In 2016, YouTube-style full glam was the reigning beauty aesthetic as a new wave of mega creators taught beauty consumers how to contour their faces and highlight their brows. Ten years later, nostalgia for 2016-era makeup is back. Mass beauty brand Physicians Formula is hoping to capture the trend with a throwback campaign to honor one of 2016 beauty’s favorite products, the Butter Bronzer. On Wednesday, the beauty brand celebrated the Butter Bronzer’s 10th anniversary with a new nostalgia-laced “You’re a 10…with your ButterFace” campaign. To further tap into the 2016 nostalgia, the brand partnered with two of beauty’s OG YouTube personalities, Jaclyn Hill and Manny Gutierrez, better known as Manny MUA, on paid content around the bronzer’s anniversary. Physicians Formula will also launch a limited-edition jumbo edition of the powder bronzer at Ulta Beauty on July 12, followed by a rollout to Walmart on August 3.
“Butter Bronzer was such a key product back in 2016. Like, I have so many core memories around the 2016 YouTube beauty era involving this product,” said Hill, who became one of YouTube’s largest beauty creators after launching her channel in 2011.
The anniversary campaign marks the first time Hill has worked with Physicians Formula on a paid partnership. But according to Alice Chen, CMO and head of corporate communications for Physicians Formula’s parent company, Markwins Beauty Brands, she and other 2016-era influencers were instrumental in the product’s success.
