Hourglass Founder Carisa Janes’ On Her New Brand: “I Want To Surprise”

When it comes to legacy beauty founders’ second acts, Carisa Janes is in excellent company. From Bobbi Brown’s Jones Road to Ali Webb’s Messy (her sophomore endeavor following Drybar), some of the most exciting beauty brands of the moment are coming from longtime tastemakers. 

With Hourglass, Janes famously honed a luxury makeup POV with a focus on lit-from-within, sculpted skin powered by baked Ambient light powders that made the brand a household name. With her latest venture, Outside In, she’s not just creating more product for products’ sake. The brand is launching with just three products, a Silk Serum Foundation, an accompanying brush, and Floral Reserve Face Oil.

The foundation notably features skincare-grade levels of active ingredients like niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, and the face oil features a base of sweet almond, sunflower seed, and meadowfoam seed oils. "I really want to surprise," Janes says. "That's what that drives me the most with Hourglass and Outside In: the opportunity to create something special."

Let’s start with the foundation: IMO, it’s much more of a skin tint (but a really good one) than actual foundation, since it looks virtually undetectable on skin and actually feels like hydrating skincare that happens to have pigment in the formula. Available in 25 sheer shades, the formula combines the dewiness of a hydrating serum base with light-diffusing spherical powders for a visibly even complexion with a blurred, soft-focus effect. And while the bottle looks and feels incredibly luxe, it's secretly sustainable, too. "What took the longest [in the process] was actually the packaging because it's made from a rice husk-derived biomaterial, and recycled glass," Janes tells me. The result? A beautiful, stone-like texture that you'll want to proudly leave on countertops.

Face oils might be relegated to a final step of skincare to “lock in” preceding products, but not this one. Janes loves using this as a primer (!) for Silk Serum Foundation to create a hydrated, glowy base that doesn’t require illuminating products. (Which, ironically, one could say she has mastered with Hourglass.) "I want to challenge myself to create really unique products," she tells me. Think: Vegan brushes with a limestone composite handle and a forthcoming brick-and-mortar store that brings an experiential aspect of the brand to life. (If the packaging doesn't give it away, Janes is passionate about design and world-building via her products.)

Priced at $64 for the foundation, $52 for the brush, and $72 for the face oil, these are as far from cheap thrills as it gets. But just as you might invest in a luxury candle for your home or an investment coat to wear all season long, Janes is hoping to inspire a sort of keepsake-like longevity with Outside In. "I want the customer to have that feeling of desirability and like, 'This is something I really cherish and love,'" Janes says. "That's what I'm trying to do with every product launch with Outside In."