Welcome in, today is Thursday, July sixteenth, and we begin with Cosmetics Business and its updated tally of this year's beauty deals. Cosmetics Business has refreshed its running list of beauty mergers and acquisitions for the first half of the year, and the roster reads as a map of what the big strategics are paying for right now. Estée Lauder Companies, L'Oréal, Unilever and Henkel all appear as buyers, according to the publication. The targets span skincare, haircare and wellness, among them 111Skin, the India-based Innovist, Grüns and Olaplex. For founders and investors trying to price acquirer appetite, that breadth is the useful part. The money is not pooling in one category. Industry reaction leans toward reading the wave as innovation-led rather than consolidation-led. Some in the trade frame the Innovist deal as validation of India's startup ecosystem and its brand-building talent, and a recurring note in professional commentary is that scale-alone deals risk underperformance. There is a counter-current in the same picture. Estée Lauder is reported to have halted planned divestitures of Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart plus, opting instead for internal restructuring. Set against the buying elsewhere, that reads as divergence at the top of the industry. Some houses are adding portfolio. At least one is holding what it has and rebuilding from inside. Also today, a channel reversal in Korea that speaks to how fast digital distribution is resetting prestige strategy. The Korea JoongAng Daily reports that luxury beauty brands which once kept their distance from Korean online retail are now expanding onto local platforms. Musinsa Beauty began selling Nars, according to the retail industry, and added MAC Cosmetics and Miu Miu earlier this year. Naver Plus Store's high-end category recently took on Chanel, Prada and Burberry, and a Naver representative said fragrance houses including Bvlgari Parfums and Jo Malone London have joined in large numbers after years focused on department stores. Beauty Kurly carries Estée Lauder, La Mer, Biotherm and Hermès. CJ Olive Young brought in Lancôme last year. The numbers behind the shift are steep. E-commerce accounted for sixty point eight percent of Korea's cosmetics market in twenty twenty-four, up from thirty-nine point one percent in twenty nineteen, per Korea Ratings, with offline moving in the mirror image. Online cosmetics transactions reached thirteen point eight trillion won, about nine point two five billion dollars, per the Ministry of Data and Statistics. One factor cited is the rise of K-beauty weakening loyalty to imported brands, which pushes those brands to find new sales channels. Separately, a leadership move at beauty specialty retailer Ulta Beauty. Ulta Beauty has appointed Kelly Garcia as Chief Technology Officer, according to Global Cosmetics News, which reports the hire is meant to strengthen the executive team behind the company's technology and digital growth strategy. Cosmetics Business reports Garcia has sat on Ulta's board since twenty twenty-two and joins the retailer in August. Neither report sets out Garcia's priorities for the role. The board tenure is the detail some vendors and partners may weigh, reading a sitting director moving into an operating seat as a signal of continuity rather than a mandate to rewrite the technology roadmap. That read is unconfirmed. Neither outlet reports vendor or partner reaction so far. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Following our earlier report on the change at Bluemercury, Premium Beauty News reports Alexandre Choueiri starts on August third, reporting to Bloomingdale's chief executive Olivier Bron. Adding to our coverage of the Sephora exit, Cosmetics Business reports Alexis Rollier spent fourteen years building the retailer's global finance, strategy, supply chain and technology capabilities. Modaes reports Sephora is reorganizing in Europe, promoting Mónica Cigognini to lead Southern Europe, with Cecilia Sánchez succeeding her as regional general director. Sephora UK has opened its first Scottish store at Edinburgh's St James Quarter, the front end of a four-store UK expansion the retailer calls Sephora Summer, per the North Edinburgh News. And finally, Cosmetics Business reports the Mexican-born make-up brand Aora enters Sephora US on July seventeenth, which the retailer describes as its first fully plastic-free brand.