After the blockbuster startup tell alls about Theranos, Uber, and WeWork, we get something a little more tame with Glossy. The story of Emily Weiss and the rise of Glossier is well told, and there are some interesting pieces about the rise and fall of the millennial DTC online economy in the 2010s, but there's just no much THERE there. Weiss is smart and guarded; she's also a hard worker who built a legitimate brand, making a few mistakes along the way. She's not a scam artist or a hustler who crashed a company; she built a profitable brand and left it in good hands. Weiss's antics, such as they are, are all very PG-13, and it makes for a kind of dull read.

An un-put-down-able read, riveting and informative while still being conversational and quick to digest. Highly recommend as a case study of a business, a person, and a culture.

A business read so well written that it’s actually FUN. I know, crazy. With an eye for both gossip and nuance, this is a quick read that, for anyone, will reframe your view of the “girlboss” era.

I wouldn’t call this a bombshell exposé. Nothing was really all that shocking. I was most surprised by the obsession with Weiss’s first marriage and her Little Wedding Black Book… how many times did we really need to cover that?

I’m a fangirl so Glossier is always going to be a topic of interest to me and this will be a title I discuss with others, but it felt simultaneously repetitive and all over the place and could have used a little more focus and editing.

Overall, it made Emily Weiss look like a human being who wants to share her vision with the world while also maintaining a private life. As someone who also became a boss in her early 20s, though obviously on an infinitely smaller scale, I found Weiss’s words and actions very relatable. You learn and you grow as you go. You have imposter syndrome. You look to others who came before you. So she’s not perfect… who is?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

As a lover of Glossier, when I saw this pop up on NetGalley, I just knew I had to request a copy. I did know about Emily through "The Hills" like most young millenials and like the other now adult millenials, I too applauded when Emily tendered her resignation from Glossier despite still participating and partaking in their vibes and products. "Glossy" is so much more than just a book that tracks how Into the Gloss developed into Glossier. It's also a narrative of the ways we view women-led or women-centric companies and how that implicit bias colours our perception.

This was such a fun and fascinating read. I think Meltzer did such a great job of tracking Emily and Into the Gloss' beginnings with just the right amount of critique and sympathy. I think it could have been very easy to just paint Emily as a privileged and lucky white girl but Meltzer paints her as more nuanced (which let's be real...people ARE nuanced). What results is a multifaceted portrait of a hungry and ambitious young woman who wants to make a difference and wants to create something for the average gal. And as one of those average gals, I appreciate it. That said, Emily is not without her flaws and Meltzer does go into them. As a woc, it's difficult to love and use Glossier products but sometimes when a good product works, it works.

I absolutely recommend this for anyone interested in women in business and/or interested in Glossier.

I’m a millennial woman who somehow avoided ever indulging in the Glossier craze – but I knew of Weiss in broad brushstrokes: a privileged GirlBoss preaching inclusivity from a corporate office full of misc. white women. I recall reading of her resignation & feeling as tho I was meant to celebrate…but never knew why or if such schadenfreude was deserved. “Glossy” is more than a story of an upstart company revolutionizing beauty consumerism. It’s more incisive than a #Girlboss fall from grace. Meltzer’s years of access to Weiss & Glossier enables a terrific account of events. But her best work is when she steps back to examine the bigger picture be it the tech landscape, market competition, or the backlash against public-facing female founders.

Perfect as millennial pink. A compelling and beautifully written history of a complex woman and her empire. Brava, 10/10, no notes, and I"m absolutely ordering a bottle of You.

As a Millennial woman I am very familiar with this brand and proudly displayed products in my bathroom for years. The founder has always been a bit of a mystery so I was excited to read this. WHY did she step down? It’s a very intentional and thought out depiction of a privileged women’s journey to a successful career born from that privilege. I recommend reading because it’s a good balance of nostalgia, praise and criticism. Also reminded me how much I loved boy brow and I should get some soon! Thanks to NetGalley for this preview in exchange for my honest review.

Love this book, I could not put it down. It's a great balance of interesting gossip and fact. I love learning about how the company began and really enjoyed the author's voice.

In July 2021, Glossier was valued at $1.8 billion dollars, and as journalist and author Marisa Meltzer writes, “like the labor of applying makeup to make you look naturally beautiful,” nothing about the brand’s climb to success was effortless.

Glossier has been hailed as one of the top beauty brands by Teen Vogue, Women’s Wear Daily, Allure, and other publications, and is adored by fans around the globe with products selling out immediately, and waitlists in the thousands, while store openings see lines taking up entire city blocks.

Glossier’s chosen shade of pink for branding, a variation of Pantone’s 705C, named #glossierpink has amassed more than 20,000 tags on Instagram and has taken on a life of its own beyond beauty, branching into home décor and fashion.

Once I caught wind of Glossier a few years ago, I surfed the website and social media, and felt it wasn’t just a product. I wanted in on the product, sure, but I also wanted an all-access pass to the Glossier lifestyle.

In an expertly investigated, and much anticipated book, Meltzer takes readers back to the early days of Glossier, where we meet founder, Emily Weiss. Some may be familiar with Weiss from reality show The Hills where she featured as the “superintern” from Teen Vogue.

Readers learn a lot about Weiss in Glossy, and as Meltzer reports, reality television may have given her the public exposure from which she could have taken to even greater heights. After all, this was 2007, and reality television was all the rage. Weiss, however, with no shortage of ambition, had her sights set on other things.

In 2010, Weiss launched her blog, Into the Gloss, featuring the beauty routines of celebrities and fashion icons. She would prove to be ahead of the curve with this, after which many others tried, and failed, to do the same thing. Weiss, who is well connected, has a great skill in asking for what she wants, and managed to secure many high profile interviews for her Top Shelf column.

By 2012, Into the Gloss readership had swelled to over 200,000, and a couple of years later, Weiss was considering how to expand the business, including launching her own products.

She went on to do exactly that, and Meltzer's Glossy follows the brand through the years, and features exclusive interviews with Emily Weiss, and former employees responsible for naming hero products like Boy Brow and Haloscope. There's plenty of insider scoop, too.

Meltzer’s must-read also contains thought-provoking narrative about the Girlboss movement, the challenges female founders face while funding, a new era of social media friendly retail, DTC brands and distribution channels, and the mass output of white labelled celebrity brands of late. It’s an incisive page-turner for Glossier fans, beauty enthusiasts, business owners, and branding agencies.

Well researched, nuanced, and at times cringey. Why did Glossier have such a chokehold on young women when it came out in the early 2010s? Meltzer vows to find out in this part business/leadership/social history (one that I’ve yet to see in our cultural landscape). There were moments of absolute cringe (the flip flopping of the company’s direction, Emily Weiss wanting to connect with other younger employees and just coming off as robotic) and lots of great insight as to how our country loves to tear down female leaders. At moments, this read like an expose in Vanity Fair but I didn’t hate it. I felt like it was hard to find a conclusion here— like, there’s no real certainty that glossier was/is successful? Anyway, it you’re a beauty and pop culture lover, I think you’ll love this.

I love books that look at brand names and give us the "real" story. So many times, these brands and their creators are made to sound so perfect, but there is always the other side and this book gives us just that.

Honest, well researched and addictive, this book takes a look at what we consider glamour and everything it means.

Honest look at the who influencer - people with no money, most of the time, but are masters at marketing. It is all covered here and at times, you won't believe how over the top this world can be.

Excellent read.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.