Cosmetics brand Lancome has named Malaysian actress, TV host, and entrepreneur Neelofa, also known as Noor Neelofa Mohd, as official ambassador. This makes Neelofa the brand's first Malaysian ambassador, as well as the its first hijab-wearing representative.

Among moisturizers advertised by their manufacturers as hypoallergenic and fragrance-free, a larger number actually contain skin irritants and scents, according to researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago. Results of the study, which covered moisturizers that were top-selling from Amazon, Walmart, and Target, revealed these products are putting consumers with sensitive skin at risk of rashes. Moisturizers are considered cosmetics by the US Food and Drug Administration and, hence, are barely regulated before they are sold on the market.

Beauty brand L'Oreal has agreed to advertise on the Piccadilly Lights outdoor advertising platform. Scheduled for relaunch in October 2017, the outdoor advertising site has been turned off in January 2017 for renovation and upgrade, including the installation of a 4K LED digital screen and live technology center.

In China, sales of fast-moving consumer goods grew 4.6 percent during the 12-week period ending August 11, 2017, compared with the same period of the previous year, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Data from the market research firm revealed lower-tier cities saw faster growth at 4.9 percent compared with 4.1 percent for leading cities and provincial capitals.

Procter & Gamble Co.'s former CEO A.G. Lafley said shareholders should not elect activist investor Nelson Peltz to the company's board of directors. According to Lafley, Peltz's proposal to reorganize the company, which includes turning P&G into a holding company, would be a “huge step backward” and a mistake. Peltz, who has acquired $3.5-billion worth of stock in P&G, said he wants to cut the company's corporate employees by 90 percent. Peltz is the CEO of hedge fund company Trian Fund Management, which has a history of purchasing a large stake in a company, securing a board seat, and pushing for company reorganization in order to raise the stock price.

Procter & Gamble has changed its advertising to expand diversity and inclusivity. Described by the company as an ongoing process, the changes include making most of its advertisements consumable by blind people. Sam Latif, a consultant and leader of the company's people with disabilities affinity group, has been a driving force for P&G's efforts to make its advertising more accessible for people with disabilities.

In a conference call with analysts in June discussing six-month sales and profit performance, L’Oréal CEO Jean-Paul Agon [left] commented on the progress of its newly-acquired CeraVe skincare product line. According to Agon, CeraVe is “already contributing with double-digit growth” in the U.S. market. And the company’s globalization strategy includes a plan to expand CeraVe to Europe beginning in mid-2018, “because we need some time to adapt the formulations for Europe, but it would be deployed next year.” CeraVe was acquired from Canada’s Valeant in March 2017 and is now part of the fast-growing Active Cosmetics division.

L’Oréal’s half-year financial results shed some light on the hot “active cosmetics” trend in the beauty industry. The company’s Active Cosmetics Division showed a sales growth rate of 11.1 percent through the end of June, and 4.6 percent like-for-like. Profit was 26.7 percent, compared with 27.7 percent a year ago. The division includes brands with derma/pharmaceutical profile and image, and are sold in healthcare outlets. They include Vichy, La Roche-Posay, and SkinCeuticals, “dermocosmetics” developed and endorsed by dermatologists, pediatricians, cosmetic doctors. North America is the number one contributor to the division's growth, reflecting the successful integration of CeraVe into the portfolio, and the dynamism of SkinCeuticals and La Roche-Posay.

L’Oréal’s CeraVe is the drugstore skincare brand that is followed closely on Reddit’s huge Skincare Addiction thread patronized by dermatologists, experts, and full-blown skin care lovers. It has turned CeraVe into a “legit cult-favorite and desert-island necessity.” Launched in 2005 with a cleanser, moisturizing lotion, and moisturizing cream, the brand has expanded to include a full line of moisturizers, cleansers, body washes, and SPFs. Visitors to the Skincare Addiction thread on Reddit focus on CeraVe’s ability to get rid of stubborn breakouts and moisturize oily skin without aggravation. A key to the success is CeraVe’s low-cost, easy-to-find products that work with all skin types.

L'Oréal brand La Roche-Posay, a start-up that exhibited at June’s Viva Technology show in Paris, presented the most recent developments of its My UV Patch. Designed to improve sun safer behavior and help minimize sunburns, the wearable patch features an adhesive comprising photosensitive dyes that change color when exposed to UV rays. A related app indicates varying levels of sun exposure. A smart algorithm incorporates personalized data (viz, geolocation, phototype of skin tone, hair and eye color) to advise when to reapply sun screen, seek shade, etc. According to company data, regular use has led to positive changes in sun-related behavior: 63 percent experienced less sunburn, 37 percent used more facial sunscreen, and 31 percent spent more time in the shade.

L’Oréal’s Beauty Lab (left), located at the company’s year-old west-side Manhattan headquarters, serves as an experimental virtual reality center to explore a technology some industry observers call “the next frontier of fashion and beauty.” Though virtual reality has taken baby steps in fashion and cosmetics, it has yet to make significant inroads, and has had almost no impact on sales. Skeptics note that researchers aren’t even sure what to do with test data that are collected. L’Oréal, however, has invested a lot of money in its VR glasses, floor-to-ceiling VR screen, and additional 3-D modeling screens. Not so much to wow consumers, but to advance and enhance internal research.

Despite a lack of evidence that its forays into the digital world are actually paying off, L’Oréal continues to do what it can to stay current with advanced technologies. In fact, it wants to do ”even better.” The latest of these technologies is voice search – think Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri – which the company believes will account for a fifth of all online searches within 18 months. The company wants to be at the forefront of that trend, a unique opportunity to tell consumers about brands and their stories. Lurking in the background of all this, however, is the ongoing “obsession” with the ROI of digital which, the company admits, it hasn’t quite figured out how to measure.

Walgreens said it will start selling Sleek MakeUP brand of cosmetics at more than 150 stores and on Walgreens.com. One of the fastest-growing mass-market beauty brands in the UK, Sleek MakeUP was acquired by Walgreens Boots Alliance in 2015. Created by a local beauty entrepreneur in East London, the brand seeks to cater to the needs of women of color who were faced with limited choices in the cosmetics market.

Unilever’s second quarter financials mostly beat Wall Street expectations – sales growth fell three percent short – but the rise in profit came from cuts in marketing expenses. In April the company said about $2.3 billion of its planned three-year $7 billion cost-cutting program would come from marketing and overhead. During the first half of this fiscal year, however, nearly a third of the cuts came only from marketing; half were attributable to both marketing and overhead. The company is cutting ad agency and production spending, but marketing spending overall will rebound in the second half when 60 percent of Unilever's new-product launches for the year will take place.

Unilever said net profit rose to €3.11 billion, or $3.58 billion, for the six-month period ending June 30, 2017, compared with €2.51 billion in the previous year. According to the company, revenue grew to €27.72 billion from the previous year's €26.28 billion. Gross margin improved by 40bps to 43.1 percent, pushed by margin-accretive innovations and acquisitions, the company said.

Fragrance developer Symrise announced it has developed Lilybelle, a synthetic fragrance with fresh and transparent notes very similar to those of the lily of the valley. Lily of the valley are easy to cultivate; however, its flowers are delicate and offer very low yields. Also, its scent is very difficult to acquire with enough efficiency either through steam distillation or volatile solvent extraction. Perfume houses have been investing significantly to develop alternatives to existing synthetic molecules, such as Lyral or Lillial, which have been withdrawn from the market due to public health issues.

Procter & Gamble awarded its consolidated media planning, scheduling, and buying account in the UK and Ireland to Publicis Media. Valued at more than ₤200 million, the account used to be managed by Starcom Mediavest and later divided between Starcom and Mediavest Spark following Publicis' reorganization in 2016. P&G's reorganization of its advertising and marketing strategies is part of the consumer goods giant's efforts to reduce agency spending by $2 billion during the next five years.

In 2016, 19.1 percent of Australian women bought cosmetics from pharmacies, compared with 15.1 percent in 2006, according to Roy Morgan Research. Data from the market research firm revealed that in 2006-2016, the percentage of women who buy cosmetics in an average six months remained stable, from 51.5 percent to 50.5 percent. Cosmetics retailers, such as Sephora and MECCA, saw their share of the market fall from 9.6 percent to 7.7 percent during the period. Also, about 840,000 women purchased their make-up at a Priceline store, making the company the most popular pharmacy chain for cosmetics.

Givaudan Fragrances has started building a fragrance encapsulation facility in Singapore. According to the company, the planned facility is expected to improve the company's leadership position in encapsulation technology, as well as expand its production capabilities. Company CEO Gilles Andrier said, the investment will help the company achieve its 2020 strategy objectives. Expected to have 500 sq. meters with four levels, the planned facility will include a development laboratory, manufacturing technology, offices, and a warehouse.

L'Oreal said it plans to improve water usage at some facilities and expand reuse and recycling of waste by improving materials recovery at all company sites. To help achieve this goal, L'Oreal will be working with sustainable resources management company Suez to develop processes that will enhance resource management at all industrial, administrative, and research centers in France and overseas. According to L'Oreal, its partnership with Suez will help the beauty brand achieve its objective of becoming a “circular economy,” integrating biodiversity, ecodesign, digitalization, and material reuse to its business operations.

In 2016, sales of prestige beauty products in the UK rose 4 percent to ₤2.55 billion, according to The NPD Group. Data from the market research firm revealed sales of prestige beauty products grew the most in Liverpool at 15 percent, with London and Birmingham posting 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Liverpool consumers bought 30 percent and 6 percent more makeup and women's skincare products, respectively.

Retailer Watsons' flagship store in Shanghai features a kiosk that comes with augmented-reality-powered facial detection technology. Developed by Perfect Corporation, the YouCam makeup app allows customers to try on more than 30 products from leading makeup brands, such as MaxFactor, Maybelline, and Kate Cosmetics.

Beauty brand L'Oreal Paris is working with mobile on-demand beauty service provider The Glam App to help manage the Academy 2017 event involving 1,900 makeup, beauty, and hair stylists. To be hosted by The Glam App co-founder Joey Maalouf, the Academy event will feature famous beauty professionals, such as L'Oreal Paris celebrity makeup artist Sir John and leading hair stylist Jonathan Colombini. Also, the event will feature a VIP party, which will function as a networking event for stylists sharing tips and trends, and expanding client bases.

Retinol active ingredients have “positive effect and efficacy” in improving skin wrinkles, according to Shiseido. Results of a clinical trial conducted by the beauty brand revealed that “retinol-formulated products” come with features that improve skin wrinkles. With Japanese women aged 37-54 who had shallow to deep wrinkles at their eye corners as study subjects, the clinic trial involved the women using the products for nine weeks. After the usage period, skin wrinkles showed improvement compared with those of women who used non-retinol products.

Procter & Gamble Company said net sales declined 1 percent to $15.6 billion in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017, compared with the same quarter in the previous year. Organic sales increased 1 percent, with diluted net earnings per share dropped 4 percent to $0.93 from the previous year. Core earnings per share increased 12 percent to $0.96. Operating cash flow was $3.0 billion, the company said.

Shiseido Group's prestige brand Cle de Peau Beaute opened its brand store Cle de Peau Beaute Ginza Six in Ginza Six, a commercial complex in Tokyo. Located in the country's prime shopping address, the store is designed to represent the brand's value described by the company as the combination of beauty and science. In partnership with architect Tsuyoshi Tane, the brand came up with the design concept it calls “Brilliant Cell” for the store.

Kao Singapore worked with Hakuhodo Singapore to launch a marketing campaign, promoting the Biore UV Body Care Serum personal care product. Aimed at office ladies, the campaign includes interactive educational content designed to let consumers take part in the “storytelling process.” For its mobile components, the campaign also features real-time engagement and marketing messages on conventional media.

Like many big food companies, Unilever is struggling to keep with the times, and with evolving consumer tastes, preferences and health concerns. The latest manifestation of the strategic rethinking, revamping, cost-cutting process – spurred by the failed Kraft Heinz takeover bid in February – is its decision to sell its margarine and spreads business for a price upwards of $7.5 billion. In addition to cost cutting, the Anglo-Dutch multinational hopes to buttress returns by implementing a dividend boost and a share buyback. Unilever’s margarine and spread business includes familiar brands Country Crock and I Can’t Believe It’s not Butter. Other companies that have recently announced plans to divest or acquire businesses include Reckitt Benckiser, Danone SA, ConAgra Brands, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., and PepsiCo Inc. 

Italian cosmetics brand and retailer Kiko Milano launched its business in Brazil by opening two stores in Sao Paulo. According to the company, it plans to open five more new stores in the country’s capital by the end of 2017. Kiko Milano plans to invest €5 million in the opening of the seven stores in the city, according to Isabel de Almeida, the company’s brand director in Brazil. Legal problems related to importation process forced the company to delay its launch in Brazil, which was previously planned for 2016.

Euromonitor International said the market for essential oils in beauty and personal care products is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 5 percent in Asia-Pacific and 6 percent in the Middle East in 2015 to 2020. According to the market research firm, consumer demand for environment-friendly and healthy lifestyles is helping drive growth in the ingredients market. To meet the increasing demand, market leaders, including Firmenich, Givaudan, and Symrise, are expanding their lineups of natural ingredients.