ARTICLES
Explore our latest insights on the beauty, luxury, and lifestyle industries. At Carrara Advisory, we combine decades of hands-on experience with deep market understanding to provide actionable perspectives on strategy, innovation, and growth. Here, we share our thinking on the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of your business.
Beauty vs. Fashion: Unpacking the Revenue Dynamics
While some brands, like Marc Jacobs and Moschino, are heavily reliant on beauty, particularly fragrances, others like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. focus more on fashion, with beauty contributing a smaller share. The balance between these segments, influenced by heritage, strategic partnerships, and regional preferences, is key to aligning beauty with a brand's identity and market opportunities.
European Beauty Retailers: A Deep Dive into Market Dynamics
How do Europe’s top beauty retailers balance store count and profitability? While giants like DM and Rossmann scale through extensive networks, smaller players such as Notino and Sephora excel with targeted strategies, showcasing the growing importance of e-commerce, sustainability, and experiential retail in driving store productivity.
What’s Next for Beauty? Key Trends and Innovations to Watch
Beauty trends highlight ingredient storytelling, cultural influences, sustainability, social media impact, and tech-driven innovation. Brands emphasize active ingredients like ginseng, draw from traditions like K-beauty, prioritize eco-conscious practices, leverage viral trends, and integrate cutting-edge science with tools like skincare devices.
Global Beauty Giants Navigate China’s Transforming Consumer Landscape
China’s beauty market, once a global growth powerhouse, is now presenting unprecedented challenges for the industry. Economic uncertainty and evolving consumer preferences have slowed demand, leaving even the biggest brands grappling with soft performances. Leading beauty companies are reimagining their approaches—focusing on localized innovations, strengthening digital engagement, and emphasizing sustainability to stay competitive.
The Art and Science of Niche Fragrance Collections
Niche fragrance brands captivate clients with unique, exclusive scents, but how sustainable are their extensive collections? Our analysis reveals three performance tiers, highlighting the balance between collection size and productivity. Larger brands often succeed with fewer fragrance variations, but history shows that efficiency and focus remain key.
Beauty’s Resilience: Thriving in a Changing World
The beauty industry continues to thrive, projected to nearly double in size over the next decade, driven by innovation, wellness trends, and digital transformation. While categories like skincare, haircare, and nutri-beauty show strong growth, global challenges such as China's luxury slowdown and geopolitical tensions may temper progress. The key to sustained success lies in balancing innovation with adaptability to evolving market dynamics.
Cash is King, but it Doesn't Rule Alone!
Cash is crucial for the smooth operation of a business. However, cash alone provides limited insight into a company's overall financial health.
Hair and Body Mist are quietly driving growth in the Fragrance category
Together, these segments now represent nearly $9 billion value, or 15% of the fragrance market, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 5.8% through 2034 (6.3% for hair mist, 5.6% for body mist).
The Hidden Gems Behind the Fragrance Market growth
Nearly a quarter of the fragrance market is driven by four rapidly growing subcategories. Body Mist leads with an 11% market share, followed by Niche Fragrances at 6%. Niche Fragrances also show the fastest growth, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 10.6% through 2034.
Price Strategy: Navigating Cost of Living, Global Consumers, and Local Brand Appeal
Crafting a global price strategy involves balancing the interplay between local cost of living adjustments, the expectations of informed global consumers, and the desirability of local brands to create a competitive and appealing pricing structure.
Travel Retail Channel Poised for Steady and Strong Growth
The Travel Retail channel is set for robust expansion, with an expected CAGR of 8% over the next decade, driven by the growing demand for premium goods, especially in airports and travel hubs.
Sephora vs. Ulta: A Tale of Two Assortment Strategies in the Makeup Category
Ulta’s broader assortment reflects its approach as a masstige retailer, catering to a diverse customer base across various price points. Sephora’s focus on curating a more premium and luxury-focused selection allows them to offer a deeper range for high-end brands
Skincare Segmentation: A Global Landscape of Diversity
The global skincare market is a vibrant and competitive arena, with thousands of brands striving for consumer loyalty. Understanding local price positioning appeal might help driving the difference!
Navigating the Niche Fragrance Boom: Investment Insights
Niche fragrances are growing rapidly, but independent brands face challenges in scaling up and maintaining productivity. Investors must look beyond founders and product stories, focusing on complexity and revenue potential to identify the next breakout brand.
Is China the Scapegoat for Soft Performance of Beauty and Luxury Groups?
It’s become a common refrain at investor meetings: many beauty and luxury brands attribute their lackluster performance to the ongoing turmoil in China. But is this narrative fully justified? While it's clear that China's market dynamics play a role, the more significant challenge lies in managing investor expectations.
Beauty and Wellness is the undisputed Leader in the Travel Retail industry!
This category’s significance is even more pronounced for retailers with a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region, where demand for premium beauty products —particularly skincare and luxury cosmetics — is (or at least has been so far!) remarkably high!
Beauty Industry Price Trends: Are We Finally Seeing a Slowdown?
After a period of continuous price hikes, there’s a hint that price increases in the beauty industry may be stabilizing. This may be a turning point where value, innovation, and consumer-centricity lead the way in the beauty industry.
Estée Lauder's Hidden Strengths: Is a Turnaround on the Horizon?
Estée Lauder’s struggles have dominated headlines, but are investors overlooking positive momentum? With key performance indicators improving, the company might be poised for a stronger recovery than expected.
Skin Health Positioning Wars: Eco-Friendly Push vs. Clinical Dominance
Kenvue's Neutrogena is embracing sustainability and targeting Gen Z with innovations like the Collagen Bank line, while also enhancing dermatologist partnerships to reclaim trust. Meanwhile, L’Oréal's CeraVe continues to lead in dermatologist endorsements, focusing on science-backed skincare that drives global consumer loyalty.
Beauty Stocks: is market sentiment overshadowing good performance?
Despite double-digit profit growth and strong revenue performance, beauty sector stock prices have taken a steep tumble. Is this a reflection of investor fear and unmet expectations, or an indication of deeper industry troubles? We believe this discrepancy is driven more by investor anxiety and overblown concerns than by any significant issues within the beauty industry itself.