Now available on Clinique.com is Clinique iD, a personalized system for skin hydration based on its Dramatically Different Moisturizer skin lotions. Visitors to the site first choose from one of the lotions as a base, then add one of five active concentrate cartridges to mix with it. The cartridges fit inside the selected moisturizer and contain a formulation designed to address the user’s skin concern, such as irritated skin, wrinkles, or skin fatigue. Clinique’s approach may go some way towards addressing the issue that women can’t find a moisturizer that’s right for their face: the brand ran a survey of US women and found that 86 percent of respondents cited this as a concern. To help users choose the right blend, Clinique will next year roll out online and in stores the digital Clinical Reality questionnaire. A 125ml bottle is priced at $39 and should last three months with the recommended twice-daily application. [Image Credit: © Clinique Laboratories, llc]

Dollar Shave Club, the Unilever-owned subscription-based direct-to-consumer brand, continues to extend the line beyond its male grooming origins, with a line of six fragrances, called Blueprint. Founder and CEO, Michael Dubin, said fragrance for men is a part of what men want in the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead, and most of DSC’s members have more than one cologne. Fragrance developer Ann Gottlieb said DSC’s fragrances are premium products at affordable price. DSC offered existing customers samples of fragrances in their DSC boxes, and the new products will become a part of the brand’s full-service offering, which it has been testing. DSC is also testing physical retail with vending machines selling trial-size versions of the brands’ products. [Image Credit: © Dollar Shave Club]

The new holiday season direct-to-consumer campaign from Baby Dove in Canada allows consumers to personalize the packaging via a microsite, ready for home delivery. It’s aimed at gifting for the holidays as well as birthdays and baby showers, and is part of a rollout that also covers the US and UK. Choosing a direct-to-consumer platform allows Dove to engage personally with consumers, gives it access to useful first-party data, and provides Dove with a space for piloting products.[Image Credit: © Unilever]

L’Oréal continues to look outside of its walls for innovation opportunities with the launch of a new venture capital fund for taking minority stakes in high-growth-potential startups. The BOLD Business Opportunities for L'Oréal Development fund will consider investing in new business models across a range of functions, from supply chain to retail and marketing. It will support the investments in a number of ways, including mentoring and financial assistance. The fund will build on its external innovation efforts run through partnerships including Founders Factory and Station F. Its first investment will be a minority stake in a French customized fragrance startup, Sillages Paris, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning. [Image Credit: © L’Oreal group]

Unilever’s Vaseline brand in the US is giving away 1,000 free #SaveMySkin# kits to help people deal with skin problems in the coming winter. The limited period offer, in collaboration with Fooji, an experiential technology platform, invites people in the US to Tweet a custom hashtag and emoji in order to get a kit comprising two Vaseline products – the new Clinical Care™ Extremely Dry Skin Rescue, and well-known Petroleum Jelly – together with a mug, and family games. The brand is also taking to the streets to give away free products. [Image Credit: © Unilever]