Scarlett Johansson Wants To Be The Next Kylie Jenner

The Cut’s unsparing and anonymous report on Which Celebrity Beauty Brands Are Any Good noted that beauty editors were “sheepishly impressed” by Scarlett Johansson’s skincare company, The Outset. So when a representative of the brand invited me to a cocktail party hosted by the Black Widow actress last week (and offered to send me the entire line to sample), something inside of me — the small, quiet part that can’t seem to quit the cruel optimism of a “gentle cleanser” — wanted in.

I went to the event. I planned on asking Johansson about The Outset’s tagline, The Start of You™. The skin could be categorized as “the start of the body”, sure, and the body is part of you, yes… But how does she see this message fitting into the issue of over-identification with the objectified body (complicated by the objectified body as a site of constant consumption)? What’s her take on the mind-body problem? External skincare as “The Start of You” could hint at integrating the two, but doesn’t it ultimately feed into their Cartesian and gendered separation? Men associated with the realm of the mind (elevated, divine), women associated with the realm of the body (mortal, messy) — a designation that’s been used to dehumanize and shame women and gender non-conforming people for centuries? Aren’t skin “brightening” and line “erasing” creams part of that shame? Do you not start until you conquer your dull, wrinkled (female, human) flesh? (I’m really fun at parties.)

Never mind all that, though! This event was focused on The Outset’s new lip launch — Lip Oasis Glossy Treatment — and anyway, the queue for questions seemed long.

I am not surprised that The Outset introduced a lip product. The lip care category is big right now; it saw double-digit growth in the first half of 2024, along with new offerings from Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, U Beauty, and countless others. Many of these aim to upgrade the humble balm of yore with cutting-edge skincare ingredients, and that’s what The Outset is trying to do, too, at least in the official marketing. “Skincare benefits for your lips!” is how Lip Oasis was pitched to me.

I am surprised that Johansson’s co-founder, Kate Foster, let slip the unofficial and maybe more relevant reason for this launch. “It’s no secret,” she told the room of beauty writers, “that Scarlett has very iconic lips. A lot of people are walking in doctor offices requesting these iconic lips!” As the crowd laughed and Johansson made a kissy face, Foster continued: “Now, you can get them.”

Of course, you cannot.

It strikes me as a move out of Kylie Jenner’s decade-old playbook: Capitalize on public perception of your lips as full and enviable while obscuring the thing that makes them full and enviable (fillers for Jenner, genetics for Johansson) with a perhaps-high-performing in other ways but to this point ineffective cosmetic product (Kylie Lip Kits, Lip Oasis Glossy Treatment). Whatever “gentle plumping” power The Outset’s “Maxilip Technology” has, it will not do the work of injectables or inheritance.

Jenner and Johansson offer two obvious examples of the above strategy, but the same could be (and has been!) said of all celebrity beauty brands. SKKN won’t do the work of founder Kim Kardashian’s laser technician. Humanrace won’t do the work of founder Pharrell’s DNA. R.E.M. Beauty won’t do the work of founder Ariana Grande’s… whatever. Customers aren’t stupid; they understand this. And yet! Cruel optimism persists. (Check the sales figures.)

Johansson ended the night by saying she uses Lip Oasis daily. “I love its wearability,” she gushed. “I love that it’s not tacky.” But I don’t know… It’s at least a little tacky to leverage one’s irreproducible beauty capital to extract fans’ financial capital, isn’t it?