Editor’s picks for 2015 – the most impactful articles of the year

Indie brands and the millennials​

It is hard to dispute that one of the most talked about areas in the business has been the independent brands, or indie brands as they have come to be widely known as.

These are the cosmetic and personal care players that are leading the way in the US market, through both industry-leading product innovation, clever branding and the smart use of social media to get the word out.

The team has devoted a lot of time to this area, but in this interview with Nudestix founder Jenny Frankel we profile how an indie beauty brand successfully syncs with millennial consumer behavior: http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Brand-Innovation/Nudestix-The-indie-beauty-brand-that-s-a-case-study-in-consumer-behavior​

Multicultural formulating​

Formulation innovation is undoubtedly the most important element in bringing consumers back for a repeat purchase, because with all the sleek branding and packaging the world can offer, if the product does not give consumers what they want it will not be around for long.

In this particular article we highlight outstanding innovation in color cosmetics formulation from L’Oréal that clues in on how ultramarine blue pigment was incorporated into formulations to give women with darker skin colors more impactful results.

Indeed, this is an innovation that has led to the creation of 30 new shades for brands at every tier of L’Oréal’s business:http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Brand-Innovation/L-Oreal-reformulates-foundation-for-women-around-the-globe-using-ultramarine-blue-pigment​

What’s in store for P&G?​

When Procter & Gamble announced that it was selling over 40 of its brands to Coty with a price tag of $12.5 billion, we saw the biggest M&A deal the global industry has seen in over 10 years.

We have devoted significant column inches to the deal simply because it is going to have a massive impact on the industry, hopefully creating a more efficient business for P&G and a larger and more globally encompassing business for Coty.

This article focuses on how the deal is lining up P&G as a more efficient and reactive business, with the added bonus of lower costs and overheads hopefully spelling out a brighter future for the business: http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Business-Financial/P-G-tough-times-lower-spending-new-era​

Everyone is watching the Wen lawsuit​

Regulation and safety are regularly amongst the top-hitting articles on the Cosmetics Design reader list, purely because a small regulatory slip or formulation mishap can have tremendous consequences for businesses. 

This has been highlighted by the lawsuit brought against the Wen hair care brands, its marketer Guthy-Renker and business owner Chaz Dean.

The story first broke at the beginning of the year, when a Florida resident filed a lawsuit claiming to have had an adverse scalp reaction after using the Wen cleansing conditioner line.

That lawsuit has since grown to include over 200 years, leaving us all closely following the action to determine whether or not lawmakers will deem the makers of Wen at fault: http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Regulation-Safety/More-than-200-women-named-in-lawsuit-against-Wen-hair-care​