Long before beauty brands had TikTok mascots (or even social media for that matter), Bliss had Bliss Girl. The illustrated, beauty-obsessed character was the face of the brand’s mail-order catalogues in the late ’90s and early 2000s—a J. Peterman–style project that founder Marcia Kilgore wrote herself, packed with playful copy and a handful of favorite products per issue instead of the usual beauty-brand catalogue speak. Bliss Girl, drawn by illustrator Steven Campbell, was the character readers followed through those pages. Now, 30 years after Bliss opened its first SoHo spa, she’s stepping off them.
Beginning September 1, Bliss Girl—played by comedian Veronica Kwiatkowski—stars in a 10-episode social series imagining what happens when she walks out of the catalogue after 20 years and lands in 2026 New York. As the premise goes, she still knows everything there is to know about skin care, but dealing with modern life is another story, as the series follows her learning Apple Pay, surviving a bad date and picking up her own 30th birthday cake from Magnolia Bakery. Episodes roll out on Bliss’s Instagram and TikTok.
Joining her for a cameo is Bethenny Frankel, a longtime Bliss devotee and self-described quintessential New Yorker. “This was really the first brand that brought spa into your home. I remember the spa locations being the elite crème de la crème, and just getting an appointment to be in the space was a flex,” Frankel says. “I went to that rooftop W Miami spa a few times when someone else was footing the bill, and I was so proud.”
Three decades in, Frankel still keeps a couple of Bliss staples in rotation. “I love the vitamin C serum. They’ve always had a leg/body cream that was so incredibly rich and by far the best out there,” she says. “They have maintained a quality at a reasonable price for decades without incident. That’s a feat in the beauty world.”
It’s that consistency that Frankel says she likes most about the era Bliss came out of. “I miss the loyalty to brands and not being hypnotized by gimmicks, the shiny objects or buying out of FOMO,” she says. Her own ’90s routine, by contrast, was far less considered: “I would binge, then juice, wash my face every night, pick my face occasionally, get regular facials because of breakouts, but I had no routine. I think I just dried out and stripped my skin and I didn’t use sunscreen. My daughter is so on top of it and knows more than me in my 40s. Social media has done some wonders.” As for what she’d actually bring back from that era, Frankel doesn’t hesitate: “I have always liked microneedling, and I miss old-school extractions.”
On Bliss Girl’s return specifically, Frankel is unequivocal: “This is very smart and very cute and reminds us where it all began. She really started spa culture.”
To make sure the character felt right, the brand went back to the source via Campbell, who returned to reimagine the 2026 version, all while keeping it recognizable to the fans who remember her from the catalogue days.
The celebration continues into October, when Bliss will host a consumer pop-up in New York.
