Editors' Top Reads: News from Phlur, M&S, Liberty and more...
Here are some of this week’s news and features highlights handpicked by TheIndustry.beauty team.
The Interview: Chriselle Lim on reviving Phlur and creating beauty’s most talked-about scents
When I interviewed Chriselle Lim, it quickly became clear why fragrance powerhouse Phlur’s return has become one of beauty’s most compelling comeback stories. The way she tells it, the relaunch wasn’t just strategic - it was deeply personal. Taking over the brand in 2022 felt like "a creative and personal rebirth" for Lim, a chance to channel everything she’d learned from fashion, content creation, and a major life transition into something more intimate: scent.
The rebirth was meteoric: the fragrance Missing Person went viral within hours, TikTok crowned Phlur a fragrance phenomenon, and the brand quickly became synonymous with mood-driven perfumes.
Lim breaks down the mechanics behind Phlur’s explosive rise, the thinking behind building fragrances around emotions rather than notes, and why she sees scent as "an invisible fashion accessory" that communicates identity without a word. There’s also real insight into how a US-born brand can scale internationally without losing its soul, particularly here in the UK.
The interview offers that rare combination of a strong founder voice, a clear blueprint for building a viral beauty brand, and genuine transparency about the creative decisions behind cult products like Missing Person and Vanilla Skin.
Chloé Burney, Senior News & Features Writer.
Marks & Spencer opens largest beauty hall yet at new Bristol flagship
Marks & Spencer has made a stylish return to Bristol city centre with the opening of a new 80,000 sq ft flagship store at Cabot Circus, featuring its largest beauty hall to date.
At the heart of the store is a 2,700 sq ft beauty hall, designed to offer an elevated shopping experience. Shoppers can explore over 70 brands and more than 5,000 products, including M&S’s own lines such as Discover and Apothecary.
In addition, the space showcases established favourites like Clinique, Color Wow, Benefit, and Emma Hardie, alongside new launches including Bare Minerals, Iconic London, Sweed, Estée Lauder, and Hair by Sam McKnight.
It also features a dedicated Fragrance Concept Zone, interactive consultation areas, and promotional spaces designed to inspire and engage visitors.
The opening represents a significant milestone in M&S’s ongoing investment to modernise its stores and enhance the customer experience. While fashion and food have long been the focus of the retailer’s transformation, beauty is increasingly taking centre stage - and I only wish this new beauty hall were closer so I could explore it myself!
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
Liberty Retail Managing Director to exit after 15 years
It's hard not to descend into cliché and wheel out the 'end of an era' line, but it truly is. After 15 years at Liberty, Sarah Coonan is standing down as Retail Managing Director at the end of January.
Sarah embodies Liberty. She is both creative and commercially smart, and, for someone with such a huge job, incredibly down to earth and accessible.
We've had the pleasure of interviewing her a number of times (she's pictured here at one of our events), and she has always been generous with her knowledge and passionate about Liberty and, more importantly, its customers.
Liberty has had its challenges but seems to somehow sail on when others have floundered, and this year it celebrates its 150th birthday. That resilience is in no small part down to its edit and its constant innovation and creativity. There is always something to look at in Liberty (especially in beauty!), and often you would see Sarah herself walking the floor.
I have no insight to share on her next move, but she leaves Liberty in good shape and for that, we should all be thankful.
Lauretta Roberts, Co-founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief.
TheIndustry.beauty Awards Winners' Interview: Henrietta Norton, co-founder, Wild Nutrition
In this series, TheIndustry.beauty continues to celebrate the achievements of the winning brands from TheIndustry.beauty Awards 2025 through a collection of dedicated interviews.
Wild Nutrition is a UK-based wellness brand co-founded in 2013 by Henrietta and Charlie Norton, driven by Henrietta’s experience as a nutritional practitioner and her frustration with synthetic supplements.
The brand specialises in Food-Grown supplements - formulations made from whole-food sources for better absorption. Its range includes vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and targeted support for women’s health, pregnancy, menopause, beauty, and stress.
In an exclusive interview with TheIndustry.beauty, Henrietta Norton, co-founder of Wild Nutrition, discusses the brand’s award-winning product and the rapid evolution of the wellness and supplement category in recent years. She also shares her perspective on the biggest opportunities and challenges currently shaping the beauty sector, alongside insights from award sponsor Marks & Spencer.
Sophie Smith, News Editor & Senior Writer.
