Scarlett Johansson’s New Skincare Line Sparked A Debate About The Oversaturation Of Celebrity Beauty Brands

Scarlett Johansson is adding “founder” to her overflowing résumé.

After announcing the new venture in June last year, the Marvel superstar has officially shared a first look at her skincare brand, The Outset.

Fans finally caught a glimpse of the six-piece, clean cosmetics line on The Outset’s official Instagram page, which launched earlier this week with a string of minimalist promotional shots and behind-the-scenes teasers.

Discussing the launch with Vogue for their March issue, Scarlett — the cofounder and face of the brand — opened up about what inspired the venture and what makes The Outset different from the cluster of well-established skincare brands.

“I’ve been the face of several luxury brands throughout my career, and all of those experiences were really wonderful. But — how do I put this? I guess I always felt like I was sort of playing a character in those campaigns,” she said. “As I evolved, I wanted to create and represent a brand that was true to me.”

As Scarlett explains to the writer, her philosophy for The Outset is keeping it simple and prioritizing “clean” formulas with a less-is-more approach to skincare — which, to some fans, feels a little ironic in the overcrowded field of celebrity beauty brands.

Scarlett follows in the footsteps of countless celebrities who have recently swapped their day jobs for the world of entrepreneurship. In the past year or two, we’ve seen the launch of beauty brands from the likes of Harry Styles, Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Machine Gun Kelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Hailey Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish, Addison Rae, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Interestingly, fans seemed to take issue with the prospect of a skincare line a little more than the usual makeup brands. They were quick to note that celeb skincare brands hinge on the promise that the products will give you the same polished skin as your favorite celeb, who likely achieved their glow with the help of the world’s best dermatologists and specialist procedures.

Despite that, one person highlighted that for the most part, fans will be happy to buy into their favorite celeb’s new venture, whether or not it actually makes “sense.”

Other fans called celebrities’ creativity into question, accusing them of mass-producing lackluster cosmetic lines for monetary gain without actually adding any value to the market.

“The lack of creativity that famous ppl have is worrying. Since Rihanna launched Fenty all of them are doing the same,” someone else agreed, mentioning Rihanna’s billion-dollar Fenty empire, which — unlike other celeb brands — has been duly credited with changing the face of the industry with its unprecedented 50-shade foundation range.

That isn’t to say that Scarlett’s line isn’t creative or something she’s not truly enthusiastic about — she said herself that The Outset is a lifelong “passion project.” But that doesn’t erase the issue of the climate crisis and the risk that bringing yet another line of products into the world will only add to the buildup of single-use waste that threatens the environment.

Of course, a family who are no strangers to criticism of this kind is the Kardashian-Jenner clan, whose various cosmetics businesses encompass all things from makeup and fragrances to sun protection and skincare for both adults and babies.

One particular strand of the Kar-Jenner empire that came under fire recently was Kylie Jenner’s billion-dollar company, Kylie Cosmetics.

After launching the brand in 2015 with a trio of lip kits, Kylie has since become known for creating themed collections throughout the year. And despite the historic success of these special editions, this year’s Valentine’s Day bundle fell a little flat for some fans.

The collection — which consisted of a pressed powder palette⁠, blush sticks⁠, a highlighter, two matte lip kits⁠, a lip gloss set⁠, false lashes⁠, and a lip balm set⁠ — was heavily criticized and accused of being “wasteful” after fans noticed that it felt a bit too similar to her past collections.

Likewise, many others accused Kylie of literally repackaging her existing products for the Valentine’s Day collection, adding that they were growing tired of the “recycled” launches.

Kylie didn’t respond to the backlash. However, the surge of criticism surrounding celebrity ventures speaks to a changing landscape in which the tide might have turned for celeb beauty brands.