Daniel Kolhoff, President, Kolhoff Consulting, LLC

For many years, a brand's responsibility around fragrance disclosure was straightforward: list "Fragrance" on the ingredient label and rely on suppliers to follow IFRA guidance. That era is long over. Global regulatory frameworks, and even individual U.S. states, now require brands to identify and report specific fragrance components, dramatically expanding compliance obligations.

Today, brands must ensure that they (or their third-party manufacturers who may own the formulas) obtain complete, accurate documentation for proper labeling and reporting. This includes not only fragrance compositions but also botanical ingredients, many of which contain reportable allergens.

The EU was the first to require disclosure of 26 fragrance allergens when present above defined thresholds. For years, companies harmonized their global labels to include these allergens even in markets where they were not required.

The EU has since expanded the list to 82 allergens, triggering extensive documentation updates across the fragrance industry. These updates are complex and time-consuming, often leaving brands with little runway to implement changes.

Canada initially planned to adopt the original 26 allergen requirement but quickly aligned with the EU's expanded list. As a result, brands selling into Canada must now update product labels and revise cosmetic notifications to reflect the full allergen set.

Under MoCRA, FDA was required to publish a fragrance allergen rule in June 2024. The agency is still developing the rule and has indicated it expects to publish it in November 2026. If FDA diverges from the EU list (adding or removing allergens), brands may face yet another wave of documentation updates and reformulation pressures. Staying on top of FDA communications is essential.

California imposes additional obligations that directly affect fragrance compliance:

These requirements effectively force brands to obtain deeper ingredient-level transparency from suppliers.

Under EU REACH, chemicals nominated by member states undergo risk evaluation. If a substance receives a Category 1A or 1B classification for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or reproductive toxicity, it is almost certain to be prohibited in cosmetic products. Once nominated, brands should proactively assess whether the ingredient appears in their formulas, including fragrances, and begin planning for removal.

Fragrance ingredients are frequently nominated, making it critical for brands to ensure suppliers are actively monitoring EU CMR developments. Once a chemical is formally classified, removal deadlines arrive quickly, and brands shipping internationally must account for additional transit time into the EU.

More than ever, brand owners must secure comprehensive documentation for all fragrances and botanicals used in their products. When working with contract manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, brands should clearly communicate that full transparency is a compliance requirement, not a preference.

We are long past the days when listing "Fragrance" on a label was enough.

Tracking allergen lists, Prop 65, and CMR classifications by hand? IRI-Sys screens your formulas against regulations across 70+ markets, and our team updates the underlying data every week. Twenty minutes and we will show you how it works on your own formulas.

Two big checks headline this edition. Galderma is paying $1.5B for ZO Skin Health, a month after Blackstone started shopping it (what a turnaround time), and the Weston family finally agreed to buy Boots for $8.9B.

The biggest number of all did not even get a yes: Evonik turned down BASF's approach at roughly €14.2B of enterprise value.

The rumor mill is spinning too, with L'Oréal, LVMH and EssilorLuxottica named as the preferred buyers for a first 15% of Armani.

Below the headlines, the mid-market stayed busy: Inflexion took 49% of Manucurist, Gauge added Saltyface to its tanning platform, Tresalis closed on Vyrao, and Stride raised a $550M second fund.

Let's dive in:

BASF (ETR: BAS) made a non-binding takeover approach for Evonik (ETR: EVK) at about €22.15 per share, valuing its equity at roughly €10.3B and its enterprise value at about €14.2B ($16.1B). Evonik rejected it as too low, and RAG-Stiftung, which owns about 44% of Evonik, has to sign off on any deal. Learn more.

Galderma (SIX: GALD) agreed to acquire ZO Skin Health from funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and members of the Obagi family for an enterprise value of $1.5B in cash. ZO did about $330M of net sales in the 12 months to June 2026. Closing is expected by the end of 2026 or in early 2027. Learn more.

Wittington Investments, the holding company of the Weston family, agreed to acquire Boots from Sycamore Partners and Stefano Pessina for $8.9B including debt. Closing is expected in Q1 2027. Learn more.

L'Oréal (EPA: OR) hired Weil Gotshal & Manges and Ducera Partners to explore ways to unload its US talc-related liabilities, including selling them to an outside investor, per the WSJ. About 760 such US lawsuits were pending at the end of June, up from about 620 at the end of 2025. Separately, L'Oréal priced a €2B three-tranche bond for general corporate purposes. Learn more.

L'Oréal (EPA: OR), LVMH (EPA: MC) and EssilorLuxottica (EPA: EL) are the preferred buyers named in Giorgio Armani's will for a first 15% stake in the fashion house, and CEO Giuseppe Marsocci said the stake could be split among the three, per Fortune. No decision has been made. The will calls for the first sale within 12 to 18 months of the founder's death in September 2025, followed by a larger stake sale or an IPO. Learn more.

Borletti Group acquired 100% of Pinalli, an Italian beauty retailer, from H.I.G. Capital and the founding family; terms were not disclosed. Pinalli has 108 stores and did €197M of revenue in 2025. Learn more.

Inflexion acquired a 49% stake in Manucurist, a French nail care brand, in its first outside investment; terms were not disclosed. Founder Gaëlle Lebrat Personnaz and her husband remain majority owners. The brand expects $119M of revenue this year. Learn more.

Tresalis, a new health and beauty platform anchored by Munich family office ATHOS and Dr. Fernando Tamez, acquired a majority stake in Vyrao, a wellbeing fragrance brand, in its first acquisition; terms were not disclosed. Founder Yasmin Sewell becomes Chief Brand Officer, and Elevate Beauty and Manzanita Capital keep minority stakes. Learn more.

Gauge Capital, a Texas-based private equity firm, acquired Saltyface, a face and body self-tanning brand founded in 2020; terms were not disclosed. Saltyface joins Coco & Eve and Loving Tan in Gauge's Soleil Collective platform. Learn more.

Stride Consumer Partners closed its oversubscribed Fund II at its $550M hard cap, about 30% larger than its $420M Fund I. Stride backs founder-led consumer brands in beauty and personal care, food and beverage, active lifestyle and multi-unit services, with beauty holdings including skinfix, Patrick Ta, Odele and Crown Affair. Learn more.

L'Oréal (EPA: OR), through its BOLD corporate venture fund, and Nykaa (NSE: NYKAA) will co-invest in fast-growing Indian beauty, wellness and personal care brands, taking minority stakes that leave founders in control. Learn more.

Amorepacific (KRX: 090430), through its venture arm Amorepacific Ventures, made a strategic investment in Junevity, a biotech company, alongside a licensing deal to use its RESET platform to develop skin-ageing cosmetics; terms were not disclosed. Amorepacific leads cosmetic development, while Junevity keeps its therapeutic pipeline. Learn more.

Clicks Group (JSE: CLS) bought an additional 35.3% of ARC, a premium South African beauty retailer with 12 stores, for about R507M, taking it to a controlling 61% stake. Learn more.

Dongwon Group, through its food distribution unit Dongwon HomeFood, was named the preferred buyer of Charmzone, a Korean skincare brand in court rehabilitation; terms were not disclosed. Charmzone posted an operating loss of about KRW 14.7B ($10M) in 2024, its fifth straight year of losses. Learn more.

Maveron and Will Ventures backed a $7M pre-revenue round in BetterDays, a texture-inclusive men's haircare brand from celebrity barber Victor "VicBlends" Fontanez and DUDE Wipes executive Joey Thomas. Learn more.

BECO Capital led a $5M Series A in Amaani, the parent of Dubai skincare brand AÏZA, with Homegrown Ventures and Peak XV's Surge participating. Total funding is now $8M. Learn more.

JPalmer Collective provided $5M of asset-based financing to isima, Shakira's haircare brand, which launched exclusively at Ulta Beauty. Learn more.

Sandbridge Capital put another $4M of growth capital into Fara Homidi Beauty, a makeup brand, bringing its total investment to more than $7M. Learn more.

Impact Equity Partners acquired McConnell Labs, an Oregon nail gel manufacturer, in its first deal; terms were not disclosed. McConnell then bought Attain Cosmetics and renamed itself Modern Chemistry Labs. Learn more.

BeautyPro, a British beauty company, acquired Supercover, a makeup foundation brand; terms were not disclosed. It is BeautyPro's third acquisition in under two years. Learn more.

Victoria Beckham put more than $3M into H7B Ltd, the holding company behind daughter Harper's yet-to-launch beauty brand, between 2024 and the end of 2025, per a Companies House filing. The company owes creditors roughly $3.4M, and the brand is rumored to launch in 2027. Learn more.

Scarlett Johansson and Kate Foster Lengyel are winding down The Outset, the skincare brand they co-founded in 2022; no reason was given. Learn more.

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