020 - What I'm Reading Week of November 19th
👋 Hello everyone.
🔗 Every link in this newsletter routes back to my blog where I provide a summary, my opinion, and access to the original content.
⭐️ = What excites me most this week.
💭 This week features a number of beauty acquisitions, a question over who owns the term ‘pimple patch’, a skincare startup redefining how we view product efficacy, Walmart’s intention to move toward text shopping, Mintel’s 2022 consumer trends and more…
***🧹Next week is Thanksgiving in the U.S. and I will not be sending out a newsletter. To everyone visiting family & friends, be safe & enjoy, see you back on December 3rd***
🗞 NEWS & PRODUCTS
🥴 L’Oreal China is facing accusations of fraud after topping beauty sales at the 11.11 sales festival. Consumers found the price of masks to be 66% higher than a pre-sale event, when the advertising stated, “lowest price of the year”.
⭐️🧑⚖️ ICYMI Stryx wrote a cease & desist letter to Good Light over the use of the wording ‘pimple patch’. According to the USPTO database, Stryx has not trademarked the wording ‘Pimple Patch’. This brings to light questions about ownership of a broad category term, and finally this argument is now taking place on social media, which shows how much legal challenges are shifting.
🦄 Mensa, based in Bangalore reached unicorn status in six months, is focused on global brand expansion for beauty, wellness, apparel, and home care.
Kean Health is a new consumer facing diagnostics brand for gene & gut health from Psomagen Inc.
🧴 Skin:
⭐️🔥Exponent Beauty has launched a Vitamin C test kit in order to test the efficacy of your products. Why is this important? The efficacy of many products degrade significantly over time, especially Vitamin C which is highly sensitive to light & oxygen exposure. The skincare dialogue over the last 5 years has been focused on what products are ‘free of’ rather than what is really in them, Exponent Beauty is on a path to change that.
Dr. Age, a skincare startup merging aesthetics & healthcare, founded by a plastic surgeon. Products have been designed to follow the rule of thirds.
Humanrace launches into body care with two cleansing bars.
Pleasing, a new nail & beauty line from Harry Styles…this is the first drop.
CoverGirl has now launched into skincare. All products are under $15. The brand wanted to create accessible skincare…well there are already a number of more trusted brands tackling that - The Ordinary & The Inkey List to name a few…but CoverGirl has mass distribution on their side.
In Good Conscious, a culturally sustainable personal care brand. The brand is supporting black and minority founded business through its entire value chain.
👩🦱 Hair:
MDhair, a telehealth driven solution for hair loss from MDalgorithm. Offering AI driven diagnosis and dermatologist formulated products with dermatologist access.
⭐️ Arey Grey, known for its supplement formulated to slow down greying hair, has launched its first anti-greying serum called To The Root.
💊 Supplements:
🍄 Supermush, mood boosting mushroom sprays putting flavor first. The first three sprays are immunity, energy, and chill.
Rootless, a seaweed supplement bite. It is positioned similarly to GEM, as a tasty multivitamin packed with essentials.
👩🔬 Femtech:
Moom customized supplements for Asian women.
⭐️🆘 SOS is rethinking the rusty bathroom vending machine offering beauty & wellness products by the brands you want when you are in a pinch.
🛍 Retail (e-Comm, Social Commerce, B2B Marketplaces):
Inside how Target’s winning private label strategy is inspiring other retailers to invest in theirs. A look at what this means for brands and consumers.
An article examining the growth of social commerce in Europe versus China, the key consumer differences, and what it will take for social commerce to succeed in Europe.
⭐️ A look at how JD.com is investing in offline experiences to dominate beauty retail and take on Alibaba.
⭐️ Walmart acquired Botmock, which would enable text based shopping cross platform. Previously, Walmart and many other retailers have invested in voice-based shopping, this acquisition meets consumers where they are most…on their phone texting.
⌚️Devices & Wearables
Respira Labs has developed the Sylvee, a wearable lung monitor capable of collecting data for two weeks to help diagnose and monitor asthma, COVID, and COPD.
⭐️ Students at The National University of Singapore, recently won a Dyson Award for HOPES, a wearable glove capable of tracking eye pressure for early Glaucoma intervention.
NeoSensory has developed a wearable to tackle tinnitus, the painful ringing that painful ringing that occurs in your ear, without external sound.
The Verge takes a look at the health impacts of wearables - diving into the doctor patient relationship with data for heart health, sleep, and fitness.
♻️ Sustainability
⭐️🧑⚖️ A consumer group recently reached a settlement with Terracycle over a lawsuit against eight large consumer companies, Fast Company takes a look at the lawsuit, and how the U.S. recycling system is not all it seems.
Reia subscription based zero single use plastic refillable personal care. All plastic refill sachets are sent back to the company.
Casamera is rethinking shower essentials, starting with a konjac shower tool that is sustainable and biodegradable.
💸 M&A
L’Occitane announced it is taking a majority stake in the Brazilian inspired personal care brand Sol de Janeiro.
Waldencast announced a SPAC to create the next generation beauty & wellness platform. They recently acquired Milk Makeup & Obagi.
P&G acquired a majority stake in Farmacy, the farm to face skincare brand.
🔬RESEARCH
A review - Gut x Skin axis understanding psoriasis from the gut first, by applying principles from Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Cell - Current Biology - researchers have found data challenging the belief that slow wave sleep translates into the feeling of deep sleep.
A report in Gut Health, shows a strong link between exercise endocannabinoid production (an anti-inflammatory response), and shift in gut microbiota.
🧐 REPORTS
🤖 Emerging Tech Brew - Guide to Robotics
theTradeDesk: The Future of Retail - November 2021
⭐️ Mintel - Global Consumer Trends 2022 - a look at three big areas, what brands are doing well, and what it looks like in the future.
💡Enjoy,
-Anne