Natalia Kulak

For the best part of a decade, the interesting conversations in British skincare came out of Seoul. Sheet masks, ten-step routines, glass skin, essences nobody had heard of until everyone wanted three of them. K-beauty taught the UK market to experiment, and it changed what people expected a skincare shelf to look like. The next geographic wave is arriving from somewhere colder and stranger. Icelandic skincare speaks of provenance rather than novelty. Geothermal seawater, marine bioactives, mineral-rich waters, a national reputation for clean energy.

So.Shell, the London nail and brow group, has opened a training academy aimed at bringing new technicians into the profession through hands-on tuition and a possible path into paid work at its salons.

Fenty Beauty has launched an AI-powered beauty advisor on WhatsApp, the brand's first partnership of its kind, letting users open a chat to explore products across its makeup, skin and hair ranges.

Blue Lagoon Skin Science has launched the BL+ Lip Renewal Mask, an overnight lip treatment that takes an anti-ageing rather than a hydration approach to lip care. The mask targets the visible signs of ageing around the lips, including fine lines, loss of firmness, texture changes and the effects of cumulative UV exposure, in a category that has traditionally focused on moisture alone.

TIRTIR has launched the Glow Pop Tinted Lip Oil, a hybrid lip product that combines colour, shine and care in one formula. The Korean brand frames it as a three-in-one, pairing the lasting colour of a tint, the shine of a gloss and the nourishment of a lip oil, finishing on a natural-looking stain rather than a flat wash of colour. It comes in eight shades.

What's That Patch has launched Sleep Deep, a melatonin-free transdermal patch for overnight use. It is the first nighttime product in the brand's range of daily wellness patches designed to help users fall asleep faster, stay asleep through the night and wake without the next-day grogginess associated with some sleep aids.

BY TERRY has launched Matcha Mist Elixir, a bi-phase milky face and body mist that sits between skincare and makeup. The product is built around matcha and is designed to revive tired, stressed-looking skin, leaving a lightweight, non-sticky finish the brand describes as glass-skin radiance. It is shaken before use, then sprayed, and is intended as a quick reset step for the face or body.

The scandal that began with a single failed SPF test in Australia has left consumers questioning the bottle on their bathroom shelf. We asked Frances van der Velden, founder of Australian brand Airyday , how a sunscreen brand earns that confidence back, and why the country with the world's strictest sunscreen rules is where the lessons are being learned.

INGLOT, one of Poland's best-known beauty brands, has brought in private equity firm Avallon MBO as a strategic partner to back its next phase of growth and push further into international markets.

Ghost Fragrances has launched Lunar Goddess, a new women's eau de toilette built around a warm, summery scent profile. The fragrance is a bright, skin-like summer scent designed to carry from day into evening, and joins the brand's range of accessible high-street perfumes.