Last week in beauty, French CAC 40 has a new leader and Amorepacific sets up ambitious growth plan.
L’ORÉAL OVERTAKES LVMH AS FRANCE’S MOST VALUABLE LISTED COMPANY
L’Oréal has supplanted LVMH as France’s most valuable company on the CAC 40 for the first time in nearly a decade, reaching a market capitalisation of approximately €203 billion versus LVMH’s €201 billion on Tuesday. The shift reflects diverging fortunes, with L’Oréal stock up 3.5% year to date while LVMH has fallen 37.2% amid headwinds including the Iran conflict, structural changes in China and pricing pressures that have made the luxury sector’s recovery uneven.
AMOREPACIFIC SETS A TARGET OF $10.8BN REVENUE BY 2035
Amorepacific has set a target of KRW 15 trillion (US$10.8 billion) in group revenue by 2035 more than three times its 2025 revenue building dermatology-focused beauty, clinical skincare and hair care into new global growth pillars. The group aims to generate KRW 1 trillion from dermatology brands by fiscal 2030 led by Aestura’s expansion into nine new markets, and a further KRW 1 trillion in hair care revenue by 2030 by scaling Ryo and Mise en Scene across the US, China, Japan and Brazil, with overseas sales set to exceed 60% of the category.
PUIG BUYS OUT ESTEVE’S ISDIN STAKE FOR €1.2 BILLION
Puig has agreed to acquire Esteve’s remaining 50% stake in dermatology-focused skincare brand ISDIN for €1.2 billion, paying €900 million at closing and €300 million deferred to early 2029, with the deal expected to complete by the end of Q1 2027 subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition gives Puig full ownership of ISDIN, which the two companies have jointly held since 1990, strengthening the group’s position in clinical skincare and further diversifying it beyond fragrances.
EXTRAVAGANZA BEAUTY ACQUIRES BRITISH PERFUME HOUSE ROJA
Middle Eastern beauty conglomerate Extravaganza Beauty has acquired British haute perfumery house Roja London, founded by master perfumer Roja Dove in 2011, with plans to deepen the brand’s presence in key markets and invest in product development across its Prestige, Elysium, Aoud, Isola and Art collections. CEO Audrey Minard will continue leading the business, while founder Dove transitions to a consultancy role focused on creativity and education, as the brand strengthens its positioning in the Middle East.
ACTIVIST INVESTOR URGES BATH & BODY WORKS TO SELL
Barington Capital has acquired more than one million Bath & Body Works shares and is pushing the retailer to appoint advisers to explore a potential sale, arguing the company is undervalued after years of management turnover and declining performance. The activist investor, which also wants share buybacks and is considering seeking board representation, sees strong private equity interest, as the retailer’s shares have fallen about 78% since 2021 and net income has declined roughly 50%, putting one of the largest specialist fragrance and personal care chains in play.
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE EXPLORING SALE OF PERSONAL CARE BRANDS
Colgate-Palmolive is reportedly exploring the sale of several mass-market personal care brands including Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick, in a deal that could generate more than $1 billion, working with Goldman Sachs on the process. The potential divestment would allow the group to streamline its personal care portfolio, which accounted for 17% of 2025 net sales at roughly $3.5 billion, and concentrate investment behind core brands amid North American competitive pressure and a 3% organic sales decline in its latest quarter.
BLACKSTONE CONSIDERS $2 BILLION SALE OF ZO SKIN HEALTH
Blackstone is exploring a sale of medical-grade skincare brand ZO Skin Health that could value the business at around $2 billion, reportedly working with Citigroup and Raymond James on an early-stage process. Founded by dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi in 2007, the brand is distributed primarily through physicians and skincare professionals, attracting growing investor interest in clinically backed, professional-channel skincare.
L’ORÉAL BACKED CATHAY BEAUTY FUND INVESTS IN MAKEUP BRAND DIROVO
The Cathay Beauty & Innovation Future Fund (established in 2025 by Cathay Capital, L’Oréal and Shanghai’s Jing’an district government as an independent vehicle) has acquired a 4.43% stake in Dirovo’s parent company, marking the Chinese makeup brand’s first outside investment. Founded in 2021 by Zhang Yue, Dirovo sells skincare-infused base makeup, ranked as 2025’s top-selling Douyin color cosmetics brand with its Crystal Cushion surpassing 20 million units sold and all-channel GMV exceeding RMB 2 billion ($298 million), up roughly 360%.
INTERPARFUMS EXTENDS ROBERTO CAVALLI LICENCE THROUGH 2046
Interparfums has extended its exclusive worldwide licence for Roberto Cavalli and Just Cavalli fragrances by 20 years, running through December 31, 2046, under a renewed partnership with brand owner Marquee Brands. Cavalli has become one of the fastest-growing brands in Interparfums’ portfolio since joining in 2023, supported by extensions to Uomo, Just Cavalli and Marbleous, and the 2025 launch of Serpentine, which the company describes as the brand’s first blockbuster.
BEYONCÉ’S CÉCRED LANDS IN UK EXCLUSIVELY AT SPACE NK
Beyoncé’s hair care brand Cécred will launch in the UK exclusively through Space NK’s stores and website on September 22, bringing its keratin recovery technology range to British shoppers. The brand, which debuted in February 2024 with an eight-piece line before expanding into hair tools, previously entered more than 1,400 Ulta Beauty stores in the US in what was the retailer’s largest-ever hair care rollout.
E.L.F. COSMETICS MAKES BRAZIL DEBUT VIA SEPHORA PARTNERSHIP
e.l.f. Cosmetics has launched in Brazil exclusively with Sephora, becoming the retailer’s first mass-market colour cosmetics brand in the country as it builds on its existing Sephora presence in Mexico. The move supports e.l.f. Beauty’s international expansion strategy, with overseas markets now accounting for 21% of net sales, tapping into one of Latin America’s largest cosmetics markets through Sephora Brazil’s reach of approximately 17% of the population.
POCO BEAUTY ENTERS UK THROUGH SELFRIDGES PARTNERSHIP
Irish hybrid skincare and makeup brand Poco Beauty, founded by influencer Pippa O’Connor Ormond in 2023, is expanding into the UK through an exclusive partnership with Selfridges alongside a new D2C shopping channel. The brand, which has achieved triple-digit year-on-year growth since launch and grown its team from three to more than 55 employees, has established itself as a leading skincare brand in Ireland’s Brown Thomas and blends Korean and Italian formulations across its range.
CARON EXPANDS GLOBAL RETAIL FOOTPRINT WITH MONACO BOUTIQUE
French perfume house Caron has opened its first boutique in Monaco, its fourth worldwide after two in Paris and one in Dubai, located at 1 rue de la Turbie. The 83-square-metre space, designed by Casper Mueller Kneer Architects under Olivia de Rothschild’s artistic direction, features a minimalist aesthetic of raw concrete and brushed metal anchored by a six-metre-high reinterpretation of the house’s signature perfume fountain, with artists to be invited seasonally.
MAISON CRIVELLI OPENS FIRST STANDALONE BOUTIQUE IN PARIS
Maison Crivelli, the fragrance house founded in 2018 by Thibaud Crivelli, will open its first standalone boutique on September 19 at 314 rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, designed as an “agora” for sensory exploration rather than traditional perfume retail. The two-floor space offers guided olfactory consultations with impression notebooks, a library of the founder’s personal objects, and an upstairs salon with sensory exploration boxes, while providing privileged access to new releases including the previously Harrods-exclusive Oud Cadenza.
L’ORÉAL SELECTS 13 STARTUPS FOR SECOND L’ACCELERATOR COHORT
L’Oréal has named 13 companies from eight countries for the second cohort of its L’AcceleratOR programme, a five-year, €100 million sustainable innovation scheme run with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. This edition expands the programme’s geographical reach and range of challenges addressed, including its first water-technology selections with Laminar and Waterplan, alongside startups tackling plant-based leather, ultra-light glass packaging and chemical recycling.
ESTÉE LAUDER PARTNERS WITH PROFOUND TO BOOST AI VISIBILITY
Estée Lauder Companies has partnered with AI marketing platform Profound to scale its Generative Engine Optimisation and AI marketing capabilities across brands including MAC Cosmetics and Jo Malone London, equipping the group with a unified view of how its brands appear across major AI search platforms globally. Profound’s agentic tools will optimise product pages, blogs and YouTube content so that product information, ingredients and claims surface accurately in recommendations from platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.
TOMMY HILFIGER DEBUTS NEW FRAGRANCE WITH CAMILA CABELLO
Tommy Hilfiger has launched Freedom, its first new prestige women’s fragrance in more than a decade, fronted by Grammy-nominated singer Camila Cabello in a campaign featuring her rendition of Queen’s “I Want To Break Free.” Created by master perfumer Honorine Blanc and perfumer Alexandra Monet, the clean amber scent with lychee, magnolia blossom and vanilla blue notes launches this month in multiple formats online and at select retailers worldwide, developed under the brand’s long-term partnership with Give Back Beauty.
