What the latest Indie launches tell us about the beauty market
From brand closures to reselling at explosive prices, what is the reality of the current market? Still vibrant, still bringing creative ideas to life. The Beauty market continues to attract fervent entrepreneurs in the pursuit of releasing yet another miracle product on the market. But what makes or breaks a brand? Is the market out of breath? Maybe not.
From science-focused, owned formulas to functional fragrances and makeup as skincare, the beauty industry is serving niche consumer needs, where holistic wellbeing takes centre stage.
All about novelty
The consumer market is fueled by constant innovation. If a brand doesn’t launch products after products, it may lose momentum. In the likes of Charlotte Tirlbury, who releases a new product almost every week, in order to perform in the press and “get quotes”, while ensuring visibility in retail, the Beauty industry requires constant growth, scaling, selling and relaunching new products.
Merging make-up and skincare
Many new skincare products are now part of a simplified yet effective and science-backed routine. Long gone are the days of natural and clean; here are the days of “cleanical” a buzzword that was released a few years ago. Inspired by the clean aesthetic girl, formulas, whether in makeup or skincare, revolve around care. Victoria Beckham's latest collaboration with Augustinus Bader, The Foundation Drops, is a makeup that behaves like skincare. (source: Future of Skincare).
In the same realm, Carisa Janes, founder of Hourglass, launches a new beauty brand eight years after selling her prestige cosmetics line to Unilever Prestige. The brand is launching with 25 foundation shades and a face oil. Called Outside In, the brand debuts with three premium skincare-makeup hybrid products. The packaging utilises bio-resins and reduced virgin plastic, offering products that align with modern “clean beauty” trends. “Janes will balance her new venture with ongoing roles at Hourglass and Nature of Things, approaching Outside In as a creative passion project rather than a commercial race, amid a crowded luxury beauty market,” explained the Business of Fashion in an exclusive interview.
In the wave of hybrid skincare, the new Indian beauty brand, finalist of the Beauty & You start-up competition in India, Atypiical is transforming sun protection with formulas that blend skincare, suncare, and makeup. Developed in Australia and designed for Indian skin tones and climate, the range includes inclusive tinted sunscreens in eight shades and smart 3-in-1 primer-moisturizer-SPF hybrids.
Beauty that cares
From Cicéronto Skince1994, Mantle, Ideo, or Mimétique, it’s about proprietary formulas with a specific scientific twist. Cicéron is upgrading hero ingredients like Hyaluronic acid into an augmented and simplified routine as a mist duo. Skince1994 is offering a unique product that does it all. Ideo is all about the skin-brain axis, “Where brain science brings the best to skin science.” Ideo developed the R-G-M complex from “ Nobel-nominated Dr John Blass, a neurochemist researching the causes of Alzheimer's disease, a formula focused on rejuvenating brain cells through boosting mitochondrial metabolism” Mantle has developed a new skincare product from Organ Preservation Fluid. If it protects a heart to be transplanted. It should protect your skin, right? And Mimétique, has developed its own complex, over 3 years of R&D, called the SMR-C5, based on mimetic science, in other words, mimicking the natural action of the skin, rather than drenching it in actives.
Antati skin, developed in Lebanon through their own lab, is developing a range of skincare targeted at Middle Eastern skin and climate with local ingredients specially adapted to the region, demonstrating that locally sourced ingredients can answer local market needs with science at its core. Founder Toufic Braidi educates its followers on the “behind-the-scenes of the industry” using its native arab language and bringing some diversity in the influencer sphere of skincare specialists.
We’ve clearly moved from “clean” skincare to science-backed, with the plethora of brands on the market. Each brand targets a niche consumer who will remain a loyal and engaged customer.
The New Wave of Fragrance
From Rhode, Youth to the people, Milk, a cohort of beauty executives, is uniting forces to launch into the fragrance category. Lore, a new fragrance brand from Melanie Bender (an executive at Rhode, Versed and Merit), Joe Cloyes and Greg Gonzalez (founders of Youth To The People) and Mazdack Rassi (co-founder of Milk Makeup) launched online on Sept. 2 before entering Sephora US. The brand is designed with emotion-forward, and is inspired by luxury fashion houses and culture versus beauty.
Melanie Bender recently commented on her LinkedIn profile that “ over her 13 or so years in beauty, she has been fortunate to help build 3 incredible businesses now doing $300M+ in sales, launch 50+ products in 4 categories, and open 10K+ points of distribution across 12 global markets. “ a great track record. Who wouldn’t invest in her next endeavour?
39BC, a “ new fragrance collection that begins in 39 BC, tracing Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s alliance - a union of strategy, separation, and return that reshaped the Mediterranean. Each of the four fine fragrance shower oils tells a chapter of this story, transforming water into a perfumed milk veil inspired by the rituals of Egyptian and Roman bathhouses. Step in. Sink deeper. Let the story begin,” explains the brand.
Vyrao, a British fragrance brand launched in 2024, claims to be the “ world's first wellbeing brand to fuse energetic healing with master perfumery. A new genre of fragrance using precious plant ingredients selected for their unique emotional benefits, backed by the principles of neuroscience and master perfumery.”
Come and meet us at Paris Packaging Week on a dedicated panel focused on Niche Brands, as well as a private tour.
