COTY GETS PHILOSOPHICAL

Everyone’s in a frantic tizzy of holiday shopping, and Coty, Inc. is no exception. The century-old fragrance giant has just announced its purchase of the “philosophy” brand for its prestige division, to the tune of $1 billion, scheduled for December, 2010.

The purchase of philosophy from The Carlyle Group is part of Coty’s long-range diversification strategy to expand its global market reach beyond the shrinking fragrance category. According to the Wall Street Journal, philosophy, founded in 1996 by “skin-novator” Cristina Carlino, is expected to generate $200 million in sales in 2010.

Shoppers can’t get enough of the inspiring messages on the packaging written by the founder (Carlino’s thoughts along these lines are collected in her wildly popular book, “The Changing Room: A Mother’s Journal of Gratitude to Her Little Girl”). Not to mention the adorably girly packaging, which is often themed around cookies, candy, and other confections.

This holiday season, philosophy takes the cake (pun intended), though: Oprah herself is enshrined in a limited edition gift-set celebrating the diva’s quarter-century on the air. How sweet it is.

Because we love us some Winfrey: OKAY, EVERYBODY LOOK UNDER YOUR TREE! IT’S OPRAH!