Circana’s Report, APC Gets Acquired, Anomatic’s New CEO & More

Beauty Industry News: Here’s our Beauty Buzz news roundup for July/August 2026—celebrating people and events in the beauty & packaging industries.

Circana Says U.S. Beauty Market Shows Steady Growth

First in our Beauty Buzz roundup this month is Circana. In its latest market report, beauty industry retail performance in the U.S. was split “pretty evenly” across prestige and mass business in Q1 2026. Prestige retail dollar sales grew by +6% to $8.1 billion in Q1 2026, compared to the same period last year. Mass retail sales rose by +7% to $18.1 billion. 

“Mass and prestige beauty are growing at nearly the same rate for the first time in five years,” said Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at Circana. Jensen is also a member of Beauty Packaging’s Board of Advisors.

Which product categories are growing? “Fragrance, facial skincare, hair treatments, and personal care products such as body lotion and body wash,” Jensen says. “Consumers are prioritizing self-care and wellness-driven products.”

Performance by Category

Makeup

Makeup was the softest-performing category in Q1 across both prestige and mass, with modest dollar growth offset by declining unit demand, particularly in mass. Pockets of strength emerged in the lip and face categories. Lip treatments and lip liner stood out.

Hair

The hair category showed a clear channel divide. In prestige, hair care was the fastest-growing category by dollars and a top unit driver, second only to skincare. Hair treatment products are a strong growth driver. In mass retail, value-seeking behavior drove double-digit growth in shampoo and conditioner combo packs.

Skincare

Skincare remained a growth engine, with prestige gains led by facial care. Face creams, serums, and eye treatments accounted for the majority of category growth. In addition, clinical brands captured over one-third of dollar sales, reinforcing the importance of science-backed positioning. 

Fragrance

Fragrance remained strong, with gains across both mass and prestige channels.

Online and Social Shopping 

Online and social shopping continued to capture share of beauty retail. In prestige, online sales outperformed brick‑and‑mortar across all major categories. In skincare, e‑commerce now accounts for nearly half of prestige dollars.

“Digital and social platforms are no longer just a testing ground for emerging brands. They are full‑scale commerce engines,” said Jensen. “For both established players and smaller brands, success increasingly hinges on how effectively digital and social plans are embedded into marketing and product strategies. These platforms must be foundational to how brands build relevance, drive demand, and scale growth.”

Novvia Group Acquires APC Packaging

In other Beauty Buzz news, Novvia Group has acquired APC Packaging. Novvia Group is a global rigid container and life sciences packaging distributor. Lisa and Christina Lin, primary owners of APC Packaging, will continue to run the business and manage day-to-day operations.

APC Packaging was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. The company primarily serves premium skincare and cosmetics brands.

Novvia Group says the acquisition strengthens its position in the beauty and personal care segment. The transaction also marks its continued expansion into consumer packaging, following its recent acquisitions of Saxco International and Garrett Hewitt. 

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Anomatic Has a New CEO

Mark Kitzis is the new Chief Executive Officer of Anomatic, effective June 1, 2026. He  brings more than 30 years of experience in the packaging industry and “a deep commitment to commercial and operational excellence.” 

“Over decades in leadership roles, Kitzis has built solid foundations with a growth-focused mindset in a fast-paced industry by seizing opportunities to elevate,” Anomatic stated. “We couldn’t be more confident in the vision and leadership he is bringing to our company.”

Diamond Packaging Wins 7 Awards

Diamond Packaging has won seven awards in the 2026 Neographics Masterpieces in Print Competition. “Neographics Masterpieces” is one of the largest and most prestigious regional printing competitions in the nation, Diamond Packaging says. The competition celebrates outstanding achievement in printing, packaging, design, converting, and publishing,

In Beauty, Diamond won 3 Franklin Awards for Excellence in the “Packaging—Cartonboard” category. This award celebrates Diamond’s secondary packaging for the following products:

• Interparfums’ Oscar de la Renta Bella Soleil
• Ole Henriksen’s Plumping Peptide Pair
• StriVectin’s Glow and Protect

The winning cartons were converted utilizing FSC-certified Billerud CrownBoard Prestige paperboard. The decoration included cold foiling and offset printing with four-color process inks and two PMS inks. The cartons also featured in-line UV high gloss coating, UV matte coating, and a soft-touch coating.