Author: Daniela Morosini

Rare Beauty has promoted Joyce Kim and Ashley Murphy to the roles of chief brand and chief marketing officer respectively, the company announced on Wednesday.Murphy and Kim’s appointments follow the departure of founding chief marketing officer Katie Welch, who joined Chanel as US head of brand and communications in January.Both Kim and Murphy are longtime staffers of the premium cosmetics brand, which was launched in 2020 by Selena Gomez. Kim was its founding chief product officer, while Murphy, who also joined pre-launch in 2019, was most recently vice president of consumer marketing. Kim previously worked at L’Oréal-owned Nyx Cosmetics, while…

Véronique Courtois is the new head of LVMH’s beauty division, replacing Stéphane Rinderknech, the company announced on Monday.Courtois has worked at LVMH since 2000 in a range of beauty roles, including chief marketing officer and then chief executive of Guerlain. She has been president of Parfums Christian Dior since March 2023 and will retain the role while also overseeing LVMH’s beauty portfolio and joining the company’s executive committee.Rinderknech, who held the role since March 2023, has left the company to pursue personal projects, according to a statement.LVMH’s beauty portfolio includes prestige brands like Benefit Cosmetics, Fresh and Make Up For…

When meeting with aspiring brand founders, one thing never fails to amuse Julie Chung is their gall about investment. “When they say, ‘I’m going to need $2 million and I’m looking for investors,’ I chuckle,” said Chung, who bootstrapped the premium hair tools brand T3 with her husband in 2004. “If [they] get that $2 million and didn’t earn any of it, they’re not going to think as critically about how they spend it.”T3 became profitable in its first year and sells a range of blow dryers and curling irons. It is growing steadily, with sales increasing more than 20…

For once, Estée Lauder Companies’ problems are in its largest market: the US.Despite posting a second consecutive quarter of sales growth on Thursday, business at home was flat, and is forecast to stay that way for the rest of the fiscal year. Following the release of its second-quarter earnings, the firm’s stock fell 20 percent. The company has been trading at a premium of around 32 times its peers, per Barclays, with its stock up some 40 percent. But given that Estée Lauder is a year into chief executive Stéphane de La Faverie’s turnaround plan, investors were hoping to see…

The line that spilled out of Washington’s Bellevue Square mall on Jan. 17 wasn’t for a celebrity appearance, a limited-edition product or even a free one.The hundreds-strong, hours-long line was there for the Pacific Northwest’s first Sukoshi store, a Canadian retailer of Asian beauty products that has been rapidly expanding in the US since the start of 2025.“People were there just to shop,” said Linda Dang, founder and chief executive, adding that it had been one of the Sukoshi’s strongest openings yet, as US consumers clamour for Asian beauty products they can’t get anywhere else.Sukoshi, which carries a mix of…

In the early weeks of 2026, social media was gripped in a short-term nostalgic fugue, reminiscing on the glory days of 2016 and wistfully remembering the year’s trends, like glamorous multi-toned “cut crease” eyeshadow and glittery highlighter.“This was the best era ever!!!” reads one Instagram comment. Another describes her favourite brands from the year as having her in a “chokehold.”Nostalgia has become a potent marketing tool, but it doesn’t mean anybody is buying. Despite their reminiscence, and how popular top names from the era like Anastasia Beverly Hills and Benefit Cosmetics were, these brands have struggled to evolve and resonate…

Pat McGrath Labs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of Florida, according to a petition filed on Jan. 22.On Sunday night, Women’s Wear Daily reported the filing and added that Pat McGrath Labs’ asset sale scheduled for Tuesday would be postponed indefinitely, as a spokesperson told the publication the company will continue trading while it restructures its balance sheet. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the company and its owners to continue trading and standard business operations while a restructuring plan is negotiated with creditors.The company has claimed between $50 million and $100 million in estimated…

S&P Global has upgraded Anastasia Beverly Hills’ debt rating from “D” to “CCC+”, the ratings agency announced on Wednesday.The upgrade follows a $225 million injection of founder Anastasia Soare’s personal funds into the company in December as part of a debt restructuring which saw TPG Capital, previously its biggest investor, exit most of its stake. TPG’s exit wiped out most of its 2018 $600 million investment, per Bloomberg.The premium cosmetics company, famed for its brow products and high-glamour makeup, had been hamstrung by high debt and slowing sales.According to S&P, its new capital structure consists of a new $272 million…

Skincare brand Topicals announced on Wednesday it has closed a round of funding with participation from the WNBA star Angel Reese and the Nigerian singer Rema, as well as other figures from the entertainment and sports industries. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Since its 2020 launch, Topicals has raised over $20 million. Speaking exclusively to The Business of Beauty, founder Olamide Olowe said that she wanted to invite investors from the Topicals community. “When you think of [Topicals], you think of our marketing, storytelling and products, and you think a lot about culture,” she said. “These are people…

It doesn’t take long for an indie beauty brand to become the next big thing. Look at Rhode, which scaled from the ground up to a $1 billion acquisition in three short years. For decades, these upstarts have siphoned market share from major conglomerates. But the sheer proliferation of newcomers, even small names generating modest amounts of revenue, is creating rapid-fire trends and ever-growing competition.2026 will see a new guard of innovative, agile brands gain speed — and perhaps even leap-frog over the incumbent competition. As they jostle for attention on crowded digital platforms, the cost of acquiring customers has…