Less than six weeks into the year (at press time) and unless there’s an unforeseen global change, it already seems clear what the three overriding Beauty trends will be in 2019: M&A activity; a rapid progression of brands and suppliers espousing eco-friendly packaging and practices; and an influx of cannabis products selling out faster than retailers can re-stock.

Just in the beginning of this first quarter, we’ve covered merger and/or major funding announcements from L’Occitane, ROC, Indie Beauty Group, Jane Iredale and Madison Reed, to name a handful. (Read more about these deals in Beauty Buzz (page 12) and online at BeautyPackaging.com.

With a stronger consumer push toward caring for themselves and for the environment, in addition to growing government regulations, it seems at least one beauty brand a day announces plans to cut packaging waste in some way. Recent news spotlighted a huge multinational, multi-brand program called Loop, which is compared to the milkman of old. The plan: Beautiful, reusable packaging will be developed, filled, collected, returned to the source—and the process will repeat (minus the container generation).

You can read more about Loop at BeautyPackaging.com—where you can also see a slideshow of some of the reusable packaging developed by several committed brands.

Stay tuned also to the April/May issue of Beauty Packaging, which will feature brands and suppliers making headway in sustainable packaging.

From your local health food store to luxe retailers Neiman Marcus and Barney’s, consumers can’t seem to get enough of potent cannabis-infused products with the reported supernatural healing effects of CBD.

Whether or not these trends remain most prominent throughout the year, or they’re disrupted by new ones, 2019 is poised to be another record-breaker for the industry.

On February 5, Estée Lauder reported that for the first time, corporate sales exceeded $4 billion (in the second fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2018) an increase of 7% from $3.74 billion in the prior-year quarter. L’Oréal, in reporting their year-end 2018 annual results, declared their “best sales growth in more than 10 years,” with sales reaching $30.8 billion.
It’s bound to be an exciting year!

We hope you enjoy this issue.