Three OG Beauty Products That Changed the Game
From the first lip-and-cheek tint to the spray that changed hair forever, these formulas launched entire categories.
Every once in a while, there will be a standout beauty launch so special that it does much more than make a splash on the market. Instead, it creates an entirely new way to think about skincare, makeup and hair care. From hybrid formulas that blur the line between styling and scent to innovative colours that everyone suddenly wants to replicate, these launches reshaped the beauty industry and created new trends that we’re still following today.
Below, meet the original beauty products that didn’t just break the rules, but rewrote them.
The Texture Revolution
Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray, launched in 2010
Before Dry Texturizing Spray hit shelves in 2010, hairstylists were basically alchemists, mixing dry shampoo, hairspray, salt spray and even face cream to coax that elusive piece-y, just-slept-in texture. Enter Oribe Canales, the late legendary hairstylist who saw hairdressing as art and styling products as his paintbrushes. “He wouldn’t just show up with a blow dryer and a can of hairspray,” recalls Daniel Kaner, president and co-founder of Oribe. “He’d arrive with nine neoprene bags of tools.”
What Oribe wanted was magic in a bottle: volume without chalkiness, grip without grit and hair that looked and smelled expensive. The result was Dry Texturizing Spray. “It wasn’t just a spray that gave your hair a little bit of volume,” says Kaner. “It gave you this kind of personality, this charisma.”
The scent alone became legend. Created with French perfume house Givaudan, Côte d’Azur (a blend of Calabrian bergamot, white butterfly jasmine and sandalwood) lingers—and smells expensive. “Oribe loved fragrance,” says Kaner. “He worked with Jennifer Lopez. They would be in a production meeting, and when she walked out of the room, her signature scent was left behind. That’s the impact Oribe was after.”
“It wasn’t just a spray that gave your hair a little bit of volume. It gave you this kind of personality, this charisma.”
It worked. Within months, fashion weeks smelled like Côte d’Azur; stylists loyal to other brands were taping over the can’s label to hide their devotion. Sixteen years later, Dry Texturizing Spray is still Oribe’s number-one global bestseller, with over half a million bottles sold in 2024 alone and one sold every minute.
Though dry shampoos and salt sprays existed long before, none delivered this hybrid of clean lift, sexy grit and touchable glamour. Dry didn’t just style hair; it changed the game, inspiring an entire wave of texture-boosting sprays from Living Proof, Moroccanoil and Davines. Yet even as imitators mist and tweak, Dry remains the gold standard—and the original backstage secret.
The Cult of Flush
Benefit Benetint, launched in 1976
When Benefit’s founders, twin sisters Jean and Jane Ford, first brewed rose petals in their San Francisco kitchen back in 1976, they probably didn’t realize they were inventing an entire category. The request? A risqué one from an exotic dancer who wanted a tint that would give her nipples lasting pink colour under the stage lights. The result was “Rose Tint,” a water-light stain that would soon become Benetint, a beauty legend.
“Benetint’s story is one of those legends that feels almost too good to be true,” says Toto Haba, senior vice-president of global marketing and communications at Benefit Cosmetics. “That moment not only captured the playful, solution-driven spirit that still defines Benefit but also introduced a new way to approach makeup.”
Long before the words “no-makeup makeup” entered the lexicon, Benetint’s buildable stain gave the kind of lived-in flush that powder blushes and lipsticks couldn’t replicate. When the iconic ’90s makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin personally called the Fords to request 10 bottles for his kit, it was official: The tint had gone from cult to cultural. Nicole Kidman, Zooey Deschanel and Lola Tung have since joined the fan club.
“Benetint has endured because it delivers exactly what beauty lovers have always wanted.”
Today, one Benetint sells every 11 seconds—proof that its staying power rivals its pigment. The formula remains mostly unchanged, though new shades, eight in total, like Raspberry and Dark Cherry, have joined the lineup to stay relevant with TikTok’s berry-stained aesthetic. “Benetint has endured because it delivers exactly what beauty lovers have always wanted: natural, buildable flush that works seamlessly on lips and cheeks and feels modern in any era,” says Haba.
And while the concept of cheek tinting dates back to ancient Egypt, Benefit was the first to bottle and sell the idea to the masses, unlocking a whole new beauty category. Now, countless tints flood the market, from Clarins Water Lip Stain, which is in a similar format, to playful newcomers like Milk Makeup’s Cooling Water Jelly Tints. But none have managed to bottle lightning (or blush) quite like the OG.
The No-Rinse Renaissance
Bioderma Sensibio H2O, launched in 1995
In early 1990s Paris, tap water was the enemy of sensitive skin. Hard, mineral-rich and irritating, it left countless complexions feeling tight and red. Enter Jean-Noël Thorel, a pharmacist and the founder of Bioderma. His solution? To cleanse without the need to rinse.
Thorel created the technology and in 1995 worked with Bioderma to launch Sensibio H2O, the world’s first no-rinse micellar water. “At the time, people couldn’t believe a ‘water’ could replace traditional cleansers,” says Margaux Menetrier, marketing and medical director of Bioderma Canada. “But dermatologists and makeup artists saw immediately that it quickly proved its efficacy and convenience.”
Today, approximately one bottle [of] is sold every second across 130 countries.
Built on biomimicry, the formula uses a surfactant structurally similar to the skin’s own lipids. The micelles act like tiny magnets, capturing makeup, pollution and heavy metals. With only 10 ingredients, Sensibio is minimalist by design but backed by serious science, including 33 clinical studies and 30 years of data that prove its efficacy.
What started as a quiet French-pharmacy secret has become a global phenomenon. Backstage at fashion week, makeup artists rely on Sensibio to cleanse models’ skin between looks without irritation, while celebrities like Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Selena Gomez helped fuel international buzz. Today, approximately one bottle is sold every second across 130 countries.
And while nearly every brand—from French-pharmacy staples like Avène, La Roche-Posay and Vichy to luxury houses and mass labels alike—has since launched its own version, none have replicated the original recipe. More than 30 years on, micellar water is everywhere, but this is the one that turned a pharmacy experiment into a global skincare essential.
Game Changers
More icons that broke new ground and built entire categories.
This article first appeared in FASHION’s March 2026 issue. Read more stories from FASHION’s March 2026 issue here, and subscribe to the print magazine here.
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