Editors' Top Reads: News from Diptyque, Leighton Denny, Selfridges and more...
Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.beauty team.
Diptyque introduces candle refills alongside redesigned vessels and new scents
Diptyque is updating its candle collection, unveiling a redesigned vessel, new fragrances and a refill system aimed at extending the life of its products while reducing environmental impact. Having received one of the newly designed candles myself, I can say - it’s a fantastic upgrade.
The brand’s classic candle - known for its transparent glass vessel, white wax and signature black-and-white oval label - has been subtly refreshed in collaboration with Franco-Swiss designer Julie Richoz. The updated design preserves the candle’s timeless identity while introducing refined contours. A new oval ridge in the glass elegantly frames the label, adding depth and enhancing the way light interacts with the surface.
In tandem with the redesign, Diptyque is expanding its olfactory repertoire with five new fragrances, crafted by perfumers Alexandra Carlin and Olivia Giacobetti. It also rolling out refills for its classic candles this autumn, designed to prolong the life of the glass vessel.
Amanda Morgan, Diptyque’s Managing Director UK, shares her insights on the collection and the brand’s evolving approach to sustainability.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
How I started in beauty: Leighton Denny, CEO Leighton Denny Expert Nails
Leighton Denny was an underachiever at school, who has gone on to be one of our industry's most successful brand founders and pioneers. His dyslexia held him back in formal education, but his drive, creativity and vision have carried him to the top of his game in business.
Denny's first job out of school was driving forklift trucks, but watching his glamorous mum have a manicure in Miami during a holiday sparked an idea. Upon his return home, he went to work in professional nail salons and eventually set up his own, along with his globally renowned brand, Leighton Denny Expert Nails.
Through the brand, which champions nail health alongside its vast array of nail colours, Denny was at the forefront of the "skinification" of nail care movement. The transformative power of a great manicure is what drives him and his customers too, who purchase one of his Crystal Nail Files every 60 seconds.
As brand founder stories go, this is one of the most interesting, unexpected and heart-warming in our industry. You can read all about it and more here.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
Only 1 in 6 wear SPF daily as Brits treat sun protection as seasonal
As someone who’s passionate about sun protection, this new data confirms I’m not overdoing it! Daily SPF use is still far from routine in the UK, with fresh research highlighting a persistent gap between awareness of UV risks and consistent protective behaviour.
The findings come from Face the Future’s annual “365 Days of SPF” campaign, which examines how, why and when people in the UK use sun protection. Despite broad recognition of the dangers of UV exposure, daily SPF habits and attitudes remain inconsistent.
In fact, only one in six Brits report using SPF every day, while over three-quarters still treat it as a seasonal or weather-dependent practice. Another 27% say they apply SPF “often”, but only when the sun is visible, indicating that many people’s perception of UV risk is still tied to sunny weather rather than year-round protection.
Alarmingly, 7% of respondents say they never use SPF, leaving nearly one in 14 people unprotected throughout the year.
Read the full report summary here.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
Perfumer Jo Malone responds to Estée Lauder legal action
I have been following Jo Malone's career since I saw her speak on a panel a few years ago, passionately talking about how she launched her company, Jo Loves, with an innovative new perfume application that allows customers to gently "brush" a scent on their skin. On the panel, she also spoke about how much she had come to regret selling her company that bears her name to Estée Lauder in 1999.
This came back to me as I have been reading about the legal battle she now faces with the cosmetics giant over the use of her name on a fragrance collaboration with ZARA that she launched seven years ago. In a recent Instagram post, Malone responded to the legal proceedings, sharing her surprise and sadness at the news, while also questioning the timing of the legal action.
"So what is this all about, this High Court claim? Let me tell you in three words: my own name," she shared in the Instagram post. "I sold a company. I did not sell myself."
In a world where many beauty and fragrance brands bear the names of their creators, this dispute raises a poignant question about the limitations founders face once they leave their namesake companies to pursue other opportunities. Perhaps this is one of the reasons celebrity brands such as Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty or Hailey Bieber's Rhode did not go down this path.
Camilla Rydzek, Senior News & Features Writer.
Selfridges unveils new members’ club with bespoke beauty studio
It will be very interesting to see the take-up of Selfridges’ highly anticipated new members’ club, 40 Duke, which launched this week, bringing together shopping, hospitality and membership for the first time.
In what is described as the retailer’s “most significant capital investment in a decade”, it is really pulling out all the stops, with a heavy focus on “experience-led engagement” balanced between spaces to shop and spaces to socialise, set over an impressive 25,000 sq ft.
‘The Club Lounge’ features a 64-cover bar and lounge with an 18-seat bar, ‘The Club Room’ has a 14-cover private dining space, and ‘The Terrace’ offers a covered outdoor 58-cover café/restaurant.
But it’s taking personal shopping to another level that really adds intrigue, with 24 studios and suites, a multilingual team of private client managers and specialist experts, as well as greatly expanded services across fashion, fine jewellery, watches, beauty and lifestyle.
Around all of that, Selfridges has created a series of social and cultural environments that enable customers to spend “more time with the store and each other”, in a contemporary reinvention of London’s long tradition of private clubs. Clever indeed, and thoroughly modern.
Tom Bottomley, Contributing Editor.
