After 15 years and 900+ studies with over 30,000 affluent women, Malinda Sanna knows what luxury beauty buyers actually buy, not what brands think they buy.
In this episode of Skin Talks, hosts Beate and Natascha sit down with the founder of Look Look, the market research firm behind private communities like the Beautyverse and Luxuryverse, with clients including Shiseido, Estée Lauder, LVMH, and Tiffany.
Malinda pulls back the curtain on the psychology of luxury spending: why ingredients now beat logos and packaging, how word-of-mouth quietly overtook social media influencers, why legacy luxury houses are struggling against nimble K-beauty and clinical brands, and where luxury is heading next. She shares the one thing 30,000 women secretly want that no brand is selling, the affordable product she's obsessed with, and the beauty trend she predicts will look absurd within a decade.
If you care about skincare ingredients, beauty trends, luxury spending, and the future of health and wellness, this conversation goes far deeper than skin.
🎙️ Guests:
Malinda Sanna: https://www.instagram.com/malindasanna/
💻 Book a virtual consultation with Boutique Skin Envie: https://bskinenvie.ca/
🛍️ Use code SKINTALKS15 for 15% off your first order
Connect With Us:
Hosts:
Beate Instagram → @beatevonhuene
Natascha Instagram → @nataschaschillinger
Our Website:
🌐 https://bskinenvie.ca/
Stay Connected:
New episodes every Wednesday
📱 Instagram → @skintalkspod
00:00 – Intro
01:07 – Meet Malinda Sanna
02:03 – The Barney's strategy
05:39 – Why she banned the word "consumer" and calls women "jewels"
09:41 – What luxury brands still get wrong about their buyers
11:50 – Why ingredients now beat logos and packaging
14:02 – Word-of-mouth is beating the influencers
17:58 – What niche & K-beauty brands offer that legacy houses don't
25:01 – Gen Z vs. Boomers: how each generation buys luxury
27:15 – Quiet luxury, overconsumption & the second-hand boom
31:42 – How AI is changing beauty research
46:52 – Rapid fire: the Kardashian prediction