Okay, so it’s the last BBN of the year although I have got (on 30th December) a post (AD) coming up with Superdrug’s report on the past 20 years of beauty. If you want to know which town buys the most fake tan and what goes on behind the scenes in making change, do give it a read.
It was only a matter of time before investors got really interested in NYC based make up brand, Milk Make Up, and Seoul based Amorepacific (Laneige, Innisfree, Etude House) has now taken a stake. This means that Milk will benefit from Korean new technology and have the ability to enter that lucrative market.
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Prada has signed a license agreement with L’Oreal for the ‘creation, development and distribution’ of luxury beauty products. You might remember that Prada have previously entered the skin care and make up market with a line now discontinued. Personally, I think their distribution was poor (I remember buying some in the Harrods sale years ago) but you can still find Prada Pink Candy gloss on Ebay.
I get nervous about CBD beauty products because I just cannot see what it’s bringing to the party for skin. I tried a CBD oil and it was beautiful but who knows whether it was just a great oil blend or if the CBD had any influence at all. The FDA in the USA is cracking down on the marketing of CBD including cosmetics. As I understand it, it’s not against the law to use CBD in products but to cite it as having benefits to particular things is. If brands can’t market themselves as beneficial because of the CBD then it’s rather pointless having it there, which is how I feel about the oil in cosmetic products in general!
A brand to look out for in 2020 is J-Scent. The Japanese fragrance brand has just entered the US market with fragrances such as Sumo Wrestler, Rakugan (Japanese sweets), Paper Soap (yes please) and Roasted Green Tea. The theme is every day nature and incorporating fragrance into daily life rather than occasion wear.
I’m watching Mike Ashley’s plans for House of Fraser with interest. Although there are more store closures to come (with an inevitable loss of jobs – wide reaching across all industries; think suppliers, packers, logistics) the plan is to rebrand HoF as Frasers in the luxury vein to sit alongside Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Selfridges. If they can bring experience shopping to luxury beauty in the way that Selfridges and Harrods can and be more exclusive in their beauty buying it does seem like a sound plan. In general terms, high street beauty (make up especially) is suffering a drop in sales whereas luxury beauty stays popular. Skin care is on the rise and as yet there is no department store that is known for a particular skin care specialism. It looks like there is an opening there for someone to really own the skin care department store space. Maybe Frasers will take it.
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