The Best of BoF 2024: How Beauty’s Biggest Companies Fared in 2024

This year, the corporate rumblings of beauty’s top firms often produced bigger headlines than the brands they own.

A high-stakes succession saga played out at Estée Lauder Companies: longstanding chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda announced his retirement in August after a promised recovery plan to reinvigorate sales, trim excess spending and revive its flagging share price failed to allay investor concerns about the company’s future. His retirement led to a wider domino effect of internal reshuffling, including a new chief financial officer and departure of Jane Lauder, the founder’s granddaughter, before longtime Lauder exec Stéphane de La Faverie was announced as the company’s new chief executive. De La Faverie has an unenviable to-do list for his first day on Jan. 1, which includes finding a way out of the company’s overexposure to China and reviving domestic affection for its core brands.

Meanwhile, Puig, parent to cosmetics maker Charlotte Tilbury and fragrance brand Byredo, became a publicly traded firm in April; that same month, L’Occitane, which owns its namesake brand as well as viral body care line Sol de Janiero, ended a 14 year run on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Both also made M&A moves: Puig acquired premium skincare line Dr. Barbara Sturm in January, while L’Occitane sold off Grown Alchemist, the Australian skincare brand it acquired in 2022, to its outgoing chief executive.

A softening in beauty spending began to hit most companies’ earnings by the second half of the year. L’Oréal, Coty and Estée Lauder all missed analyst expectations as consumers became more judicious with their spending, a pullback that even hit can’t-be-beat affordable lines like skincare maker Cerave and cosmetics brand E.l.f.

In 2025, there’s all to play for. Investors are hoping the M&A pipeline will kick into high gear, while strategic firms are looking to add more innovation to win over shoppers — whilst also cutting costs.

Top Stories

A First-Day Agenda for Estée Lauder’s New CEO: From cutting costs, rebuilding brand equity and right-sizing its exposure to volatile markets, incoming chief executive Stéphane de La Faverie has a lot to accomplish if he wants to reassure investors that the company’s best days are still to come.

The Debrief | What Happened to Beauty’s Billion-Dollar Brands?: BoF senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young is joined by beauty correspondent Daniela Morosini to explore the rise and fall of indie beauty disruptors like Anastasia Beverly Hills and Moprhe, while brands like Glossier stayed on top.

Estée Lauder Grows Sales, But Still Hasn’t Solved Its China Problem: The company reported a long-awaited lift in net sales in its third quarter results, with increases from skincare leading the way, but clouds persist over its China recovery.

L’Occitane Sells Grown Alchemist Stake to Outgoing CEO: Outgoing group CEO André Hoffmann is taking a majority stake in the brand, while Grown Alchemist CEO Anna Teal will have minority ownership.

The Hazards on Puig’s Path to Becoming a True Luxury Conglomerate: Excitement for its IPO is building, but in order to realise its ambitions, more acquisitions and operational expenses might be required.

Why L’Oréal’s Meteoric Skincare Growth is Coming Back to Earth: L’Oréal’s dermatological beauty division is usually a blockbuster, but the impact of increased competition and the decline of drugstore distributors on its recent earnings show the company can’t rest on its laurels.

Trump’s Tariffs: Beauty’s Winners and Losers: President-elect Donald Trump’s idea to ratchet up tariffs on foreign-made goods could mean a hit to supply chains, margins and overseas sales for beauty brands like E.l.f. Cosmetics and Jolie.

Who Is Going to Buy All These Makeup Brands?: Mario Dedivanovic’s Makeup by Mario is the latest beauty label said to be exploring an exit. But with so many lines in market and so few potential acquirers ready to pull the trigger, what are the realistic outcomes?