By Terry

By Terry was founded in 1998 by Terry de Gunzburg, the legendary YSL Beauté creative director who invented Touche Éclat — the highlighter pen launched in 1992 that became one of the best-selling beauty products in history. After two decades at Yves Saint Laurent, Terry opened her first By Terry boutique on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, originally as a haute-couture-style custom makeup atelier where clients could have lipsticks and foundations mixed bespoke for them. The ready-to-wear range — Baume de Rose, Touche Veloutée concealer, Crème de Rose lip balm, and the Terrybly mascara — launched in the years following and built the brand into an international cult favorite.

Today By Terry is run by CEO Chris Filer with Sophie Guetta as General Director, and operates from Paris under the JIL company. The brand sits in the premium-to-luxury tier alongside Hourglass and Westman Atelier, with a distinct positioning around skincare-first makeup — the Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder, Lip-Expert Shine, Brightening CC Cream, and Baume de Rose lip balm are the products MUAs and editors consistently pull from kit. The packaging is glossy, the formulas are weighted toward complexion-perfecting rather than transformation, and the customer skews older and more discerning than the typical TikTok-led prestige line.