Expert Viewpoints

Can limited-edition packaging work for indie personal care brands? OLIKA and the pink marshmallow Minnie hand sanitizer

Can limited-edition packaging work for indie personal care brands?

By Deanna Utroske

OLIKA believes it can. The design-driven consumer goods brand launched 2 years ago and still has essentially one product: hand sanitizer. In late January, OLIKA debuted the first of its Rare Bird Collection, a limited-edition series of OLIKA’s popular...

Anne Flipo achieves the rank of Master Perfumer at IFF

Anne Flipo achieves the rank of Master Perfumer at IFF

By Deanna Utroske

Late last week, the fragrance maker announced the honor, adding Flipo to a short list of International Flavor & Fragrances’ perfumers who have been designated as Master Perfumers over the past 6 years. Anne Flipo is the first woman to be recognized...

PCPC celebrates 125 years and readies for 2019 annual meeting

PCPC celebrates 125 years and readies for 2019 annual meeting

By Deanna Utroske

The Personal Care Products Council will hold its annual meeting later this month, bringing together 500+ industry executives, supply-side professionals, and media for a mix of educational programming, networking, and strategic meetings.

Can overseas indie brands like Cosmetics 27 and Forest Rhapsody Skincare change the pace of beauty and help consumers find equilibrium

Editor's Spotlight

Can overseas indie brands change the pace of beauty?

By Deanna Utroske

The independent beauty movement is truly global, as evidenced by the international spectrum of exhibitors at IBE LA last month. But a subset of indie beauty brands from abroad aren’t just going global, they are inviting consumers to be patient, seek balance,...

Fragrance Foundation to honor 2019 Notables in NYC this month

Fragrance Foundation to honor 2019 Notables in NYC this February

By Deanna Utroske

On Thursday, February 7th at the LVMH Magic Room in New York City, the non-profit professional organization will host an event acknowledging and celebrating 11 rising professionals in the world of fragrance—professionals working with top brands and corporations...

Arcade Beauty and Vengo Labs team up to reinvent beauty on the go with makeup and personal care vending machines

Arcade Beauty and Vengo Labs team up to reinvent beauty on the go

By Deanna Utroske

Portable skin care products, mini beauty, and sample sizes of everything from hair care to body care have become increasingly popular over the last year or so. Now, sampling company Arcade Beauty and retail tech maker Vengo Labs are teaming up to put...

Gallinée showcases the latest in microbiome skin care at IBE LA 2019

CD Buzz Video

Gallinée showcases the latest in microbiome skin care at IBE LA

By Deanna Utroske

In 2015 Marie Drago founded a new kind of personal care brand, one that promised to be “revolutionary skincare with a patented complex of pre, pro and postbiotics to support your skin's microbiome.” At this month’s Indie Beauty Expo event, Cosmetics...

Formulating an indie beauty brand story with regional ingredients, Holly Harding of O'o Hawaii and Ikram Elharti of Sahara Rose

Formulating for Indie Beauty Special Newsletter

Formulating an indie beauty brand story with regional ingredients

By Deanna Utroske

In the beauty and wellness space, a well-constructed brand story can capture the attention of consumers, buyers, and media. To find out just how regional ingredients can effectively inform and inspire an indie brand and its story, Cosmetics Design checked...

4 must-know beauty trends spotted at IBE LA 2019: wood ingredients, skin microbiome, copper, bee beauty

Editor’s Spotlight

4 must-know beauty trends spotted at IBE LA

By Deanna Utroske

Every day the indie beauty movement gets more sophisticated, the brands more varied, and the innovations more relevant. Cosmetics Design discovered these 4 trends last week at the Indie Beauty Expo in Los Angeles, California—trends that signal what’s...

GC3 invites green beauty tech startups to apply for upcoming showcase

GC3 invites green beauty tech startups to apply for upcoming showcase

By Deanna Utroske

The Green Chemistry & Commerce Council is accepting applications for chemistry technology solutions and new ingredients that meet the needs of major companies—needs like UV filters with low aquatic toxicity and naturally derived hair conditioning...

BeautyX Summit returns to Los Angeles, California, this month January 2019

BeautyX Summit returns to Los Angeles, California, this month

By Deanna Utroske

The two-day educational event for entrepreneurs and indie beauty brand leaders will take place January 21 and 22 in LA. Attendees will hear from editors, influencers, and other experts on every facet of social and conventional media. Cosmetics Design...

Avon Products sells its manufacturing business in China to TheFaceShop

Avon Products sells its manufacturing business in China to TheFaceShop

By Deanna Utroske

This week the global beauty company announced having reached an agreement with TheFaceShop, a subsidiary of LG Household & Health Care Ltd, to sell is China-based manufacturing operation. And while Avon will profit financially from the sale, initially...

Laurie Ann Goldman in as CEO at New Avon LLC

Laurie Ann Goldman in as CEO at New Avon LLC

By Deanna Utroske

Goldman began her work as the CEO of the US-based, stand-alone division of the social selling beauty company Tuesday and is already talking about invigorating the business, driving sales, and encouraging progress for women.

2019 Goals: Building on the wisdom and advice of indie beauty brand founders on Indie Beauty Profile column

Editor’s Spotlight

2019 Goals: Building on the wisdom of indie beauty brand founders

By Deanna Utroske

The Indie Beauty Profile column is moving…to Fridays! But before going ahead with that, Cosmetics Design is looking back over a selection of the business advice that featured cosmetics, personal care, and fragrance brand leaders have shared over the past...

Color cosmetics maker Tokiwa Corp. sets up manufacturing in US, making Japanese makeup

Color cosmetics maker Tokiwa Corp. sets up manufacturing in US

By Deanna Utroske

Late last year, the contract manufacturer announced plans to renovate, equip, and open a first US facility to manufacture Japanese color products in the States. Tokiwa is investing over $30 million dollars in the New Jersey manufacturing site, which is...

What is indie beauty anyway? Indie Beauty Profile brand leaders define independent business

Editor’s Spotlight

What is indie beauty anyway?

By Deanna Utroske

Recently, brands featured on the Indie Beauty Profile column have been asked to define or explain their thinking on what makes a cosmetics, personal care, or fragrance brand independent. Here, Cosmetics Design has complied a selection of the replies in...

Trend Watch: pre-sport probiotic skin care ingredient launch

Trend Watch: pre-sport probiotic skin care

By Deanna Utroske

At this week’s SCC Annual Meeting and Technology Showcase in New York City, Roelmi HPC launched its latest personal care and beauty ingredient. Aective is a biotech-derived molecule that provides microbial defense as well as skin moisturization and elasticity...

Cover Girl’s newest makeup line designed for women of color

Cover Girl’s newest makeup line designed for women of color

By Deanna Utroske

This month the Coty brand launched a new line of color cosmetics on Ulta.com. The Full Spectrum Collection of complexion and color products are “specifically designed to address the skin and color needs of WOC,” according to Cover Girl.

2018 cosmetics and personal care ingredient launches that made headlines on Cosmetics Design

Editor’s Spotlight

2018 cosmetics and personal care ingredient launches

By Deanna Utroske

Certainly no year passes in the beauty industry without a significant number of new ingredient technologies coming to market. Here, we look at selection of standout ingredients that made headlines on Cosmetics Design over the last 12 months.

CEW event highlights beauty retail’s shift to psychographics

CEW event highlights beauty retail’s shift to psychographics

By Deanna Utroske

At a CEW Speakers Series event this week in New York City, Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette spoke one-on-one with Jill Scalamandre, chairwoman of Cosmetic Executive Women, about how the company is updating its approach to beauty, what the acquisitions of Blue...

Proof of Concept: Global ingredient makers keep launching beauty brands

Editor’s Spotlight

Proof of Concept: Global ingredient makers keep launching beauty brands

By Deanna Utroske

Barriers to market entry for cosmetics and personal care brands are said to be lower than ever, due in large part to ecommerce opportunities, social media marketing, and more transparent production channels. So while countless solo entrepreneurs are launching...

2019 Fragrance Foundation Awards now open for nominations

2019 Fragrance Foundation Awards now open for nominations

By Deanna Utroske

The prestigious awards are given out annually at a glamourous summertime gala event in New York City. And the non-profit organization is now accepting nominations from members and non-members alike, in categories ranging from Indie Fragrance to Packaging,...

The conscious beauty supply chain

Editor’s Spotlight

The conscious beauty supply chain

By Deanna Utroske

Conscious personal care consumers, mission-driven fragrance brands, and feel-good cosmetics marketing campaigns are hard to miss now days. So smart suppliers and distributors are not only helping beauty makers tell more nuanced ingredient stories, they...

L’Oréal marks 60 years in Canada with new offices

L’Oréal marks 60 years in Canada with new offices

By Deanna Utroske

In 1958, the beauty maker opened in Canada with one division, L'Oréal Coiffure, focused on professional hair products. Now the Canadian subsidiary comprises 4 divisions, 39 brands, and brought in $1.192bn in sales last year.

Coty wants to lead the beauty industry into a cruelty-free future

Coty wants to lead the beauty industry into a cruelty-free future

By Deanna Utroske

This week the multinational personal care, cosmetics, and fragrance maker announced a new partnership with the advocacy group behind the Leaping Bunny logo. Along with the announcement came news that the Cover Girl makeup brand has been certified by Cruelty...

DSM showcases beauty formulas made for chemists, consumers, and Instagram

CD Buzz Video

DSM showcases beauty formulas made for chemists, consumers, and Instagram

By Deanna Utroske

At this year’s in-cosmetics North America event, DSM wasn’t showing new ingredients but rather chose to feature new ways to work with familiar inputs and deliver benefits that are very much in vogue with contemporary trends, regulations, and formulator...

Coty reformulatesWella  hair color adding ME+ to Koleston Perfect

Coty reformulates another hair color brand, adding ME+

By Deanna Utroske

Monday evening in New York City, Coty executives, R&D leaders, and creative professionals hosted a launch event for the newly reformulated professional color product Koleston Perfect with ME+. But the new hair color is about more than a technology...

Indies' unconventional approach to body care

Editor’s Spotlight

Indies' unconventional approach to body care

By Deanna Utroske

While much of the cosmetics and personal care industry is preoccupied with flashier categories (like color and skin care) and emerging technologies (like microbiome-friendly ingredients), an astute group of independent personal care brand leaders are...

Cheeky Physique: a new category of body care arrives

Cheeky Physique: a new category of body care arrives

By Deanna Utroske

A small selection of brands on the market today are taking the healthy aging approach to body care. These body contouring, skin fitness, and anti-aging brands are all about plumping, firming, smoothing, tightening, and treating skin with the same care...

A preview of marketing trends to be shown at in-cosmetics North America

A preview of marketing trends to be shown at in-cosmetics North America

By Deanna Utroske

This month, the cosmetics and personal care ingredient and manufacturing trade show returns to New York City. The event’s marketing trends content promises to equip cosmetic chemists and R&D professionals with the data, insights, and inspiration needed...

Caswell-Massey: an on-trend indie brand that’s centuries old

CD Buzz Video

Caswell-Massey: an on-trend indie brand that’s centuries old

By Deanna Utroske

At the recent BeautyX Summit in New York City, Cosmetics Design spoke with Caswell-Massey CEO Nicolas Arauz about how a brand launched in the 1700s fits into the current indie beauty movement, the work he’s doing to simultaneously conserve and update...

Next generation sustainability and what it means for the beauty industry, Beauty Heroes founder Jeannie Jarnot

CD Buzz Video

Next generation sustainability and what it means for the beauty industry

By Deanna Utroske

At BeautyX in New York City last month, Cosmetics Design caught up with Beauty Heroes founder Jeannie Jarnot to learn more about her passion for Going Blue—a term that describes how forward-thinking businesses are taking steps to give back and actually...

Indie Beauty Profile Shiva Tavakoli Joon Haircare

Indie Beauty Profile

Shiva Tavakoli, Joon Haircare

By Deanna Utroske

In her Indie Beauty Profile, Shiva Tavakoli, co-founder of Joon Haircare, outlines her retail growth strategy for the brand. And she shares her tips for keeping a new beauty business focused on what matters most.

6 Indie Beauty Trends You Missed at Project Beauty Expo 2018

CD Buzz Video

6 Indie Beauty Trends You Missed at Project Beauty Expo

By Deanna Utroske

This past Sunday at PBE in New York City, there were plenty of compelling concepts and innovations to be seen; including new ingredient trends such as avocado oil and purée, cucumber seed oil, and alternative sugars like molasses. In this video montage,...