Do you know who owns your fave skincare and makeup brands? You may think L’Oreal is its own brand. Wrong. It’s a beauty giant that owns Lancome, Shu Uemura and the Body Shop. Like Estee Lauder, the proud owner of 29 skincare and makeup brands, including MAC and Clinique.
In our fast-paced world, beauty brands change ownership fast, and they mostly end up in the hands of a few large corporations. It’s their growth strategy. Buy new, upcoming brands that have been doing really well, so you can make more money (usually by destroying that brand’s ethos, taking out all the good actives and replace them with cheaper formulas sold at a higher price – just saying). *sighs* Why is it important to know this?
Why You Need To Know Who Owns Your Fave Skincare & Makeup Brands
Here’s why you need to know who owns your favourite skincare and makeup brands:
1. Easier-To-Find Dupes
Here’s a secret beauty brands don’t want you to know. Large corporations love to save money. To cut down on production costs, they use the same active ingredients in both their high-end and low-end products. Then, they add different scents and texture to differentiate them.
That’s why Lancome Eau Micellaire Douceur and L’Oréal Paris Skin Perfection 3in1 Purifying Micellar Solution are almost exact dupes. Same owner, same active ingredients, different details to differentiate the brands in the eyes of the customers.
True, sometimes high-end products use more expensive ingredients and innovative technologies. But eventually, these technologies do trickle down into drugstore products, too. You just need to wait a few months for the novelty to be over and you’ll hear L’Oreal come up with the same rare extract in Lancome…
Lesson learned: before you spend lots of money on luxury product, compare its ingredients to those of their less expensive sister brands.
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2. More Conscious Choices
Knowing what beauty giant owns your fave skincare and makeup brands also helps you make conscious spending choices. Let’s say you love an indie brand because they don’t test on animals. If tomorrow L’Oreal buys it, chances are you won’t want to support it anymore.
Or maybe you don’t like to give your money to corporations that engage in shady practices. I’ve heard several reports of small indie beauty brands that spilled all their manufacturing secrets to L’Oreal as part of the acquisition process, only for the giant to break the deal, dupe their products and put the small competitor out of business. Disgusting.
P.S. Wondering why I still promote L’Oreal owned brands on this website? My job is to give you all the information you need to make the right skincare choices, not to make these choices for you. Some people just like the products and don’t care who’s behind them. Don’t judge them badly because they don’t conform to your standards.
Here’s a list of who owns what in the beauty industry:
P.S. The list isn’t comprehensive. If you know who owns a skincare or makeup brand not mentioned here, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it right away:
Which Beauty Brands Does Walgreens Boots Alliance Own?
Boots
Botanics
Liz Earle
No 7
Soap & Glory
Solution
Which Beauty Brands Does Avon Own?
Avon Color
Anew And Solutions
Mark
Which Beauty Brands Does Beiersdorf Own?
Which Beauty Brands Does Coty Own?
Calvin Klein
Davidoff
Jill Sander
Lancaster
Opi
Philosophy
Rimmel London
Sally Hansen
Younique Cosmetics
Wella
Also owns lots of brands of perfume including Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, David and Victoria Beckham, Marc Jacobs and Chloe
Which Beauty Brands Does Estee Lauder Own?
Aerin
Aramis
Aveda
Bobbi Brown
Bumble and Bumble
By Kilian
Clinique
Darphin
Donna Karan
Estee Lauder
Eyes by Design
Flirt!
Frederic Malle
Glamglow
Good Skin Labs
Grassroots
Jo Malone
Kiton
La Mer
Lab Series
Lab Series Skincare for men
Le Labo
MAC
Michael Kors
Missoni
Mustang
Ojon
Origins
Osiao
Prescriptives
Rodin Olio Lusso
Smashbox Cosmetics
Tom Ford Beauty
Tommy Hilfiger
Too Faced
Tory Burch
Which Beauty Brands Does Johnson & Johnson Own?
Ambi skincare
Aveeno
Clean and Clear
Johnsons
Lubriderm
Neutrogena
Purpose
Piz Buin
RoC
Rogaine
Shower to shower
Vendome
Which Beauty Brands Does Kao Own?
Ban
Bioré
Curél
Guhl
Jergens
John Frieda
Kanebo
Molton Brown
Which Beauty Brands Does L’Oreal Own?
At the time of this writing, L’Oreal is the biggest beauty conglomerate, with a staggering 40+ brands in skincare, makeup, and haircare departments.
L’Oréal Paris
Garnier
Maybelline New York
NYX Professional Makeup
Stylenanda
Essie
Dark & Lovely
Mixa
Magic Mask
Niely
Lancôme
Yves Saint Laurent
Armani
Kiehl’s Since 1851
Helena Rubinstein
Biotherm
Shu Uemura
IT Cosmetics
Ralph Lauren Fragrances
Urban Decay
Mugler
Valentino
Viktor&Rolf
Azzaro
Prada
Cacharel
Maison Margiela Fragrances
Diesel
Yue Sai
Atelier Cologne
Carita
Takami
L’Oréal Professionnel Paris
Kérastase
Redken
Matrix
Pureology
Pulp Riot
La Roche-Posay
Vichy
CeraVe
SkinCeuticals
Skinbetter Science
Which Beauty Brands Does LVMH Own?
Acqua di Parma
Benefit
Dior
Fendi
Fresh
Givenchy
Guerlain
Kat Von D
Kenzo
La Brosse et Dupont
Make up for ever
Nude
Ole Henriksen
Perfumes Loewe
Sephora
Which Beauty Brands Does Manzanita Partners Own?
Byredo
Diptyque
Eve Lom
Kevyn Aucoin
Lipstick Queen
Malin and Goetz
SpaceNK
Which Beauty Brands Does Procter & Gamble Own?
Aussie
Boss Black & Orange Fragrance + Skincare
Braun
Clairol
Covergirl
Gillette
Gucci Fragrances
Head and Shoulders
Herbal Essences
Infusium 23
Lacoste Fragrances
Max Factor
Noxzema
Olay
Pantene
Perfect 10
SK-II
Venus
Also owns lots of fragrances including Boss, Hugo and Valentino
Which Beauty Brands Does Revlon Own?
Almay
CND
Elizabeth Arden
Revlon
Sinful Colors
Ultima 2
Which Beauty Brands Does Shiseido Own?
Bare Minerals
Clé De Peau
Dolce & Gabbana
Elie Saab
Issey Miyake
JPG
Laura Mercier
Majolica Majorca
Narciso Rodriguez
Nars
ReVive
Serge Lutens
Shiseido
Which Beauty Brands Does Unilever Own?
Axe
Clear
Dermalogica
Dove
Kate Somerville
Lux
Murad
Pears
Ponds
REN
Rexona
St Ives
Sunsilk
Tony & Guy
TRESemmé
Vaseline
Can you think of any other brand not mentioned here? Let me know in the comments below.
About Gio
Hi, I’m Gio. I’m a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever – every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what’s worth the splurge and what’s best left on the shelf – using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.
