Retail | Global Cosmetic Industry

While skin care rewards multi-SKU routine building, the hair care surface heavily rewards single-hero product positioning.

The Top 15 Brands & Retailers Dominating Beauty AI Citations

PLUS: 4 Actionable Takeaways for Product R&D & Marketing

MOON: mascara in glass by Lumson and Ponzini

MOON: mascara in glass by Lumson and Ponzini

MOON is the first glass mascara created by Lumson in collaboration with Ponzini. This Made in Italy design elevates the formula, transforming the mascara into a luxury object. The bottle comes with three applicators for a tailored, premium performance

Garcia, who has served on Ulta Beauty's board of directors since 2022, will step down from the board upon assuming the CTO role. He brings more than 25 years of technology leadership experience, most recently serving as executive vice president and CTO at Domino's Pizza, where he led the company's global technology strategy spanning e-commerce, customer experience, cybersecurity and digital innovation.

Ulta Beauty Taps Domino's Tech Veteran Kelly Garcia as CTO to Accelerate AI Strategy

Ulta recently launched its Ulta AI shopping assistant and integrated with Google Gemini to enhance product discovery and personalization.

July/August 2026

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July/August 2026

While influencers drive consumer excitement and feed AI recommendations, online sources that lead include Reddit, Who What Wear, Wikipedia, Sephora and Allure.

The Top Sites ChatGPT is Using for Beauty Recommendations

TikTok Shop is not simply drawing consumers away from traditional retailers; it is moving the traditional workings of retail itself—discovery, demonstration and community validation—onto a new and faster-moving platform.

The TikTok Takeover: How an App Ate the Lunch of Beauty Retail’s Elite

Precision Systems: Closing the Efficacy Gap through Functional Packaging Architecture

Precision Systems: Closing the Efficacy Gap through Functional Packaging Architecture

'The smartest beauty brands are no longer briefing creators only for engagement,' says Kristen Wiley, founder and CEO at Statusphere. 'They are briefing them for discoverability.' (Image, not coincidentally, generated by ChatGPT.)

AI Search Is Rewriting Influencer Marketing. Beauty Brands Are Racing to Feed the Machines.

Precision Systems: Closing the Efficacy Gap through Functional Packaging Architecture

Precision Systems: Closing the Efficacy Gap through Functional Packaging Architecture

From passive packaging to precision delivery, discover how beauty brands are closing the “Efficacy Gap” with smart microneedling, integrated LED therapy, and next-gen skincare technology designed to maximize real results.

The retailer also demonstrated improving profitability, with gross margin expanding to 40.1% from 39.1% a year ago, reflecting stronger merchandise margins and lower inventory shrink.

9 Drivers of Ulta’s Q1 Growth (and a Times Square Flagship Teaser)

Growth was broad-based across channels and categories, with gains driven by both higher spending per visit and increased shopper traffic.

'Cyber liability insurance provides coverage for data breaches—hacking incidents, payment info exposure,' says Kenneth Hegel of Epic Insurance Brokers & Consultants. 'Especially important of you are storing any customer data or you sell DTC alongside retail.'

The Retail Insurance Rules Beauty Brands Can’t Ignore

"Rising insurance costs are changing how beauty brands operate in a pretty fundamental way."

Within the company’s operating segments, Sally Beauty Supply delivered the strongest performance. Segment sales increased 4.1% to $521.2 million, while comparable sales rose 2.5%, reversing declines seen a year earlier.

Sally Beauty Holdings Leans Into Digital Momentum as Q2 Sales, Margins and EPS Rise

The company said second-quarter results reflected “solid execution and the resilience of our operating model amid a dynamic macroeconomic environment."

Under the agreement, Pencil’s end-to-end AI content platform will be integrated across Coty Consumer Beauty brands—including CoverGirl, Rimmel, Sally Hansen and Max Factor—enabling creative and marketing teams to rapidly generate, test and optimize advertising assets across markets and channels.

Coty Bets Big on Generative AI as Pencil Partnership Pushes Beauty Content Into Real Time

Working alongside transformation and creative teams led by sister agency Jellyfish, Coty aims to operationalize large-scale content production.

The views generated on TikTok are translating into meaningful revenue lifts across DTC sites, Amazon, and brick-and-mortar retail through powerful halo effects.

The 15 Most-Viewed Beauty Brands on TikTok Shop

Why it matters: a correlation analysis using Charm’s TikTok Shop data revealed a clear alignment between TikTok engagement and performance across other retail channels.

Executives point to strong alignment between Rhode’s engagement-driven strategy and Sephora’s global platform.

Rhode Goes Pan-European: Sephora Expansion Marks Record-Breaking Next Chapter in Global Retail Push

Rhode is entering its next growth chapter with increased scale—and a clear mandate to globalize.

Ulta is pushing aggressively toward full-funnel integration, collapsing discovery, comparison and transaction into a single step within Google’s ecosystem.

Ulta Leans Into Google’s AI Checkout As Sephora Bets on ChatGPT Discovery

Retailers are racing to secure presence at the point of intent.

The 2026 Cosmoprof & Cosmopack Awards in Bologna once again spotlighted the most forward-thinking beauty innovations worldwide, with winners spanning ingredients, formulation, packaging, devices, and finished products.

Cosmoprof Awards 2026: Where Beauty Innovation Meets System-Level Sustainability

Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2026 brought together 3,104 exhibitors from 68 countries representing more than 10,000 brands.

La Roche Posay Announces Retail Expansion

La Roche-Posay Expansion Retail for Access to Advanced Dermatological Skincare with In-Store Launch at Walmart Nationwide

The partnership marks a pivotal scaling moment for Erly, which has built early traction through founder-led activations, boutique distribution and strong repeat purchase rates in its first year on the market.

Erly Skincare Lands at Ulta Beauty, Scaling Barrier-First Simplicity Nationwide

For Ulta Beauty, the addition underscores a broader merchandising direction: clinically credible brands that balance efficacy with ease of use.

As trend cycles accelerate, assortments sprawl and omnichannel complexity becomes the norm, AI is emerging as a core operating lever, not a shiny experiment.

2026: The Year AI Decides Beauty’s Winners and Losers

"Leaders must view AI as a core operating capability for managing trend volatility, not a digital innovation project."