In this Issue

CHICAGO — Merchants looking for the “next best thing” in at-home treatments might want to eyeball Dermaflash. Sephora is already selling the at-home exfoliation device, which removes dead cells, “peach fuzz hair” and built-up debris.

Summer always is a strong selling season for insect repellents, but this year has seen sales rise in the category due to consumer worry over the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

According to IRI, sales of insect repellent, which includes rodent control products, topped $506 million in the 52-week period ended June 12, an increase of 4% from the previous year.

Instagram is helping boost sales of at-home artificial nails. The nail category is still trying to claw its way out of the red, with IRI reporting sales still down. For the 52-week period ended May 15 across multi-outlets, sales are down 0.7% overall, but nail color is still down just over 7%.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — When it comes to natural skin care, Beautycounter is perhaps one of the hottest names in the business. In fact, the company recently generated investments from Bono and his wife, as well as Nude founder, Ali Hewson, as part of its acquisition of Nude Skin care from LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Next up, Beautycounter and Target will unfurl a collection of skin care and cosmetics products in 1,500 Target stores.

American consumers love instant results. That fact is propelling sales of beauty devices — hair straighteners, power cleansers, blue- and red-light devices for acne or wrinkles, microderm tools, hair removers and hair growth stimulators. These items tend to provide immediate improvements.

MCLEAN, Va. — The newest innovation from Mars in the better-for-you space is goodnessknows snack squares, part of a long-term commitment from the company to promote health and well-being — and introduce more choices for consumers.

SAN ANTONIO — In May, Mission Pharmacal announced that its Lycelle Head Lice Removal Kit successfully switched from prescription-only to over-the-counter, bringing a new choice to the self-care aisle to combat “super lice.”

One solution for stalled mass market skin care sales has been enlarging natural product choices. Although “natural” is hard to define without true regulation, consumers are at least looking for products with the fewest harmful ingredients.