By 
Hailey Bieber has built quite an empire. She has proven her entrepreneurial chops with Rhode Skincare, she’s a fashion/beauty trendsetter, and her Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie reigns supreme at Erewhon. According to Erewhon’s Executive Vice President, Tony Antoci, it’s estimated that 40,000 Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothies are sold every month. The collaboration came up organically when Hailey shared on her Instagram stories a regular Erewhon smoothie. Soon after, fans came in droves asking for the same smoothie.
Years before this Erewhon collaboration, Hailey was photographed a lot getting smoothies at Earthbar in West Hollywood. Just like skincare, Hailey has always loved smoothies! Do you think Earthbar regrets not having stepped in sooner to collaborate? I mean… she was giving them free promo. It’s crazy to think that a few years later, she’d become the smoothie queen of Los Angeles.
In 2022, Hailey launched her skincare line Rhode. What better way to promote your skincare brand than releasing a smoothie geared towards skincare? It was genius. Since then, many celebrities and influencers have jumped on the Erewhon smoothie collaboration bandwagon. But none of them hold a candle to the money-making machine of the $18 Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie.
On February 14, 2024, Hailey and her husband Justin made a surprise appearance at Erewhon Beverly Hills for the release of two soft serve versions of her viral smoothie. Lucky customers were able to get sundaes made by Hailey Bieber, and scratch-off cards for a chance to win Rhode Beauty goodies.
Although the Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie contains a bunch of skin-enhancing ingredients, the main ones are strawberries, coconut whipped cream and strawberry glaze.
For this collaboration, Erewhon released two sundaes. The first one is the Hailey Bieber Strawberry Glaze Cosmic Bliss Soft Serve. This $10 sundae is an ode to the original Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie. For $2 more, you can get the Hailey’s Way Cosmic Bliss Soft Serve, which includes keto chocolate chips and a generous drizzle of peanut butter. The latter is Hailey’s favorite and is available for a limited time.
The prices are still high, but reasonable for Erewhon. Although I’m sure she could have priced these at $30 and people would still buy them.
On a Saturday, I went to the Erewhon in Venice for the Hailey’s Way sundae. I was a little surprised because not many people seemed to be ordering them. Instead, 10 cups of the strawberry smoothie were lined up, waiting to be filled.
While I was waiting, I saw the employee making my order. She started by spreading the coconut cream and peanut butter inside the cup. Then, she went to the soft serve machine. When she came back, she added more peanut butter and drizzled more strawberry glaze. The soft serve ice cream is a coconut strawberry flavor by Cosmic Bliss, a brand that specializes in coconut milk-based products.
So, did the sundae live up to the hype?
It was overwhelmingly sweet and the flavor of the coconut strawberry soft serve was subpar. The soft serve had a very strong coconut flavor. The strawberry flavor was so minimaI that I could barely taste it.
If I were Hailey, I’d have picked a strawberry soft serve flavor with another dairy-free base, like oat, cashew or soy. This sundae is supposed to be a deconstructed version of the Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie, but the strawberries were overshadowed by the strong coconut flavor.
What is the purpose of using coconut soft serve ice cream if the cup is already loaded with swirls of thick coconut cream?
Another thing that put me off was the texture of the soft serve, it was very thick.
It seemed to me that they made up for the lack of flavor by going all out on the strawberry glaze. As I was eating the sundae, I kept trying to avoid the strawberry glaze as much as I could. When I tell you that I thought about stopping halfway and throwing it away, it was that serious. The soft serve was melting quickly, so it was easier to eat, but I stopped before reaching the bottom because it was overloaded with sweetness from the strawberry glaze. A small spoonful would have sufficed, but on the Instagram videos, Hailey is seen drizzling a generous amount. I liked the chocolate chips and the peanut butter though.
The Strawberry Glaze Skin smoothie is already sweet, but this sundae was sweetness overload. At least in the smoothie, the strawberries, the maple syrup, the milk, the dates and the rest of ingredients counteract the sweetness of the glaze.
The Hailey’s Way Cosmic Bliss Soft Serve sundae is meant to evoke feelings of childhood nostalgia. For those of you who didn’t grow up in the US (like me), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a quintessential childhood staple.
I wasn’t happy paying $13 for a sundae that looked like it was made by an 8-year-old, but that was the goal. On Hailey’s Youtube series, Who’s in My Bathroom?, she enjoys assembling messy sandwiches and ice cream sundaes.
I think it’s clear that this sundae left me very disappointed. If you want delicious soft serve, head to The Bigg Chill in West LA. Their frozen yogurt is so good! Every time I go there, I don’t really order too many toppings because the yogurt is fresh, flavorful, and the texture is so smooth that you’ll forget you’re eating yogurt and not ice cream. They also have a few dairy-free flavors. Hailey was seen going to The Bigg Chill a few times. It would have been perfect if she had partnered with them and released a strawberry yogurt flavor. But, The Bigg Chill is a small mom-and-pop shop. A far cry from the health food behemoth that is Erewhon. Not to mention that all of these Erewhon collaborations are paid promotions, which makes me wonder how much Hailey is raking in monthly.
Will the sundae have the same long-lasting effect as the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie? I doubt it, but we’ll see!
