Cosmetics

Exclusive | Toxic, cancer-causing chemicals are lurking in popular hair products — inside the battle for ‘beauty justice’

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Exclusive | Toxic, cancer-causing chemicals are lurking in popular hair products — inside the battle for ‘beauty justice’

Around the world, chemicals that once kept barnacles from attaching to the hulls of ships have leached into marine sediments. Animals have suffered brain and immune impairment. Some female mollusks have turned imposex, growing male genitalia.  The chemicals did so much damage to aquatic ecosystems that, decades ago, they were banned internationally for marine use.  … Read more

How leaks, demands and a phone call derailed Estée Lauder’s deal to create a $40B luxe giant

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How leaks, demands and a phone call derailed Estée Lauder’s deal to create a B luxe giant

US cosmetics maker Estée Lauder and Spanish perfume group Puig had been finalizing the details of a deal when talks fell apart late on Thursday, preventing a merger that would have created a $40 billion luxury beauty giant. The merged company would have put together brands such as Tom Ford, Clinique and MAC with Carolina Herrera and … Read more

E.l.f Beauty reversing tariff price increases amid customer ‘suffering,’ sales drop and $49.4M loss

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E.l.f Beauty reversing tariff price increases amid customer ‘suffering,’ sales drop and .4M loss

Those inflated costs were elf-ing up business.  Cosmetics and skincare company e.l.f. Beauty is finally giving beauty buffs a break, reversing its tariff-fueled price increases to quell the “suffering” of cash-strapped customers amid the gas crisis.  “We’ve seen units drop off a bit more in the last few months as consumers have particularly been suffering with higher … Read more

Popular makeup brand co-founder renounces fortune from $3B business to become Catholic priest

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Popular makeup brand co-founder renounces fortune from B business to become Catholic priest

He’s God a new gig.  Scott-Vincent Borba, the co-founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics has ditched the multimillion-dollar high life of hobnobbing with the hot likes of Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian to pursue priesthood.  Donating his entire fortune — including cash, cars and a cushy California beach house — to charity, the “Father” to-be denounced his lavish lifestyle … Read more

How a divorced mom-of-three became the first woman on the NY Stock Exchange

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How a divorced mom-of-three became the first woman on the NY Stock Exchange

Journalist Mary Lisa Gavenas’ new book details cosmetics titan Mary Kay’s rags-to-riches story. Born in Hot Wells, Tex., Mary Kay Ash overcame early hardship to build a billion-dollar empire. Her company, Beauty by Mary Kay, went public in 1968, a first for a woman-chaired firm on NYSE. A new biography of Mary Kay — the … Read more

The 15 chemicals banned in European cosmetics starting next week — that are still allowed in the US

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The 15 chemicals banned in European cosmetics starting next week — that are still allowed in the US

A beauty crackdown is underway across the Atlantic — but don’t expect it stateside. Starting next week, manufacturers and retailers in the European Union will be forced to scrap any existing stock and cease production of future cosmetic products that contain 15 newly banned chemicals. In the US, however, the same substances flagged as potentially … Read more

6 everyday things that may be messing with your testosterone

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6 everyday things that may be messing with your testosterone

In a T-rrible slump? As the primary male sex hormone, testosterone is essential for maintaining libido, erectile function, bone density and muscle mass. Men generally reach peak testosterone in their late teens to early 20s before levels slowly decline after age 30 or 40. Some 40% of men 45 and older suffer from low T, … Read more

Exclusive | People are having ‘second wave’ glow-ups after losing weight on GLP-1s — here’s what they’re doing

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Exclusive | People are having ‘second wave’ glow-ups after losing weight on GLP-1s — here’s what they’re doing

Derek Bartel didn’t recognize himself. Looking back at photos from a recent trip, he was convinced his wife had pulled a prank. “Oh my god, is that me?” Bartel, 39, recalled thinking, certain she’d edited the images to make him look wider. “There’s no way I look like that.” But it was him — every shocking, … Read more

Exclusive | Want a holiday glow-up? Here’s the latest date you should get fillers, chemical peels and more to avoid a scary facial nightmare

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Exclusive | Want a holiday glow-up? Here’s the latest date you should get fillers, chemical peels and more to avoid a scary facial nightmare

Getting that home-for-the-holidays glow has never been easier. That said, it’s important to know what treatments to get — and when — to look one’s very best in time for that big seasonal get-together. “People don’t want to look overdone for the holidays — they want to look like a rested, refreshed version of themselves,” … Read more

This popular DIY skincare tool can scar you for life, experts warn — and it won’t give a ‘real’ collagen boost either

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This popular DIY skincare tool can scar you for life, experts warn — and it won’t give a ‘real’ collagen boost either

Koko Hayashi — a celebrity face yoga instructor whose clients include Kim Kardashian — let her 741,000 TikTok followers watch as she ran a microneedling pen over her red, serum-slicked face. “I think I did too much, so it’s bleeding a little bit,” she lamented as she drew the pen close to the corner of … Read more

Cosmetic fillers can lead to skin loss and even blindness due to scary complication, warn docs

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Cosmetic fillers can lead to skin loss and even blindness due to scary complication, warn docs

Your next trip to smooth out crow’s feet or fill in smile lines could look a little different. Experts are urging clinics to perform ultrasounds before injecting cosmetic fillers into patients’ faces — a step they say could make the popular procedure safer and more precise. The push follows new research raising concerns about a … Read more

I spent $4K on my filler addiction — now he warns of the danger

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I spent K on my filler addiction — now he warns of the danger

True confidence comes from within, not from a syringe. At just 25, Christopher Sharratt, from Staffordshire, UK, is opening up about his journey through the world of extreme cosmetic procedures — and the life-changing decision to undo it all. In a series of shocking before-and-after photos, Sharratt shares how years of lip and facial fillers … Read more

These 6 chemicals are allowed in US cosmetics — but banned in the EU, UK and Australia for being toxic or causing cancer

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These 6 chemicals are allowed in US cosmetics — but banned in the EU, UK and Australia for being toxic or causing cancer

Is there danger lurking in your favorite beauty products? Earlier this month, the European Union banned the use of a chemical called TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide) in gel nail polish. Showing an abundance of caution, the new regulations were made in response to animal studies indicating TPO might cause issues with fertility and reproductive health … Read more

‘Boyfriend glow-up’ trend sizzles on TikTok — but not every lad is fired up

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‘Boyfriend glow-up’ trend sizzles on TikTok — but not every lad is fired up

Some look more beau-tiful than others. It’s not just female content creators undergoing extreme makeovers online. Now, internet cosmetologists are giving their boyfriends epic glow-ups and sharing them as part of a viral TikTok trend — although some beaus cleaned up better than others. The videos start with the other half in question looking fairly … Read more

I had tattoos on 95% of my body — now I’m having them removed, and the pain is horrible

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I had tattoos on 95% of my body — now I’m having them removed, and the pain is horrible

From full sleeve to clean slate: Brazil’s onetime most-tattooed man is erasing his past, one laser pulse at a time. Leandro de Souza, a 36-year-old photographer from Bagé in Brazil’s southernmost state, spent two decades turning himself into a walking canvas.  The Brazilian had more than 170 inkings covering about 95% of his body, a … Read more

FDA sends warning to 5 sunscreen brands including Supergoop — why they could be pulled from shelves

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FDA sends warning to 5 sunscreen brands including Supergoop — why they could be pulled from shelves

Some of the summer’s hottest beauty products just got burned.  “Beware of sunscreen products in mousse form because they might not be effective,” the Food and Drug Administration cautioned in a post on X this week.  The alert follows a wave of warning letters the agency sent to Supergoop!, Vacation Inc. and three other popular … Read more

E.L.F. Cosmetics slammed for hiring controversial comedian Matt Rife in new ad

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E.L.F. Cosmetics slammed for hiring controversial comedian Matt Rife in new ad

A well-known beauty brand is under fire for its inclusion of a controversial comedian in its latest campaign. E.L.F. Cosmetics released a new ad on August 11 that featured drag queen Heidi N Closet as “e.l.f.ino” and comedian Matt Rife as “schmarnes”. The legal-themed advertisement builds on a Superbowl 2024 campaign, and sees Heidi N … Read more

Sephora urged to drop Huda Beauty cosmetic line after founder rants that Israel caused World Wars, 9/11

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Sephora urged to drop Huda Beauty cosmetic line after founder rants that Israel caused World Wars, 9/11

Activist group StopAntisemitism is demanding Sephora stop carrying products from Huda Beauty after its founder posted a TikTok rant in which she blamed Israel for causing every World War, 9/11 and even the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. “All of the conspiracy theories coming out and a lot of evidence behind them — that Israel has been … Read more

Selena Gomez is making New Yorkers stop and smell the … billboards

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Selena Gomez is making New Yorkers stop and smell the … billboards

There’s a strange scent in the air around the city — and it’s not just the smell of garbage in August. Three scratch-and-sniff billboards for Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty have been installed in Manhattan. When passersby agitate specific areas on the advertisements, they get a whiff of the new Rare Eau de Parfum — the first … Read more

Plastic surgeon warns about popular cosmetic treatment and compares results to a melted sandwich: ‘It’s a mess’

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Plastic surgeon warns about popular cosmetic treatment and compares results to a melted sandwich: ‘It’s a mess’

A trendy cosmetic treatment might sculpt your jawline now — but it could spell trouble if you’re eyeing a face-lift later in life. That’s the warning from Dr. Prem Tripathi, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon, who said a popular nonsurgical procedure used to dissolve stubborn chin fat could turn future surgery into a nightmare that … Read more