In October, Sarah Burton presented her Spring/Summer 2027 womenswear collection for Givenchy at Paris Fashion Week. Burton showcased sharp silhouettes rendered in primary colors in an attempt to bring what she called “precision and simplicity to dressing as we speed through the multiple perspectives and perpetual motion of all our lives.”
In Burton’s vision, precision and simplicity also means beauty products that do double duty as practical accessories: Givenchy’s runway presentation included face powder compacts turned into belt buckles and tubes of lipstick acting as hair pins.
The launch of Rhode’s viral lip gloss phone case in 2024 introduced a new kind of category where consumers could not only use their beauty products, but they could also wear them as a public-facing accessory. Two years later, brands are still challenging themselves to find new ways to turn beauty products into as visible — and clearly branded — a product as a logo T-shirt.
“Social media made private routines — skin care, body care, fragrance, oral care, etc. — public in feeds,” said Mathilde Riba, beauty insights manager at trend forecasting agency Spate. “I see branded beauty merch as an extension of that, with consumers showing the world, whether in person or through a phone, which products they use.”
That phenomenon has led to dupes galore of the original Rhode case, with knockoff versions sold on the likes of Temu and AliExpress. Mass market beauty brand ColourPop modified the idea into a phone grip designed to hold a tube of lip gloss. Inspired by the Asian market, brands like Cocokind and Touchland have turned lip glosses and hand sanitizers into customizable bag charms.
Those products have also proliferated at a time when, as Riba puts it, consumers are craving more “whimsy.” According to Spate data from August, the “whimsical aesthetic” has been trending online, with roughly 200,000 average monthly Google searches and 55.2 million average weekly TikTok views.
Most of those charms and cases are, like your average beauty product, priced to be an affordable indulgence at around $10-$40 a piece. But even luxury brands are now experimenting with lip products and fragrances as wearable accessories, with the price tags to match.
While Givenchy’s makeup-belt-buckles remain on the runway for now, Dior launched a lip gloss that doubles as a phone grip as part of its holiday beauty collection. The $95 Dior Medallion lip balm is already out of stock on Dior’s website, but it can be found secondhand on Poshmark for $280. When Balenciaga launched its fragrance line in 2025, it also created mini fragrance bottle bag charms — despite their $490 price tag, the charms do not contain any actual fragrance.
Other brands are asking if a phone can hold even more than just a lip gloss. On October 28, Fenty Beauty will launch a collaboration with phone case company Casetify that includes the likes of Fenty-branded AirPod and iPad holders and a phone case that holds both a Fenty lip gloss and powder compact. Prices for the collection range from $15-$74.
“We always like to say, if you’re trying to go out to the club or just running errands, all you need is your gloss, your Invisimatte [powder], and your phone and your strap,” said Nanette Wong, global vp of marketing communications for Fenty Beauty Brands at Kendo.
Having that Fenty gloss out and visible on a phone rather than tucked away into a purse also turns beauty consumption from a private affair into an act of public brand loyalty.
“When we talk about style and self-expression, having logos is also identifying like, ‘I am part of this like Fenty fam. I see you with your Fenty case,’” said Wong. “And so there’s definitely this community element.”
Rhode, which turned every mirror selfie into a potential Rhode billboard with the original launch of its lip gloss phone case, is also experimenting with converting its other products into wearables. As part of its collaboration with influencer Alexandra Leclerc, launched in September, the brand launched mini versions of its Pocket Blush sticks along with carabiners to convert the mini blushes into bag charms.
But consumers may have reached a point of saturation with Rhode’s accessories. The brand kicked off a wave of online backlash when founder Hailey Bieber stated she was “not interested in overconsumption” while speaking at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit on Wednesday, with online commenters criticizing the creation of additional plastic charms and keychains for Rhode products.
As of publication, those plastic accessories are sold out on Rhode’s website, but can be found on secondhand sites like Mercari and Poshmark for upward of $200.
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