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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rihanna's Pregnancy Era Has Entered Its Softest Phase Yet — Thanks to a Very Hands-On A$AP Rocky
Rihanna is glowing — and no, it's not just the baby bump. As she prepares to welcome her third child with A$AP Rocky, the Fenty founder and Smurfs star is getting a whole lot of love, support, and late-night snack deliveries from her partner of five years. According to People, the couple is 'thrilled' to be growing their family again, and sources close to the pair say this pregnancy feels different — softer, slower, and somehow even more full of love. 'He's completely tuned into her needs,' the insider shared of Rocky, who's been 'incredibly attentive and nurturing' as Rihanna rests and gets ready for baby no. 3. More from SheKnows Rihanna's Baby Bump Is on Full Display at the Met Gala After Revealing Her 3rd Pregnancy While some dads might think diaper duty earns them a gold star, Rocky's in full-service mode. He's reportedly handling bedtime routines, entertaining sons RZA, 3, and Riot Rose, almost 2, and running baths for Rihanna at the end of the day. Yes, baths. With foot rubs. And snacks. 'He always makes her laugh,' the source added. 'He keeps things light and full of love.' The couple revealed the pregnancy just ahead of the 2025 Met Gala — in true Rihanna fashion, by casually stepping out of The Carlyle in a powder-blue two-piece with her bump on full display. It marked her third major pregnancy reveal in as many years, following her viral 2023 Super Bowl moment and her first pregnancy announcement in 2022, when she wore a $29K outfit in a paparazzi photo, per Us Weekly. Still, this time seems more intimate. Back in December, Rihanna joked that the only thing she hadn't achieved yet was having a daughter. 'I'm batting at 75 percent for a boy next time,' she told E! News. 'So, we'll just keep our fingers crossed.' And in April, she doubled down: 'I would try for my girl,' she told Interview. 'But of course, if it's another boy, it's another boy.' Either way, Rocky's right there next to her. Even if he doesn't help dress the kids — 'That's their mother by herself,' he admitted last year — he still plays muse. 'Sometimes she dresses them like me… kilts and all of that,' he said. Now, with a third baby on the way and a nightly foot rub seemingly locked in, it's safe to say this might be Rihanna's coziest pregnancy of SheKnows AP Scores Just Came Out — Here's What to Do If Your Teen's Upset About Theirs Celebrate Freedom With These Perfectly-Patriotic Americana Baby Names July 4th Printable Coloring Pages to Keep Kids Busy All Day Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Whenever we see a small company with a good idea, we're on fire': How M&A and innovation keep L'Oréal ahead in global beauty
A decade ago, while L'Oréal stood as the clear global leader in beauty, a new set of independent brands was beginning to gain traction. Despite their at first comparatively microscopic scale, digital natives Glossier and e.l.f. Beauty, celebrity challengers such as Fenty (Rihanna) and Kylie Cosmetics (Kylie Jenner), and the jostling ranks of Korean beauty brands all had a key advantage. While L'Oréal and the other big players had marketing models based on traditional media and sales models based on brick-and-mortar retail, these competitors were perfectly adapted for the new age of social media, influencers, and e-commerce. It sounds like the preamble to a business-school case study on disruption, the kind that doesn't end well for the disrupted. Yet L'Oréal didn't have its Kodak moment. Instead, despite the intensifying competition, it has consistently outperformed the $450 billion global beauty market, which itself continues to grow at 4% to 5% annually. 91 Today, L'Oréal remains one of the jewels in the French corporate crown, its 37 brands selling a bewildering array of potions, creams, cleansers, serums, dyes, moisturizers, mascaras, beauty devices, and more, across more than 150 countries. The group's $47 billion turnover is nearly double what it was in 2014, comfortably outpacing the likes of Estée Lauder or Beiersdorf over the same period, and still towering above the next generation of competitors. What is it doing right? Innovation at the core 'Beauty is an endless quest for humans, which is why the market is always evolving,' says L'Oréal deputy CEO Barbara Lavernos. Customer expectations evolve, too—who wants obsolete wrinkle cream?— but the company has kept up with and in many cases exceeded those expectations. 'At the end of the day, what works in beauty is really good products,' Lavernos says. There's a reason 116-year-old L'Oréal was named Fortune's most innovative European company earlier this year. Indeed, Lavernos's own 2021 elevation from executive vice president of operations to deputy CEO, where she oversees research, innovation and technology, is a measure of how centrally the group views product innovation in an offer-driven market. The company launched 3,636 formulas in 2024 alone. Of course, everyone wants to be innovative. L'Oréal mostly succeeds. 'L'Oréal invests heavily to make sure they can use new technologies to better identify the needs of customers; for example, with AI analyzing social media content, or to make a better formulation to address a specific need. They do this again and again with new technologies,' explains Marc Mazodier, professor of marketing and beauty chair at ESSEC Business School. And L'Oréal's investment is considerable. The group's research and innovation budget is greater than those of its next three competitors combined, at €1.3 billion in 2024, or around 3% of net sales. It leans more than most toward hard science, with more than 4000 researchers globally working on better understanding everything from acne to aging, even pioneering reconstructed human skin 40 years ago, to eliminate animal testing. 'Beauty is an endless quest for humans, which is why the market is always evolving' 'You have to understand L'Oréal is born from the mind of a chemist,' Lavernos says, referring to Eugène Schueller, who founded the business in 1909 with an early hair dye sold to Parisian salons. 'Science has been, since the ignition of the company, the soul and beating heart of our group.' To Mazodier's point, the patterns of investment are changing, however. Last year, for the first time, the company spent more on tech than on pure R&D, driven by AI. You can see this in things like L'Oréal's BETiq system, which optimizes resource allocation for advertising and promotions. CEO Nicolas Hieronimus recently said that BETiq had improved return on investment by 10% to 15%, and now covers over 40% of L'Oréal's €13 billion consumer-facing also makes its way into the lab. L'Oréal scientists were able to tap into its 17,300-terabyte beauty database to create digital twins for different types of curly or coily hair, allowing in silico research to test responses to different molecules, which Lavernos says can be 100 times as fast as the traditional experimental route. This discovery directly led to new, high-performing products, including Redken's Acidic Bonding Curls, the first no-sulfate, no-silicone bonding treatment designed specifically for curly hair. 'Tech is really the game changer in my professional life. I've worked here 35 years, and I would never have imagined, in my engineer's brain, the way we work, interact, and sell products to consumers today. And I have no clue what it will be 10 years from now, because a new innovation happens every week,' Lavernos says. A long-term play Lavernos's decades-long career is not at all unusual at L'Oréal. Longevity of service is de rigueur at the group; Hieronimus is known internally as a 'L'Oréal baby,' and is only the sixth CEO in its history. This is a company that plays the long game, something made easier by its ownership structure: L'Oréal is still majority owned by the founder's family, the Bettencourt Meyers, and by Swiss conglomerate Nestlé, which bought a stake in 1974. 'Science has been, since the ignition of the company, the soul and beating heart of our group.' 'Imagine my role in research or in tech. You are beginning a science that you need to cook and accelerate, but the real delivery might happen years later. So here, having this stable family ownership is fantastic,' Lavernos says. 'But because we're also on the stock exchange, we are as challenged as if we were not family-owned, so we could say sincerely it's the best of both worlds.' Beyond enabling tech and research investments, you can see long-termism in action in L'Oréal's disciplined and strategic approach to M&A, with winning investments since 2014 in the likes of NYX, CeraVe, Aesop, and Dr. G. 'They're picking companies that can add to their portfolio. So Dr. G gives them access to this booming Korean-beauty trend. But they're taking the brand and making use of L'Oréal's huge marketing budget, supply-chain structure, and scientific advances, which give those smaller companies access to a global stage. It's very clever, because it doesn't try to subsume those smaller companies into L'Oréal,' says Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at investment platform AJ Bell. Indeed, many consumers wouldn't realize that brands like La RochePosay, SkinCeuticals, Maybelline, Lancôme, Kiehl's, Pureology, and Garnier were part of the same group, because they have such distinct identities and operate at different ends of the cosmetics, skin-care, make-up and hair-care markets. The same applies to its lucrative licensing partnerships in fragrances with luxury brands like Prada, YSL, and Armani: win-win propositions that give the brands access to L'Oréal's retail scale and expertise, while allowing L'Oréal to benefit from their existing brand appeal. It's paid off: Recent deals signed with Miu Miu and Jacquemus have helped the group's €15 billion Luxe division take overall global leadership in prestige (luxury) beauty for the first time. $47 billion $6.9 billion (Sources: Regulatory filings; S&P Global. (Figures are 2024 full-year results.)) 'Brand equity is a treasure. It's quite easy to develop a brand quickly, but then you won't be sure you can protect the brand equity,' Lavernos says. The idea instead is to nurture the brand over time: 'Imagine a family in which you adopt your sons and daughters. You welcome them into the family.' Lavernos describes a recent visit by the founders of British skin-care brand Medik8, in which L'Oréal took a majority stake in June, to L'Oréal's labs in France: 'Imagine the joy for me to observe the discussion between these two scientists and our team. They were so excited because they had access to so much equipment and science. We don't know what we will launch together, but undoubtedly we will create new products because the capacity is there. It's true in media investment, in finance, in all functions. But if we don't keep their brand equity, which makes their success, we are destroying value.' Strength in breadth The result of this M&A approach is a well-configured, complementary, and uniquely broad portfolio that reaches every geography, category, price point, and demographic segment. Strength in breadth protects the group from downturns in particular markets: Unlike Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Estée Lauder, L'Oréal is exposed to both mass and prestige beauty, as well as the rapidly growing dermatological skin-care market, and professional hair care. When one does badly, the others tend to compensate, with prestige customers trading down in a pinch, for example. In China, where the market for global beauty brands has declined sharply since 2022 amid an economic slowdown and rising local competition, L'Oréal has seen a contraction, but has been relatively buoyed by its focus on prestige products there, which have been less affected than the mass market. Yet diversification isn't just defensive. It has also provided ample opportunities in a market where there is still a lot of growth. RBC Capital Markets analyst Fon Udomsilpa says that L'Oréal has an excellent record of spotting these opportunities and then committing resources to capitalize, both by capturing share and by growing the overall category further. 'A good example is face masks, which come from Korean beauty. L'Oréal is the only listed Western company that has actually captured share from Korean companies, and in many markets it is actually the leader in that category,' Udomsilpa explains. Geographically, breadth has allowed L'Oréal to achieve particularly impressive results in Africa and Asia (outside of China, Japan, and Korea): Like-for-like sales in these regions rose 12.3% in 2024. But growth has also been strong in its traditional markets like Europe (up 8.2%) and North America (up 5.5%). Lavernos points not only to category expansion, like Kérastase's new night serum for hair ('I love it, I use it every day'), but also to demographic expansion to help explain this. Boomer men, she notes, are an undertapped but rapidly growing segment. Can this growth continue indefinitely, though? 'Being a veteran of this company, I know what it takes to stay where we are. Being a market leader is the most challenging position, by definition,' Lavernos says. 'I learned during my first week here that I must adopt a sane way of worrying, a healthy concern…[So] what am I fearing for the future? Disruption that re-deals the cards of the game in a very different manner. If you see science-fiction movies you sometimes see ways to manage your beauty that are very different.' Instant, automated, personalized beauty, à la The Jetsons, hasn't quite arrived yet. But L'Oréal's culture of healthy concern was evident when Hieronimus announced the group's 'beauty stimulus' plan last year. Despite another year of record sales, there have been challenges in some markets outside of China, such as U.S. mass-market makeup, where e.l.f. Beauty and others have gained market share, leading L'Oréal to an intensification of new product launches, across all categories, but particularly targeted at Gen Z and social media users. Lavernos is vigilant but bullish. 'Why should I be confident for the future? Because of the quality and the confrontational spirit we have in this company, confronting ideas, having points of view that are different,' she says. 'Whenever we see a small company with a good idea on social media, or a good product, we are on fire. We are competitors. We are so unhappy with ourselves whenever someone is doing something better.' L'Oréal, in other words, has no intention of resting on its laurels. It intends to keep changing with the changing market, so it can stay ahead. —With additional reporting by Prarthana Prakash This story was originally featured on
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Ellie Goulding, 38, jets off on romantic summer holiday with actor lover, 28
Ellie Goulding is heating up the summer as she shared a string of sultry bikini snaps from a lavish holiday in Italy, fresh off the rumoured reveal of her new romance. The 38-year-old singer left fans swooning with a series of Instagram photos posted Thursday, showing off her gym-honed figure and golden tan while soaking up the Mediterranean sun with her new beau, US actor Beau Minniear, 28. The photo dump included Ellie posing in bathing suits, catching rays with a book in hand, and later switching to a green two-piece. In another shot, the pop star cradled a coconut while modelling a Fenty bikini, before turning up the glam with polished mirror selfies and breezy summer daywear. She captioned the carousel simply: 'Carbs.' The sun-soaked snaps come just days after Goulding reportedly made her new relationship with actor Beau Minniear public. According to The Sun, the pair debuted their romance during a high-profile night out at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, attending the heavyweight clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. It marks Ellie's first known romance since a brief fling with 29-year-old surf instructor Armando Perez, following her split f from husband Caspar Jopling, 33, with whom she shares four-year-old son Arthur. Ellie and Jopling, an art dealer, quietly separated last year after five years of marriage. Ellie told fans she had been left with 'no choice' but to publicly announce that they had been separated for 'some time.' 'In light of recent stories, I feel I have been left with no choice but to let you all know that Caspar and I privately separated some time ago,' she wrote at the time. 'We remain the closest of friends and have been successfully co-parenting with our son's best interests at heart.' Rumours of a spark between Ellie and Beau began swirling earlier this month after she shared a since-deleted TikTok video showing her stroking a mystery man's arm. More Trending Eagle-eyed fans matched the watch he was wearing to one Beau frequently sports in his own Instagram posts. Both also posted images from the same luxe hotel in Florence, further fuelling speculation. A source told The Sun: 'Ellie is into Beau and they have a lot of shared interests like exercise and art. They've been having fun together and they certainly make for an attractive couple.' Minniear has appeared in a handful of TV and film roles in the US, including Night at the Eagle Inn (2021), The Thieves of Motor City, and Bad Haircut. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ellie Goulding, 38, flaunts her toned figure in an array of skimpy bikinis during Italian holiday amid new romance with actor, 28
Ellie Goulding left little to the imagination as she flaunted her toned figure in a series of sizzling bikini snaps during her sun-soaked holiday in Italy. The singer, 38, appears to be enjoying her summer after reportedly going public this week with actor Beau Minniear who is ten years her junior. According to The Sun Ellie and Beaum 28, debuted their romance as they attended the clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois together at Wembley on Saturday night. And on Thursday, she sent temperatures soaring as she treated her Instagram followers to a smouldering photo dump. Kicking things off in a tiny black string bikini, Ellie turned heads as she lounged on a sunbed with a book before snapping a sultry selfie. She later slipped into a green two-piece to continue basking in the sunshine, showing off her toned abs and golden glow. In another eye-catching moment, Ellie posed with a coconut in hand while rocking a Fenty bikini. Rounding out the carousel, the pop star turned up the glam in stunning day outfits and mirror selfies. 'Carbs,' she penned alongside the post. Since the breakdown of her marriage to her younger husband Caspar Jopling, 33, with whom she shares son four-year-old son Arthur, Ellie has enjoyed a string of romances. According to The Sun Ellie is thought to have met actor Beau- who has a string of small acting parts in TV and film in the US - earlier this year. Last week she reportedly teased a romance with him with a cryptic TikTok video posted to her socials. The publication claims she shared a clip stroking a man's arm, with the caption: 'Just a little something to take the edge off.' The video is no longer on her TikTok account. Her fans reportedly noticed that the watch the man was wearing in the clip matched one Beau regularly wears in Instagram snaps. They also reportedly noticed they both posted photos last week from the same hotel in Florence - before attending the boxing match together. A source told the publication: 'Ellie is into Beau and they have a lot of shared interests like exercise and art. 'They've been having fun together and they certainly make for an attractive couple.' A representative for Ellie has been contacted by MailOnline for comment. The star previously dated hunky surf instructor Armando Perez, 29, who she sought comfort with following the breakdown of her marriage. They met in late 2023 in Costa Rica where the songstress had rented a swanky villa with pals after secretly separating from her partner after five years. Ellie and Armando were first introduced when he gave her surf lessons, after previously teaching Shakira, 48, before pictures emerged of them passionately kissing and she was forced to confirm publicly that her marriage was over. The hunk and his brother Gero run the $70-a-night La Puente Surfhouse and hostel on the west coast of the Central American paradise. Ellie made numerous trips from her home in the UK to Costa Rica over the following months which she documented on Instagram, including a string of stunning bikini snaps. According to the El Observador newspaper, she made this trip as many as six times over just five months, typically staying a week at a time, sometimes longer. With the couple enjoying further private lessons, as well as shopping trips and dinner dates. An Insider told The Sun at the time: 'Ellie and Armando seemed very into each other. When Armando wasn't teaching Ellie, he couldn't keep his hands off her and pulled her in for a hug and a kiss'. 'Ellie looked blissfully happy and was laughing and joking with him as they messed around in the sea.' Antonio is also believed to have also visited Ellie in London on at least one occasion, reportedly watching her perform to a live crowd from backstage. One friend said: 'Amando and Ellie were very attracted to one another. Despite the age gap, they struck up an instant chemistry when he gave her private surfing lessons. The star previously dated hunky surf instructor Armando Perez, 29, (pictured L) who she sought comfort with following the breakdown of her marriage. 'They soon formed a bond and loved spending time together - Ellie loved hanging out on the beach with Armando to get away from everything that was going on back home after her marriage had come to an end. [Armando was used to spending his days instructing in the water and running around barefoot in swim shorts, and was more comfortable enjoying his 'quiet life' without the 'drama' of being in the public eye, the source added. 'They had a very special time together and she visited the country a lot. 'But they are from very different backgrounds. She is a big pop star from England while Armando's whole life is based here in Playa Hermosa. He loves it here and I doubt he would have any plans to leave. 'Their lives are very different and so it was natural for them both to eventually move on. But they still remain great friends.' Ellie and her art dealer ex Caspar were reportedly living separate lives for at least six months before announcing their split, despite trying to work things out for the sake of their son. They married in August 2019 at York Minster with A-list guests including Sienna Miller, Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry. Their split was first rumoured in June 2023, when sources claimed they were 'living apart'. After weeks of discussions about how they would reveal their separation, the pop star's team finally revealed they had been spending time apart - blaming their 'hectic schedules' for the demise of their marriage.
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Love Island's Harrison reveals why he's NOT gone official with Lauren – despite plans to move in together
LOVE Island lothario Harrison Solomon has revealed why he hasn't gone official with Lauren Wood despite quitting the villa to be with her. The footballer, 22, was embroiled in a controversial love triangle with Lauren and Toni for most of his villa stay, breaking both their hearts along the way. 4 Harrison has revealed what the future holds for him and Lauren Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 The pair had a very dramatic time in the villa Credit: Shutterstock Editorial After Lauren was dumped, Harrison did some soul-searching and And it seems like his family will have the final say as to whether things get more serious between them. Speaking on the "Obviously the villa's a very secluded environment it's different on the outside so it's nice to get to know each other, go on a few dates without cameras and microphones." READ MORE ON LOVE ISLAND Looking cosy beside Lauren, he continued: "For me it was a big thing about her meeting my family before I made anything official. But I left the villa for Lauren and I do think a lot of her. I feel like we'll be boyfriend and girlfriend soon, no doubt." An extra spanner in the works is the fact Harrison is based in Miami, and he isn't sure if he wants to return to the UK permanently just yet. However, on social media today, Harrison left fans scratching their heads when he said the pair were moving in together next week. He said: 'This is us in Harrods. I was buying a Fenty table for our first house together. Most read in Love Island 'Yeah, crazy. We move in next week.' Viewers flooded the comments in disbelief, with one writing: "Are you actually moving in together or was he joking?" Watch moment Love Island's Harrison takes savage swipe at villa couple and says there's 'no chance' they will win Meanwhile, on his post-villa media rounds, Harrison stopped by Capital radio and revealed who he wants to win the series. Giving his top three, Harrison said: "Harry and Helena, D[ejon] and Meg second, and then Shakira and Con. I think that would be my top three, if I could choose." Lauren agreed and added: "That would be my top three, probably. Maybe change to Yas and Jamie for third, but I don't think that's who I think will win." Both agreed that they thought Toni and Cach would win. "I think Yaz and Jamie will be there, up there as well," noted Harrison. "But yeah, H and Helen, D and Meg, yeah, no good. There's no chance at all. "I would like to see them win, of course, because they're my boys in there." Lauren added: "Helena and Harry, I do think they get on, but I just think they're not very serious, and I think on the outside, Harry would be a little s**t." Harrison laughed before adding, "Yeah, fair enough!" The Love Island final date has been confirmed as August 4 when the remaining contestants will find out who will scoop the £50,000 prize. 4 Harrison thinks former fling Toni will win with Cach Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 4 Harrison and Lauren have been looking loved up since leaving the villa Credit: Splash
