December 6, 2023

Any beauty brand seeking to stand out from the crowd on Amazon will want to read CEW’s hot-off-the-press report curated by Market Defense on the top selling beauty products during Cyber Week 2023. Published today, the member-exclusive report reveals the most popular products (Dyson’s CEW 2023 Beauty Award-winning Air Wrap among them), bestselling brands per category (Cerave and Urban Decay in skin and makeup, respectively) and Amazon’s most searched organic keywords. Sales in the Beauty and Personal Care category were up 15% on Thanksgiving and 21% on Black Friday in comparison with last year.

Sustainability remains a priority for beauty shoppers, according to new findings by NIQ. “Sustainability is top of mind for beauty consumers, and they are overwhelmingly putting their dollars behind their interest in the cause,” it states, making a distinction between this and the “clean beauty” trend. The Sustainable Beauty Report investigates the importance of sustainability when it comes to ethical sourcing, cruelty-free testing, eco-conscious packaging and carbon footprint reduction.

An inspirational beauty business which pioneered new ways of serving its clientele amid the challenges of recent years, the Starring “smart” salon in Los Angeles has closed as celebrity hairstylists Ted Gibson and Jason Backe pursue new projects in Palm Springs. “Like many salons during the pandemic, their business took a beating, but Starring weathered the storm,” reports Kavita Daswani at CEW. “However, once the writers and actors strike hit, the duo, who have operated four successful salons in as many states since 2003, decided that running their own salon was no longer an ambition.”

Trailblazing lip care company Sara Happ has sold a minority stake to BGM Ventures. It’s the first time that the multi-million dollar indie brand has sought outside investment since Happ launched the range in 2005, with a lip scrub. Since then, the company has grown 30% each year. “We cannot keep up supply with demand, and I’ve never had this much retailer and customer demand for our products,” says Happ. “That’s why the acquisition is so helpful with scaling.”

Read more on these and other news stories at the links below. 

Amazon’s Top Selling Beauty Products in Cyber Week. Don’t miss CEW’s member-exclusive report, curated by Market Defense. (CEW)

Sustainability Moves The Marker. According to a new NIQ report, sustainability is becoming “increasingly important” to consumers when deciding which beauty products to shop. (COSMETICS DESIGN)

Dynamic Hair Duo Move To Palm Springs. Celebrity stylist Ted Gibson and colorist Jason Backe, founders of the innovative Starring “smart” salon, have closed the Los Angeles salon to pursue new creative projects. (CEW)

Sara Happ Sells Minority Stake to BGM Ventures. As the indie lip care brand goes from strength to strength, founder Sara Happ announces a new investor but remains in her full-time role as the brand’s creative. (WWD)

NewsGuild Files Complaint on Behalf Of The New Yorker Staff. The charge follows pending labor cuts at The New Yorker announced by Condé Nast, which also owns Vogue, Vanity Fair and Allure. (THE NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK)

What’s Next For Farfetch? Shareholders are speculating over the position of Farfetch Platform Solutions, the luxury beauty tech provider. (VOGUE BUSINESS)

Avestan Sales Surge. Deciem’s niche, affordable fragrance range, which it launched in 2019 as a “heritage project,” has become so popular that its flagship store in London’s Soho has had  to limit the number of items each customer can purchase. (BUSINESS OF FASHION)