139 - What I'm Reading: Week of April 5th
Two celebrity beauty launches, a wearable for women, a genetic explanation for lefties, a female health deep dive, ChatGPT smack talking brands, the Chinese haircare opportunity, & more...
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⭐️ = What excites me most this week.
🗞 NEWS & PRODUCTS
Fast Company: Brands are growing more concerned about how they are perceived by ChatGPT.
⭐️ AP: Hospitals must obtain written consent for pelvic and similar exams, the federal government says. This is specifically for when medical students, nurse practitioners or physician assistant are performing the task and while unconscious during surgery. The surgery may be of an unrelated nature and the ‘exam’ is for teaching purposes. The procedures include pelvic, breast, prostate, or rectal exams.
The Hill: How misinformation is making us fear our food - unfortunately this type of trend extends into many parts of our lives beyond food - especially into the beauty space.
🦟 Reuters: Surging dengue cases in Americas cause alarm as potentially worst-ever season looms.
Just for fun:
Leaving this here in case you want to eat your AirPods.
🧅 IFLScience: Why do onions make us cry?
CNBC: 25% of Gen Zers say they’ll need a therapist to deal with tax filing stress.
The Verge: 20 years of Gmail.
👩🎤 Celebrity Brands:
💄 Serena Williams launched another brand - this time a makeup brand called Wyn Beauty. The line is super shade inclusive - and its packaging is tennis-ball green [Instagram].
👩🦱 Rita Ora is launching a haircare line called Typebea (Type B) for damaged hair including - a serum, glossing treatment, shampoo and conditioner. The line is co-founded by Anna Lahey who owns a majority stake. The line is based around the ingredient Baicapil, meant to stimulate hair growth [Instagram; BoF].
🧴 Skin / Personal Care:
Gel/Lab a new brand dedicated to hydrogel eye patches [Instagram].
Can a cream make your skin happy? The beauty industry wants to get inside your head - A closer look at Neurae - the new neurocosmetics brand from Sisley Paris.
Jing Daily: Cosmoprof lifts lid on 2024’s Asian beauty market trends.
🇮🇳 Bof: How homegrown Indian beauty brands are plotting their next launch.
Vogue Business: ‘Collagen banking’ is beauty’s newest spin on anti-ageing.
👩🦱 Haircare:
JOOY - a new scalp care hair care line launching on April 22nd [Instagram].
Perfect Corp is offering an AI hair typing tool.
🇨🇳 Jing Daily: How hair care is China’s burgeoning new wellness trend.
👃 Fragrance:
😅 Deodorant:
Dry Idea got a major face lift [Dieline].
💊 Supplements:
Universal, whole body supplements and pre-post workout supplements that work synergistically [Instagram].
Supergut - a supplement for those taking GLP-1s to help you poop [Instagram].
😵💫 TruHeight - supplements to support height for kids, teens, & toddlers…it kind of looks like a standard multivitamin…and how can you prove this worked? [Instagram].
👩🔬 Femtech:
Crunchbase: The next frontier of Femtech.
⭐️ 🇦🇺 FemTek, a cycle-tracking wearable designed for women and to be only worn at night, raised $1M in seed funding [Instagram].
🛍 Retail: DTC, Brick + Mortar, Social Commerce, and more...
The Hustle: The ‘Wirecutter effect’ is everywhere now — Viral fame seems fun for businesses — until it’s really not.
Gizmodo: Amazon ditches 'Just Walk Out' checkouts at its grocery stores.
Business Insider: Dollar stores are supposed to do well regardless of the economy. Turns out, that's not true.
🩺 Digital Health: Wearables, Smart Devices, and more...
🇮🇳 💩 YourStory: Growing research and social media influence spark the rise of gut health startups in India.
🫲 🧬 Inverse: This specific gene could be the reason you’re left-handed.
Scientists identified a rare genetic variant coding for a protein that may be partially responsible for left-handedness.
🩸 WSJ: Blood-sugar tracking is a health trend. Is it a good idea?
STAT: Why researchers think human milk could repair the gut microbiome and reduce infections.
🥗 athletechnews: Nourish raises $35M to connect Americans with registered dietitians.
✋ The Verge: Amazon’s palm-scanning service now lets you sign up from your phone.
MIT Technology Review: Brain-cell transplants are the newest experimental epilepsy treatment. Neurona Therapeutics’ epilepsy treatment could be a breakthrough for stem-cell technology.
Knowable Magazine: Why isn’t dental health considered primary medical care?
🤰 Fast Company: The future of pregnancy health — prediction and prevention.
🗣 Social Media: News about TikTok, Meta, BeReal, Snapchat, X...
♻️ Sustainability: Sustainable Design
💸 M&A, IPOs, SPACs, Bankruptcies, Closings...
Beauty Independent: VC-backed makeup brand Beauty Bakerie closes.
Beauty Independent reported Slate Brands acquired Frontman - a men’s care focused acne line - which will now be part of the Insanely Clean brand.
Australian beauty brand Grown Alchemist, acquired by L’Occitane in 2022 for a reported $32.5M is being bought back by the original CEO for a reported 28 million Euros.
According to WWD Merit Beauty, Glossier, and Jane Iredale are all exploring deals (IPOs/ Sales).
🔬RESEARCH
😴 A new study found strong validation between physical activity, sleep quality, and perceived mood. Participants wore Fitbits, and researchers were able to observe differences in sleep stages - where those who had exerted themselves during th day exhibited significantly longer REM cycles paired with increases to psychological health [Nature Scientific Reports].
😭 One of the biggest challenges for smart contacts is how to power them. A new smart lens powered by the salt from tears is one way forward. There is something very sci-fi about tear powered devices [Small].
Gut bacteria found in individuals with lower cholesterol, which may be able to metabolize harmful lipids hints at potential probiotic treatment [Cell].
🧐 REPORTS
⭐️ FemHealth Insights: 2023 FemTech Landscape Report.
🇪🇺 McKinsey: An update on European consumer sentiment — Proceeding with caution.
Jungle Scout: Consumer Trends Report Q1 2024.
💡 Enjoy,
-Anne