022 - What I'm Reading Week of December 10th
👋 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 there are critical looks at the supplement industry, the Brazilian water crisis, and a fresh look for medical illustrations. New research uncovers shifts in gut composition to reveal what is driving weight gain in smokers who quit. A tracker designed for women with Anemia in mind..and more reports than anyone could ask for…
🗞 NEWS & PRODUCTS
Amazon grows its elder care ambitions with Alexa Together program expansion.
The Atlantic takes a critical look at the largely unregulated space of supplements, and what that means for consumers.
⭐️ When was the last time you saw a medical pamphlet or textbook with images of black individuals represented as patients or doctors? Chidiebere Ibe, a Nigerian medical student, is changing the face of medical illustrations one image at a time. His work is inspiring, and will hopefully bring change.
🧴 Skin:
⭐️ 🚿 Jolie, is a new showerhead focused on beauty & wellbeing, putting water quality first (by removing chlorine & heavy metals). Many showerheads put sustainability at the forefront, Jolie is talking about how your water can be contributing to dry skin & scalp issues.
🚿 Let’s Queen is a showerhead from Korea. The design looks remarkably similar to a Dyson hair dryer. The product is water saving, yet high powered, and filters water - angling the product towards consumers with sensitive skin.
Bare Minimum - subscription only sustainable personal care products from India - offering high quality skin, hair, and grooming products with zero margins.
Public Goods, the membership based brand has launched into skincare.
Humanery is a male grooming marketplace, offering high performance products for men across personal care & wellness. There are few single stop retail solutions for men like a Sephora or Ulta, and even if these stores carry ‘male brands’ the in-store experiences are not geared toward men.
👩🦱 Hair:
Silk&Tea is a startup using tea blends as a post-wash hair treatment.
Triviso is a Gen Z haircare brand, whose first product, ‘Watermelon Crush Hair Mask’ went viral on TikTok for its stunning before & after results.
🧺 Home Care:
Gymspin, a startup focused on athletes, has a launched a biodetergent formulated to remove odor from activewear. Its fragrance is designed to help athletes focus.
💊 Supplements:
Cellular Goods, a startup using precision lab grown CBD is focusing on supplements, topicals (skin & body care), and beverages for improved overall wellbeing.
⭐️ Dr.Blet - a Korean supplement line designed for women’s needs.
⭐️ Nella by Fitbiomics is a probiotic that has been developed to optimize athletic performance.
AmorePacific’s Vital Beautie expands its collagen offering and online subscription service.
👩🔬 Femtech:
⭐️ Dip is a connected wearable designed to track Anemia.
Cuba Wand, a device to help measure a baby’s breath rate.
Morrama released three non-invasive prenatal device concepts to better connect mother & baby.
🛍 Retail (e-Comm, Social Commerce, B2B Marketplaces):
⭐️ BusinessOnBot, an Indian SaaS startup, bringing D2C to Whatsapp in India.
♻️ Sustainability:
Evolved by Nature is using silk proteins to replace harmful ingredients in the beauty industry - a look at the biotech startup’s plans…and its biggest competitor Bolt Threads.
⭐️ Nature: A critical look at the Brazilian water crisis, and a proposal signed by 95 Brazilian and international water and climate scientists for a way forward.
💸 M&A, IPOs, SPACs...:P&G is acquiring Ouai the haircare brand founded by celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin. The brand has expanded beyond hair into body care, candles, fragrance, and even pet care.
Sustainable platform & CPG Grove Collaborative announced it is going public led by Virgin Group, Richard Branson’s SPAC in a deal valued at $1.5Bn.
L’Oreal announced it is acquiring popular plant-based skincare brand Youth to the People.
Separately, ICYMI Nestle sold $10B worth of L’Oreal shares back to L’Oreal.
Shiseido finalized the sale of Bare Minerals, Buxom, & Laura Mercier to AI Beauty Holdings, Ltd. The deal, reportedly valued at $1.5B, is part of Shiseido’s larger strategy focusing on ‘skin beauty’, wellness, and inner beauty.
🔬RESEARCH
L’Oreal in partnership with Micreos released research showing the efficacy of Staphekt endolysin to treat eczema symptoms in three days.
P&G filed an international patent for a smart grooming device - capable of analyzing brush stroke techniques and more. Kerastase showed off a similar type of device at CES in 2017, but never manufactured it commercially.
⭐️ Guess what, the weight gain associated with quitting smoking is not a function of overeating…The Weizmann Institute uncovered a strong link between shifts in gut bacteria and the weight gain associated with quitting smoking. These metabolites may be potential therapies for obesity.
🧐 REPORTS
eMarketer - Gen Z prefers human recommendations over marketers.
Global CEA Census Report 2021 - A look at the sustainability practices used by the controlled environment agricultural industry - and concerns over greenwashing (think vertical farming).
⭐️ Verloop.Io - Whatsapp Stats for 2022 - an in depth look at who is using Whatsapp across the globe.
Atomico - State of European Tech Funding ‘21
Yelp - 2022’s Beauty Trends Forecast Report; 8 trends identified by increased search on Yelp.
Tribe Dynamics - 2021 Influencer Marketing Trends Report
Reddit Recap 2021…to the moon 🚀
Google: Year in Search 2021 - How to heal…
CB Insights: Top 150 Digital Health Startups
💡Enjoy,
-Anne