According to Baird, beauty investors are on the hunt for the next wave of category leaders.
The investment bank estimates that beauty and wellness deal activity rose 32% year over year to 156 transactions in the first half of 2026. As investors search for promising beauty assets, they’re prioritizing signs of staying power such as proprietary science, manufacturing depth and strong consumer retention.
One place they went looking was BITE, the trade show held by Beauty Independent parent company Indie Beauty Media Group on Sept. 24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City that presented 70-plus brands and thousands of products. The roster gave investors a broad cross-section of beauty businesses to assess, spanning brands from Japan, Brazil and other international markets and categories ranging from skincare and haircare to fragrance, makeup and wellness.
Beauty Independent checked in with investors from Encore Consumer Capital, Humble Growth and True Beauty Ventures, firms whose portfolios contain Love Wellness, LYS Beauty, Momentous, The 7 Virtues, Crown Affair, Vacation, Sleep or Die and Caliray, to find out which brands caught their attention at BITE and why.
Luke Hoggard and Nikolas Boulanger, Associates
“First mover in true hand care and they really own it. Beautiful brand and even better fragrance and unsurprisingly great founder and team behind [it].”
“It was a really smart way to bring fragrance into the sleep and wellness space.”
“The new packaging looks clean, clear for consumers and lovely positioning within concentrates. Unique place to play within hair and body.”
“Loving their new fragrance launches: Cold Plunge and Swedish Candy. Clean and natural positioning and sleek branding, truly bringing great, clean Scandinavian products to the United States.”
“I was really impressed with Lasai although know they are historically on the co-man/co-pack side of things. Elevated but approachable and simple fragrances reminds me of Snif [or] Phlur but keeps it very simple.”
“We thought MNQA should be in the running for one of the best booths. Lovely talking with the founders there.”
Caroline Weintraub, VP
“Under Your Skin’s new fragrances caught my attention immediately. The imagery and scent names evoke nostalgia, while the scents themselves feel fresh and unexpected. Fragrance is so closely tied to memory, and I thought the brand found an interesting way to draw on that emotion while giving consumers something new to discover.”
“I was already a Paume customer before the show. I use its hand sanitizer dispenser in my son’s nursery, and it makes something practical feel considered and beautiful. It was exciting to see the brand expand into a broader range of hand care products. Hands are part of so many moments throughout the day, and Paume has a clear point of view on making care for them feel like a ritual.”
“Alfheim stood out for the way it pairs scalp care products with scalp analysis. Consumers are paying much closer attention to scalp health, but it can still be difficult to know what your scalp actually needs. Giving professionals a way to show someone what they are seeing and recommend a relevant routine makes the category easier to understand and more personal. I also like that Alfheim is building that education through salons, where consumers already turn for hair advice.”
Jamie Schwartz, Director
Paume
“Paume is the first brand I have seen that has built a real platform around hand care and given hands a true skincare routine. Paume’s products have great quality, actives and a sustainability angle to them. Amy Welsman’s founding journey personally resonates with me as I found her products right after the birth of my first son and was looking for this type of solution. Amy is also an incredibly impressive Founder/operator and I am looking forward to seeing where Paume can go.”
Skin Diligent
“In a world where efficacy in ingredients and outcomes has become increasingly critical to the success of skincare brands, co-founders Didier [Magne] and Tule [Park] have put in the work upfront on their products with Skin Diligent. Through their lens of biology and cellular health, Skin Diligent is an exciting brand growing within skin longevity. I am looking forward to seeing their continued growth in the U.S. market after their success in Europe.”
Eauso Vert
“I had a chance to speak with co-founder Faye Harris Wood about her brand EausoVert and was struck by the simplicity and beauty of the packaging as well as the quality and uniqueness of the fragrances. Layering on the brand’s mission of sustainability using upcycled materials, this is the type of luxury product today’s modern consumer can feel good about.”
