Estée Lauder topped analysts’ profit and revenue expectations, aided by sales and market share gains in China and customer growth in the US. The parent of brands such as Clinique, Tom Ford, and Aveda said its results marked the start of its return to growth under a turnaround plan. Estée Lauder’s stronger-than-expected quarter shows that accessible pricing and product innovation is essential to growth in beauty, especially as competition continues to intensify. Gap Inc., for instance, is launching Old Navy Beauty, a youth-focused line of body mists and scents. Its move shows that even apparel retailers are muscling into beauty to lure Gen Z consumers, providing new pressure on established beauty brands.

Our exclusive research reveals what factors are influencing the path to purchase for personal care and beauty products.

Gen Zers are avid personal care and beauty shoppers, and their habits often diverge from those of older consumers. While they shop in-store as much as non-Gen Zers, they're more likely to turn to digital channels for research and purchases. This report contrasts Gen Z behaviors with those of non-Gen Z shoppers across the personal care and beauty landscape.

Our exclusive data explores how social commerce and AI are reshaping the beauty path to purchase for US consumers.

This could give Chime access to more Gen Alpha and Gen Z customers.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how department stores are getting on, how they’re evolving, and what the contemporary department store needs to do to stick around. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian and Senior Analyst Carina Perkins.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how the beauty industry is venturing into untapped markets, how the conversation of ageism in beauty fits or diverges with the greater trend away from diversity and inclusion, and how brands market to older people while staying relevant with younger audiences. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves, Analyst Arielle Feger, and CEO and Founder of Ageism Is Never In Style® Jacynth-Bassett.

Beauty’s run of strong retail sales growth is winding down, but new audiences and sales channels will offer opportunities for savvy brands and retailers to regain momentum.

The lipstick effect may not be fading after all: Despite Ulta’s slowdown warning, L’Oréal’s North American sales rose 12.3% in Q1, and Sephora’s business has been “pretty strong.”

The “The Sopranos” turns 25 this year, and the “mob wife” look—big hair, fur coats, animal prints, and lots of gold jewelry—is back and trending on TikTok.

Gen Alpha’s obsession with skincare is driving beauty sales: Younger shoppers are gravitating toward premium brands and spending more time browsing the aisles at Sephora.

Insider Intelligence spoke with Kate Biancamano, director of events and experiential marketing at Sephora, about expanding the beauty brand’s offerings into the virtual world.

Since its launch in 2017, Peace Out Skincare—known for its Acne Dot patches—has been rapidly expanding its business through an exclusive partnership with Sephora, as well as its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) business.

According to a January 2019 survey from influencer marketing agency Mediakix, 61% of US marketers agreed that it’s difficult to find the right influencers for a campaign. And more than one in four US marketers said that brand safety and alignment was a challenge when it comes to influencer marketing.

With its increased investment in Instagram Stories, Benefit plans to focus on both organic and paid content in 2019. And rising usage in swipe-up behavior—when a user swipes up on stories content and is taken to a landing page on the brand's website—is opening the door to new opportunities.