Editors' Top Reads: News from Boots, Estée Lauder, Beauty Tech Group and more...
Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.beauty team.
Estée Lauder explores sale of Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart
The Estée Lauder Companies is understood to be weighing a potential package sale of makeup brands Too Faced and Smashbox alongside Korean skincare brand Dr. Jart. The beauty conglomerate is looking to streamline its portfolio in the face of global headwinds and softening consumer demand.
Too Faced and Smashbox, both makeup-focused labels, were once considered to be the coolest brands on the block but there's so much more that's exciting on the market now. It will take a committed new owner to revive them.
Dr Jart, which was bought in 2019, as ELC jumped in the Korean beauty bandwagon again needs work. It has a great niche with its anti-redness products, so potentially that is a base from which a new owner can build.
Read more about this latest development here.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
Anya Hindmarch ‘Anya-ises’ Boots with playful beauty collaboration
Boots kicked off the year with a feel-good collaboration that leans into humour, heritage and hands-on retail, teaming up with Anya Hindmarch on a limited-time beauty concept that feels both nostalgic and perfectly timed.
Running from 10 January to 8 March, the Anya Hindmarch x Boots installation takes over The Village Hall on Pont Street, transforming the space into a 1970s-inspired homage to Boots’ pharmacy roots and its enduring place in British culture. Drawing from the retailer’s archive, the concept reimagines historic Boots stores with apothecary-style fixtures, retro tiling, crisp white dispensary references and curated vintage artefacts designed to be explored.
At the heart of the collaboration is a limited-edition range of everyday bathroom essentials, priced between £5 and £10, pairing Boots’ trusted formulations with Hindmarch’s instantly recognisable eyes motif. The result is beauty that feels familiar yet elevated - practical products reimagined with personality. It’s experiential retail with clear social media pull, offering consumers something playful, collectable and grounded in British identity.
The Boots collaboration also builds on Hindmarch’s long-standing history of working with British retailers. Most notably, her Universal Bag project - which originated with the ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’ campaign in 2007 - has seen her partner with major supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and Selfridges Food Halls, reinforcing her knack for turning everyday essentials into cultural moments.
Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.
The Beauty Tech Group delivers record Q4 performance in 'transformational' year
It’s no secret that at-home beauty tech is booming. With LED masks firmly established as must-have gifts, it’s likely that a significant number of lucky recipients found one under the Christmas tree this year. Against this backdrop, it’s little surprise that The Beauty Tech Group - home to premium brands CurrentBody Skin, ZIIP Beauty and Tria Laser - continues to perform strongly.
The company confirmed this week that momentum continued through November and December and has carried into the new year, with sales growth recorded across its core business, key markets and sales channels.
On the back of this, The Beauty Tech Group expects both revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the year ended 31 December 2025 to exceed current market expectations.
The group is due to publish its final results in April 2026 - and if recent updates are anything to go by, a more detailed breakdown should make for an interesting read!
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
Primark introduces new ‘Performance Beauty’ range
This is a smart and smartly timed new launch from Primark for the new year, just as many of us (well, not me!) are hitting the gym. I can see performance beauty becoming a huge category for 2026 across the price point spectrum.
Primark is offering SPF and recovery-focused skincare, including bath soak and body wash, to be used alongside its value activewear range, which starts at just £2.50 in price.
It's easy to imagine more premium brands (whether they have accompanying apparel or not) getting in on this act. It has the potential to be a highly lucrative niche.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
