Milk Makeup debuts at Boots in London with further expansion in the pipeline

04 Apr 2024 --- Milk Makeup enters Boots in the UK with a social media campaign to engage with fans of the vegan cosmetics brand. 

The New York-founded company is already available at Sephora, Space NK and Cult Beauty and will now join the line-up at Boots in Battersea Power Station and online, with plans to roll out at other UK stores during the summer. 

Viral makeup available
Boots teased the launch of Milk by sharing a video of giant jelly beans falling down a staircase before landing outside Boots Beauty at Battersea Power Station. The retailer captioned the clip: “We don’t think you’re ready for this jelly... Something new is coming soon, any guesses?”

Milk offers over 140 products at Boots, including the Hydro Ungrip Cleansing Balm, Cloud Glow Primer, Hydro Grip Dewy Makeup Setting Spray and the Sculpt Stick Cream Contour Stick.

UK beauty enthusiasts can now buy Milk’s popular products, such as its viral jelly tint, Hydro Grip setting spray and primer. The jelly tint circled social media, with users showcasing the cooling effect made to soothe, refresh and hydrate the skin. 

Boots reveals on social media Milk Makeup will enter its store in Battersea Power Station.The stick is made from vegan collagen, aloe and seawater with a dewy, buildable, rosy finish that claims to last up to 12 hours.

The launch adds to Boots’ portfolio of US beauty brands, including Fenty Beauty, Benefit Cosmetics, Function of Beauty, Olaplex and Drunk Elephant.

Boots beats earnings estimates
Last week, the parent company of Boots, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), posted second-quarter earnings that were better than expected. Net profit jumped to US$1.20 per share, while net sales rose 6.3% year-over-year to US$37.05 billion. As for guidance, WBA says it is cautious about the rest of the year, pointing to headwinds that include a challenging retail environment in the US.

Earlier this year, some shareholder activists targeted Boots, claiming the drugstore giant was not paying its employees a real living wage.

We spoke to Sara Murphy of The Shareholder Commons in the US and Dan Howard of ShareAction in the UK about their ongoing mission to get companies, specifically Boots’ parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, to create policies where workers would get “a decent wage from day one.”

By Sabine Waldeck