We should’ve known we hit peak beauty phone case in 2025 when Justin Bieber sang That’s my baby / She’s iconic / iPhone case / Lip gloss on it. To some, the lyrics are nonsensical, but tapped-in consumers know that he was talking about the Rhode Lip Case. Created by his wife Hailey Bieber for her beauty brand, the $38 silicone case not only protects your phone but also holds a tube of Rhode’s best-selling Peptide Lip Treatment. You’ve likely clocked the case in Mrs. Bieber’s many mirror selfies or spotted them gripped tightly in the hands of tweens walking, well, anywhere in downtown Manhattan.
The phone case immediately went viral after launching in February 2024. The people of the internet—namely, the girlies—couldn’t get enough, matching it to their favorite lip shade and anticipating new colorways. For Rhode fans, it was a way to showcase allegiance to their favorite brand and its very famous and influential founder. An accessory that seemingly came out of nowhere, it changed the beauty merch game… and maybe not in a good way.
Now, two years later, it’s not hard to find knockoffs that don’t exactly live up to Rhode’s creation. Temu and Shein are flooded with dupes in every color of the rainbow, and loads of brands have been inspired to create their own phone case-beauty product hybrids to, at best, try and replicate some of Rhode’s original magic or, at worst, reheat Bieber’s nachos into a stale soggy mess.
Earlier this year, Daise Beauty launched a lip balm that sticks to the back of your phone like a Pop Socket, and just this past week two brands released similar concepts: Dior started selling a mini lip balm on their website and Charlotte Tilbury announced a mini setting powder, both of which adhere to the back of your phone. (Dior’s costs $95, Tilbury’s is free as a gift with purchase.) Fenty Beauty also collaborated with Casetify to create a case that holds both a tiny powder and a tiny lip gloss, resulting in a product so clunky it couldn’t possibly fit in a cute little purse, let alone someone’s pocket. There have likely been other gimmicky iterations thrust upon consumers since 2024, but none of them made enough of an impact to come to mind.
Frankly, I’ve had enough of this landfill-bound, wasteful junk. Two years ago, Rhode did something novel, sure, but brands attempting to hitch a ride on Bieber’s coattails just to make a buck aren’t helping when it comes to overconsumption in the beauty industry—they’re only making it worse by attempting to create a new category of highly disposable products. (Although Bieber recently told Fortune she’s not interested in overconsumption, she is in the business of making products and selling them—including the current six colorways of the case.)
