The book every beauty lover has been waiting for is finally coming: a juicy tell-all about the era-defining Glossier.

Set to be released next summer, Glossy: Ambition, Beauty and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier is by author Marisa Meltzer, writer of The New York Times Style section “Me Time” and the recent deep dive about the founder of Weight Watchers, This is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World – and Me.

In the book, Meltzer will unpack how Weiss turned her blog Into The Gloss into a billion-dollar beauty brand almost overnight; the influence Glossier had on the industry, and its failures in recent years to keep up. Meltzer compared the brand to the rise and fall of WeWork in an interview with Business of Fashion and said she aimed to “pull back the curtain”.

When Glossier launched in 2014, it was seen as a revolutionary force in the beauty industry. With its unique and catchy tagline, “skin first, make-up second,” Glossier popularised what we now call the “clean girl aesthetic.” While matte make-up reigned supreme in the mid-2010s, Glossier took a distinctive stand against the maximalist beauty trend and advocated for a minimalistic approach instead. As a result, they were seen as challenging unattainable beauty standards, and beauty consumers welcomed Glossier with open arms and wallets full of cash.

However, in recent years Glossier’s appeal began to fall away as similar brands saturated the industry and trends moved on. The brand faced criticism about its unsustainable packaging and the fact that its minimal sheer products meant that you essentially had to have flawless skin already to achieve the “effortless” dewy aesthetic they championed.

In 2020, amidst the announcement of a new Black-owned business grants scheme, former Glossier staff accused the brand of racism and hostile working environments on the Instagram page Outta The Gloss. Though Glossier acknowledged the account, it’s been reported that they never satisfied all of the group’s requests. 

Since then, Glossier has struggled to maintain its former glory and position in the industry. From a short-lived sister-line Glossier Play and layoffs of over 80 employees, to Weiss stepping down as CEO earlier this year and a pivot to a more colourful aesthetic, Meltzer believes Glossier’s history “makes for a great story.” For the book, Meltzer has interviewed former employees, in-store workers, investors and Weiss herself to find out the truth about what really went down at Glossier.