The Barefaced Podcast

The beauty industry is a trillion dollars, and right now almost all of the biggest names in it are struggling. Estée Lauder's stock is down over 70% from its peak. Coty has been in turnaround mode for years. The giants are stumbling, margins are compressing, and the whole industry is watching a renaissance unfold in every corner. And yet, one company did not just survive this shakeout, it thrived....

Not that long ago, Australia had more women's magazines per capita than almost any comparable market. Australian Women's Weekly, Vogue, Dolly, Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Girlfriend, Marie Claire, Grazia. Titles that shaped culture, launched careers, and functioned as the single most powerful distribution channel beauty brands had access to. That ecosystem is largely gone now. In Ma...

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Before Sephora, beauty retail was a very different world. Products sat behind glass, and a single sales rep, loyal to just one brand, controlled how a customer experienced beauty. Today, Sephora has completely rewritten that experience. It is now the largest beauty retailer in the world, generating over 17 billion U.S. dollars in annual sales and holding immense power over which brands rise and wh...

When we talk about the frontiers of beauty, we usually think of France, the United States, South Korea, or China. But a new frontier is emerging further East: the GCC. A group of six countries in the Middle East that are shaping the future of beauty. You’ve probably heard the buzz around Dubai, but the GCC as a whole is worth paying attention to. The region already represents 43% of the global lux...

When you think of big beauty, L’Occitane probably doesn’t come to mind. It’s a nearly fifty-year-old French brand that, to me, represented nothing more than dated packaging and one fantastic hand cream. I’d always associated it with a dying customer base–and I mean that quite literally. This brand-turned-group is a quiet powerhouse with a fascinating story. But it’s one the company has mostly told...

Despite being the 10th largest economy in the world, Canadian beauty remains a mystery. For a country that birthed giants like MAC and Deciem (The Ordinary) and is a neighbour to the largest beauty market in the world (The US), the lack of conversations around Canadian beauty is nothing short of shocking. After a four-month hiatus, The Barefaced Podcast is back and diving into why this deeply comp...

Another person talking about tariffs… I know! But this episode is different. Trump’s tariff announcement sent shockwaves through the markets—the S&P 500 dropped 4.9%, the second-biggest daily point loss in history. And beauty felt it too; Elf Beauty’s stock fell by 23.4% and Estée Lauder’s by 15.4%. But what does all this mean for the long-term future of beauty? In this episode of The Barefaced Po...

It seems like almost every day there’s a new beauty brand announcing they've secured funding. Why has there been such a surge? Venture capital (VC) first took off in the tech industry in the 90s, and expanded into consumer packaged goods (CPG) in the 2010s, but why do VCs love beauty brands and why do beauty brands love them back? What is it about the beauty sector that has attracted such signific...

Luxury brands spend years developing products—MCo Beauty swoops in and replicates them in weeks. And the results speak for themselves. Originally known as ModelCo, an Aussie drugstore brand focused on tanning, MCo Beauty reinvented itself by recreating viral beauty products with eerily similar packaging—at a fraction of the price. By strategically navigating trademark laws, the brand has grown fro...

In recent years, the global embrace of Japanese culture has been undeniable. From streetwear and homewares to anime and video games, Japan's influence is everywhere. So why is Japanese beauty (J-beauty) still flying under the radar while Korean beauty (K-beauty) has taken the industry by storm? This episode is a deep dive into the Japanese beauty market. We start by unpacking the geopolitical and...

It’s the start of Fashion Month—the pinnacle of luxury, where fashion houses invest millions into runway shows to reinforce their brand identity. But how does this impact their beauty divisions? This episode explores the role of beauty within luxury fashion houses. Why do these brands expand into beauty? How does the business model differ from fashion, and how do they compete in an increasingly sa...

Thanks to social media, beauty trends often go global—but not in the UK. While interest in makeup in Canada, Australia, and the US has slowed down since the pandemic, the "baddie makeup" continues to trend in the UK. Why does this trend stand strong, and what does it reveal about Britain’s beauty scene? In this episode of The Barefaced Podcast , we dive into the cultural, economic, and social fact...

Beauty shopping in the UK is anything but intuitive. You can find luxury brands at Boots, a pharmacy, or Harrods, a luxury department store, or shop them online at Look Fantastic, an e-commerce retailer. But why is the market so fragmented? Over the last five years, online beauty retail boomed but has faced rising customer acquisition costs. Companies like Walgreens Boots Alliance (owner of Boots)...

The rise of Glossier wasn’t just a success story; it became the blueprint for modern beauty branding. While much of the conversation surrounding Glossier today focuses on the brand’s current state, this episode dives into the marketing firsts that made Glossier a cultural phenomenon and shaped the beauty industry as we know it. From pioneering the shelfie , founder-driven content, and user-generat...

It has been well established that consumers are fed up with celebrity beauty brands. So, why do some of these brands still go on to achieve huge success? In this week’s episode, we first dive into the business of celebrity beauty brands, examining how they differ from regular startups, beyond just the access they have to personal fame. We then explore Reddit sentiment data to understand how consum...

From the $800 Dyson Airwrap to the $700 Dr. Dennis Gross LED Face Mask and $400 NuFace, luxury beauty devices aren’t just getting attention—they’re flying off shelves. The rise of high-tech beauty gadgets didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the signs were there long before the pandemic. But how did these devices become so popular? Why are consumers willing to spend so much on them? And if this is wh...

To many, the undeniable presence of Korean skincare seems to have come out of nowhere, but in reality, its rise has been anything but random. In this episode, we explore how Korean skincare stands apart from Western products and the story behind its global takeover. Discover the unique philosophies, innovative ingredients, and viral moments that propelled K-beauty to mainstream success. Plus, we b...

Australia's beauty market flew under the radar until Jo Horgan changed everything by launching Mecca in 1997. By the time Sephora arrived in 2014 to claim its share, it was far too late. But how did Mecca build such a stronghold in the Australian market, why did Sephora take so long to set up shop? Plus, we deep dive into the latest TikTok fixation of which retailer offers more value. We take a lo...

In the past decade, shifts in advertising laws have continuously reshaped the beauty business. What did the industry look like before #ad was enforced? How did brands dodge disclosure rules, and when did we stop trusting influencer beauty reviews? Despite its significance, influencer-related legislation rarely gets spoken about. In 2024, authorities are finally catching up with the impact of influ...

Welcome to episode one of The Barefaced Podcast! The podcast revealing the beauty industry's untold stories. It only made sense for episode one to be the most untold story of them all, The Black Beauty Problem. While this episode was filmed a few weeks ago, it’s unsurprising that yet another racial inclusivity 'scandal' has emerged this week with the launch of YSL’s 'Make Me Blush' liquid blushes....