Brand Innovation

Macy's Accelerator Program  © ozgurdonmaz Getty Images

Apply now: The Workshop at Macy’s accelerator program

By Cassandra Stern

Brands accepted into The Workshop at Macy’s program will receive retail mentorship support, the opportunity to open a pop-up shop on Macy’s digital retail store, a $5,000 business grant, and the chance to enter the Macy’s pitch competition and win a $100,000...

Ecovia Circular Beauty © pcess609 Getty Images

The big circular beauty challenge: zero waste

By Simon Pitman

With sustainability very much back in the spotlight, interest in circular beauty is growing, prompting consumers to explore brands tapping into the concept as part of efforts to reduce their environmental footprints.

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World’s largest AR mirror lets consumers try on makeup

By Olivia DeSmit

Maybelline and FFFACE.ME partnered to launch the world’s largest augmented reality mirror in Kyiv, Ukraine. The 4,000-square-meter mirror enables a virtual try-on of Maybelline’s new mascara product.

Aprés Nail broadens soft gel portfolio

Aprés Nail broadens soft gel portfolio

By Cassandra Stern and Simon Pitman

After being hit hard by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the market for soft gel nail extensions has bounced back fast. Cosmetics Design spoke to leading player Aprés Nail to find out how the company has managed to tap into this.

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Perfect Corp raises the bar on digital beauty engagement

By Simon Pitman

Perfect Corp has made a huge impact in the immersive and exploratory digital consumer beauty experience with its suite of YouCam apps, and is now taking things to the next level with the introduction of an AI-powered app.

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What it takes to get gender neutral beauty right

By Cassandra Stern & Simon Pitman

The gender-neutral skincare market has been one of fastest growing sub categories in recent years, but a flood of sophisticated and well curated brands means that competition is now tough in this space.

Olaplex’s Oladupé is a faux brand designed to tackle the duping problem

Olaplex takes on dupe brands at their own game

By Simon Pitman

Fueled by social media, the rise of dupe beauty and personal care brands is impacting a broad range of premium players, but hair care brand Olaplex is fighting back in a unique way.

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Mintel research points to benefits of more creative fragrance sampling

By Simon Pitman

Fragrance discovery is all about hooking consumers with imaginative and creative sampling ideas. The latest research from market intelligence provider Mintel suggests that getting this formula right is key to consumers engaging in in-store experimentation...

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How AI software is helping DTC beauty brands to shine

By Cassandra Stern & Simon Pitman

As the Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) beauty market continues to carve out a bigger share of the retail landscape, using the right tools to fine tune digital retail platforms has become make or break.

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PowerReviews survey highlights strong pockets of consumer spending

By Cassandra Stern & Simon Pitman

A new PowerReviews survey focusing on beauty consumer trends underscores how the spending patterns of some consumers groups are still showing an upward trajectory, despite many household budgets continuing to be squeezed in the last couple of years.

FlyFish AI © da-kuk Getty Images

‘First-ever’ generative AI platform for digital sales launched

By Cassandra Stern

With Fractal Analytics’ launch of the Flyfish platform, cosmetics and personal care product companies can now ‘create personalized shopping experiences’ for consumers by ‘providing consultative experiences’ and ‘analyzing individual buying patterns.’