Rumours everywhere that Unilever is making a play for Drunk Elephant. A little while back, similar rumours cited the Estee Lauder companies as hovering over the brand. Personally, I think DE is a better fit with Unilever although a natural competitor to the already Unilever owned REN. EL seems to be buckling under the weight of its brands with several far quieter than usual.

Kendall Jenner has locked down trademarks for her own beauty line so may well be joining her sisters Kim and Kylie in the beauty industry. Her collaboration for the millennial targeted Estee Edit for Estee Lauder didn’t keep it from being discontinued so perhaps that well has run dry, but the fragrance category is wide open. On that note, Kylie has upset everyone in the beauty community by showcasing a walnut face scrub as part of her range. Walnut has a reputation for skin tearing, but it really depends upon how it’s been treated before it goes into the product.

Brooke Shields sues Charlotte Tilbury?  The culprit here is the Charlotte Tilbury brow pencil called Brooke S which the real Brooke S asserts that it undermines any beauty products she may create herself going forward. I’m no lawyer and think it’s possibly problematic to take legal action over a product that’s clearly an homage in amongst many others across the range rather than a blatant attempt to abuse the namesake. I mean, there is a pencil called Naomi and she’s not making a fuss… just sayin ;-). On the subject of Charlotte Tilbury, look out for the next Hot Lips campaign fundraising for Women for Women International – the brand has pledged £1M.

What happened to Model’s Own? It seems that the company filed a Wind Up Resolution in September 2018, and appointed a liquidator at the same time. To be honest, it looks like it went into the hands of directors based in Saudi Arabia and from there never recovered in the UK although perhaps it will gain a second life there. At the present time however, it’s a liquidated company currently not trading at all, and left many creditors at the time of liquidation.

It’s not a good sign that revenue for Coty has fallen 10.4%. That’s more of a fall than even industry experts were predicting. I wonder what will happen to Bourjois in particular that was a very much loved brand and looked after lovingly by employees while it belonged to Chanel. It’s still in Superdrug but just feels horribly neglected these days at a time when it should be absolutely shining.

A rare miss from Selfridges buyers with this I’m Sorry For My Skin set from Ultru, a south Korean brand. I can’t work out whether it’s a mis-translation that means I feel sorry for my skin (so I’m treating it nicely with these products) OR whether it is truly the apologetic assertion that it seems. First glance would seem enough to decide that it’s not a good message to send to anyone who feels self-conscious about their complexion, mis-translation or not – it can’t be assumed that consumers would do the bigger picture thinking about the meaning.

Trendwatch: Vegan silk in skin care. It won’t be long before synthetic silk biopolymers find their way into mainstream skin care.

Trendwatch 2: Beauty fridges. You don’t need one unless you don’t have an actual fridge.

 

 

 

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