LSN : Daily Signals : 25 : 02 : 26

Niod’s anti-facial disrupts beauty’s clean narrative

The New York Facial by Niod. Film by Uncommon Creative Studio, US

US – Deciem’s science-led skincare brand Niod has launched a new campaign video subverting the polished conventions of beauty marketing by replacing serums and cleansers with the invisible pollutants city dwellers encounter daily.

Created by Uncommon Creative Studio, The New York Facial film mimics viral skincare tutorials but forces viewers to witness urban toxins absorbing into skin – a visual disruption designed to make environmental damage impossible to ignore.

The creative approach draws on research from the International Journal of Dermatology showing air pollutants can increase skin pigmentation by more than 20%. ‘The industry playbook to launching a premium skincare product isn’t to rub toxins on someone’s face, but that’s exactly why we did it,’ said Uncommon’s creative directors Ellie Daghlian and Elisa Czerwenka.

The video concludes by positioning Niod’s superoxide dismutase 3 (SDEM3) enzyme mist – a preventative antioxidant mist that prevents visible skin damage – as the solution to maintaining healthy skin in an increasingly polluted world.

This film signals a broader shift in beauty advertising: away from aspirational perfection towards confrontational transparency as consumers grow bored of the homogenised aesthetics of the industry, a topic we explore in The Great Beauty Blur.

Strategic opportunity

Disrupt the homogenised beauty landscape by creating campaigns, packaging and social content that demonstrate why products matter, cutting through algorithms to engage ingredient-literate consumers who prize transparency over polish

Singapore moves to regulate blind boxes over gambling risks

Pop Mart

Singapore – The city state is set to become the first market to require blind box products (mystery packages where consumers don’t know exactly what’s inside until they open them) to disclose the probability of obtaining specific items, as authorities address gambling risks linked to the collectible craze.

The phenomenon has fuelled revenue growth for companies such as Pop Mart International Group and Miniso Group Holding, with rare items resold for thousands of dollars.

Singapore’s planned regulation goes further than in other nations. In 2023, China’s Consumers Association called for probability disclosure, while People’s Daily highlighted blind boxes’ potential impact on children.

Singapore’s move could set a global precedent, forcing brands to be more transparent and potentially slowing speculative buying, while balancing collectible culture with consumer protection.

The rise of blind boxes aligns with the broader Kidult Craze, driven by nostalgia and a desire for stress relief as adults gravitate towards playful, non-digital collectibles to reconnect with their inner child.

Strategic opportunity

Proactively disclose probabilities, quantities and rarity tiers for collectibles. This builds trust, supports responsible buying and can turn compliance into a competitive advantage.

Stat: ‘My employer’ emerges as the most trusted institution

Photography by Alexander Suhorucov, UAE

Global – The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, based on a survey of nearly 34,000 respondents across 28 countries, shows insularity reshaping how people relate to institutions, brands and each other.

Seven in 10 respondents say they are unwilling or hesitant to trust those with different values, social views, backgrounds or information sources. This inward turn is most acute in developed markets, peaking in Japan (90%) and Germany (81%), and sitting above the global average in the UK (76%) and Canada (73%).

Rising insularity is fuelling nationalism and intensifying pressure on multinational brands. Trust in companies based in ‘my country’ far exceeds trust in foreign firms, with gaps of 31 points in Canada and 29 points in both Japan and Germany.

Value alignment is increasingly decisive: 42% of people would not invest in companies that do not share their values, while the same proportion of employees would rather switch departments than report to a manager with different values.

Against this backdrop, ‘my employer’ emerges as the most trusted institution, with 78% trust among employees, positioning organisations and CEOs as critical brokers of trust across divides. As faith in government and business weakens, the workplace is becoming a primary site of trust, placing new responsibility on organisations and CEOs to broker dialogue, model shared values and manage ideological differences.

In our Work States Futures report, we explore how shifting trust, power and identity will reshape the workplace as work patterns continue to change. Discover more in our Work States topic.

Strategic opportunity

Align employer culture with external brand values, recognising that employees increasingly act as trust carriers whose beliefs, behaviours and advocacy shape how organisations are judged in fragmented, insular markets