Benefit Cosmetics Wants to Rule in Foundation Next
On July 14, the brand will introduce Porefessional Foundation — a 40-shade, medium- to full-coverage offering that aims to bring the line's pore-smoothing benefits to color cosmetics. While Benefit has previously forayed into foundation with now-discontinued products such as its Play Sticks and Hello Happy powder foundation, this launch — three years in the making — marks the brand's only present offering in the category.
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'So many foundations clog pores or create more texture — there isn't really a pore-first foundation, and that's where we come in,' said Kate Helfrich, head of global product and service innovation at Benefit, which is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Retailing for $46 and rolling out this month to all retailers including Sephora, Ulta Beauty and TikTok Shop, the product features niacinamide, glycerin and rosehip extract for a roughly '84 percent skin-care ingredient formula,' Helfrich said.
'I don't think you can develop color makeup today that doesn't have skin-forward benefits,' she continued. 'Part of the innovation here is the viscosity; the ability to develop a medium- to full-coverage foundation that maintains its lightweight texture and won't clog pores.'
Currently, Benefit ranks as the number-one prestige primer brand in the U.S. thanks to its assortment of skin-prepping and blurring Porefessional primers, which this foundation aims to complement. Circana data shows the brand also takes the top spot in the U.S. when it comes to prestige mascara sales — another category it expanded earlier this year with the introduction of a new, volume-focused BadGal Bounce launch.
'We're carving out a space in foundation through what we're already known for,' said Chelsea Evans, senior vice president of global category strategy at Benefit, adding, 'the Porefessional franchise continues to be a growth driver for us.'
According to Evans, primer and loose powder launches introduced last year to the range exceeded sales expectations. One Porefessional product sells globally every eight seconds, and the line's Hydro Pop skin care toner, also launched in 2024, continues to see triple-digit growth and ranks as a top skin care product for the brand in key Asia markets where essences are often a core step in skin regimens.
'We see that problem-solution stock keeping units are performing for us,' Evans said.
To that end, the Porefessional Foundation aims not only to reduce the look of pores during wear, but also to improve skin texture, with 97 percent of 118 study participants reporting that bare skin became smoother over time with use.
This near-plus long term approach to delivering results is one that Benefit is looking to bring to other color and skin categories, too, within the Porefessional line.
'What's so unique about Porefessional is that it's about an attribute — pores — and delivering on smoothing, blurring care for them, which gives us so much freedom and white space for where we can take this — there are almost no limits there,' Evans said.
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