Unilever appoints R&D Director for prestige divison
Unilever has promoted Jean-Philippe Courtois to Research & Development Director for its prestige division.
Courtois first joined the owner of Paula's Choice and Living Proof as a Formulation Scientist in 2000, working his way up to Prestige R&D Strategy & Operations Lead in October 2022.
Prior to joining the company's prestige team, he worked in various roles across the company's personal care division.
In a post on LinkedIn yesterday, Courtois said: "I am very pleased to share that I am starting a new position as Unilever Prestige R&D Director and look forward to more innovations with all our talented brand teams and partners."
Over the years, Unilever has added a number of global beauty brands to its prestige portfolio. Among the acquisitions are Tatcha, Hourglass Cosmetics, Living Proof, Murad, Dermalogica and REN Clean Skincare, as well as the purchase of premium biotech haircare brand K18 in December 2023.
The division continues to perform well for the company, having recently achieved mid-single digit sales growth in 2024.
It appointed Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson as its new boss in October last year, following the exit of Vasiliki Petrou. Petrou left her role as Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Prestige, the division she created a decade ago to help bring a portfolio of premium beauty brands into the company, in July.
Read TheIndustry.beauty's feature on the power of prestige beauty.
