Expert Dialogue
Why Grüns’ $1.2B Exit Marks A Reset In CPG Investing
After years of caution, Brian Sugar, co-founder of Sugar Capital, believes the $1.2 billion exit of portfolio company Grüns should lay to rest any lingering concerns that consumer brand investing is a bad bet and boost...
Why Oddity’s Stock Plunged 50% And What It Means For Other Brands
Oddity Tech is aptly named. It’s always stood apart in the beauty industry, neither fully a technology company nor purely a product brand, but a performance marketing engine with a maximalist approach to makeup. The parent...
Eco-Conscious Founders Face A Consumer Backlash, But Remain Optimistic About Sustainable Beauty’s Future
Sustainable beauty’s recent heyday, which peaked in the late 2010s and early 2020s as refillable, plastic-free and solid-format brands gained momentum, now feels like a different era. Inflation, social media-fueled trend cycles and heightened price sensitivity...
Here’s Exactly How Beauty Brands Are Putting AI To Work
Count the beauty industry among the non-skeptics when it comes to artificial intelligence. According to a survey of beauty brand CEOs by Beauty Independent parent company Indie Beauty Media Group, 94% say they’re using...
Why AI May Be Beauty’s Great Equalizer
After the golden age of glossy magazines, social media leveled the playing field in beauty, fueling the rise of brands like NYX, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Morphe. To bypass rigid retail gatekeepers, direct-to-consumer distribution once again...
As Emilie Heathe Shuts Down, Its Founder Lays Out 6 Tough Realities Of Building An Indie Brand
Even as Emily Heath Rudman was winding down luxury clean makeup and nail brand Emilie Heathe, she held out hope for a last-minute savior in the form of an investor, a strategic buyer or a burst of virality that...
