In pop music, artists who release not-so-FCC-friendly songs make “clean” versions for the radio, while the profanity-laden original is still available to fans who want it. The same isn’t true in the beauty industry; when beauty brands release a “clean” version of a product, the original is typically scrapped, leaving some consumers high and dry.

The most recent example of this is Glossier, which announced last month its plan to reformulate its bestselling Balm Dotcom lip balm to be vegan. The product, introduced as one of the brand’s first four products in 2014, is now made without lanolin, and replacing beeswax with synthetic beeswax, and petrolatum—the first ingredient in its ingredient list—with castor jelly.

• The new formulation debuted on its site this week, with the price increasing to $14.

The announcement garnered social media backlash, with comments criticizing the “thin” formulation and questioning the motives behind the move. (Glossier did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will receive the Clean at Sephora label).

The brand is set to make its wholesale debut at the beauty retailer this month after announcing it in July. The reformulation is “a pretty early example of them trying to figure out what type of consumer they want to get at Sephora,” Anna Keller, global senior analyst of beauty and personal care at Mintel, told us.

As more brands jump on this trend of reformulating products to be “clean” or “vegan,” they’re “future-proofing” their products as consumer sentiment evolves, Keller noted, and secure coveted labels like Clean at Sephora. But success isn’t that clean cut: As brands replace fan-favorite products in favor of using these unregulated terms, they risk leaving some consumers behind.

Keep reading here.—EC

This is the second of two stories about the changing frequency and nature of tipping. Part 1 tackled restaurants’ “kitchen appreciation fees.”

tipflation: Noun (neologism) The phenomenon of tipping becoming both increasingly widespread and expensive (in terms of acceptable percentage) in society.—Wiktionary

In 2022, TikTok user @antidietpilot posted a video from her car right after she’d bought chicken tenders and french fries from a local fast-food restaurant drive-thru.

“I’m sorry to say this, but tipping culture has gotten out of control,” she says in the video, which has been viewed 7.1 million times.

She explained she always tips 20% at full-service restaurants, but was taken aback when prompted to tip while behind the wheel, which she declined. “I just felt like, really uncomfortable, but, like, homegirl, what am I going to tip you for? I’m in the fucking drive-thru!”

TikTok user @katiuscia_maria was prompted on a payment tablet to enter a tip after a store clerk handed her a packaged cookie. “It aligns with this sense of expectation and entitlement that people believe that no matter what job you get, you are always owed a tip,” she said in a video posted on Jan. 18 that garnered 2.2 million views. “And I’m sorry, but that’s just not the way the world works.”

Except, maybe it kind of is?

• Vox reported on one woman who went to a War on Drugs concert and was asked to tip on a merch purchase, and another at a pick-your-own-apples orchard.
• Others report being hit up for a tip by a bartending robot, at Subway, by a primary care physician, and for a Botox treatment.

Tipping has never been an exact science, but in the US, where there once was an expectation of 15%–20% for a service that required a certain amount of time and attention—like table service at a restaurant, a haircut, or a taxi—today that expectation is broadening.

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Today’s top retail reads.

Egg-ocentric: Consumers—wary of the rising prices of eggs—are now snapping up chickens with egg-laying potential to secure a steady supply of eggs in the future. (the New York Times)

The bigger the better: Luxury designers from Louis Vuitton to Loewe are investing in grand marketing displays to create noise around their brands. (Vogue Business)

Changing times: Over the years, palm oil—found in everything from baby shampoo to ice cream—has had a bad rep for its supposed environmentally destructive properties. But that opinion is now shifting. (Vox)

Build or buy: We don’t know how much your next choice will cost you, but Recharge does. Weigh upfront costs + hidden expenses for your subscription platform before you commit, right here.*

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Three of the stories below are real...and one is most definitely not. Can you spot the fake?

1. A restaurant in Montreal with several spectacular online reviews doesn’t actually exist IRL.
2. A 6-year-old child placed Grubhub orders worth $1,000, leaving his parents perplexed.
3. Heineken is rolling out a chicken wing-flavored beer for the Super Bowl.
4. Rao’s recalled some of its soup containers after putting the wrong soup in the wrong jar.

Keep reading for the answer.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Inside Starbucks Odyssey
• Forever 21’s CMO on the brand’s one-click strategy
• Experts dish on the future of robotics in retail