I’ve been hearing rumblings about the recent misfortune of Milk Makeup, the once extremely cool brand that has suddenly felt less cool as young shoppers turned to Summer Fridays, Rhode, Rare, and even E.l.f. Cosmetics. Then, last week, Waldencast—the special purpose acquisition company formed by two former L’Oréal execs at the height of SPAC-mania, which acquired Milk in 2022—confirmed as much when it released its second- and third-quarter earnings. Milk, despite launching at Ulta Beauty in March and on Amazon in June, saw its Q3 revenues decline by 20 percent year over year. Yes, Milk had a big third quarter in 2024, which makes for an unflattering comparison. But Milk’s revenues were also down for the first half of 2025. (“Our business in the U.S. is growing double digits,” a Milk spokesperson said, pointing to the brand’s positive performance in Q2.)