beauty / Cosmetics

Generative AI is being adopted across the beauty industry to create everything from product images to formulas themselves, based on prompted “vibes.” As more companies utilise these tools for efficiency, they risk losing the creative touch that separates storytelling from slop.

The largest beauty retailer in the US announced it will not renew its shop-in-shop partnership with Target. While initially popular, poor execution, changing shopping habits and overlap between the two stores’ locations and customers brought the collaboration to a halt, experts said.

Ten years after they failed to catch on outside Asia, Korean cosmetic brands are bringing TikTok virality and expanded shade ranges back to the West in the hopes they can ride K-beauty’s second wave to success.

In an increasingly competitive category, premium cosmetics labels like Merit and Sarah Creal Beauty are embracing more complex, distinctive — and costly — visual and sensorial touches to their products.

In an effort to stand out on crowded social media feeds, death-tinged delights like “Summerween” and “Wednesday” are spreading a sugar-coated macabre across the Western world. Even without an official collab, beauty brands can still scare up some sales.

Korea’s medical tourism sector is thriving — but strict defamation laws, cultural differences and nationwide doctors’ strikes present unique challenges to foreigners seeking medical and aesthetic treatments in the global beauty capital.

The elevated feel of prestige beauty can seem out of place ina digital world that rewards instant impact and short-term virality. Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive of Spanish beauty conglomerate Puig, told The State of Fashion: Beauty Volume 2 that marketing success requires fresh thinking.

The attention-grabbing new store on London’s Oxford Street is the British chain’s most ambitious gambit yet, and joins a flock of global beauty retailers debuting flagships packed with experiential elements.