Next year sees a lot of new brands appearing… trends seem to indicate that make-up is having a bit of a down-swing while skin care is on the up. Shiseido is launching on-line only Recipist (only in Japan for now), Unilever is launching Love Beauty And Planet while L’Oreal is launching vegan hair line Botanea. Their key messaging is about environment, sustainability and natural beauty, capturing millennials with any shade of pink or green you like. To me, it’s not that different to Sanctuary Spa’s Being range – we’re just going to see a whole lot of similar brands I think in 2018.

Personalisation is still a strong message being taken a little further than products with your initials on them. Look out for bespoke hair care Prose, an ex-L’Oreal employee line (so many of them are) that’s garnered some generous funding and tailors in-salon treatments to not just your hair type but your environment.

I wondered why, last weekend when I passed Illamasqua Soho it was shut – rumours are that Illamasqua free standing stores have closed, leaving employees redundant. The Hut Group bought Illamasqua in October.

Is 7-Eleven too late to the party with it’s own brand make up range, Simply Me? The idea that anyone and everyone can have a make up brand isn’t quite as relevant now – there’s too much make up in the world – but it’s all under $5. I’d love to know who’s making it for them.

Unilever has also bought US brand Schmidt Naturals to tap more into the naturals theme but at the same time they’re investors (along with Charles Saatchi) in Trinny London. While it’s not a natural brand, it IS spearheaded by an older woman to catch the not-quite ‘gold not old’ gang. Actually, of all the big brands, I think Unilever is the one to watch just now – they’re doing interesting things and prepping to play hard against the competition.

 

 

 

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