Review of Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier by Marisa Meltzer

*Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier* by Marisa Meltzer (2023). Published by Atria/One Signal Publishers.

When I first saw the cover of Glossy on someone’s Instagram feed, as they had received an advanced copy of the book way in advance of the book’s release, I knew I wanted to read this book. I was never really a Glossier girl during the peak of their fame. I’m not someone who spent a ton of time on social media, nor do I still do, and when it was extremely popular, I was kind of clueless.

But I knew of it, as I attended a fashion university (the Fashion Institute of Technology), and we would talk about Weiss and her rise to the top of the beauty industry at the time.

It was a remarkable feat what she could do, so people were definitely talking about it in a fashion/beauty and business setting. I was twenty-one when I got my first Glossier product—the mascara, which I definitely enjoyed a lot—and have only purchased the hoodie since.

That said, I was remembering the conversations I had in college, even though I did not pursue fashion as a career (long story involved there).

I put an order for the book in at my local library, and as soon as it came out, it went on hold under my name. I read the book over the course of a single night, which shows how invested I was in it.

Let’s get into the review!

An inside look into the rise and fall of Glossier, the people involved with it, and its founder.

Something to immediately note about this book is that it’s written by journalist Marisa Meltzer—if you’re looking for something by Emily Weiss herself, then this is not going to be that. Meltzer uses her own years of research and interviews with people at Glossier, including Weiss, to recreate the history of the company and how it ended up becoming the way it did.

She begins with Weiss, who grew up in Connecticut inside of a family that had its privileges. As a high schooler, she was using her connections to intern with Ralph Lauren, and by the time she was attending NYU in New York City, she already had solid fashion experience and the connections to back it up. Another sign of money: she did her degree in studio art.

One of the big things that launched Weiss’s name, though, was the fact she appeared on a television show called The Hills. This is what made her a more household name to young women all over the country, and helped establish her as a name to watch in the future as well when it came towards funding and endeavors.

Meltzer discusses how Weiss ended up doing many more internships, and knew so many people by the time she finished school. She got a job at W and then Vogue, where she ended up making her blog Into the Gloss while she was working at Vogue. As Into the Gloss blew up in the golden age of blogging, Weiss was raking it in when it came to clout because of how she was building a business just through the blog.

So begins the idea of making a company as an offshoot of Into the Gloss, and Weiss began shopping around for the idea of Glossier. Weiss ended up securing funding for the company, and that was the beginning of the company. She also was working on Into the Gloss at the same time, making it a super mission.

Like many companies, Glossier wasn’t a massive ride to the top of success. Some of the more interesting points that Meltzer brings up to me is the lack of diversity in the culture of Glossier, as well as the idea that a lot of the women and people who worked for them were birds of a flock.

As someone who doesn’t identify solely as white, it made me think about how the company would not cater to people like (as pointed out with the lack of foundation shades for those with darker skin), as well as the fact I might not even be hired there because of who I am.

It’s mentioned how they escaped the callouts and the only drama was the fact that former employees made an anonymous Instagram account to share their experiences, but Glossier had such a massive fanbase. From people waiting outside of the stores to the dedicated blog readers, Weiss truly created an empire.

And then it all began to unravel. Read the book for more on the topic, but as you can see from Glossier today, it’s struggling compared to some of the other brands launched around the same time. Weiss has also stepped away since, choosing to focus on her family and personal life.

Overall Thoughts

I didn’t come into this book with high expectations, and was really open minded when it came to what the book would actually be like. Sometimes I didn’t enjoy the more personal comments inserted directly by the author, but I was interested with what they had to say as someone doing journalistic work on the company and its founder.

There are some really good talking points about Weiss and her rise to the top. If she were a Black or Indian woman, for example, we might have never had Glossier. If she had never pursued studio art or was given her opportunities, we would also never have Glossier.

That said, I know others have been giving this book a lot of criticism. After writing the core of this review, I looked up the rating on Goodreads, and I honestly was kind of interested at how the book had low ratings. Then I read the reviews.

I can see why people gave it certain ratings, perhaps it was too soon to release such a book. I enjoyed it though! I didn’t take it too seriously, which might be why.

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