Undereye patches are so in, we’re wearing them out. At least, that seems to be the case with Rhode’s new Peptide Depuffing Eye Patches—the latest ultra-shareable beauty product taking over social media.
If you’ve noticed people wearing light gray undereye patches out in the wild—in coffee shops, Pilates classes, or on the street—it’s no accident. Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s mega-viral skin care and makeup brand, has been intentional about advertising the “on the go” capabilities of its newest product, and its consumer base has responded in kind.
Rhode has over 5 million combined followers across Instagram and TikTok—and a successful marketing strategy that encourages both influencers and niche creators to create content around its products. There are nearly 400,000 videos under #Rhode on TikTok alone. Like many other brand enthusiasts, Alexis Frank shared about the undereye patches: “Immediately ran to Sephora to get these @rhode eye patches. One step closer to feeling like the queen @haileybieber,” she wrote. “As far as how they make me feel, I definitely feel cooler in them than most eye patches,” says Frank. “I think it’s the design and the relation to Hailey Bieber…but I actually think that they’re pretty good.”
“I normally don’t [wear undereye patches outside,] because the ones I’ve used were too wet and not good for being on-the-go,” says content creator and self-proclaimed “Rhode-aholic” Jenny Ha. “Rhode’s have the perfect texture for traveling, so I’ve taken them with me on car rides and will continue to do so.”
In addition to their wearability, Rhode’s undereye patches have another key distinction from many competitors’ offerings: They’re printed with the brand’s name and logo. While Peter Thomas Roth’s eye patches (a staple of the self-care-routine TikTok genre) went viral without a visible logo on the product, luxury brands like Dieux, Chanel, and Dior have also released boldly branded eye stickers.
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“Branded masks like these essentially turn customers into mini billboards,” says Jessica DeFino, beauty columnist, critic, and writer of the Substack Flesh World. “What’s more, customers are paying the brand for the privilege of turning their bodies into ad space.”
DeFino often references “the mirror self”—the version of yourself that you see in the mirror or the front-facing camera, or rather, “the appearance of the self rather than the flesh-and-blood self”—in her analyses of beauty trends in a broader pop-culture context.
“One reason Rhode is thriving right now is that it doesn’t only make beauty products for the physical self, it makes products for the mirror self. Many of its products are explicitly made to be photographed, to appear in a customer’s selfie,” she says, referencing the brand’s viral phone case that holds a lip gloss tube and the holster for its Glazing Mist that’s meant to be stuck to the bathroom mirror. “Rhode clearly prioritizes products that make for primo selfie material.”
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While most conversations about logomania (the marketing strategy of covering products in brand logos so they become both living advertisements and status symbols) are centered in the fashion world, they’re becoming just as relevant in the beauty industry. Today, we’re under pressure not only to subscribe to broad-sweeping beauty standards, but also to signal which brands we’re using to do so.
We’ve seen classic merch plays pay off for beauty brands, from the pink Glossier sweatshirt to the trendy Merit tote. But recently, brands—and their logos—are aiming closer to our skin. Starface’s attention-grabbing yellow star-shaped pimple patches helped the brand skyrocket in popularity. Louis Vuitton generated buzz over the summer with the launch of its first beauty collection, La Beauté, including a $160 lipstick branded with the iconic “LV” logo on both its packaging and the actual product. The intent was clear: Being seen with a buzzy product is just as alluring as wearing it.
Rhode’s eye patches even employ the repeating-logo pattern seen on luxury handbags, which gives them an air of exclusivity, even though the price point is lower than many competitors’ offerings. The benefit to the brand is obvious: An accessible, widely available product results in countless enthusiastic walking advertisements. But what’s in it for the consumer (other than undereye de-puffing, that is)?
According to DeFino, wearing a brand logo on your face (whether you’re out in public or sharing selfies online) offers a modern outlet for identity-building. In a culture where social media and commercialism reign supreme, “You curate your online identity by aligning with already-established brand identities,” she says. “‘This is what I buy’ becomes shorthand for ‘This is who I am,’ or ‘This is what I like,’ or ‘This is what I value.’”
DeFino also points to a larger shift happening in the beauty industry now: “There’s a strong focus on the product itself rather than (or in addition to) what the product does.” A scroll through BeautyTok supports the idea that we’re generally more interested in watching people execute their elaborate beauty routines (from #GetReadyWithMe videos to morning sheds) than seeing evidence of long-term results. But on the flip side, it’s hard to think of a greater endorsement than repping your favorite beauty brands—in the most literal sense—on your face.
For Ha, Rhode’s skin care stick-ons deliver enough benefits (both in terms of their intended results and style factor) to earn the ultimate ad placement. “The Rhode eye patches feel more refined compared to other ones I’ve tried. I’ve used ones that slip off or lose that cooling feeling after a few minutes, but Rhode’s provide that cooling effect, stay in place, and look good on,” she says. “It turns what’s usually just skin care into something fun and shareable.”
As brands continue to chase viral success with visually-engaging (and some may argue, gimmicky) launches, we can buy into the fun or hyper-analyze their intentions. While there’s no right answer, the response to Rhode’s latest drop makes it worth asking: Would you pay to wear a beauty brand logo on your face?
Grace McCarty is the associate beauty editor at Glamour.