Weekly Roundup: Nyx launches NFT collection, Missha and Elizabeth Olsen collaborate

21 Apr 2023 --- This week in the personal care industry, Nyx Professional Makeup released a non-fungible token (NFT) collection, while Aurora Payments acquired NailSoft. Furthermore, skincare brand Missha appointed actress Elizabeth Olsen as its global ambassador.

Launches and releases
Nyx Professional Makeup launched the Dream Vortex NFT collection. It is the first artist collection for GORJS – the world’s first beauty creator Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). The brand recruited Team Alpha, a carefully selected roster of nine artists based on their talents, exceptional expertise and global impact on the 3D avatar community to create 4,150 unique NFTs for Dream Vortex. The collection is designed for participants to mint an NFT pass via OpenSea NFT trading platform on April 27, 2023. Once the pass is minted, the participants can burn it in exchange for access to a unique avatar from the artists’ collections. Once their avatar is revealed, owners can use the GORJS crowns they received from engaging with the community to unlock utilities tied to avatar traits. Nyx Professional Makeup is leveraging several influential key players in the Web3 space to partner with Dream Vortex, including OpenSea, The Sandbox, Polygon, QuestN, Infinite Objects, Hologram and Rory Rockmore jewelry.

Dream Vortex Pass.Finnish skincare brand Lumene hosted its first-ever brand ceremony in China, introducing Nordic-inspired beauty and skincare solutions to the country. The theme was branded “Beauty Born of Arctic Light” to reflect the company’s philosophy of combining the purity of the Arctic with the latest technology to create effective and sustainable skincare solutions. Lumene entered the Chinese market in 2018 with S’Young International as its partner, helping the brand identify the needs of its Chinese customers, matching its product features with their essentials to create the hero product, Nordic Hydra 24-Hour Moisturizer, which is a bestseller in the Chinese market.

To mark the launch of its new men’s fragrance Gentleman Society, Givenchy produced a five-episode podcast featuring artist Benjamin Clementine – the face of the new fragrance – and perfumers Maïa Lernout and Karine Dubreuil, who composed the fragrance. Guests in the “Givenchy Conversations” podcast discussed their different approaches to creation and explored their visions of masculinity.

As part of KraveBeauty’s commitment to sustainability, the brand announced an Anti-Consumer Consumer Grant, committing US$15,000 to support sustainability-focused creators. The grant is designed to fight overconsumption in the influencer industry and support sustainability-focused creators by providing financial support to help them promote mindful consumption, zero waste and sustainable living. In addition to the grant, KraveBeauty launched a new media vertical, the Anti-Consumer Consumer Club, which seeks to empower the younger generation to become more conscious and sustainable in their consumption habits. 

Hoffmann Neopac introduced its PaperX Tube series, which utilizes thin-walled 300-micron fiber-based laminate with 80% paper content. Ideal for organic and natural personal care and cosmetic products, the next-generation eco-friendly tubes contain 46% fewer plastics than conventional tubes, leading to a 24% drop in carbon emissions. Potential applications for Neopac’s new PaperX Tube include sun care lotions, body and face care creams and toothpaste. Givenchy Conversations presents inspiring conversations around the values of care and audacity championed by Givenchy Parfums.

Tint by Banuba, a try-before-you-buy platform for beauty products, expanded its feature set with virtual skincare products. The new feature is founded on Banuba’s experience in AI face segmentation and tracking. It lets a built-in AI precisely locate facial features and show how blemishes, wrinkles and other skin issues disappear naturally and organically. It also uses image upscaling to counteract camera distortions, thus making non-decorative cosmetic support available even on low-end devices. The algorithms behind it have been trained to work with people of all skin tones and reliably perform even in low-light conditions. Once the feature passes its final testing stage, the Skin Care effect will become available to all the current and new Tint customers. 

Business news
Aurora Payments acquired NailSoft, a complete salon management and point-of-sale system developed by former salon owner Dat Nguyen. With the acquisition, NailSoft will be able to expand distribution by leveraging Aurora’s full-service payment ecosystem and proprietary technology. NailSoft includes a variety of apps that are seamlessly connected. This allows users to manage their salon business from any connected device easily. Users can switch between appointments, marketing and payment screens, keeping all the data in one system.

Belgian bio-based chemistry company Groupe Berkem signed a distribution agreement with Kreglinger for all its cosmetic ingredients for the UK market. With this new agreement, Groupe Berkem strengthened the internationalization strategy of its solutions for the cosmetics market.

Missha announced actress Elizabeth Olsen as Global Brand Ambassador for its “Beauty is Reality” campaign.Global beauty company Able C&C’s top-selling skincare brand Missha partnered with actress Elizabeth Olsen as its global ambassador and face of its new Beauty is Reality campaign, expanding its presence to 46 countries and over 37,000 retail locations worldwide. Through the brand’s latest initiative, Missha aims to strengthen its existence as a global brand and promote its five best-selling ampoules, which offer tailored solutions for various skin concerns in a new look that embraces the brand’s heritage. The redesigned Missha ampoule packaging combines a minimalist, user-friendly design with triangular sculptural beauty, reflecting the brand’s identity. The color of each label represents the primary ingredient of the corresponding ampoule, adding a sensory touch.

Awards and recognition
The European BSB Innovation Awards 2023 awarded Symrise Cosmetic Ingredients three prizes in various categories. A first prize went to SymProt’in Oat in the category “Natural Products/Raw Materials/Actives.” SymEffect UV ranked second in the category “Cosmetics/Raw Materials/Functionals and Recipients. And finally, Supervisome EPH got awarded the third winner in the category “Cosmetics/Raw Materials/Actives.” 

L’Oréal was presented the Gold Award for the best Annual Report at the 27th Top/Com Grands Prix Corporate Business Awards ceremony in Paris on 12 April 2023. The Top/Com awards are given to the year’s leading communication initiatives in around 30 categories, selected by a jury of 46 marketing and communication experts.  

By Radhika Sikaria