Glossier Review 2026: Cult Beauty Staples, Mid-Turnaround

Glossier turned a beauty blog into a billion-dollar brand on the promise of a more natural, "skin first, makeup second" look, and a handful of its products, Boy Brow especially, really did become genuine category staples. The company is also now on its third CEO, has closed or announced the closure of most of its standalone stores, and has weathered three separate rounds of layoffs since 2022. None of that means the products stopped working, but it's a real, current part of the story worth knowing before you buy.

PickSuperb Verdict Box

Glossier's hero products still earn genuine praise in independent beauty-press testing, and the fragrance line's commercial success is real. The corporate turbulence and reformulation complaints are real too, worth knowing even though neither should scare you off a $16 lip balm.

Brand Snapshot

Glossier began as Emily Weiss's beauty blog, Into the Gloss, in 2010, before launching as a product company in October 2014 with four original products. Weiss stepped down as CEO in May 2022, staying on as executive chairwoman; Kyle Leahy succeeded her and departed by the end of 2025. The current CEO, since fall 2025, is Colin Walsh, a former P&G Specialty Beauty executive and the company's third chief executive. Glossier raised roughly $266 million across six funding rounds from investors including Sequoia Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Tiger Global, and Thrive Capital, reaching a confirmed $1.8 billion valuation in its 2021 Series E. More recent reporting indicates the company sought funding at a valuation well below that 2021 peak, though no confirmed, closed new valuation figure exists publicly. In June 2026, Glossier took on $45 million in debt financing from Tiger Finance, a line of credit rather than an equity round, explicitly to fund its turnaround under Walsh.

Product Deep Dive: The Lineup, Pricing, and the Turnaround

Glossier's catalog centers on a handful of genuine hero products: Boy Brow ($22), Balm Dotcom ($16), Cloud Paint Plush Blush ($26), Lash Slick ($20), Ultralip ($22), and Futuredew ($30), alongside the Glossier You fragrance franchise ($32-116 depending on size), which has grown into the company's single largest category at roughly $90-100 million a year, nearly 40% of total sales. The brand's first-ever retail partnership, with Sephora, launched in February 2023 across the US and Canada, and has since expanded into UK, Middle East, and other international markets. On the corporate side, three distinct rounds of layoffs have hit the company since 2022 (roughly 80 employees in January 2022, 24 more that August, and about 54, nearly a third of remaining staff, in February 2026), and a store-closure plan announced in early 2026 will shrink Glossier's standalone retail footprint from 12 locations to just three flagships in New York, Los Angeles, and London over roughly two and a half years. Those three locations reportedly drive more than half of current store revenue, which is part of the logic behind consolidating around them.

Glossier — Current Pricing

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Boy Brow remains a genuinely well-reviewed category staple in independent testing, praised for a natural finish and real-world hold, even if application takes a bit of brushing-in

• The Glossier You fragrance franchise is a real, substantial commercial success story, now the brand's largest category by revenue

• Sephora distribution since 2023 has made the brand considerably easier to try in person without visiting a shrinking number of standalone stores

• No FTC action, data breach, or product-liability class action was found against Glossier specifically, a cleaner regulatory record than several DTC peers

• New CEO Colin Walsh has stated a deliberate strategy of slowing the product-launch cadence and refocusing on hero products, a reasonable response to some of the reformulation complaints below

Cons

• The company is on its third CEO since 2022, alongside three rounds of layoffs and a plan to close 9 of its 12 standalone stores, real and ongoing corporate turbulence worth knowing about

• Recurring, well-documented customer complaints about unannounced product reformulations, most notably the Glossier You fragrance and a 2023 vegan Balm Dotcom reformulation that drew real backlash

• Trustpilot's 3.3/5 score comes from just 367 reviews on a profile Glossier hasn't claimed, a thin and likely non-representative sample, though the complaint themes within it (customer service, shipping delays) are worth noting regardless

• Two ADA web-accessibility lawsuits have been filed against the company (2018 and 2025), both still unresolved as of this writing, boilerplate-style litigation common across e-commerce but still real filings

•      No confirmed, independently audited profitability figure exists publicly; outgoing CEO Leahy's 2025 claim that the company was "more profitable than ever" is a company statement, not an audited fact

What Real Customers and Reviewers Are Saying

"Boy Brow is genuinely the one product I'd never give up, even through a full day it still looks natural."  — Verified product review, beauty press

"They changed the You fragrance formula and didn't tell anyone, it smells completely different now."  — Verified Trustpilot review

"Refund took weeks and I had to follow up twice, customer service felt pretty checked out."  — Verified Trustpilot review

"Don't fix something that isn't broken, the new Balm Dotcom just isn't the same as the original."  — Verified product review, reformulation backlash coverage

"Good hold through a full workout and commute, though it can go on a bit clumpy the first time if you're not brushing it in."  — Reviewed.com, independent hands-on test of Boy Brow

How Glossier Compares to the Competition

Against Kosas and Benefit specifically, independent reviewers note Glossier's Boy Brow comes in fewer shades (just 5), a real limitation against tinted-brow competitors with broader ranges. Against e.l.f. and other drugstore options, Glossier costs meaningfully more for a similar basic formula, the premium buys the brand experience and community as much as anything measurably different in the product itself.

Who Should (and Shouldn't) Buy Glossier

Good Fit: Fans of a Specific Hero Product

If you're drawn to one or two specific items, Boy Brow, Cloud Paint, or a You fragrance, rather than building a full routine around the brand, independent testing backs up that these specific products hold up well.

Weak Fit: Anyone Who Wants a Formula That Never Changes

Given the well-documented, recurring reformulation complaints, buyers who've built a routine around a specific Glossier product should expect the possibility of an unannounced formula change down the line.

Our Top Pick in the Lineup

Boy Brow at $22 remains the most consistently, independently praised product in the lineup, a reasonable starting point if you're trying the brand for the first time rather than jumping straight to the pricier fragrance line.

Pricing and Where to Buy

Glossier sells through glossier.com, its three remaining flagship stores (New York, Los Angeles, London), and Sephora locations in the US, Canada, and several international markets. Given the brand's ongoing store consolidation, checking current local availability before planning an in-person visit is a reasonable precaution.

Understanding the Turnaround, Precisely

This deserves a clear, dated timeline rather than a vague "struggling" label. After reaching a $1.8 billion valuation in July 2021, Glossier cut roughly 80 jobs in January 2022 and another 24 that August as sales growth slowed. Emily Weiss stepped down as CEO in May 2022; her successor, Kyle Leahy, announced her own departure in June 2025, saying it was "the right time to bring in a new leader for a new phase of growth." Colin Walsh took over as the company's third CEO that fall, and has since overseen a further round of roughly 54 layoffs in February 2026 and an announced plan to close 9 of the brand's 12 standalone stores over about two and a half years, keeping only New York, Los Angeles, and London. A $45 million debt financing arrangement in June 2026 was explicitly framed as funding this turnaround. None of this is a bankruptcy or an insolvency event, Glossier remains an operating, privately held company, but it's a real, multi-year stretch of contraction worth knowing rather than assuming the 2021-era growth story still describes the brand today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Glossier's current CEO?

Colin Walsh, a former P&G Specialty Beauty executive, has been CEO since fall 2025, succeeding Kyle Leahy, who herself succeeded founder Emily Weiss in 2022. He is the company's third chief executive.

Why is Glossier closing stores?

The company announced in early 2026 that it will close 9 of its 12 standalone stores over roughly two and a half years, keeping only its New York, Los Angeles, and London flagships, which reportedly drive the majority of current store revenue and new-customer acquisition.

Does Glossier reformulate its products without telling customers?

This is a real, recurring customer complaint, most notably around the Glossier You fragrance and a 2023 Balm Dotcom reformulation to a vegan formula. Some customers have reported noticing scent or texture changes without an announced reformulation.

Is Glossier still worth $1.8 billion?

Reporting indicates the company has sought funding at a valuation well below its 2021 peak, though no confirmed, closed new valuation figure exists publicly as of this writing.

Can I still buy Glossier in a physical store?

Yes, through its three remaining flagship locations in New York, Los Angeles, and London, and through Sephora, where it's sold across the US, Canada, and a growing list of international markets since the February 2023 launch. If you're near one of the nine stores slated for closure, it's worth checking the current timeline before planning a visit.

What's Glossier's best-selling product?

The Glossier You fragrance franchise has grown into the company's largest category by revenue, at roughly 40% of total annual sales. Among skincare and makeup specifically, Boy Brow remains the most consistently cited hero product in independent testing and customer reviews alike.

PickSuperb Scorecard

Final Verdict

Glossier's hero products, Boy Brow most of all, still earn genuine praise in independent testing, and the You fragrance line's commercial success is a real, substantial bright spot inside a company that's otherwise in a well-documented, multi-year contraction. The reformulation complaints and the ongoing store closures and leadership turnover are real enough that we wouldn't build a whole routine around the brand right now, but a specific hero product remains a reasonable, well-reviewed buy. For another beauty-adjacent brand we've reviewed with its own documented reputation complexity, see our Frank Green review.