Beauty Meets Brain Freeze: Laneige x Baskin-Robbins

We all scream for ice cream and a lip sleeping mask...

Another day, another beauty x food collab, but this one actually makes sense.

Laneige just dropped its first-ever marbled Lip Sleeping Mask, and it’s inspired by Baskin-Robbins’ Rainbow Sherbet. At first glance, it’s a playful, colorful product drop designed for social media. But when you take a closer look, it’s also a smart, multi-layered marketing moment that taps into emotional connection, sensory play, and retail strategy all at once.

Let’s break it down.

A Scoop of Nostalgia

Laneige teased the launch on socials with the tagline: “A scoop of nostalgia, a swipe of hydration.” Visually, the campaign is exactly what you’d expect from a Rainbow Sherbet collab. Sydney Sweeney, a celeb ambassador for Laneige, shows off her playful side by pouting her lips and holding up the mini pink spoon applicator (They knew exactly what they were doing here).

The product itself is a perfect swirl of orange, pineapple, and raspberry, just like the Baskin-Robbins classic. But this isn’t just about flavor or scent—it’s about tapping into the childhood memories that come with it. The Laneige team is basically saying: What if your favorite ice cream became your favorite lip mask?

The Marketing Game Plan

From a go-to-market perspective, Laneige and Baskin-Robbins built a campaign that was designed to work across multiple channels and moments. First came the teasers, subtle, playful, and designed to get people talking. Then they went louder, dropping captions like “We’re SCREAMING,” and “We really ate with this one (we know 😉).” It was the kind of social-first copy that feels built for Instagram stories, TikToks, and Reels. Emoji-coded, easy to screenshot, and ready to get shared. It hit that balance of playful and clever without tipping into cringe.

On the retail side, Laneige kept Sephora at the center of the strategy, which makes sense given the brand’s long-standing partnership there. The product dropped first on the Sephora app on July 14th, then rolled out in stores at Sephora and Sephora at Kohl’s on the 15th. This kind of staggered release isn’t new, but it’s still effective. It creates urgency, drives app downloads and engagement, and gives Sephora that early access halo that keeps beauty shoppers coming back.

Ice Cream Socials

They also made sure to extend the launch beyond just online shopping and into real-world activations. Laneige gave away 100 full-size Rainbow Sherbet Lip Sleeping Masks at five Baskin-Robbins locations in Los Angeles. Not only did this drive foot traffic, but it also created a moment for user-generated content. People love posting a freebie, especially when it’s tied to something fun like ice cream. To keep the momentum going, they launched a social giveaway offering winners both the lip mask and real Baskin-Robbins sherbet, leaning into the full sensory experience. They timed the giveaway with National Ice Cream Day on July 20th, perfectly on theme.

A Sydney Sweeney Summer

Another layer to this launch was the Sydney Sweeney factor. Sydney wasn’t just the face of the Laneige campaign. She also partnered directly with Baskin-Robbins on her own limited-time “Sydney’s Summer Treat” menu, which included her go-to ice cream order and smoothie creation. By using Sydney as the connector, Laneige and Baskin-Robbins were able to double down on reach, relevance, and authenticity. It’s rare to see an ambassador crossover done this well, and it made the whole campaign feel more cohesive and less like a surface-level collaboration.

Are We Buying Into It?

We’re seeing a lot of beauty-meets-food moments right now. Rhode is leading the way here, in my opinion, but Laneige and Baskin-Robbins managed to stand out because it didn’t feel random. It felt considered. The nostalgia play was real but not forced. The sensory element went beyond just “cute packaging” to include scent, texture, color, and, for anyone who showed up in LA or won the giveaway, actual taste. The retail rollout was thoughtful, rewarding loyal Sephora shoppers while keeping the product accessible. The social content was built for virality but didn’t feel try-hard. And the ambassador partnership actually added value instead of just being a face on a campaign.

All in all, this campaign is a reminder that consumers aren’t just buying products anymore. They’re buying experiences, memories, and mood states. Laneige didn’t just sell a lip mask here. They sold a feeling. A moment. A little piece of summer. And they managed to do it in a way that feels fun, relevant, and yes, Instagrammable, but also rooted in what the brand is known for: hydration in a playful way.