Every Wednesday on LinkedIn, the Glossy team hosts the Beauty Debrief, breaking down the buzziest topics in the beauty industry. This week, West Coast correspondent Lexy Lebsack, international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff looked back on April’s biggest headlines. Those included the pending TikTok ban and news surrounding beauty brands including L’Occitane, The Body Shop and Beautycounter. Excerpts from the conversation, below, have been slightly edited and condensed for clarity.
What the potential TikTok ban could mean for beauty brands
On April 24, President Biden signed legislation that could ban the popular social media platform in the U.S. The legislation included a provision requiring TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner in the next nine months — otherwise, it will be banned. If a deal is signed within that timeframe, the president will grant a three-month extension on the deadline. As TikTok has over 170 million U.S. users and a growing e-commerce business in its TikTok Shop, a ban of the platform could mean the loss of a large chunk of business for many beauty and fashion brands.
Lebsack: “When we talk about the [TikTok ban], I reminisce about all the brands that had an overreliance on Meta a few years ago, and with just one switch of the algorithm, we saw brands going under and we saw brands no longer able to reach customers. And their customer acquisition costs shot through the roof. As much as I feel like brands shouldn’t panic and start pulling [away from TikTok], it is something to consider because you don’t want to get caught there with this overreliance on the platform. It’s a complicated [issue].”
Can the Body Shop be saved?
On March 10, the Body Shop, which launched in the U.K. in 1976, announced that it was shutting down all U.S. operations and closing stores in Canada. The news came after the brand struggled to regain its footing in the market after parent company Natura & Co. sold it to private equity group Aurelius in November 2023.
Zwieglinska: “The Body Shop was known for being this vegan, natural, fun brand from the ’90s. A lot of people [in the U.K.] have very fond memories of it. … Then it began franchising stores overseas. … It was a very interesting and innovative [brand] that had new ways of thinking about and running a business, but in recent years, it has been faltering. You don’t see it much on socials, though it does have a big retail presence — but even that isn’t particularly impactful. A lot of the things that made it great 10, 20 years ago are not relevant anymore. Unfortunately, as the customer age groups shifted, the product assortment also shifted because there was a big issue with production moving to the Philippines. At that point, the company didn’t have the best products anymore, and a lot of other brands started to [leverage] sustainability messaging, as well. So that unique KPI wasn’t there anymore for them. … I don’t think it’s possible for them to now get out from under, especially since the U.K. retail climate [right now] is not brilliant. … [Parent company] Aurelius will likely sell off the brand for parts. They might end up reviving it as just a purely e-commerce business.”
What’s going on at L’Occitane
Started in 1976, French beauty company L’Occitane was the first French brand to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2010. Since then, the company has struggled to manage its debt and chart paths to growth, leading its leaders to explore delisting from the HSKE. By going private, the company’s executives plan to create long-term sustainable growth initiatives that may require aggressive investments in marketing, retail expansion, IT infrastructure and new talent.
Zwieglinska: “When you’re looking at long-term growth, going public isn’t necessarily the best idea. A lot of the time going public ends up being a way to raise capital mainly. … It doesn’t [always] benefit the company long-term. L’Occitane owns some interesting brands like Dr. Vranjes and Sol de Janeiro, so it has a bit more room to play and think about different brands and what their proposition should be as they gain market share. [For its part] Sol de Janeiro is having a moment. The company may want to see how it can drive long-term growth from that trend, [rather than rely on investors].”
Lebsack: “The connection to the founder — which, in the case of L’Occitane, is Ronald Geiger — [can be key for some companies]. Geiger had been running the company for 25 years, then he stepped down in 2021. He’s still involved — he is the chairman and director of the company. But the founder plays a massive role in [the brand’s identity], and shifts [their role] can impact the company in real ways.”
What the Beautycounter sell means for the brand’s future
On April 19, Gregg Renfrew, founder of pioneer beauty brand Beautycounter, bought back her brand from foreclosure. Launched by Renfrew in 2013, Beautycounter is considered a pioneer in the clean beauty space for its progressive practices like the “Never List,” which includes thousands of harmful ingredients the brand doesn’t use. In 2021, private equity firm The Carlyle Group acquired a majority share of the brand. At that time, Beautycounter had a $1 billion valuation. Now, “due to various circumstances,” the business is winding down and has laid off an undisclosed amount of staff members.
Manoff: “My first thought is just, ‘Wow, the tides turn so fast.’ It reminds me of the conversation around Farfetch, where it was the leader and the innovator [in the category and fell fast]. I think of Beautycounter as being this innovator leader in terms of sustainability, transparency and all things clean. But Greg [Renfrew] is brilliant, and when you lose the founder, you lose so much — and that no doubt played into it. … If they can continue to bring newness to the beauty industry as they did before, I do see the potential [in Renfrew’s plan to reignite the brand].”
