Author: Brennan Kilbane

M.ph by Mary Phillips, the cosmetics label founded by the eponymous makeup artist, has hired Hannah Beals to be its new chief executive.In the role, Beals will steward the growth of the brand, which launched in Oct. 2025 through Sephora and its direct-to-consumer channels. “Our priorities are really growing brand awareness in North America, building community among makeup artists, creators and our customers, and strengthening that Sephora relationship,” Beals told The Business of Beauty.“It was important to bring in a leader who understands both the heart of a brand and the mechanics of scaling one,” said founder Phillips, hailing Beals’…

Pat McGrath Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 22, after a last-ditch attempt to secure new investment or an operational partner fell through. The company will continue to sell its celestial Mothership palettes, MatteTrance lipsticks and other products as it restructures, a spokesperson told The Business of Beauty. And Pat McGrath herself has pledged $1 million to pay critical vendors and compensate employees at the brand she founded more than a decade ago, and where she is still founder and chief executive.But though Pat McGrath Labs will continue to operate more or less as-is in the near-term,…

On Tuesday, Sephora announced a partnership with Olive Young, bringing Korea’s largest beauty retailer’s assortment into Sephora stores in North America and Southeast Asia, The Business of Beauty can exclusively reveal. The partnership, which rolls out in store and online in fall 2026, will see Olive Young displays pop up in 650 Sephora doors in the US and Canada, as well as all of the retailer’s 48 doors across Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The initiative will also expand to the Middle East, UK and Australia in 2027.But its primary function is to serve as a pipeline linking Olive…

On Monday, investment firm L Catterton announced it had taken a large minority stake in high perfumery brand Ex Nihilo.Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but co-founder Benoît Verdier told The Business of Beauty that in 2025, the brand’s retail sales exceeded $100 million, and sources close to the brand said the stake exceeds the $29 million position taken by French private equity firm Eurazeo in 2022. Last week, BoF reported that Eurazeo was shutting down its brand investment arm. “We started tracking Ex Nihilo a few years back, looking for fragrance brands with momentum and a deep brand…

“One shot makes you hot” is the tagline for the newest TV series from producer Ryan Murphy, “The Beauty”. It centres on a mythical injection that allows people to become instantly gorgeous, features Bella Hadid and premieres on Jan. 21. The premise is perhaps inspired by the 2025 film “The Substance” (Tagline: “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?”), but also reflects a growing obsession with the concept of an injectable transformation, and one that might not be so mythical after all. In the US, the world leader in general consumption, and consequently of obesity, glucagon-like peptide…

French private equity firm Eurazeo Global is imminently closing its consumer portfolio Eurazeo Brands, made up of labels like Beekman 1802, Gisou, Nest New York, Herschel and Axel Arigato, three sources told The Business of Beauty. In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Eurazeo said the firm “has recently decided to review consumer investment opportunities through its generalist funds, rather than via a dedicated strategy.” The company maintains €37.4 billion ($43.6 billion) in assets under management. The move follows a rocky few years for Eurazeo Brands, which was established in 2017. Eurazeo Brands was championed by chief…

Even in the earliest years of her life, Keren Bartov knew she was destined to sell good skin. The Israeli aesthetician was four years old when she first saw her mother apply serums and moisturisers in her vanity mirror, prompting the younger Bartov to steal the products and peddle them around to her neighbours — telling them, in her toddler squeak, “This will be amazing for your skin.” More than five decades later, her enterprise has grown considerably. When Bartov’s own line of skincare debuted in the US at Bergdorf Goodman, with two $170 creams and six $180 serums, it…

Something smelled musky on the Golden Globes red carpet.It was the actress Amanda Seyfried, wearing a buttercream strapless gown and Parfums de Marly fragrance. Hours earlier her hairstylist Renato Campora misted her neck with the brand’s Valaya scent — a peachy, white musk — “to enhance both the mood and the energy in the room,” said Campora, who was sponsored by the French perfume house. Marly’s sister label, Initio Parfums Privé, also scented Teyana Taylor, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in “One Battle After Another” through her hairstylist Nikki Nelms. Taylor wore the brand’s Atomic Rose hair perfume, as did…

Pat McGrath Labs is putting some of its assets up for sale, including the brand’s logos and trademarks, according to the cosmetics brand. A brand spokesperson told The Business of Beauty that the company is “currently going through restructuring and recapitalisation processes” expected to be completed in early 2026, that “will allow Pat McGrath Labs to move forward in a productive and healthy environment.”The potential sale was first reported by Women’s Wear Daily, which said the process is being managed by US financial firm Hilco Global. Hilco did not respond to requests for comment.Pat McGrath Labs, created by famed makeup…

The beauty ecosystem of the 2010s revolved around one question: What would a cool girl put on her face? The answer would go on to inform the launches of the era’s most disruptive brands, like Glossier, Fenty Beauty and Milk Makeup. The latter, which launched in Sephora and Urban Outfitters in February 2016, was perhaps the ultimate cool-girl label. Born out of the editorial production studio Milk Studios, it debuted with skin tints, chubby sticks and pigment tubes designed to be applied with fingers, and was geared towards a New York-ish, on-the-go type — someone likelier to do their makeup…