Beauty and wellness brands within Unilever Ventures’ portfolio include Rael, Straand, Womaness and Trinny London. It’s also invested in technology-centered subscription, delivery and marketing platforms like Grove Collaborative, CreatorIQ and FabFitFun. Exiting to Unilever is considered a bonus for portfolio companies. It’s not a requirement.

In the category of all news is good news, though, the criticism doesn’t seem to have dented the earned media value performance of the brand’s trips—and perhaps gave them a bump. In the first quarter of this year, the period in which the Dubai trip occurred, creator marketing platform CreatorIQ estimates Tarte’s earned media value, a measure of the value of exposure, soared 64%, prompting CreatorIQ CSO and board member Conor Begley to declare on LinkedIn that influencer “trips are back.”

The content shifts and fluctuating beauty landscape have diminished Yarbro’s and his brand’s social media power. Influencer marketing platform CreatorIQ figures Selfless by Hyram’s community size, posting activity and earned media value, an estimated value of social engagement with digital earned media, have been declining since the second half of last year. Item Beauty has fared better. CreatorIQ data shows its EMV dipped slightly, but its community size and posting activity have jumped.

With the beauty category more competitive than ever, it’s true that many leading brands are seeing diminished activity among digital creators. Notably, however, this turbulence has predominantly impacted the cosmetics industry, with enthusiasm for skincare and haircare remaining strong.

Our data shows that, while the top 10 cosmetics brands by Earned Media Value (EMV) experienced an average 24% year-over-year decline from September 2021 to October 2022 relative to the previous 12 months, the top 10 skincare brands and top 10 haircare brands averaged respective 4% and 54% YoY growths.

These findings suggest that online beauty conversation isn’t subsiding so much as shifting. As the beauty and wellness categories become increasingly intertwined, creators are looking to products that enhance their natural beauty rather than mask perceived imperfections.