch was, yes, surely someone else will want to see beauty the way I see it—through people, through style; unbridled and smart and honest and sexy and cool and fun. Into The Gloss is buoyed by the people on it, the people who read it and discuss it, and the people who work on it. Together, we form what I think has started a small but mighty movement toward taking ownership of your beauty routine, making your own informed decisions about how you want to look and feel, and being proud of who you are every day.
For some, Into The Gloss is just a blog, and that’s cool. For us, it’s the connective tissue between us and you, and that has paved the way for the creation of a very different kind of beauty brand: Glossier. The impulse for Glossier was not dissimilar to that original itch for ITG, and I’ve never had a perfect answer pointing to one ah-ha moment. “I don’t know,” I usually say. “I just feel like there’s such a disconnect between some of these brands and me. I use the stuff, but would I wear the sweatshirt?”
Products are a way to connect with, or disconnect from, who you are. And I believe we’re entering a time when women are open to authenticity—who they are, and want to be, in real life—like never before. Now more than ever, people are striving to develop their own unique identities, go on their own journey, and talk about it. That’s at the heart of what we’ve always tried to do, and will continue to do. I want not just the products, but the product company, that celebrates this. And so we’re making that company.
What was once me in my apartment with a cat and spotty wifi is now me and one united team of 38, covering three floors of a Soho office building (with spotty wifi). We have, on this fine September day in 2015, exactly one photographer, two interns who got promoted to full-time hires, a former competitive figure skater in Marketing, an amateur astrologer in Creative, weekly happy hours where we eat Domino’s pizza, product-naming group chats, conference rooms called Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Madonna, dogs named Marni, Buttermilk Biscuit, and Quincy, all here at Glossier, of which Into The Gloss is now the editorial heartbeat of.
Coming up, between Fashion Week coverage and several grab-a-cup-of-coffee-and-get-settled-down Top Shelves, we’ll be introducing you all to not just our editors—here’s looking at you, Annie, Ferber, Claire, Tom—but our whole team and process, because I’m inspired every damn day by what someone’s wearing, doing, saying or making at our company, and we want you to be involved now more than ever.
Glossier—our content, our products—it’s for all for you; it’s ours. And we hope you’ll continue to inspire us every day: in the comments section, on Instagram, on Snapchat, on the subway, everywhere. The beauty of this beauty company is that it will be the first to be built together. Thank you for caring and for being part of the journey.
XOXO,
Emily
