Author: Priya Rao
Welcome back to Full Coverage. Thanks so much for reading today.I know this may feel like old news already but since I wrote about the Super Bowl last week, here goes: A lot of people thought that Bad Bunny made a mistake wearing Zara, but to my friends Mike Sykes and Sheena Butler-Young’s point, his look was all about accessibility. I was pleasantly surprised that the makeup team used culturally relevant cosmetics, including Aora Mexico, the fantastic and colourful makeup line that makes the best spicy lip serum, complete with a red jalapeño key chain. Congratulations to its co-founder Nour…
Hello, and welcome back to Full Coverage! Thanks so much for reading today, I always appreciate your time.In the spirit of the big game this weekend, I want to remind everyone to check out Mike Sykes’ definitive fashion X sports newsletter, The Kicks You Wear. Mike has everything you need to know about the Super Bowl.As an aside, I just got a chance to watch the trailer for Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story,” and it looks like the team finally nailed Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s buttery blonde. It has too much tousle in some scenes, but actress Sarah Pidgeon’s colour certainly looks…
Hello, and welcome back to Full Coverage, your weekly read on everything happening in beauty now. How is everyone faring in the cold? I can’t believe how frigid it’s been in New York. I have to admit that I missed the snowstorm. I was in the Caribbean without kids and a laptop (don’t hate me!). I am sunburnt though; can someone suggest an SPF 50 that actually works?Back in the beauty world, the news of the week is Pat McGrath Labs’ bankruptcy filing. Brennan Kilbane on our team had a great story breaking down what happened. But I have some…
The Business of Beauty Global Awards, now in its third year, provides founders with unparalleled exposure and networking opportunities at our annual gathering, The Business of Beauty Global Forum 2026. With over 150 hand-selected senior executives, entrepreneurs and creatives from around the world, founders are able to meet and learn from the best in the industry.The Global Awards aim to elevate exciting businesses, brands and founders by creating a space to honour and platform some of the new voices shaping the future of beauty and wellness. This year, by popular demand, we’re introducing The Established Track to recognise beauty founders…
Hi, and welcome back to Full Coverage, your favourite beauty newsletter. Thanks to all of you who are sending me weekly messages and updates, it keeps me pumped. I had planned to write a bit more about M&A after so many of you had questions about my picks. But then Sephora and Olive Young decided to drop some major collaboration news (Brennan on our team had the scoop) and I decided to save those M&A questions for next week. Besides, this week I wanted to talk about power partnerships, and product.In this edition, you’ll find:My take on Sephora’s newly inked…
2025 was supposed to be the year for beauty M&A. There were some major deals: Rhode’s $1 billion dollar sale to E.l.f., Ulta Beauty’s purchase of Space NK, L’Oréal’s blockbuster move to acquire Medik8, Unilever’s pickup of Dr. Squatch and Kayali and Phlur’s sale to General Atlantic and founder Mona Kattan and TSG Consumer Partners, respectively. But somehow the year still felt slower than expected. The disconnect comes down to the fact that, as many deals as there were last year, there were so many more brands on the market. Conglomerates are winnowing their mandates and slicing their portfolios (see:…
Drunk Elephant would like you to forget about that whole Sephora tween thing. The skincare brand was the unlikely face of the trend that saw hordes of 11 year olds ransacking beauty aisles across the US. Kids were attracted to its candy-coloured packaging rather than the souped-up active ingredients the line made its name on. (The cheeky name, Drunk Elephant, comes from the myth that oil-rich marula plants intoxicate large animals.) But Drunk Elephant’s older customers didn’t want to be associated with the Roblox crowd. And when teenagers inevitably moved on, the brand was adrift. Sales plunged as low 65…
Hello! And happy New Year. I know we are eight days into 2026, but I hope all of you had restful holiday breaks. It’s been a quieter week for beauty, but I’m eager for all the change that is inevitably coming — new brand launches, category expansions, M&A activity and more. My motto this year: Change is hard, but it’s almost always good. Speaking of change, you may have seen my scoop yesterday that the Estée Lauder Companies is actively trying to offload three underperforming brands — Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart — in a package deal. On the…
The Estée Lauder Companies is moving forward with plans to sell off some of the underperforming brands as the cosmetics giant looks to reclaim industry relevance and continued sales growth.Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart have been shopped around to potential buyers in a package deal for a price estimated in the low nine figures, according to two people familiar with the talks. Investment banks Evercore and J.P. Morgan are running the sale process and have primarily approached large private equity firms, the people said. Estée Lauder Companies did not respond to requests for comment.Estée Lauder tapped Evercore to review…
The Estée Lauder Companies is moving forward with plans to sell off some of the underperforming brands as the cosmetics giant looks to reclaim industry relevance and continued sales growth.Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart have been shopped around to potential buyers in a package deal for a price estimated in the low nine figures, according to two people familiar with the talks. Investment banks Evercore and J.P. Morgan are running the sale process and have primarily approached large private equity firms, the people said. Estée Lauder Companies did not respond to requests for comment.Estée Lauder tapped Evercore to review…