Mieke Meintjes

Bidders circle Boots amid rumored US$10B offload

Sycamore Partners is reportedly considering selling UK pharmacy and beauty chain Boots for US$10 billion, one year after acquiring it. The move would replace the private equity firm’s previous plan...

How AI recommends beauty products and what it takes to make the cut

Reddit, Who What Wear, Wikipedia, and Sephora are the top sources ChatGPT cites when beauty consumers ask for product recommendations. This is according to findings from Novi, a data infrastructure...

South Korea government backs K-beauty as export priority

South Korea’s Minister of Finance has announced that the country’s government will actively foster the cosmetics industry as an export growth engine. The move aims to capitalize on the surging global...

EU pushes to phase out animal testing with industry collaboration

The European Commission (EC) has unveiled a roadmap to phase out animal tests in chemical safety assessments across the EU, including for cosmetics. The move aims to replace animal tests with...

Symrise unifies AI and Gen Alpha feedback to fast-track product development

Symrise has launched a Think Tank program called Sym Alpha to help companies create personal care products that appeal to Gen Alpha consumers and reduce lead times. According to the chemicals...

AI powers beauty’s next frontier from retail to longevity science

The beauty industry is deploying AI across various parts of its value chain, with recent partnerships seeing the tech used for both product discovery and product creation. In the European Nordic...

Healthy Extracts acquires Imaraïs Beauty amid industry wellness push

Healthy Extracts has acquired wellness brand Imaraïs Beauty in a deal worth US$20 million. The move comes as the personal care industry undergoes a shift where consumers increasingly prioritize...

Ethical beauty fuels biotech development and supply chain strategies

Consumers’ growing sustainability expectations are increasingly reshaping the beauty industry. Brands and suppliers are facing growing pressure to disclose ingredient origins and production means,...