I read a fascinating article in Beauty Independent this week. It found that close to HALF of skincare brands make claims that couldn't be independently verified.

Some interesting bits from the article:

The article also cited some particularly egregious errors made by brands, including products carrying a vegan badge despite an animal-derived ingredient on the list, and others claiming to be alcohol-free while alcohol shows up right in the ingredients. Wild.

TL;DR: some brands are touting claims that are flat-out wrong, or can't be backed up because the evidence isn't there or isn't shown publicly.

Do I think these brands are intentionally lying and trying to deceive customers?

No (at least I hope not!). I believe the root of the issue is improper tools and processes to support their marketing efforts.

To show the pace at which the market moves, here's some trending search data for moisturizers.

If trends and demand are shifting this quickly in a category as much of a staple as moisturizer, I'd bet the competition and rate of change is more pronounced in more nascent product categories.

Thiz pressure to move fast is where AI can be misused, when it is used to generate claims and copy with no basis in actual evidence.

AI is prone to hallucination when it doesn't have the right context. And for the humans reviewing those claims, if they don't have the correct information either, they can’t fact-check properly.

So where is the information?

For most brands, claims data isn't stored in one clean, connected piece. It's a study sitting in one folder, a supplier certificate in another, an old marketing deck from two years back that nobody's opened since. When team members leave, a brand is sold, or formulations change, the information to support and upkeep claims is easily mismanaged.

Having spoken to hundreds of brands about this very topic, the major pain point I hear is: inefficient processes and fragmented information for the development and upkeep of claims.

Marketing can turn a new claim around quickly. Confirming that the evidence still supports that new wording, clearing legal, aligning with brand identity, and staying compliant requires coordination between multiple teams and retrieving fragmented information.

The fix isn't necessarily to run more studies or gather more documentation. That costs money, takes time, and most brands don't need more evidence sitting in a folder somewhere waiting to be ‘lost’ again.

What they need is a way to efficiently draw on the evidence and data they already have to get accurate feedback faster AND to know what’s actually missing.

A shameless plug here: this exact issue is why we built ClaimsHub.

It’s a unified workspace where your claims, the evidence behind them, and your brand guidelines all live together, so claims can be developed to be compliant and competitive.

If a team member leaves, a brand changes hands, a formula gets revised, no problem.

ClaimsHub keeps a record of past projects and their outcomes, including which claims got approved, downgraded, or shelved for being too costly or risky to defend. So when something upstream shifts, your team isn't starting over.

The same goes for the evidence itself. Upload a lab result, certificates or a brief to a project, and it's tied to that claim's record so our analyses can pull on evidence directly.

Your team deserves tools that move as fast as the market does.

Let me know your thoughts on this! ([email protected])

Blackstone is shopping ZO Skin Health, CVC is shopping Dr. Teal's parent Arthea, and Colgate wants to part with Softsoap, Irish Spring, and Speed Stick.

The biggest deal that actually signed: Puig paid $1.4B to take full control of Isdin.

Also, Macquarie bought into K-beauty manufacturing, TowerBrook backed Rael, and a Texas Ponzi scheme reached all the way into beauty venture capital.

Let's dive in:

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is exploring a sale of ZO Skin Health, a physician-dispensed skincare brand, that could value the company at about $2B, per Fortune. Citi and Raymond James run the early-stage process.

Dr. Zein Obagi founded the brand in 2007. Blackstone took majority control in October 2020 on undisclosed terms.

CVC Capital Partners (AMS: CVC) is exploring a sale of Arthea, the personal care platform behind Dr. Teal's, Cantu, Bodycology and Body Fantasies, that could value it at about $2B. Moelis and William Blair advise. Learn more.

CVC bought the business, then called PDC Brands, from Yellow Wood Partners for $1.43B in 2017.

Puig (BME: PUIG) agreed to buy the 50% of Isdin it does not already own from Esteve for €1.2B ($1.4B), taking full control of the Spanish dermocosmetics brand the two families founded together in the 1970s. Puig pays €900M at closing and €300M in Q1 2029; closing is expected by the end of Q1 2027. Learn more.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) is exploring a sale of several mass-market personal care brands, including Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick, that could fetch more than $1B, per Reuters. Goldman Sachs advises. Learn more.

Colgate's entire personal care segment did about $3.5B of sales in 2025, 17% of the group.

EQT (STO: EQT) and the founding Gunawan family are weighing a sale of Indesso, an Indonesian natural flavor and fragrance ingredients maker, that could fetch up to $1B, per Bloomberg. EQT invested in 2021; the family kept majority control.

Macquarie Private Equity agreed to acquire Korean contract manufacturers Hwasung Cosmetics and Nowcos from Affirma Capital for about KRW 300B ($217M). The deal covers Affirma's 70% of Hwasung, a color cosmetics maker that supplies L'Oréal and Estée Lauder, and all of Nowcos, a skincare maker. Learn more.

Hwasung's revenue grew from KRW 50.1B ($36M) in 2019 to KRW 110.6B ($80M) last year, while operating profit rose about 5x to KRW 19.8B ($14M).

TowerBrook Capital Partners invested in Rael, a period care and women's wellness brand, alongside unnamed co-investors; terms were not disclosed. TowerBrook generally takes majority stakes. Learn more.

Rael had raised $59M over three rounds, including from Unilever Ventures, and was projected to do $125M to $150M of sales in 2025. Former Burt's Bees and Seventh Generation CEO John Replogle becomes board chair.

Dollar Shave Club, controlled by Nexus Capital Management, acquired Truly Beauty, a Gen Z-focused body care brand; terms were not disclosed. It is the first step toward a multi-brand personal care platform. Learn more.

Truly passed $100M in sales and was highly profitable in 2025, per sources. Nexus bought 65% of Dollar Shave Club from Unilever in 2023.

Extravaganza Beauty, a Middle Eastern fragrance distributor and investor, acquired Roja London, a British luxury perfume house; terms were not disclosed. Founder Roja Dove moves into a consulting role, and CEO Audrey Minard stays. Learn more.

Extravaganza already distributes and invests in niche houses including Amouage, Ex Nihilo and Nishane.

Belle Brands, the beauty platform owned by Windsong Global, acquired Vegamour, a hair wellness brand; terms were not disclosed. The brand was reportedly in foreclosure before the deal. Learn more.

General Atlantic put $80M into Vegamour for a minority stake in 2021. Sales peaked at $140M in 2022 and have since fallen to a little more than $50M.

Mane Group acquired Cvista, a Florida supplier of citrus oil fractions and natural essences; terms were not disclosed. Mane will set up a global Citrus and Beverage Center of Excellence on Cvista's Riverview campus. Learn more.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) led a $30M Series A in Highstock, a B2B marketplace where brands sell surplus inventory to vetted wholesale buyers, with Greylock participating. The platform started in beauty and now expands into apparel. Learn more.

HSNF, a UK beauty and e-commerce group, acquired Pai Skincare from Famille C Participations, the investment arm of the Courtin-Clarins family; terms were not disclosed. Learn more.

Famille C first invested in 2021 and took majority control in 2023 through a £14M Series C. Pai now targets a return to profitability in Q1 2027.

Point King Capital led a Series A in Half Magic Beauty, the color cosmetics brand from "Euphoria" makeup artist Donni Davy and A24, with existing investors A24, Access Industries and ACG participating; terms were not disclosed. Learn more.

Unilever Ventures led a Series A in Arey, a hair longevity brand built to slow and repigment gray hair, with existing investors Female Founders Fund and Greycroft participating; the amount was not disclosed. Learn more.

Allison Conrad and hairstylist Jay Small launched the brand, which raised a seed round led by Greycroft and Female Founders Fund in 2023.

Caudalie Group acquired a majority stake in Talm, a French sensitive-skin brand, in the first acquisition in the family-owned group's history; terms were not disclosed. Caudalie first took a minority stake in 2022, and founder Kenza Keller stays on as CEO. Learn more.

Silas Capital, Siddhi Capital and Pentland Ventures joined a $3M bridge round in SARELLY, a Mexican makeup brand, with existing backers Wollef, Sandbox Studios and Semilla Ventures adding to their positions. The money funds the brand's launch in 600+ Target stores on September 10. Learn more.

Era, Fifth Growth Fund and OpenSky Ventures backed a $3M pre-revenue round in LeNose, a $10 fragranced hand soap brand from Bubble Skincare alumni. Learn more.

HeliosX will permanently close the US business of Dermatica, its UK prescription skincare brand, on December 16, six years after entering the market in 2020. Learn more.

Parent HeliosX reports £778M of revenue and £31M of EBITDA for 2025.

Sid Jawahar, founder of Swiftarc Capital, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $31.35M in restitution for a Ponzi scheme whose 64 victims included Travis Kelce, per CNN. From 2016 to 2023, he raised more than $35M but invested only about $10M, after he moved nearly all client money into one stock, Philip Morris Pakistan. Part of the cash came in through Swiftarc Ventures, a real VC platform whose $10M beauty fund backed Alleyoop and led a $3M seed round in PAUSE Well-Aging. Axios reports that some of that venture money went to repay earlier Swiftarc Capital investors, and a former employee says nobody on the Ventures team knew.

Three things I can give you that do not fit in a newsletter.

Beauty Bytes has grown almost entirely by word of mouth, so this is how we say thank you. Share your link, and here is what unlocks:

Four sentences. If any of them describe your last two weeks, we should talk.

That is what IRI-Sys is for: international regulatory compliance, formula management and report generation, marketing claims and competitor analysis, and labeling and artwork review. Twenty minutes and I will show you how it works on your own data.