Mushrooms are the wellness trend du jour, turning up in coffee, supplements and even beer. Now, consumers are being told to slather them on their heads after Dyson revealed they could be a secret weapon in the age-old battle with frizzy hair.

Dyson researchers have discovered that fungal chitosan – which is found in the cell walls of oyster mushrooms and commonly used in skincare products – can be used to tame unruly hair.

Named after this “hero” ingredient, Chitosan will go on sale in the company’s stores and on its website on Tuesday. Customers will have to dig deep – the styling cream and serum, which Dyson claims “reduces frizz by up to 50 percent”, both cost £50 ($66) for 100ml.

Chitosan is “delicate yet strong, it’s what gives the fungi its shape and provides the basis of Dyson’s flexible hold,” the company said.

Its engineers have “rigorously tested to find the optimum percentage of chitosan for all-day, flexible hold, while maintaining natural movement.” The company added that each bottle “harnesses the power of up to eight oyster mushrooms.”

“Whilst some other styling products use simple polymers that stick the strands of hair together like glue. Dyson’s formulas work differently,” said James Dyson, who remains the company’s chief engineer. “The complex macromolecule helps create flexible bonds that support hair strand by strand, for twice the hold, with movement and shine.”

The company, which since its founding by the British inventor James Dyson in 1991 has made billions from innovations including bagless vacuum cleaners to bladeless fans, has in recent years been trying to conquer the lucrative beauty market with products such as a “supersonic” hairdryer.

Dyson is not the only company attempting to cash in on fungi – with the ingredient turning up in so many products that the consumer champion group Which? was compelled to look into the evidence base for the “mushroom mania” sweeping the high street.

Describing some mushroom products on sale in health food shops, the group said: “While they do have potential benefits, there isn’t enough evidence yet to suggest they work, and the vast majority don’t have authorised health claims in the UK.”

By Zoe Wood

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PDD Holdings Inc.’s shares dived 18 percent after the Temu owner posted disappointing revenue and warned of declining growth, highlighting the challenges of sustaining its pace of expansion against intense competition.

The stock slid during pre-market trading in New York after the Chinese-owned e-commerce platform reported revenue of 97.1 billion yuan ($13.6 billion) in the June quarter, versus the average analyst estimate of 100 billion yuan. Net income was 32 billion yuan, compared to a projected 27.5 billion yuan.

Co-founder Chen Lei, who also serves as chairman and co-chief executive officer, repeatedly highlighted growing competition in the global e-commerce market in a post-earnings call. He warned the company’s profitability will be hurt as it invests more in supporting its merchants.

“Competition is here to stay and is expected to intensify in our industry,” Chen told analysts. “High revenue growth is not sustainable, and a downward trend in profitability is inevitable.”

“Going forward PDD will face fierce competition in China, with merchants going through a hard time,” said Wang Xiaoyan, a Shanghai-based analyst with 86Research. “PDD will likely invest more in China, and that means we’ll see downside for the group in the Chinese market.”

PDD has been spending big on e-commerce business Temu to drive its global presence and escape an ailing Chinese economy that’s dragged down by a prolonged real estate slump and high youth unemployment. But executives have kept a lid on Temu’s performance as the competition is becoming cutthroat.

PDD faced a backlash in July when hundreds of merchants staged a rally outsides of its offices in southern China. They protested what they called unfair penalties that Temu’s owner was increasingly levying as they felt PDD was squeezing them for profit.

Temu is also encountering growing regulatory scrutiny following its meteoric rise. The European Union is working on a proposal to close an import tax loophole for cheap goods bought online, a move that would primarily target Chinese retailers including Temu, Bloomberg News has reported.

Still, PDD’s global expansion strategy has started to pay off in some ways. Temu has quickly became one of the most downloaded US apps after a splashy debut in 2022. It’s since begun to challenge fellow Chinese online shopping giant Shein, and even Amazon.com Inc. in certain segments. PDD founder Colin Huang this year has also become China’s richest person with a $49.3 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In China, PDD has gained ground in recent years against traditional retailers like Alibaba and JD.com Inc. with its low-pricing strategy, while adopting aggressive promotional campaigns to fend off upstarts such as ByteDance Ltd.’s Douyin and Kuaishou Technology.

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Op-Ed | Let Temu Keep the Cheap Stuff. Amazon Should Go Luxe

Amazon will struggle to beat Temu and Shein at their own game, and in the process, it risks devaluing what has become its core proposition: convenience.

Jet-setting off on a brand trip to an exotic locale has historically been an activity reserved for those with seven-figure follower counts. Nowadays, though, it seems any number will do.

A growing number of brands are adding regular customers to the guest lists of adventures to desirable destinations like Mallorca or Bora Bora, including influencer-founded beauty label Refy, skincare brand Topicals and cosmetics label Tarte, which developed a reputation online for its extravagant influencer trips. The term “community trip” has begun to pop up in place of “influencer trip” as brands bring a democratised aspect to events that once thrived on being exclusive.

Previously functioning as a setting for aspirational content to inspire purchases, the influencer trip began to have its drawbacks in recent years. As resentment over the perceived privilege of social media’s elite has grown, trips such as Tarte’s events in Dubai and Bora Bora began attracting backlash over the extremely lavish perks that came along with them, from flying business class to five-star hotel rooms stocked with clothes, beauty products and other gifts.

Now, brands are hoping that by inviting customers in to be a part of the experience, they’ll be able to not only avoid some of that negative attention, but also engage with their wider audience, increase user-generated content and create what marketers call “immeasurable” positive brand sentiment for customer retention. And while the average customer likely won’t generate the same sort of earned media or sales impact an influencer would, it brings different benefits, too.

“There’s always a lot of pushback on influencers. In a time where people don’t feel like they have a ton of money and there’s a recession happening, seeing people go on a trip and not having access to that doesn’t necessarily feel good,” said Natalie Holmes, the director of community and social impact at Topicals, which described a recent brand trip to France as a “community trip” with a combination of influencers and regular customers. The brand also recently brought customers on a trip to the Hamptons, and plans to continue to do so on all upcoming trips.

For Topicals, bringing customers on trips is a “‘need to have’, not a ‘nice to have,’” said Holmes.

Keeping Aspiration Alive

Influencer trips first emerged in the 2010s as an aspirational marketing tool. Attendees would take to social media to show off aesthetically pleasing photos of their luxury hotel rooms stocked with free beauty products and clothes, as well as the parties, dinners, spa treatments and workout classes they’d attend while they were there. Customers’ place was at home, attending vicariously through their phone screens.

But recently, online audiences — dealing with inflation and an increased cost of living — are less receptive to the conspicuous consumption the trips often put on display. It was something of an evolution to the backlash that began in the early days of the pandemic, when users accused influencers like Arielle Charnas of privileged or out-of-touch behaviour, travelling or receiving Covid-19 tests when they were still in short supply. When travel finally resumed, extravagant influencer trips were the next target of online ire. On TikTok, some commenters questioned why Tarte couldn’t bring essential workers like teachers or nurses on their trips instead of high-profile influencers like Alix Earle. Some brands began to tone down their trips as a result.

People “don’t want to necessarily be doing their mindless scrolling and be reminded, ‘Oh yeah, I can’t afford a trip to XYZ place’” said Halie Soprano, senior influencer marketing consultant at influencer marketing platform Traackr.

In 2023, Tarte began bringing regular customers on its “Trippin With Tarte” events – after receiving backlash for its Bora Bora trip, the brand pointed out that two of the attendees were customers who had won a contest to attend. A July 2023 visit to New York City brought 13 contest winners and their guests, as well as influencers, to a Beyoncé concert. Tarte founder and CEO Maureen Kelly said that they didn’t make the shift because of the backlash, but instead after receiving feedback from customers asking to come on the trips.

Community trips preserve all the trappings of an influencer trip – fabulous destinations and free stuff included — but remove some of the exclusivity that comes when it’s only mega influencers that are invited.

In late July, influencer Jess Hunt’s beauty label Refy hosted its first-ever brand trip in the format of a community trip, bringing a mix of micro-influencers and customers to an Instagram-ready villa in Mallorca, Spain. The brand stocked their rooms with free products and clothes, and took them to activities such as a natural wine bar and sound bath with Hunt over the weekend.

“We wanted it to be aspirational, understated. We’re not a garish brand anyway, but the villa wasn’t overly branded,” said Refy’s brand experience and PR manager James McKeown, who organised the trip.

Everyone’s an Influencer

While audiences have taken to questioning whether influencers deserve to be jet-setting to luxurious destinations, countless brands have determined over the years that the expense of the traditional influencer trip delivers a worthwhile return in earned media value, engagement, brand awareness and eventual sales.

With community trips, ROI is calculated differently in terms of both tangible results and sentiment. While the attendees don’t have the follower numbers to gain visibility for the brand, pre-event hype among a brand’s audience can be just as valuable. Benefit Cosmetics’ former digital director Lauren Spearman said in a recent viral TikTok video that a 2019 Benefit community trip had stronger engagement and positive sentiment than a separate luxurious influencer trip the brand held in the Maldives, which she said “completely alienated our customer.”

Brands are also bringing customers along for the planning process. Ahead of Refy’s Spain trip, it allowed followers on its Instagram broadcast channel to vote on the destination before opening up an application to attend that received over 4,000 applicants. Posts about the trip helped drive a 250 percent in its broadcast channel membership and earned a reach of 6 million views in three days. Topicals, meanwhile, asked people to share videos about why they wanted to attend the trip on social media.

Sentiment is another key reason to include customers on these trips, as regular peoples’ opinions on brands – both positive and negative – spread like wildfire on TikTok.

“The impact that it has for the company, and being a type of company that brings their customers, their loyal fans, to the trip, is actually kind of immeasurable,” said Holmes. “It’s brand loyalty, and it deepens that relationship and ultimately leads to customer retention.”

But given that only a tiny handful of customers will ever get to experience the trips, brands are working on creative ways to bring influencer trip elements to the masses. Tarte is currently doing a 25-city tour with a trolley that gives out free gift bags of full-size products to the first 500 attendees; it has given out $1.5 million in products so far. Topicals, meanwhile, hosts events such as pickleball and line dancing classes in US cities. And Refy held a promotion where it offered free glam sessions and photos to fans, photographing over 1,000 people in Los Angeles.

In the future, it appears likely that both influencers and customers will continue to get to experience trips, as both have their specific place in the influencer marketing ecosystem. Earlier this month, Topicals opened up applications for its next community trip, asking customers to create a 60-second TikTok or Instagram Reels video for the chance to receive a spot. And Tarte is not giving up on its Trippin With Tarte series.

“Like anything on social media, there are some outspoken voices that have strong feelings one way, but for every voice in one direction, there’s 10 times in another direction. And I see people being so happy for these influencers,” said Kelly.

But from now on, Kelly promises that customers will always be part of the equation.

“We will definitely always bring customers on to our Trippin With Tarte. We listened, we heard the feedback, and it was super successful, and we will do it forever more,” she said.

Unilever may be looking to slim its skincare portfolio.

On Sunday, Sky News reported that Unilever has hired advisers from Pricewaterhousecoopers to explore a sale of Kate Somerville, a facialist-founded line popular with celebrities. It’s also reportedly considering disposing of Ren Clean Skincare, a skincare line that targets sensitive skin. It acquired both brands in 2015, and houses them under the Unilever Prestige division.

In June, the division’s founding chief executive officer, Vasiliki Petrou, announced her departure to launch her own investment fund. A successor has not yet been named.

Under her tenure, which began in 2014, the company acquired 10 brands, including hair care line K18 in December 2023. On July 1., the chief executive officer of Ren Clean Skincare, Michelle Brett, stepped down from her post without a successor named.

The skincare market has seen increasing saturation, as affordable lines such as Cerave and The Ordinary have grown rapidly, while premium lines like Augustinus Bader and Eighth Day have created buzz with wealthier shoppers, leading to something of a squeezed middle for premium brands.

In its second-quarter earnings in June, Unilever noted softer growth in its prestige beauty unit.

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