Hourglass

Hourglass is an American luxury makeup brand founded in 2004 by Carisa Janes [1]. Based around a Manhattan flagship at 14 Prince Street in New York, the company built its name on colour cosmetics that pair prestige packaging with a cruelty-free stance, and it positions itself, in its own words, "at the intersection of science, beauty, and luxury." Since June 2017 it has been owned by the consumer-goods group Unilever, which folded it into its prestige beauty portfolio [5].

The brand remains active as a Unilever submark, with continuing product launches and sales across dozens of markets. Its best-known products include the light-diffusing Ambient Lighting Powder and a line of refillable lipsticks.

Carisa Janes started Hourglass in 2004 after an earlier stretch in the beauty trade. According to a founder profile published by retailer Bluemercury, she studied at Parsons School of Design and worked as a product developer at Urban Decay during the 1990s before setting out on her own [7]. She has described identifying a gap in the market for high-performance makeup that was also kind to skin, built on cruelty-free principles.

The company says it has been cruelty-free since its first product launch in 2004. Its early reputation rested on complexion and "lighting" products designed to flatter the skin rather than mask it, sold through a luxury distribution network.

Three dates anchor the brand's timeline. It was founded in 2004; it was acquired by Unilever in June 2017; and it completed a transition to a fully vegan formula range in 2020 [1]. The 2017 deal also coincided with the launch of its Unlocked collection, tied to animal-welfare fundraising.

Unilever acquired Hourglass in June 2017. The Wikipedia entry for Unilever records the purchase plainly — "In June, the company acquired Hourglass, a colour cosmetics brand" — within its 2017 history; industry reporting places the brand inside Unilever's prestige division [5]. As of the most recent harvest, no dedicated English-language Wikipedia article exists for Hourglass itself; the acquisition is documented through the parent company's page.

Within Unilever, Hourglass sits alongside a large stable of beauty and personal-care names, among them Dermalogica and Murad in the prestige tier and mass brands such as Dove, TRESemmé and Vaseline.

Hourglass markets itself as a vegan and cruelty-free brand "redefining luxury cosmetics through innovative formulas, cutting-edge performance, and covetable packaging," carrying the tagline "Cruelty Free Luxury Beauty." The company frames its work as sitting where science, beauty and luxury meet, and lists formulas made without parabens, phthalates, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes, GMOs, Triclosan and nanoparticles.

The brand is overwhelmingly makeup-led, with a smaller skincare line. Its signature items include the Ambient Lighting Powder, the Veil Mineral Primer, the Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick and the Confession refillable lipstick. The Ambient Lighting range is built on what the company calls "Photoluminescent Technology," which it describes as capturing and softening surrounding light to blur the look of pores and fine lines [9].

Two further proprietary claims feature in its materials. Hourglass says it created "the industry's first-ever vegan replacement for carmine" — a red pigment traditionally derived from crushed insects — branded as Red 0 [1]. Its skincare line, Equilibrium, is built around a "Cell Balancing Complex," which the company describes as a blend of lipids intended to restore the skin barrier [4].

On distribution, sources give differing figures. The brand's own "about" page states the line is available in 32 markets and over 2,600 retail doors, including Sephora, Ulta and Selfridges [1]; a Unilever-sourced description puts the figure at over 4,600 doors [5]. The discrepancy likely reflects growth or different snapshots in time rather than a contested fact.

Several of the brand's commitments centre on animal welfare. Hourglass says it donates 1% of annual net profits from its website to the Nonhuman Rights Project and 5% of net profits from its Unlocked collection to animal-welfare causes [1]. On packaging, it has introduced refillable lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes; a founder profile describes recycled-material palettes said to cut waste by up to five plastic bottles per five-pan palette [7]. The brand holds PETA certification, and a 2020 relaunch introduced a bunny logo associated with Leaping Bunny certification as it became fully vegan [10].

The Ambient Lighting Powder has drawn the most attention. Retailer Cult Beauty has described the seasonal Ambient Lighting Edit as a "yearly sell-out" and credited the brand with combining science, luxury, ethics and beauty; the Ambient Lighting Palette took a Martha Stewart Weddings "Glow" award in 2017. Founder Carisa Janes has been profiled by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

The 2017 Unilever acquisition prompted commentary from vegan and cruelty-free advocates. As one vegan-beauty publication noted at the time, while Hourglass maintains its own cruelty-free status, its new parent company Unilever still engaged in animal testing in some markets — a tension some shoppers weighed against the brand's ethics positioning [8].

Hourglass is an acquired brand, owned by Unilever since June 2017 and operated within the group's prestige beauty portfolio [5]. It continues to trade actively: its official site shows current launches and collaborations, including a Phantom Blur Balm and a lip collection with singer-songwriter Olivia Dean, and the company reports a global presence spanning dozens of markets.