34 Comments
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quriousitea's avatar

Not looking good for M&S Beauty - almost all the brands you talk about make up a good chunk of their offerings!

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

That’s a great observation :-)

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kellyfiona's avatar

I agree on some of this but... not Caudalie. I think Caudalie is a brilliant brand and with a strong French skincare heritage and consistency across various markets. They have recently invested a lot in marketing, have a strong out of home presence and I actually think they're working hard to come back with va va voom.

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Caroline H's avatar

Very true re brands you’ve mentioned. I feel the market is saturated with too many brands. Loved Elizabeth Arden 40 years ago but so many competitive newcomers. Still buy 8 hour lip balm. 😝

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

When there’s so much choice, old school brands need to step up. I’ve found better balms, trust me 😂

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Lizzie's avatar

agreed. I can't bear the smell pf the 8-hour products, and I found the (stick) lip balm actively drying the Green Tea (?) eau de Toilette is very light and fresh, and doesn't smell like green tea, which is a good thing

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

Yes I don’t find green tea all that exciting .

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Lesa Hannah's avatar

Who is buying Arden?? I’ve never understood. Origins oh man. Long forgotten about…

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

I know..it’s like Origins doesn’t exist!

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Lizzie's avatar

they used to make a "fresh laundry"scented candle and a detergent that could be used for hand-washing or machine-washing. both smelled amazing, and I'd buy a few of the candles if they brought them back. much missed.

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

I would like that I think.

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Rachel Clark's avatar

Hear all of those, except I do love Elizabeth Arden serum capsules, a lot! And maybe you are right as you can get some really good bargains with the capsules. The rest I agree with completely.

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

Those capsules are good!

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Nicola Pescott's avatar

Further to my previous comment below. Old ladies (75 +) seem to be huge fans of Elizabeth Arden & Clinique (my late Mum & M.i.L loved those brands). Gatineau - I cannot do without their Gradual Glow self tan, have tried many, only that one works for me. Kiehls - their SPF 30 Ultra Facial cream is a brilliant multi tasker, and an excellent base for makeup (no pilling or patchiness with foundation on top). Also their Midnight Recovery Concentrate is very good. So I (60 year old) am obviously the customer for those brands but I would say that Keihls was recommended to me by a 30 something makeup artist.

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

And much as they’re valued, they’re not future proofing the brands for, er, obvious reasons ;-))

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Lizzie's avatar

I don't get it! please give us your opinion,

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

Because they’ll die out when their core customers do :-)

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Lizzie's avatar

😂

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Lizzie's avatar

I feel bad for laughing.

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Emily Grosvenor's avatar

My first thought was Stila - are they still even going? I agree with all the brands you mentioned, other than Kate Somerville which surprised me. Let’s hope we’re wrong in our fears and they all go on to launch amazing new delights for us in the next couple of months!

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

There are so many - I did my top ten but Stila is a good shout :-)

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Olivia's avatar

I see Cliniique being pushed on Amazon. Most of EL stuff is on Amazon now and I wonder who buys it. Elizabeth Arden baffles me. I thought it would disappear in the 90's but I guess the 8 hour cream kind of saved them.

What is even more baffling is how some brands like Pupa thrive and Pierre Cardin has the guts to come out with a makeup line, the King of licensing!

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

I used to love Pupa back in the day - hardly ever hear a word of it now.

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Gemma Blake's avatar

I’d like to throw in Eve Lom - is that even still going and what’s it doing? Was great when I needed it when I was taking isotretanoin but don’t know anyone who has ever used it!

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

It is still going but is part of Manzanita capital who own SpaceNK which is for sale so when Space goes, I bet Eve Lom finally is put out of its misery.

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Cheryl Wischhover's avatar

Wow yes I agree with all of these. Fresh is so disappointing these days. I’d add Makeup Forever and Smashbox. I really am inspired to deep dive into Elizabeth Arden and try to figure out what on earth is happening there

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

I could have done a list of 20 very easily - illamasqua, Aveda, Christophe Robin … the list goes on! EA I think is saved by being owned by Revlon - another mystery but does well in other counties I believe … and the fragrance licences - Britney still does well.

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Lesa Hannah's avatar

Christophe Robin fell off a cliff when he sold and left.

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

The HUT Group kiss of death...

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Cheryl Wischhover's avatar

Illamasqua yes! That was hot for a minute. Aw poor Aveda. It was so chic in its day. Also a Lauder brand eek

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Nicola Pescott's avatar

I buy the Liz Earle cleanser and their Eyebright lotion. I’ve tried every formulation of cleanser out there and still prefer the consistency, functionality and price of the LE one. The Eyebright lotion is brilliant for soothing and cooling sore eyes especially on waking. I’d hate to see them go. Also rather fond of Caudalie - am I sounding like a boring old woman of a certain age?

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

I’m not saying their products aren’t good - I’ve worked with them in the past and some of the items (shampoo!) are great. But it looks tired.

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Meeta Atrey's avatar

Agree with many of the brands you've mentioned. I used to buy the odd thing from several of them but they seem to have gone under the radar. There are some brands that like Gatineau and Clinique that have never appealed to me. I still like Elizabeth Arden eight hour products, the lip repair balm is HG. I wonder if their fragrance side does better? Do they still make fragrance for Britney Spears? While not everyone's cup of tea, her fragrance line has some gems like Fantasy.

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British Beauty Blogger's avatar

Yes, they do - fragrances are often what keeps certain brands afloat. Most of them had a hard bash at trying to recruit a younger audience but only succeeded in alienating their existing audience.

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