The past two years we’ve seen a flurry of change in the beauty retail landscape, with a revolving door of both new players entering the competition and others exiting the space. This morning, the RealReal confirmed to Women’s Wear Daily that it’s stepping away from the beauty business, explaining that it will sell through the existing inventory and then ultimately sunset the category. In other retail news, TikTok-famous brand Basma Beauty hits Sephora’s online shelves this week, while K-beauty brand A’pieu has expanded into the US market.

AI technology continues to dominate the news cycle, and this morning, when it comes to need-to-know headlines, you have the announcement that Canva has launched a range of AI-led creative features — great news if you are one of the 125 million people who use the company’s design software. And despite the hype, Digiday’s Worklife reports on the challenges of business leaders remaining clear-eyed amidst the buzz and excitement of the new technology, and urges leaders to take an ambivalent approach to ChatGPT and AI. Read these stories and more in the links below.

Instagram Has Started Putting Ads in Search Results. The change is just a test for now, but it plans to launch the new ad placement globally in the coming months. (The Verge)

The RealReal is Exiting the Beauty Business. In an effort to boost its luxury consignment business, the retailer is deemphasizing the direct side of the business, which includes beauty.
(WWD)

TikTok Famous Brand Basma Beauty Launches at Sephora. A TikTok success story: after going viral thanks to influencers like Mikayla Nogueira and Cathy Nguyen, the brand’s sole product, The Foundation Stick, is launching on sephora.com by way of the retailer’s Accelerator program. (Beauty Independent)

Canva Launches ‘Magic’ AI Tools for Design Software’s 125 Million Users. The company announced a range of AI features including Magic Design, allowing people to create personalized design templates from an image or style, Magic Presentation, which creates slideshow-style presentations from a prompt, and Magic Write, a copywriting tool. (Forbes)

How Douyin Makeup Took Over TikTok. Defined by soft, ethereal makeup that gives you a doll-like appearance, the growing trend is named after a social media app created by TikTok’s parent company that’s exclusive to China. (Allure)

Leaders Are Ignoring the Dangers of ‘Confidently Incorrect’ AI: Why It’s a Massive Problem. Futurist David Shrier warns that significant risks are emerging as spellbound business leaders rapidly race to reorient themselves around ChatGPT without being aware of — or ignoring — the numerous pitfalls. (WorkLife)

What’s the Industry Impact of Instagram Cutting NFTs? Instagram was one of the biggest social media platforms to experiment with NFTs. The decision to pull back means that brands will no longer be able to offer NFTs on the platform. (Glossy)

Trending Cosmetics and Beauty Care Brand A’pieu Breaks Into US Market. With a product trending on TikTok and Instagram, and eyes set on Gen-Z customers, the K-beauty brand is early into the launch phase of bringing its products to US consumers. (Cosmetics Design USA)