I haven’t done a beauty news update for quite some time but it’s been quiet behind the scenes in beauty land. But, there are a few little snippets that I think you will find of interest, so here goes:
Shiseido has bought Gurwitch, the holding company of Laura Mercier and ReVive, which means that Laura Mercier will be part of Shiseido. This sounds like a very good thing – Shiseido formulations are fabulous so I can’t see anything but good changes on this news. The Shiseido group owns several brands that I think will surprise you: NARS, Avene (since when!), bareMinerals, Serge Lutens and Joico, to name a few. (NB: Shiseido imports and markets Avene in Asia – nothing to do with European market where it’s fully owned by Pierre Fabre.)
It looks like Sephora is slowly discontinuing the NUDE Skincare line – both NUDE and Sephora are owned by LVMH so this is a very strange turn of events – it wouldn’t surprise me if NUDE came up for sale in the not too distant.
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A very last minute add in, but Revlon has acquired Elizabeth Arden. Elizabeth Arden has struggled for a while to keep up with trends and to engage with social media – and to be honest, Revlon has been rather quiet this year, too, so I don’t know quite what the repercussions might be for this buy. All I know is that Revlon does better make up than EA and EA does better skin care than Revlon (who already own Almay® color cosmetics, SinfulColors® color cosmetics, Pure Ice® color cosmetics, Revlon ColorSilk® hair color, Revlon® beauty tools, Charlie® fragrances, Mitchum® anti-perspirant / deodorants, and Ultima II® and Gatineau® skincare).
The ASA has recently upheld a complaint about Colgate Max White One Optic. The complaint was that the on-line ad was misleading because there was an implication in voice-overs and copy that the whitening effect would be instant and that teeth would be ‘much whiter’ – both considered an exaggeration. So, was it members of the public or consumers that paid attention to the detail and made a complaint? Nope, it was Colgate-Palmolive’s competitor, P&G.
Keep an eye out for the rise of Hair Puddings. Currently, these are mainly for textured hair with a deeply conditioning formula with a mix of gel and conditioners that make a custard-y kind of a blend, but I’m seeing a forward trend for puddings for all hair types.
There’s a hair trend that everyone’s watching – no water, towel off hampoos. I say a trend, but this type of shampoo has been used in the medical market for a while now (for those, such as the elderly, who are unable to conventionally wash their hair). The difference between towel off and dry shampoo is that towel off is a liquid. I’m going to track one down to try but the brand currently making a splash (or not) with this is Zerreau (Superdrug).
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5 comments
I always enjoy the beauty news posts and this was a good one. You said its been quiet but remember that the lay reader doesn’t have your knowledge and stuff that you take as general knowledge is news to me.
Jane I do really like your beauty business news articles – It’s good to know what’s going on behind the scenes. Thank you as ever.
I’ve been a fan of waterless shampoos for a while. Tresemme, ahead of their time, did a towel-off shampoo a few years back but discontinued it. Brilliant for festivals and camping. No Rinse has been around for years. I’ll have to give the Zerreau a go.
Am I right in thinking we used to have a Sephora in the UK ? I’m sure there used to be one in blue water or lakeside ? Thank you I really enjoy these posts
You’re correct.. there was one in Bluewater and also one in Islington.