Hello, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Last night at the chicest restaurant in Beverly Hills, Mr Chow, we threw our final Puck private dinner of the year with Glamsquad C.E.O. David Goldweitz, Olaplex’s Amanda Baldwin, and a truly fabulous mix of founders, C.E.O.s, and cool people from Line Sheet–famous companies including Summer Fridays, Tower 28, Favorite Daughter, Skims, Nordstrom, and Renggli.

As always, I can’t tell you what went down, but I can tell you that everyone looked great. That was, of course, in part thanks to the on-demand hair stylists, makeup artists, and nail techs at Glamsquad, of which I’ve been an avid client for more than a decade. Dave reminded me that I wrote about the company’s launch party all the way back in 2013, and that reminded me that Glamsquad was founded in a different world. It’s amazing to see how the company has navigated some incredibly tough times for venture-backed startups. It also helps that the product is good, and that there are smart people running it. (Also, big thanks to Puck’s Eric Van Gelder, my co-conspirator on these dinners. We already have several planned for 2026!)

Our beauty queen, Rachel “Rachel@puck.news” Strugatz, was sorely missed last night, but she’s here today with an end-of-year beauty mailbag for the ages. Who is going to sell next year? What’s up with Balmain Beauty? What’s happening at L’Oréal? Rachel answers all these questions and more. Up top, three quick ones from me on the return of Matches, Apple Martin channeling her Spirit Gwyneth, and Jonathan’s second womenswear collection for Dior.

Mentioned in this issue: Stéphane de La Faverie, L’Oréal, E.l.f. Beauty, Rhode, Leonard Lauder, Glossier, Colin Walsh, Balmain Beauty, Pierre Balmain, Alessandro Michele, Gucci Beauty, Bottega Veneta, Rare Beauty, Katie Welch, Selena Gomez, Jonathan Anderson, Matches, Calvin Klein, and many more…

Three Things You Should Know…

The Matches zombie has risen: Joe Wilkinson and Mario Maher—the young guns behind the off-price luxury shopping app Mile, and before that, the mystery-box company Heat—have acquired the shuttered retailer from Frasers Group, which bought Matches for a song at the end of 2023 before closing it down three months later. According to Vogue Business, Wilkinson and Maher plan to relaunch Matches—as well as its beloved in-house line, Raey—in 2026.

Of course, there was talk that Frasers would relaunch Matches as a private-client play, but that never materialized, probably in part because good brands don’t want to partner with them. The positive news is that Wilkinson and Maher, who acquired Matches via their new holdco, Hulcan, have a particularly good reputation, even though all of their businesses (including Matches) feel somewhat doomed in concept. I hope this isn’t a scale play, because we know that doesn’t work at multibrand retail.

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Jonathan’s second stab at womenswear: One of the more controversial aspects of Jonathan Anderson’s first Dior womenswear collection was that it wasn’t exactly… pretty. Fashion certainly doesn’t always have to be, but I believe Dior does. You could see how Anderson was trying to capture that essence in his marketing, but it didn’t really come through in his first collection.

Photos: Courtesy of Christian Dior

Thankfully, that’s been rectified in this Pre-Fall take, which is both elegant and more clearly defines what he wants his Dior woman to look like, with lots of ornate detail and special finishings. Once again, there was careful attention paid to jewelry and accessories: little gold hoops with “Dior” scribbled inside; the floppy bows on the handbags; killer shoes in a variety of basic and not-so-basic shapes. But the big thing was how he draped everything, from the coats to the gowns. At last, the silhouette is emerging, and offering something for clients to drool over. As a friend noted while we were discussing the collection, “I think we are just desperate for something that makes us dream.” It’s a good mantra for Anderson as he preps for his first Couture show in January.

The Apple doesn’t fall far from…: Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, the Marty Supreme premiere wasn’t exactly Apple Martin’s coming-out party—she did Le Bal in Paris, and an internship at Interview—but by wearing her mom’s unforgettable 1990s Calvin Klein halter neck, and a similarly styled updo, the look established that she wants to be a star. (Gwyneth, of course, is famous for her closet full of archival pieces, which she’s been smart enough to keep.) As Vanity Fair’s Marisa Meltzer has said time and again, everyone has a “Spirit Gwyneth,” and choosing this dress positions Martin as a persuasive choice for casting directors and fashion brands when they’re filling roles and campaigns.

And now, here’s Rachel…

Line Sheet’s Beauty Mailbag: ’26 Forecasting Edition

A roundup of pressing reader questions about the beauty industry’s biggest players, strategic gambits, talent turnover, M&A fantasies, potential exits, and more.

Rachel Strugatz

It was an eventful year for the beauty industry, with a handful of surprising blockbuster deals shaking up the landscape: L’Oréal paid close to $5 billion for Kering’s House of Creed (along with 50-year beauty licenses for Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Gucci), while E.l.f. Beauty acquired Rhode in a deal valued at up to $1 billion. Meanwhile, it was pretty quiet at The Estée Lauder Companies, at least compared to the previous year, as newish C.E.O. Stéphane de La Faverie started to see some early signs of success with his sweeping “Profit Recovery and Growth Plan.” The industry also mourned the loss of Leonard Lauder, the ever-elegant Estée Lauder heir and shrewd architect of the company’s M&A strategy, who died in June.

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Over the next 12 months, I expect we’ll see a lot more changes at major companies as the industry continues to evolve. At Glossier, C.E.O. Colin Walsh is finally settling into his role, and a handful of other brands may at last get their big (or not so big) exits. Below, I answer a handful of burning reader questions about what we can expect to see at L’Oréal, Lauder, Balmain, and more…

Balmain Blues & Rare’s Dilemma

What happens to Balmain Beauty now that Olivier Rousteing is out? Do you think The Estée Lauder Companies will kill it?

Probably not. Aside from the small handful of luxury fashion brands that do their own beauty in-house (e.g., Chanel, Hermès, Dior), designer beauty is outsourced via licensing agreement to companies like L’Oréal, Coty, and Shiseido, which manufacture, distribute, and market beauty for licensees. Balmain, of course, has a long-term licensing agreement with The Estée Lauder Companies, which launched Balmain Beauty last August. The beauty arm is essentially run by ELC, so a creative change at the top doesn’t really impact that business, given that beauty more or less operates separately from fashion and accessories.

Moreover, Balmain’s beauty line was so heavily influenced by the brand’s archives and original perfumes created by Pierre Balmain that the products never felt particularly specific to Rousteing. (This was not the case with Gucci Beauty under Alessandro Michele, which was put in a very difficult position after his departure.) Balmain Beauty has other, more pressing issues than Rousteing’s exit, however: budgeting constraints, a general lack of brand relevancy, and the fact that the fragrances never took off in the first place. The line is now rethinking its pricing and distribution strategy, and hoping that new creative director Antonin Tron can reinvigorate the brand.

How big a loss is Katie Welch’s departure from Rare Beauty?

I don’t know Katie Welch personally, but I’ve heard positive things about her. I’m sure she’ll do a great job overseeing Chanel’s U.S. brand and corporate comms. But Selena Gomez’s business has bigger problems than the departure of a single executive.

Rare’s most immediate concern is the erosion of its market share at Sephora, despite a blockbuster launch at the retailer that made it one of the fastest-growing beauty brands ever. Part of this is cyclical: Newer, shinier beauty lines are capturing customers’ attention, but overall growth has also tapered. These days, brand lifecycles are shorter than they’ve ever been.

The other issue is that Rare got really big, really fast. This made a potential acquisition tricky for strategics, which were hesitant to pay billions of dollars for a celebrity brand almost entirely dependent on one retailer. As I’ve reported, the brand has explored a sale or an I.P.O., although neither seems likely in the near future. In the meantime, I’m told that Rare is preparing to announce a new C.M.O. and another C-suite executive. I have no doubt that both will be best-in-class, and hope they can evolve the brand’s identity and the way it talks to consumers while injecting new life into a business that feels like it’s been around for a lot longer than five years.

TikTok’s Ascent & L’Oréal’s New Groove

TikTok has become such a huge beauty marketplace. Do brands have any insights into whether users are becoming loyal customers, or are they just drive-by sampling?

Yes, people buying beauty on TikTok have indeed become loyal customers. We had this same conversation about Instagram years ago. Perhaps the biggest difference between the platforms, though, is that TikTok is great for discovery, which is not necessarily one of Instagram’s strengths. Brands tend to use Instagram like their homepage; Reddit is the place to read reviews; and YouTube shows consumers how to actually use products while also providing more lengthy video reviews.

From the brand perspective, TikTok Shop differs from traditional retailers in that it’s driven by value and exclusive content, which means that high-performing products are often bundled and sold at a steep discount. (Limited-time collaborations also perform well.) Sometimes, less expensive brands have a harder time discounting because it cuts too deeply into their margins, and they don’t have the scale to make discounts work while also paying affiliate fees. Sometimes, brands put products on TikTok at full price—L’Oréal-owned Maybelline successfully launched its Colossal Bubble Mascara exclusively on TikTok earlier this year before expanding into traditional retailers—but that’s not typically what does well there. There are also plenty of Sephora-exclusive brands that, for obvious reasons, don’t use TikTok Shop.

If you could bet on one beauty business selling next year, what would it be?

This is tricky, because some of the best deals this year flew under the radar until they were actually announced, like Touchland (to Church & Dwight) and Rhode (to E.l.f. Beauty), due to either expedited processes or working with European bankers, who tend to keep their business more private. But I’m sure next year will bring a combination of expected and unexpected deals.

I’m rooting for Makeup by Mario and Westman Atelier to find either strategic buyers or private equity homes that can help them scale and reach the next level. Bansk Group’s acquisition of Byoma was interesting, and I wonder if Bubble will be next. I heard that Sacheu, the makeup line that makes those viral peel-off stains, didn’t just bring in new C-suite executives recently––it’s also in the midst of hiring a banker. (I have a hunch there’s a lot more to come from this brand in 2026.)

How do you expect L’Oréal’s strategy will change in the next couple of years?

L’Oréal was already the biggest beauty company in the world when it entered into a “long-term strategic partnership” with Kering in October, which involved paying nearly $4.7 billion for House of Creed and acquiring 50-year licenses to create beauty products for Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Gucci (once its current license with Coty expires). When the deal was first announced, I wrote that L’Oréal would now have an “iron grip on the designer beauty license market”—a position it will now attempt to defend and expand.

Going forward, though, I’m curious how L’Oréal will evolve its focus on pharmaceuticals—and, specifically, cosmetic aesthetics. Just last week, L’Oréal doubled its stake in the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical company Galderma, which makes Botox rival Dysport, and earlier this year, it acquired Medik8, a skincare brand that largely sold in professional channels alongside select retailers (similar to SkinCeuticals, which is also owned by L’Oréal). An insider described these moves as L’Oréal trying to “protect” its skincare business by further penetrating the dermatological channel. After all, people are getting skincare treatments and buying skincare in the same office, so why not own a piece of the treatments along with the products sold alongside them?

No reading list today, but I promise you that tomorrow’s will be a good one. Until then,

Lauren

P.S.: We use affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

Puck fashion correspondent Lauren Sherman and a rotating cast of industry insiders take you deep behind the scenes of this multitrillion-dollar biz, from creative director switcheroos to M&A drama, D.T.C. downfalls, and magazine mishaps. Fashion People is an extension of Line Sheet, Lauren’s private email for Puck, where she tracks what’s happening beyond the press releases in fashion, beauty, and media. New episodes publish every Tuesday and Friday.

Puck’s daily art market email, anchored by industry expert Marion Maneker, offers unparalleled access to the mega-auctions and galleries, elite buyers and sellers, and the power players who run this opaque world.

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