Evio Beauty: community, color cosmetics, and cannabis

The Evelyn Iona product line turned out to be an opportunity for Leifso and her team to learn quite a bit about what today’s consumer expects. With those learnings, she launched Evio Beauty, “a brand that’s mission is to create a more conscious future and connect people through beauty,” ​Leifso tells Cosmetics Design in this video interview (filmed in July on the sidelines of Cosmoprof North America).

“We really live by our values at Evio,” ​says Leifso and that idea extends well beyond company culture to the brand’s consumer culture as well. Among the brand’s community building strategies are an open-door influencer policy and a monthly community dinner that’s about in-person conversation: “when people are vulnerable and willing to get deep because they feel comfortable, it’s amazing the things that you learn and we’ve taken that to foster the community,”​ explains Leifso.

Like so many beauty startups, Evio Beauty is a direct-to-consumer brand, selling online​ and at the occasional pop-up event. But Leifso has a vision for the future of retail too; she’s currently negotiating with conventional retails to reinvent the way beauty is sold in brick-and-mortar stores.

The Evio Beauty product portfolio is made up of 18 color cosmetic SKUs and 4 skin care SKUs. The skin care collection is developed in partnership with Aurora Cannabis. “We’ve really made a name for ourselves in the cannabis space,” ​says Leifso, noting that the Evio Beauty cannabis skin care collection has helped build brand awareness.

“We work very closely with [​Aurora Cannabis] on all of their non-medicinal topical activities (in and outside of Evio). And so, it’s exciting to see what will develop from that," ​she says.

As with Evelyn Iona, the first Evio cannabis skin care line is a learning opportunity for both the Evio brand and for the consumer marketplace: “the consumer isn’t quite as far along as you might think in the cannabis space,”​ says Leifso. “So starting with a hemp line that allows us to access the masses, allows us to have a more broad conversation...while regulations catch up to us.”​

Watch the full video interview at the top of the page to learn more about the products, plans, and partnerships at Evio Beauty.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.