Rooibos cosmetics

When Rob Robillard, vp of integrated beauty at QVC and HSN, started his job eight years ago, he knew there was a lot of untapped potential for modernizing these legacy retail brands. In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Robillard to discuss some of the ways he's contributed to giving the brands new life, including relaunching Beauty Bash, intr...

The world of beauty is rapidly evolving due to the impact of popular indie brands, and the hair-care category is no exception. Niche hair-care brands are finding success by sticking with one focus, whether it's a hair texture, color and or style. The secret, according to DevaCurl CEO Robert Schaeffler is being small and nimble, which allows the brand to adapt to its customers in a way the larger p...

When Katherine Power co-founded fashion and lifestyle brand WhoWhatWear in 2012, she wanted to democratize fashion. Now she is taking on clean beauty with a new brand, Versed. Just this week, Versed launched in 1,400 doors around the country, with an assortment of 19 different products, all under $20. The brand is currently sold both in Target stores and on a direct-to-consumer brand site, which a...

When Dino Ha first founded Memebox seven years ago, he wanted to find a way to bring K-beauty to new audiences, especially in the United States. But as time went on and his company grew, he realized that there was a disconnect between the brand's product offering and the consumers it was trying to reach, so he decided to do something about it. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, M...

The role of the analyst in any industry is to monitor how that industry is evolving and track the movement of some of its most major players. Larissa Jensen's industry of focus is beauty, and she has spent nearly 15 years following everything from the rise of social media and consumer empowerment, to the explosion of digitally native brands and what she calls "the Kardashian effect." Now, as execu...

When Charles Denton took over Erno Laszlo in 2011, the massive legacy brand was flailing. Now, eight years into his role of chairman and CEO, Denton has big plans for the brand, including new efforts in clean products and sustainability, and continued global expansion. In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao and Denton discuss why failure is a good thing, how h...

After a seven-year career at Goldman Sachs, Nancy Twine decided to try to make a company out of the curly-hair products she'd made for herself for years. So she presented her products at a trade show, received her first round of purchase orders from companies like Urban Outfitters, and six months later, Sephora called. Now, six years after launching her clean hair-care brand, Briogeo, Twine is tak...

When Moj Mahdara took the role as Beautycon CEO, she wasn't particularly interested in beauty. To this day, she doesn't wear makeup herself. What she was attracted to was the unique community and fandom around Beautycon, and finding a way to take it to the next level. In the years since, Mahdara has continued to push the boundaries of Beautycon, expanding into new markets with Beautycon POP, movin...

Before starting Hum Nutrition, Walter Faulstroh was a beauty junky with some frustrating skin problems. He had always had a passion for skin care, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to get rid of his breakouts. It wasn't until a nutritionist showed him the connection between health and beauty, that he finally found relief. Seven years ago, Faulstroh decided to share his personal discovery...

In the last few years, there has been a boom of investments in the world of beauty. Brands like Glossier continue to receive massive rounds of funding, and join the elite club of beauty brands that have received valuations of over $1 billion. According to Rich Gersten, a partner at Tengram Capital Partners who has been investing in beauty companies for over two decades, these success stories have...

When you look at Melanie Whelan's career path, it doesn't exactly point to SoulCycle. Prior to landing at Equinox and SoulCycle, Whelan held positions at Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Virgin USA. For Whelan, the through line of all of these companies was a core focus on hospitality and building meaningful relationships with customers. Now serving as the CEO of SoulCycle, Whelan sees the opportun...

It is no secret that with the rise of direct-to-consumer companies and e-commerce shopping, legacy retailers are struggling to maintain massive flagship stores and retail footprints. While some retailers are closing their doors, others are searching for ways to reinvigorate their spaces to keep customers coming back. Earlier this year, Bloomingdale's unveiled a completely renovated flagship experi...

If you're starting your day with lemon water or a turmeric latte, or practicing meditative breathing, you're practicing Ayurveda. Although the concept of Ayurveda is relatively new to most Americans, aspects of it have become commonplace among those pursuing healthier lifestyles. Uma Oils hopes to capitalize on these entry points, using them to introduce consumers to the larger world of Ayurveda a...

For over three decades, Rose-Marie Swift was one of the most sought-after editorial makeup artists in the world. But then, her health started to change. Once she started to dig into the industry, and the ingredients that were in the products that she was using everyday, Swift decided she needed to make a change, and that she was going to do it herself. Thus, RMS Beauty was born. Since it's launch...

When Sarah Lee and Christine Chang joined forces to start Glow Recipe in 2014, they wanted to find their own way to introduce the US consumer to Korean beauty. Now, fast-forward five years, Glow Recipe features 30 different brands, Chang and Lee have created their own private label products and their brand is preparing for international expansion. "I think a lot of brands are discovering Glow Reci...

If you asked her 10 years ago, Hillary Peterson would tell you she was not all that interested in beauty. With a background in marketing, and an interest in beauty that didn't extend much further than her own personal skincare, Peterson never thought she would become the founder and CEO of her own natural skincare company. However, following a thyroid cancer diagnosis in her 30's, she became much...

Before Alex Friedman decided to dive into the world of feminine hygiene and sexual wellness, she was a businesswoman and a mom with a problem to solve. Everywhere she looked, people were talking about ingredients -- in food, in beauty products and even in diapers. But when she looked at the side of the box of tampons she had been using all of her life, the possible ingredients included a list of w...

Divya Gugnani was motivated to launch Wander Beauty when she realized there were no beauty brands speaking directly to her -- a woman who loves beauty and maintains a fast-paced lifestyle. Now, three years into the business, Gugnani and her team are taking a strategic approach to scaling the company by implementing technology like chatbots and text communications, and pairing that with a strategic...

Flamingo, a DTC company focused on women's grooming needs, was the first brand to emerge out of Harry's Labs, in October of 2018. Since Harry's launched in 2013, it's seen a lot of success with female customers, at one point boasting over 1 million female subscribers. It finally decided to take advantage of the built-in fanbase of women and create a brand specifically for them. Allie Melnick, who'...

In 1992, Laura Slatkin had no interest in home fragrance. She had spent 12 years building a successful career for herself working on Wall Street, where she met her husband. After they were married, her brother-in-law had an interior design business that was booming and was looking for partners to help him expand, when Slatkin and her husband signed on. Together, the three went on to create Slatkin...

Josie Maran has a long history with beauty. From the time she was just 12 years old, Maran was working as a professional model. Six years into her career, which included spending hours in the makeup chair on most days, she noticed the routine was taking a toll on her skin. Raised in a family that emphasized the importance of a sustainable and natural lifestyle, she decided to seek out makeup that...

About 10 years ago, Vicky Tsai chose happiness. After years of working in corporate, she slowly realized that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her career. She had also been struggling with an increasingly bad case of dermatitis that shook her confidence in her appearance and in herself. So one day, she decided to quit her job and travel the world in search of something to believe in. Som...

When Frederic Fekkai was a young man, he had no intention of entering the beauty space. In fact, he didn't even know it existed. Shortly after this discovery, Fekkai quit law school, moved to Paris and threw himself into the world of beauty. He began to work fashion shows and photoshoots, and establish meaningful connections with some of the top players in the industry. Over the course of the next...

Kate Oldham has spent most of her life working at Saks. Her first job with the company, a sales associate at their flagship store, was supposed to be a short term way to make money while she searched for a more formal job in marketing. However, she quickly fell in love with the company, applied for their training program, and would spend the next two decades working her way up. As she moved up the...

When Jill Scalamandre first started her career, she wasn't interested in beauty. She had spent some time after college working in a fashion house in Paris and was trying to figure out her next steps when someone suggested she give the beauty industry a try. She accepted an opportunity with Revlon and quickly fell in love with the industry. In the decades since, Jill has built a long, successful ca...