Candy Kisses

With the current popularity of food brands, especially those of the sweet variety, across all consumer products, and the current power of the beauty category as a center of collaboration activity, it is no wonder that partnerships pairing candy, cookies, and other sweets with color cosmetics, lip balms, skincare, and the like have been a key trend of late. Other factors behind the rise of such partnerships include the fact that both sectors are focused on scents and hues, making them a good match for product development; that combinations of the two categories provide consumers with the novelty and fun many have been craving during hard times; and that the products particularly appeal to the all-important Gen Z shopper.  

A few examples over the past several years illustrate:

• In October 2024, Chupa Chups and Mentos partnered with Rude Cosmetics for two makeup collections. The eight-product Chupa Chups range included a moisturizing base in three shades, blush in four shades, and a duo blush with highlighter and bronzer, all inspired by the colors and scents of the brand’s lollipops. The nine-product Mentos collection included lip-and-cheek tints in four shades, a powder puff, and a setting spray. 

• The Girl Scouts paired with Hard Candy in February 2024 for a limited-edition collection of cosmetics inspired by Girl Scout Cookies, available exclusively at Walmart. The 20-piece range was priced under $10 per item and included eye shadows tied to Thin Mints, Coconut Caramels, and Trefoils cookies; lip marker and repair oil; mascara; Cookie Icing highlighter; press-on nails; face puffs; a Thin Mints-inspired canvas skin primer; and a headband featuring terry-cloth cookies. 

• In 2023, Hershey’s teamed with Glamlite for a second cosmetics collaboration. This iteration included two collections of lip kits, highlighters, eye shadow palettes, and bronzers, one with a Cookies ’N’ Crème theme and the other inspired by Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. The design of the packaging and the product itself drew heavily on the look of the classic Hershey bar. The partners’ first team-up was the previous year. 

• In China, the nostalgic White Rabbit milk candy brand partnered with SK-11 for a limited-edition package of the latter’s Pitera facial treatment, in a collaboration timed to Lunar New Year 2023 (marking the Year of the Rabbit). The container and accompanying lucky red envelopes featured the candy brand’s rabbit mascot in red, white, and blue hues.

• Sour Patch partnered with Morphe in 2021 for a 10-item collection of setting mist, lip gloss, lip scrubs, sponge sets, and eyeshadow palettes in colors and scents including watermelon, raspberry, strawberry, orange, blueberry, and grape. The items were all under $25.

• Reese’s paired with HipDot in 2020 for a limited-edition cosmetics collection, consisting of scented lip balms in Chocolate Lover’s and Peanut Butter Lover’s varieties, and two eyeshadow palettes in Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate. The individual shadows came in a variety of finishes and dominant colors of oranges and browns reflecting the hues of the candy brand’s packaging and product. 

• Oreo partnered with Taste Beauty in 2020 for a lip balm that smelled and purportedly even tasted like the cookie. It was available in retail outlets ranging from It’sugar to Amazon. Taste Beauty has marketed a number of other lip balms tied to foods, including soft drink and cereal brands. 

• Kit Kat teamed with K-Beauty brand Etude House in 2019 for two eyeshadow palettes, one in Original Chocolate and the other in Strawberry Tiramisu, available in both South Korea and the U.S. A Kit Kat-branded pouch and a mini Kit Kat chocolate bar were included. 

Collaborations in this space also occasionally result in candy inspired by the cosmetics, rather than the other way around. See’s Candy paired with Kylie Cosmetics in support of the latter’s Toasted Marshmallow lip butter last month, producing a co-branded, limited-edition box of Toasted Marshmallow Scotchmallow candies in a pink, lip-shaped box. The promotion included an in-store event at the See’s shop in Calabasas, California.