On Wednesday, celebrity influencer Alix Earle launched her skincare brand, Reale Actives, with backing from Imaginary Ventures, a consumer-focused firm that has funded some of the trendiest consumer-facing names, including Kim Kardashian’s Skims, makeup phenomenon Glossier and day spa chain Bathhouse.
Images of Earle’s chrome and mint bottles of serums and face washes hit social media feeds during a particularly active week for dealmaking in beauty and wellness, a space that could offer a beacon of hope amid continued headwinds in the broader consumer sector.
On Thursday, private equity firm Advent International, with over $100 billion in AUM, sold hair care brand Olaplex Holdings to German consumer goods manufacturer Henkel in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
On Tuesday, the firm also acquired a majority stake in body care company Salt & Stone, which makes products such as deodorant and body wash.
The beauty and wellness deals are a bright spot for a sector that is particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in consumer spending power. Already this year, the total deal value of PE deals in the personal, beauty and wellness segment has exceeded last year’s total, thanks to the Olaplex deal, according to PitchBook data.
Still, increasing costs to consumers have had a dampening effect on the entire sector. From December 2024 to December 2025, the Consumer Price Index, which tracks everyday items like food and apparel, rose 2.7%, indicating sustained inflation in the US.
In 2025, while the wider PE market saw a pickup in dealmaking, buyouts in the consumer retail and services sector logged their fourth consecutive year-over-year decline—the product of elevated interest rates, inflation and weakened consumer confidence. Total deal value landed at $118.2 billion, a shrinking portion of the broader US PE market’s $1.2 trillion in transactions last year, according to PitchBook’s Q4 2025 Consumer Retail & Services Report.
For strategic acquirers, which are typically large consumer-packaged goods companies like Henkel, beauty and wellness brands act as a hedge against some of these challenges, said PitchBook senior ecommerce research analyst Eric Bellomo.
“Acquiring these brands presents a faster path to growing revenue than building internally or turning to R&D,” Bellomo said. “At the same time, the beauty and wellness backdrop remains favorable as household income demonstrates resilience despite incremental strain on discretionary spending, particularly for middle- and lower-income consumers.”
Learn about our editorial standards.
