It’s been a hectic start to the year for the C.E.O.s of publicly traded beauty concerns. Over at The Estée Lauder Companies, Stéphane de La Faverie is wrapping up his first week atop the business, kicking off what’s almost certain to be a chaotic first few months—or as it’s being referred to within the walls of the GM Building, a “sprint.” De La Faverie is already bracing for a significant round of layoffs through February, a continuation of the vaguely Orwellian “Profit Recovery and Growth Plan” that began implementation last year. But there are a slew of promotions coming, too, not least of which is the backfilling of de La Faverie’s old executive group president gig, a coveted role that once belonged to John Demsey. Unfortunately—especially for internal brand leads with big dreams—I’m hearing this role could be eliminated entirely. But de La Faverie’s ascension may yet open up a new lane for Jane Hudis, his former executive counterpart, who could get the biggest promotion of all: head of all brands. This would essentially elevate Hudis to ELC’s No. 2, and give her control of Lauder’s entire portfolio—fully tucking her in, despite the fact that she didn’t get the top job. Meanwhile, another big beauty C.E.O. is out: On Monday, Ulta Beauty, which operates around 1,400 stores in the U.S. and is known for its sweeping assortment of prestige and drugstore beauty items, abruptly announced that C.E.O. David Kimbell would “retire” effective immediately, and that Kecia Steelman, current president and C.O.O., would replace him. Ulta enjoyed a better-than-expected holiday season, but shares had dipped nearly 14 percent over the last 12 months, and Kimbell wasn’t as successful at engineering a turnaround as many had hoped. Indeed, the market had begun to suspect this change might be coming a year ago, when Steelman had “president” added to her title (the same sequence that preceded Kimbell’s elevation). I’m told that “nothing scandalous” led to Kimbell’s exit, which follows the retirement of Monica Arnaudo, the company’s chief merchandising officer, about six weeks ago. Sure, Kimbell, who’s been C.E.O. since 2021, may have fomented a minor panic in the industry last summer when Ulta lowered its full-year outlook. But this was nothing like the code red Lauder situation, where the stock’s been plunging for the past three years. Instead, an insider pointed to another dynamic at play. Several years ago, before 11-year-olds started pillaging their local Sephoras, Ulta was the go-to place for Kylie Lip Kits, Morphe eye shadow palettes, and Lime Crime (remember them?). In other words, Kimbell’s exit was largely related to where teenagers are now choosing to buy overpriced skincare they don’t even need. It also surely didn’t help that Sephora’s shop-in-shops at Kohl’s—they expect to be in all 1,200 locations by the end of this year—have expanded much faster than Ulta Beauty’s at Target. (Ulta’s shop-in-shops currently number about 500, even though Target had originally detailed plans for 800 locations.) “Target Ulta is not working,” is how another insider bluntly put it. But another person with knowledge of Ulta’s business provided a more nuanced explanation: that the partnership has been hamstrung by a clause in the deal regarding the proximity of shop-in-shops to stand-alone Ulta stores. Ulta, it turns out, is worried about the potential cannibalization of sales in its existing doors. “It’s definitely not being communicated as a failure,” this person added. (A spokesperson for Ulta didn’t respond to a request for comment.) Still, there’s a certain lopsidedness to the partnership. Target isn’t risking much beyond some dedicated store space, while gaining an assortment of higher-end, higher-yield brands it doesn’t already carry. (Sale margins are about 50 percent for the shop-in-shops, compared to the typical 45 percent-ish spread on Target beauty.) Ulta, according to one of the people with knowledge of its business, only gets a mid-single-digit royalty on any sale registered at the shop-in-shop. “Target beauty is getting a halo effect from Ulta, and Target beauty is doing well,” this person explained. “Which is far more important than Target Ulta.”