Estée Lauder keeps Too Faced and Dr. Jart+, Coty hands Gucci back to Kering

The Estée Lauder Companies has decided against selling Too Faced, Smashbox and Dr. Jart+, according to multiple sources cited by WWD, even though the company never formally confirmed the trio was on the market. The reversal suggests Estée Lauder's leadership sees more value in fixing these brands internally than in offloading them at what would likely have been a discounted price in the current environment. Too Faced and Smashbox have struggled against nimbler, socially native challenger brands, while Dr. Jart+ operates in the crowded but resilient K-beauty skincare segment. Keeping all three under one roof means the group's turnaround plan now rests more heavily on internal restructuring than portfolio pruning.

Separately, Coty is handing Gucci Beauty back to Kering earlier than originally scheduled, according to Glossy. Coty picked up the Gucci fragrance and cosmetics licence as part of its acquisition of a stake in Procter & Gamble's fine fragrance business years ago, and the early handback signals that the licensing arrangement was not delivering the returns either party wanted. For Kering, regaining control of Gucci Beauty fits a broader push by luxury groups to bring licensed categories in-house, following a pattern already seen with brands reclaiming eyewear and fragrance lines to capture more margin and tighten brand control.

Both moves point to the same underlying dynamic: beauty conglomerates are reassessing which brands are worth the operational cost of ownership versus licensing, at a moment when consumer spending on prestige beauty has cooled and competition from indie and celebrity-founded labels has intensified. Expect further portfolio moves from major beauty holding companies as they weigh cutting underperformers against the capital cost of building them back up.

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