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COSMOPROF •

Value, purpose and "thoughtful consumerism" to shape premium and prestige beauty

Consumer price sensitivity is rising as global economic uncertainties continue, carving out a future of more thoughtful consumerism in beauty and a clear need for brand differentiation, say experts.Key Takeaways:Last year, premium and prestige represented close to half of the entire global beauty industry with a shared retail value of 335.91 billion USD–just behind mass at 343.03 billion USD, according to data analytics firm Euromonitor International. In 2024, premium beauty and personal care pr...
Premium Beauty News •

Industry-led accelerator Breakout Beauty UK looking for the next 'monster' brand

Launched this month and open for applications, the accelerator programme would select a cohort of founders running businesses with £150,000+ turnovers to take through its mentorship curriculum covering brand, retail, finance and business insights from an array of industry experts, including Trinny Woodall, founder of Trinny London, and Mitchell Halliday, founder of Made by Mitchell.

Spearheaded by start-up accelerator Growth Studio, early-stage venture capital firm Venrex and trade organisation...

Nutrition and beauty AI tool hoped to democratise personalised wellness

Revieve, which provides advanced AI-powered solutions to help beauty brands deliver hyper-personalised customer experiences, has partnered with the renowned LA-based cosmetic dermatologist to develop the tool, which provides skincare and wellness recommendations based on smart analysis from a selfie and questionnaire.

The tool – already available via Dr Simon Ourian's website across parts of Europe and due to launch later this year in the US – suggests ingestible and topical products for each use...

'Strong case' for oral vitamins and skin health

Writing in The Microbe, an international team of researchers outlined the regulatory effects of vitamins on skin health, immunity, and disease – specifically, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B12, C, D, and E – and concluded that they showed promise in enhancing overall skin health as well as treating already apparent skin problems.

Speaking to Vitafoods Insights about the research, Dr Barbara Brockway, cosmetics and personal care scientific adviser and owner of Barbara Brockway Consulting, said the autho...

The science behind shilajit – one of 2025's 'trendiest' supplements

According to The Vitamin Shoppe's Health and Wellness Trend Report 2025, first-quarter sales of shilajit were up by more than 40% this year – driven by social media attention, a spate of new product launches, and renewed consumer interest in the ingredient.

Shilajit, a resin-like substance believed to be formed from the natural decomposition of plants and minerals in mountainous regions like the Himalayas, is a traditional herbal medicine. It contains high concentrations of the antioxidant fulvic...

How Harrods Is Holding Strong in Beauty

Almost 200 years after its founding, British department store Harrods is considered iconic in luxury retail. And it continues to innovate in the world of beauty and fragrances, drawing on its decades of experience in customer service and curation.

Established in 1834 in London, UK, the super-premium British department store Harrods offers a plethora of premium goods across food and wine, fashion, jewelry, furniture, fragrances, and beauty out of its flagship Grade II-listed store in the city's Kn...
Premium Beauty News •

Beauty industry welcomes “balanced” EU Chemicals Action Plan

On July 8, 2025, the European Commission presented its European Chemicals Industry Action Plan – a wide-reaching proposal designed to strengthen competitiveness and modernise the sector by addressing “high energy costs, unfair global competition, and weak demand while promoting investment in innovation and sustainability”.

Within the plan, a simplification package – the 6th Omnibus for the Chemicals Industry – aimed to streamline and simplify key EU chemicals legislation: on the classification a...

Inside Europe’s Dominance in Beauty Supplement Innovation

More than one-third of global beauty supplement launches come out of Western Europe, making it the top innovator in the world in terms of new product development. But why is this region thriving?

The beauty category today looks very different from a decade ago. A plethora of ingestibles—dietary supplements, gummies, chews, functional drinks, powders, bars, and more—now sit alongside the creams, lotions, scrubs, and sprays that have long defined beauty. And beauty ingestibles warrant a closer look...
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A “fuzzy agenda”: How can beauty align sustainability and competitiveness?

In December 2019, the European Commission published its European Green Deal – a programme designed to shape Europe into becoming the first climate neutral, circular and clean tech economy in the world by 2050.

Fast forward six years and businesses across the continent were working hard on transitioning to fulfil these goals, but challenges remained. So, how exactly could EU industries, including beauty, make sustainable changes whilst maintaining competitive edge?
Premium Beauty News •

European beauty braces for “regulatory tsunami,” says Cosmetics Europe

This year across Europe, the beauty industry must brace for regulatory change. The European Commission is currently evaluating the existing framework of the EU Cosmetic Products Regulation [1] and will communicate findings at the end of 2026, potentially leading to updates. A revision of the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals [REACH] Regulation [2] is also underway, set to be finalised by the end of this year.

Addressing attendees at the Cosmetics Europe Annu...

Consumer Trends Set to Transform Retail in 2026

Careful spending, entertainment, and wellness are set to define consumer spending next year in Europe, forcing brands to lean into smarter engagement strategies and innovation beyond the shelf.The retail landscape across Europe is evolving–rapidly, weirdly, and spectacularly—shaped by ongoing disruptions, technological advances but also increasingly complex consumer desires. And according to Carla Buzasi, CEO at trend forecasting company WGSN, next year will be transformative for brands and reta...
Premium Beauty News •

Cosmetics Europe: European beauty market hits €104bn in retail sales for 2024

The Cosmetics Europe Annual Report 2024 and Cosmetics Europe Market Performance 2024 Report – both released earlier this month to coincide with the European trade association’s annual conference held in Brussels, Belgium – outlined Europe as a “flagship market” for cosmetics and personal care products.

According to the reports, Europe [1] generated retail sales of EUR 104 billion last year across cosmetics and personal care – up 6.3% on the previous year and just behind the US with its €107bn re...

Beauty Execs Debate AI Integration at Shoptalk Europe

As smart tech becomes the new normal, so too will Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents—programs trained to replace humans—and there are aspects brands and retailers should be closely considering.

This month, BeautyMatter attended Shoptalk Europe 2025 in Barcelona, Spain—one of Europe's largest and key retail events—to find out more about how technology advances are set to shape the future of retail business for beauty, both online and in-store.AI—Search Optimization and Shopping“I'm personally a b...
Premium Beauty News •

Rituals CEO on Mind Oasis expansion: “We're building a wellbeing movement”

Rituals Cosmetics’ Mind Oasis – a dedicated mind spa space offering a range of multi-sensorial experiences like brain massages, hydro massages and guided meditations and breathwork – was initially launched in 2021 at the brand’s flagship megastore The House of Rituals in Amsterdam. Mind Oasis was designed to calm busy shoppers and offer an experience beyond traditional beauty retail.

During a keynote presentation at Shoptalk Europe 2025, held in early June in Barcelona, Spain, Raymond Cloosterma...

Ginsenosides for circadian rhythm skin disorders: Potential benefits and research needs

Researchers from the Republic of Korea investigated the therapeutical potential of ginsenosides –bioactive compounds found in the roots of ginseng – in targeting circadian rhythm-based skin disorders including ageing, compromised skin barrier, and hyperpigmentation.

Their review, published in the Journal of Ginseng Research, looked at the potential role of ginsenosides in improving skin health and promoting recovery from dermatological concerns, as well as their possible influence on circadian rh...

Europe Beauty Retail Trends 2025 in AI, Technology, Tariffs, Social Media, and Consumers

In 2025, European retail is defined by disruption, tech shifts, and increasingly complex consumer desires. Beauty brands and retailers need to adapt—fast and smart. Across Europe, the last five years post-COVID have been transformative, shifting the economy, how businesses operate, and how consumers think.

In 2025, consumers are living in a state of permacrisis, businesses have been forced into huge U-turn changes, and shopping patterns and behaviors are more complex than ever.But despite all th...
Premium Beauty News •

“Our vision is to hit EUR 1 billion in sales,” says Weleda CEO Tina Müller

Speaking to Premium Beauty News at Shoptalk Europe 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, last week, Tina Müller said the vision was to eventually reach sales of EUR 1 billion, starting with EUR 800 million by 2030.

The CEO told attendees earlier on stage during her keynote fireside chat: “This brand deserves to be a EUR 1 billion brand because it is so purposeful and the quality is so high. (...) There is so much potential for this company; this brand. There is a journey to go on and I love transformative j...

Scientists urge industry investment in advanced gut-skin axis research

Writing in The Microbe, researchers from Colombia conducted a systematic review investigating the relationship between skin and gut microbiota dysbiosis and inflammatory skin diseases, exploring how prebiotics and probiotics could be used to improve microbial balance and reduce skin inflammation.

Existing research, they said, showed the microbiota – both cutaneous and intestinal commnuities – as “essential” for maintaining homeostasis, modulating the immune system, and defending against external...

Health tech startup connects gut microbiome to PMS relief

Bootstrapped startup Pinkmatter is building out business and finalising its tech platform to offer ultra-personalised supplement blends for women, based on gut microbiome analysis and symptom tracking.

Founded in December 2024 by biotech scientist Roma Vishwanath-Deutsch and backed by a scientific advisory board of physician, food, women's health, and gut microbiome experts, Pinkmatter is mid-pilot run on its first trio supplement pack, designed to be taken daily by women experiencing mild-to-mod...
Premium Beauty News •

Data-driven beauty: Challenges remain in supply chain integration and innovation

As data capture and analysis continued to boom worldwide, the beauty industry was now looking to pivot around data further upstream, to help ingredient cataloguing, trend tracking and new product development. But what sort of hurdles faced industry when innovating around data? And was data really the future for beauty supply chains globally?

Speaking at last month’s in-cosmetics 2025 tradeshow in Amsterdam, a panel of industry experts weighed in.
“One of the things we need to be very mindful of...
Premium Beauty News •

Knowledge is power: The trend set to 'redefine' beauty in 2025

This year – 2025 – was a “year of empowerment” in beauty, according to Andrew McDougall, director of beauty and personal care research at Mintel, who said beauty consumers today wanted to “build their own knowledge” in this fast-moving and innovative category.

Addressing attendees at last month’s in-cosmetics 2025 tradeshow in Amsterdam, McDougall said the ’my knowledge is power’ Mintel trend was set to significantly shape the beauty market this year, and it was all about how consumers saw, crea...
Beauty Matter •

Regulatory Shifts Set to Morph China's Beauty Market

China is enforcing stricter cosmetic safety and risk regulations this year as part of a phased approach towards market standardization, and it's a move set to shake up business significantly, said an expert.China's beauty market had already faced “growing pains” in the wake of the Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR), issued on January 1, 2021, as “the first comprehensive and systematic overarching law in the Chinese cosmetics industry in over 30 years,” said Chris Wang, Sen...
Vitafoods Insights •

Eyes on beauty: European hair, skin, and nail supplements experience ‘remarkable’ growth

Over the past five years, European product launches in hair, skin, and nail supplements grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24%, making it the fastest-growing supplement subcategory* in the region – just behind women's specialty supplements, according to Innova.And “skin health” placed fourth in the top five supplement positionings across Europe, ahead of bone health and behind immune health, brain-mood health, and energy and stamina.Solène Limongi, market analyst at Innova, describe...
Vitafoods Insights •

Menopause product claims ‘must stay evidence-based and ethical’

An estimated 13 million women in the UK – one-third of the region’s female population – are currently perimenopausal or menopausal, according to the charity Wellbeing of Women.Despite regulations in place for nutrition and/or health claims and clear legislation around food information to consumers, the UK remains awash with questionable product and marketing claims relating to menopause across functional foods, beverages and supplements, according to Claire Baseley, a freelance industry nutritio...
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