The Business of Beauty

AN ISSUE OF

IN THIS ISSUE

DEPARTMENTS

33

Pete Unplugged

Which brands
reign supreme?
Find out in
Power Up.

WWDs executive
editor of beauty,
Pete Born, examines how some
leading industry
thinkers are working to stay ahead
of the curve.

10

Eye Candy

12

Springs key fragrance launches

take inspiration
from the sights,
smells and stories
of Africa.

14

Springs Fresh
Crop
Pomegranate, blackberries, apricot,
avocadosprings
superfood-centric
launches read like
a grocery list.

FEATURES

33

Power Up

Culture Shock

Its a brave new world for beauty marketers, where those

who are able to move at the speed of social media are fueling the industrys
exponential growth.

44

Future Forward

The digital revolution has created disruption in every category.

Here, ve big thinkers from outside of beauty on how they stay ahead of their
respective markets.

Out of Africa

22

Tale of
the Magni
What are the
odds? Two beauty
editors deliver babiesboth named
Magnuson the
same day.

24

Slow Motion
The economic
slowdown in Brazil
has hit beauty,
but a key mix of
people, places and
products is nding
room to grow.

28

Finders
Keepers,
Makeup
Seekers
Chemical engineer
turned entrepreneur Asmau
Ahmeds coloranalyzing technology speaks to the
visual generation.

50

Stat Dept.
Breaking down
TABS Analytics
2015 survey of
consumer buying
trends.

23

Cool
Britannia
A new apothecary
and spa opens in
Chelsea.

In a rapidly changing environment, maintaining brand

relevance is no easy matter. Here, WWD Beauty Incs rst annual ranking of
beautys 25 most powerful brands.

38

A paralyzing
accident hasnt
stopped ex-fashion editor Francesco Clark from
growing Clarks
Botanicals into
one of the foremost independent
skin-care lines.

20

Young consumers
are making healthier food choices,
and beauty stands
to benet.

CAROL HAMILTON, LOral Luxe USA

Master Class:
Francesco
Clark

The top beauty

trends at Paris
Couture Week.

Tipping the
Scales

A brand doesnt have a life cycle, but it is

tougher for a heritage brand to
reinvent itself. You have to know what to
keep and what to evolve.

16

On the Cover:

24

All eyes
are on
Brazilian
beauty.

Katy DeGroot, the

social media sensation
known as LustreLux,
was photographed
exclusively for WWD
Beauty Inc by Christine
Hahn. Illustrations
by Hattie Stewart
for Culture Shock
were commissioned
exclusively for WWD
Beauty Inc.

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4 WWD BEAUTY INC

Sarah Gadon
armanibeauty.com

LUMINOUS SILK

The iconic duo. Fluid & powder. Weightless &

light infused. Seamless buildable coverage.

EDITORS LETTER

EDWARD NARDOZA EDITOR IN CHIEF, WWD

PETE BORN EXECUTIVE EDITOR, BEAUTY
JENNY B. FINE EDITOR

FULL SPEED
AHEAD

OR PEOPLE OF A CERTAIN AGE (NAMELY

mine), getting lit is pretty much synonymous
with being extremely inebriated. But when
beauty bloggers use the term on social media,
the phrase takes on a different meaning. Its
used to connote something that is superfun
and exciting and of the moment. The
explosive establishment of social media as a key form of
communication has given rise to much more than a new
vocabulary. The entire environment in which brands and
marketers are operating has been transformed, changes that
are personied by this issues cover subject, Katy DeGroot.
Two years ago, she was an executive Inc, we were interested in how the
team leader at a Target store. Today, balance of power in the brand landscape
is shifting, and decided to create our rst
DeGroot is a leading social media ranking of beautys most powerful brands.
inuencer in beauty with more Using a set of criteria that included sales
than 1.3 million followers on both data, brand equity analysis, digital acuity,
Instagram and YouTube, a gure industry awards and our own reporting
and assessment of innovation, we have
that is substantially higher than compiled a list of what we think are
many established brands. This the 25 most powerful brands in beauty
issue of WWD Beauty Inc explores at the moment. Turn to Power Up on
the impact and realities of the new page 33 to see whos on itand whos not.
market dynamics in depth. The past
It wont come as a big surprise to anytwo years have given rise to a new one that the list is dominated by color
breed of brand, born online and able cosmetics brands. Thanks to platforms
such as Instagram and YouTube, makeup
to scale up quickly. At WWD Beauty sales are soaring. In Culture Shock on
page 38, Rachel Brown analyzes the
impact of social media on marketing and
retail, from a quantitative and qualitative
point of view, as well as how it will affect
other categories moving forward.
Of course, beauty isnt the only industry to be upended by the digital revolution, and I was curious to discover how
other leaders in their respective categories are leading the charge for change. In
Future Forward, on page 44, youll hear
how the brightest thinkers in fashion, tness and e-commerce stay ahead of the
curve in a market moving at the speed of
light. Jenny B. Fine

6 WWD BEAUTY INC

JENNIFER WEIL EUROPEAN EDITOR

JULIE NAUGHTON SENIOR PRESTIGE MARKET BEAUTY EDITOR
ALLISON COLLINS BEAUTY FINANCIAL EDITOR
FAYE BROOKMAN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
ELLEN THOMAS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
MAUREEN MORRISON-SHULAS COPY CHIEF
DANIELLE GILLIARD, DAVID PODGURSKI, MAXINE WALLY COPY EDITORS
CONTRIBUTORS
LINDA RUBES (ART), SAMANTHA CONTI (LONDON), MILES SOCHA (PARIS),
LUCIE JANIK (MILAN), MARCY MEDINA (LOS ANGELES),
MELISSA DRIER AND SUSAN STONE (BERLIN), AMANDA KAISER (HONG KONG)
PHOTO
ASH BARHAMAND PHOTO DIRECTOR
JENNA GREENE SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
OONA WALLY BOOKINGS AND PRODUCTION EDITOR
KATRINA BROWN PHOTO EDITOR
EMILY TAYLOR PHOTO STUDIO COORDINATOR
JILLIAN SOLLAZZO ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
GEORGE CHINSEE, THOMAS IANNACCONE PHOTOGRAPHERS
BEAUTY INC ADVERTISING
PAUL JOWDY SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GROUP PUBLISHER
PAMELA FIRESTONE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
CARLY GRESH BEAUTY DIRECTOR
JILL BIREN WEST COAST DIRECTOR
MARJORIE THOMAS EUROPEAN SALES REPRESENTATIVE
OLGA KOUZNETSOVA ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, ITALY
EMANUELA ALTIMANI SENIOR SALES COORDINATOR, ITALY
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AUDIENCE MARKETING
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JOHN CROSS PLANNING & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
RANDI SEGAL SENIOR DIRECTOR, INSTITUTIONAL SALES
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TAMRA FEBESH SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER
LAUREN BUSCH ASSOCIATE MARKETING MANAGER
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KEVIN HURLEY PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
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B LO O M I N G B O U Q U ET

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AVAILABLE AT DIOR.COM

PETE UNPLUGGED

K. The revolution is here and good times are back at

least in makeup. So now what? The U.S. prestige
beauty business came roaring out of 2015 with a
strong overall sales gain of 7 percent, and the digital
revolution has rmly taken hold, transforming the
entire dynamic of an industry once ruled by Boomers
and now obsessed with Millennials. As more major
companies turn to the younger generation, capped by Este Lauders
planned launch of the Este Edit, tremors can be felt across the market. It
is logical to ask what challenges managers see on this years horizon.
There is plenty of optimism for the new digital order. Jane
Hertzmark Hudis, group president at the Este Lauder Cos., sees
not a challenge, but incredible opportunity.
Its about the velocity of growth because the beauty business is
thriving, she says. Its about the velocity of change and disruption because the business is changing at the speed of light and
its also about the velocity of opportunity.
Makeup is on re globally, she continues. There is velocity
in change in terms of the consumer looking for not just products
but experiences, she says, adding that the media scene has also
been disrupted. We [once] lived in a land of TV and print and
now we live in a land of inuencers. Some of the fastest-growing
brands in prestige beauty have no advertising whatsoever.
Thanks to the power of social media, the playing eld has been
leveled, she maintains, noting that Indie players have low barriers to entry and can be as compelling as the bigger players, all
based on imagination and creativity.
What 2016 is about is who leads the change, Hertzmark Hudis
says. Its about the velocity at which everybody changes their
strategies, evolves them and creates a new path.
While innovation and transformation are imperatives of the
moment, there also seems to be an undercurrent of caution, particularly when it comes to guarding hard-won brand equity.
Carol Hamilton, group president of LOral Luxe USA, asserts
that the mushrooming growth of online shopping has reached
a critical point and the brick-and-mortar business, the bedrock
of beauty marketing, needs to be reinforced so that both sides of
the brand experienceonline and in-storeremain viable and
balanced. Im not gloom and doom, she says. Its a wake-up call
to just make sure that we ratchet up and elevate one more time

8 WWD BEAUTY INC

If you look at some of the

troubles the Western brands
are having in the China or Asia market,
its directly attributable to those Korean
_
brands. Paco Underhill

ILLUSTRATION BY SAM KERR

FIRST
RESPONDERS

the overall experience for the consumermaking sure that our

service is really greatbeauty advisers, or any kind of service you
can provideis better than going online. We are not competing
against each other, but we need to complement each other more.
JuE Wong, president of the Elizabeth Arden brand, advocates
making shopping less confusing and helping consumers make
choices more easilyguide her through the paradox of choices
principally with the help of technology, like virtual makeup apps.
When you have too many decisions to make you end up being
very ustered, Wong says.
Hamilton also reiterates her earlier concern over the erosion of
skin-care growth. Makeup grew 13 points last year, she points
out. Skin care grew only 2.4 percent. She, among others, agrees
with an observation made by Karen Grant, global industry analyst
at the NPD Group, that part of the explosive growth in makeup
is attributable to women using cosmetics to achieve skin-care
effects such as countouring, making themselves look younger.
While Hamilton argues that these are shortcuts and an added
benet, at best, that cannot replace an actual skin-care product,
she nevertheless is concerned: Rebuilding the consumer trust
in that area is something that keeps me up at night.
Marc Rey, the recently named chief executive officer of Shiseido
Americas, says he senses three factors continuing to worsen. With
the explosion of media, consumers experience a plethora of touch
points with a brand and its message, making it even more challenging than before to be relevant and above all to be consistent.
Another factor is the obsession with value, as seen in the proliferation of off-price outlet stores, gift-with-purchase deals piling
up and the ubiquity of promotional offerings. I know it is prestige beauty, but it is starting to give the feeling of a market that
is trading down, Rey says. The third factor is a concern shared
by Jill Scalamandre, senior vice president of Philosophy and Coty
Prestige Skin Care, who asks how to feed retailers appetite for
innovation with successive product launches from one year to the
next, while also achieving incremental growth and minimizing
cannibalization during the anniversary process. The race for
new launches does not allow you to establish solid pillars, Rey
says, underscoring the danger of simply substituting one product
with another.
You have to have programs that build the core, so you do not
launch and leave, adds Scalamandre. Instead of resorting to the
unprotable practice of resorting to promotion, companies have
to nd new ways of engaging the consumer with media.
One challenge that has caught the eye of retail guru Paco
Underhill is the competitive threat from Korean brands, which
have excelled with a deeper understanding of beauty, well below
the peaches and cream issues of complexion.
Its a recognition of wheres the new money in the world, he
says. It is looking at skin lighteners. . . at women whose diets
are different than ours. [It is] that synergy between looking good
and feeling good.

2016 P&G

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Instantly hydrates for visible liing and plumping.
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BEAUTY BULLETIN
EYE CANDY

Special Effects
While most designers opted for natural beauty looks during the
recent spring 2016 couture shows in Paris, there were those who
dared to enter edgier territory. BY JENNIFER WEIL

Hair

In a season dominated
by natural,
individualized eye looks
stood out.

Ornamentation continued
as a major theme, adding
a touch of luxe to pareddown styles.

Natural may have been

the new normal for
most beauty looks this
couture season, but
eye makeup and hair
ornaments popped on
some Paris runways.
Models eyes were lined
in fabulous, dramatic
ways at Chanel and
Giorgio Armani Priv,
where makeup artist
Linda Cantello used
a yet-to-be launched,
shiny eyeliner close to
models lash lines and
along their eyelids top
arcsas was more the
fashion in the Thirties
or Forties than today.
She called it Hollywood
glamour relooked. And
at Maison Margiela,
some models eyes
were wildly adorned by
maestro Pat McGrath.

On the hair front,

numerous houses
chose to embellish
pared-down coifs with
striking hairpieces. At
Chanel, each model
wore a donut-shaped
hairpiece. At Valentino,
it was like a metallic
snake slithered around
each models head; at
Zuhair Murad, think
shiny leaves. Tiny
crystals peppered
tresses at Alexis
Mabille, and there were
caps and headbands
at Elie Saab, where
Orlando Pita placed
bejeweled ornaments
close to models
foreheads. Its kind of
rock n roll princesses,
he said of the look. It is
a little more tough.

1. Giorgio Armani Priv

2. Maison Margiela
3. Chanel

1. Elie Saab
2. Alexis Mabille
3. Valentino

10 WWD BEAUTY INC

MABILLE PHOTOGRAPH BY DOMINIQUE MATRE; SAAB AND ARMANI BY DELPHINE ACHARD; VALENTINO, CHANEL, MARGIELABY GIOVANNI GIANNONI

Makeup

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BEAUTY BULLETIN

TIPPING
THE SCALES
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, as the adage says, and consumers, particularly
younger ones, are taking it literally. According to Nielsens 2015 Global Health
and Wellness Survey, 30 percent of Generation Z respondents and 33 percent
of Millennials consider health attributes like all-natural and made from
fruits and vegetables to be very important when food shopping. People are
leaving the word diet behind and going toward total health and wellness
[as a lifestyle], says dietician Brooke Alpert. Beauty has followed suit with
a slew of superfood-infused products. When its broccoli [being marketed],
says Alpert, everyone understands the benets. ELLEN THOMAS
12 WWD BEAUTY INC

PHOTOGRAPH BY GRANT CORNETT

BEAUTY BULLETIN

Springs Fresh Crop

Makeup

Masks

The latest for lips

and face promise
to treat while
transforming.

New treatments for skin

and hair are saturated
with everything but
the kitchen sink.

1. Milani Moisture
Lock Oil Infused Lip
Treatments, $8 each
Each glosslike formula
has an oil with healing
properties, such as
hydrating raspberry.

1. Lush Damaged
Hot Oil Treatment, $12
This solid-to-cream
formula penetrates dry
hair with avocado oil.
2. Kiehls Turmeric
& Cranberry Seed
Energizing Radiance
Mask, $32
Exfoliating cranberry
seed gets a brightening
boost from turmeric
extract to revive dull skin.

2. Clinique Sweet
Pot, $19.50
This lip duo exfoliates
with grainy beet sugar
granules and soothes
with coconut oil.
3. Josie Maran Vibrancy
Foundation Fluid, $45
Argan oil and blueberry
extract help ease redness
and calm inamed skin.

3. Ole Henriksen Truth

Sugar Glow Polishing
Mask, $42
Pomegranate seeds
exfoliate; orange and
grapefruit oils deliver a
hit of vitamin C.
1
2

4. Leaders Coconut Gel

Masks, $6 each
These single-use masks
incorporate good-for-you
fruits and veggies.

Hair

This new lineup

calls on fruit-based
actives to
ght ne lines.

1. Herbal Essences Clean

& Refresh Shampoo, $5
Essences of white
strawberry add to the
allure of this clarifying
formula.

1. Drunk Elephant
B-Hyrdra Intensive
Hydration Gel, $52
A blend of watermelon
rind, apple and lentil
hydrates and plumps.

2. Oribe Air Cream

Flexible Finish, $42
A blend of apricot and
jojoba oils tames frizz
and unruly hair.

2. Julep Love Your

Bare Face Detoxifying
Cleansing Stick, $28
This innovative formula
promotes cell turnover
with exfoliating
pomegranate enzymes.

4. Garnier Whole Blends

Green Apple & Green
Tea 5-in-1 Treatment, $7
Green apple extract is
said to add shine to this
detangling primer spray.

14 WWD BEAUTY INC

4
3

Antiaging

Fruit extracts treat,

tame and protect
and scent gets a
boost to boot.

3. LOral EverPure
Repair & Defend
Conditioner, $7
A proprietary complex
of acai and goji berries
prevents color-treated
hair from fading.

4
2

3. Fresh Seaberry
Skin Nutrition
Cleansing Oil, $42
Seaberry oil moisturizes;
cranberry seed
promotes elasticity.

4
2

4. Aveeno Absolutely
Ageless Intensive
Renewal Serum, $20
Blackberry leaf extract
and dill tighten skin.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEORGE CHINSEE

4. Bite Beauty Amuse

Bouche Lipstick, $26
Twelve oilsincluding
avocado, apricot and
pomegranatedeliver
deep hydration.

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Francesco Clark
in his home office.

MASTER CLASS

STRONG
ROOTS

With an indomitable will and an intellect to match,

Francesco Clark has become a leading force in skin care.
BY JENNY B. FINE

16 WWD BEAUTY INC

HAT FRANCESCO CLARKwho was paralyzed from

the neck down in 2002 after diving into the shallow end
of a swimming poolpossesses an almost superhuman
strength like his hero Christopher Reeve is well known.
But it is his equally strong vision that has made his brand,
Clarks Botanicals, a key indie skin-care player. The brand was created and formulated by Clark and his father, a physician, to address
some of the skin issues that Clark suffered from as a result of his accident. It launched in 2007 and is now sold on QVC, Space NK, Amazon
and a tightly curated selection of independent boutiques. Clark himself had no experience with the beauty business before he launched
his linehe was a young fashion editor at Harpers Bazaar prior to
his accidentbut he has proved to be a quick study. Last year, sales
increased an impressive 250 percent. Here, the entrepreneur talks
tenacity, longevity and inspiration in an ever-changing marketplace.
PHOTOGRAPH BY SASHA MASLOV

BEAUTY BULLETIN

Whats also interesting is that while

your personal story is so compelling
its the strength of the brand that has
led to its success.
That was important to meits not just
about how the line started. It has to work.
That was my number-one focus. If you are
paying $115 for our Smoothing Marine
Cream, if youre not seeing results, it
doesnt matter what the story is behind
ityoure not going to buy it again.
Before your accident, you knew very
little about the beauty business. What
do you know now that you wish you
knew then?
It felt daunting in the beginning. Reading
about other companys launches, you are
reading about millions of dollars in projected sales and I was looking at our numbers, sayingI wish. We launched the company with $1,000 and no debt. It makes it
feel as if there is something wrong in building slow and steady as opposed to quick
and big bang, but a lot of companies that
did it like that are no longer around. Looking back on it now, Im more self-assured
18 WWD BEAUTY INC

and condent and steadfast in the way we

work, but at the time, it shakes you.

is an emotional connection to the actual

experience of trying the product.

What do you like about the beauty

industry?
I love how inclusive it is. Beauty gave me
a sense of stability, inquisitiveness and
creativity in my lifeespecially at a time
when I was lacking a sense of stability. Metaphorically it gave me two legs to
stand on when ironically I couldnt stand.

Youve also launched on Ipsy.

I like how savvy Michelle Phan is in understanding how big brands and small brands
can work together. She knows how to
marry the huge brands with the Indies to
create a special bag.

As the brand grows, what are the key

challenges you face?
The key challenge is to be able to balance
all of the knowledge of how things are
changing and shifting. Just because digital works doesnt mean traditional media
doesnt work. Just because traditional
outlets like Bigelow and QVC are growing
doesnt mean Ipsy doesnt work. Its about
having the right mix of traditional and
nontraditional and really knowing your
customer base.

A Clarks Botanicals
bestseller.

You were an early adopter of Amazon.

coms prestige beauty site. Are you
pleased with the results?
Amazon was a risk, but you have to be wiling to bite the bullet. Its not going away.
There is a sense of ease to buying products
in a portal that is so accessible.
Whether or not you want to be on
Amazon, you are going to be on there
through third-party sellers, so we made
sure our contract said nothing can [be
discounted] and everything has to be sold
[through] us.
Amazon is our biggest online portal
but we are strong in traditional retail,
too. Because of my injury it is difficult for
me to do a lot of in-store events, so for
me to speak directly with consumers on
QVC is also fantastic. Our number-one
brick-and-mortar is Space NK in the U.K.
From November 2014 to 2015, we grew 64
percent in sales. Its a very different audiencethey are willing to try skin care,
even if its expensive, as long as they know
its going to work. Our in-store facials and
demonstrations work well because there

Beauty gave me a sense of stability,

inquisitiveness and creativity in
my life...Metaphorically it gave me two
legs to stand on when I couldnt stand.
Francesco Clark, Clarks Botanicals

Describe a typical day in your life

youve got the company, youre
undergoing various therapies to
regenerate nerves and youre a
published author. How do you manage
your time?
Im very good at multitasking. I have to
do physical therapy every dayabout four
hours a day. We converted our garage into
a work space. I have this machine called a
standing frame, where I go from sitting to
standing for about an hour. I lift weights;
I pedal on a bike. While Im standing, Im on
conference calls. Ill be looking over packaging options, formulations. It is about making it work. Ive realized that as much as
my situation might be different from what
it used to be, everybody has their own story
and circumstancesnobody really has a typical anything. That is what I like about doing
in-store events and meeting customers. Its
cool to hear other peoples stories. We are all
just people. I like that human connection.
Youre inspiring to so many people.
Who inspires you?
My mother, Mariella. She has been so
strong since the day I was born and when
I was rst injured nothing changed. There
was never an excuse for me to not do what
I wanted to do and the reason for that
was because of my mother and father and
sister and brother. My injury never got in
the way of achieving what I was going to
achieve. It was always about using what
youve learned to take it one step further
and because of that I never had a chance
to dwell and feel sorry for myself. I was
never told that but it was something I was
shown. There is this passion and dedication and complete unbridled love within
the entire family that makes you feel like
you are stronger than you are when you
would have no strength. When I was in
the ICU, I felt like I was crumbling, but
the strength of this group of dynamic
people I was born into made it feel like it
was impossible for me not to get better.
Because of thathow could a business not
grow and not thrive?

PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CLARK'S BOTANICALS

Francesco, out of adversity you

have built an incredible life and an
incredible company. What drives you?
I never started this as a company. It was
never a business plan to make money.
It was something I started because four
years after my injury I felt like I had
become one-dimensional. [My life] felt
very robotic, like the buttery in the bell
jar. I didnt like the complacency of the way
my injury was treated in the medical eld
and I wanted people to want to talk to me,
not to ask about my injury, but to have a
genuine conversation.
On the day that Christopher Reeve died,
it was such a shock to me. He was my hero.
When I was doing physical therapy that
day I kept thinking, I have to do more. It
felt like I was riding on his hard work and
hoping he would be the champion for the
cure and advocacy, but I realized that I
needed to do my part.
In order to do that, I had to leave the
house. When I looked in the mirror, I literally looked at myself for the rst time in
three years and thats when I saw all of my
skin problems, so my father and I started
formulating products for me to use. For
the rst time in my life fashion and beauty
became something that was not frivolous
and shallowit became a source of power
and inner strength.

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BEAUTY BULLETIN
SHELF LIFE

Out of Africa
From earthy cedar to ancient Egyptian scrolls,
springs fragrance launches call to mind the materials,
spices and history of Africa. ELLEN THOMAS

Calvin Klein CK2, $75

Orris, a derivative of
irises used in Moroccan
cooking, mixes with
incense and wasabi for
a spicy scent.

Giorgio Armani Priv

Vert Malachite, $310
This bottle takes its
cues from brilliant
malachite, which is
mined in many
African countries.

Derek Lam 10 Crosby

Something Wild, $175
One of 10 new scents
from the designer,
this is a blend of
cedarwood and
Madagascarsourced
vanilla bean.

PROP STYLING BY MAYA LANER

Paco Rabanne
Olympa, $96
An unexpected
salty vanilla accord
is inspired by
a modern-day
Cleopatra.

Bulgari Goldea,
$155 Like the
perfumes formulated
by ancient Egyptians,
this scent uses
papyrus as its base.

20 WWD BEAUTY INC

PHOTOGRAPH BY COREY OLSEN

The Business
of Beauty
APRIL 22

The WWD Beauty Inc. Top 100

Ad Close: 04.01 / Materials Due: 04.08
Bonus Distro: WWD Beauty CEO Summit, NACDS, TFWA APAC

JUNE 17

Ones-to-Watch Power Issue

Ad Close: 05.27 / Materials Due: 06.03
Bonus Distro: Cosmoprof LV, CEW Insider Events

AUGUST 26

The Insiders Issue

Ad Close: 08.05 / Materials Due: 08.12
Bonus Distro: New York Fashion Week, CEW Insider Events

OCTOBER 14

The Innovators + Euro Issue

Ad Close: 09.23 / Materials Due: 09.30
Bonus Distro: TFWA Cannes

DECEMBER 9

The WWD Beauty Inc Awards

Ad Close: 11.18 / Materials Due: 11.25
Bonus Distro: BINC Awards, CEW Beauty of Giving Luncheon

Photo by Ruven Afanador

T H E P OW ER O F CO N T EN T

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT CARLY GRESH, BEAUTY DIRECTOR

AT 646 356 4705 OR CGRESH@WWD.COM

BEAUTY
AWARD
SEASON IS BACK!

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Here are the dates

you need to know:

Tale of the Magni

2.24.16 - 3.09.16
Following the Product Demo, cast your
vote for which should be named Beauty
Award Finalists. Note, only members as
of 1/31/16 are eligible to vote.

3.25.16
BEAUTY INSIDER AWARDS
FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENT
Tune in when we announce the
2016 Finalists live on Twitter!
@CEWinsider
#CEWFinalists

5.13.16

BEAUTY AWARDS LUNCHEON

Be there when we announce the
Beauty Award Winners the most
innovative products of the year.
WA L D O R F A S T O R I A , N Y C

Visit
CEW.org/BeautyAwards
for additional details.

S IS SUCH FOR best friends, Emily

Dougherty and Ying Chu have a
few things in common. For starters,
theyre both beauty directorsDougherty at Elle and Chu at Glamour. They
share a penchant for La Mer The Concentrate and
on weekends they retreat to country cabins on the
same street in New Yorks Delaware River Valley.
When Dougherty and Chu discovered they were
both pregnant at the same time last year, with due
dates a week apart, the pair thought their friend-

ship was as kismet as it could getuntil Aug. 10

and 11, when within 24 hours they both delivered
baby boys on the same oor of Mount Sinai Hospital andunbeknownst to each othereach named
their son Magnus. What makes this so crazy and
special is that had Ying had her baby a day earlier or a day late, there wouldnt have been a surprise, says Dougherty of the serendipitous series
of events. Says Chu, Theyre both Magnus and you
look at them and are like Hes such a Magnus, but
Well, hes a Magnus, too. Ellen Thomas

SERVICE STATION

Herbal Outtters

TWENTY YEARS AGOlong before wellness

became a mainstream obsession
Naturopathica founder Barbara Close was
prescribing herbal remedies out of her East
Hampton, N.Y., spa. Seizing the opportunity to
appeal to Manhattans SoulCycle-loving,
green-juice set, she recently opened an outpost
in Chelsea, with attractions like the Vitality Bar,
which offers cold-pressed juice, detox elixirs and
kombucha on tap, and the Remedy Bar, where
customerswith guidance from trained healerscreate customized herbal treatments. E.T.
127 West 26th Street; 646.979.3960
PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON LINDBERG

HAIR DJ QUINTERO FOR SERGE NORMANT AT JOHN FRIEDA SALON; MAKEUP: MIRIAM ROBSTAD AT BRYAN BANTRY

Beauty editors Emily Dougherty and Ying Chu

had babies on the same day on the same oor of the same hospital
andcompletely unplannednamed them both Magnus.

CEW MEMBER VOTING

BEAUTY BULLETIN

RETAIL WATCH

Cool Britannia

WORKING TOGETHER at Space NK in SoHo, recent New York transplants Claire

Beevers, Ali Hynes and Kristyn Smith each found themselves in career lulls at the
same time. Between them, the trio has a wealth of beauty expertiseBeevers
managed prestige fragrance counters at Harrods and Selfridges, Hynes reported on
beauty for The Telegraph before training to become a reexologist and Smith worked
as a medical aesthetician in Beverly Hills. They brainstormed ideas and the result is
Smith & Brit, which opened in October in Chelsea. The boutique carries 12 lines
from both the U.S. and across the pond, each one thoroughly vetted. I was so
overexposed to different trends and brands, says Hynes. We take our time to really
try out products and think about [them]. Bestsellers include candles and skin care
infused with seaweed sourced from the English coastal town of Margateby Haeckels,
essential oil blends and scents from upstate New York-based Lake & Skye and
anything by Clarks Botanicals. Smith & Brits offering skews natural and organic,
but results-oriented products are key. We like natural ingredients, but we also like
effective, says Beevers. These are brands we know and trust. Makeup applications,
facials and reexology are also on offer. Its a hands-on experience where we
can relate to client needs, says Beevers. People can just have a cup of tea, play
and pick our brains. E.T.
Smith & Brit; 233 West 19th Street; 917-675-6651

MARCH 2016

17TH -20TH COSMOPACK

18TH - 21ST COSMOPROF

BOLOGNA (ITALY)

PHOTO CREDIT TKHERE

F A I R
D I S T R I C T
www.cosmoprof.com

Organiser - BolognaFiere Cosmoprof S.p.a. - Milan - Italy

ph. +39.02.796.420 - fax +39.02.795.036 - info@cosmoprof.it - company of

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAMETK HERETK

in cooperation with

WWD BEAUTY INC

23

BEAUTY BULLETIN

Despite Brazil's
economic downturn, the
scene is sunny on Rio's
Copacabana Beach.

RETAIL SAFARI

SLOW MOTION
As all eyes turn to Brazil in anticipation of the 2016 Summer Olympics,
the country suffers its rst beauty downturn in decades.
BY ADRIANA BRASILEIRO

24 WWD BEAUTY INC

RAZILS BEAUTY AND

personal-care sector is the latest victim of a recession thats dragging down most industries in Latin
Americas biggest economy. After more than 20 years
growing at an annual pace of 13 percent on average
and weathering crises and downturns, sales of cosmetics and personal-care products fell 6 percent in
2015, according to Abihpec, Brazils cosmetics and
personal hygiene association.
Analysts expect 2016 to be tough, too. Over the
past year, the beauty sectors vigor has sagged under
the weight of ination thats running above 10 percent a month, rising unemployment, higher taxes
on cosmetics and a weakening currency that makes
imported products prohibitively expensive. Even a
drought that led several Brazilian regions to adopt
water-rationing measures in the past two years
hit the beauty sector: Brazilians, world-champion
shower-takers with 12 showers a week on average,
started bathing less, leading to a considerable drop
in sales of soap, shampoo, conditioner and other
hair-care products.
For years the beauty and personal-care industry
seemed bulletproof, immune to whatever problems
we had in the economy, says Joo Carlos Basilio,
president of Abihpec. But the recession we are experiencing now is truly disastrous. We are going to have
some very challenging years ahead of us.
The beauty segment has been one of the most
resilient in Brazils economy because consumers of
all social classes love cosmetics, especially hair care
and fragrances. Fueling this growth are more than
40 million consumers who have emerged into a new
middle class since 2004.
Hair care is still the strongest segment, and
direct sales are still strong, too. Despite the economic downturn, some segments remain hot. Sales
of dermocosmetics such as LOrals La Roche-Posay
and Vichy brands, for example, have been rising at
around 20 percent a year, according to Abihpec, and
are likely to keep growing.
Whether the mood picks up in advance of the
Olympics, set to take place from Aug. 5-21, remains
to be seen. But thats not to say Brazilians have forsaken beauty altogether. Here, from supermodelsin-the-making to innovative new hair-care concepts,
are seven people, products and places to keep your
eyes on.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID BURTON/TRUNK ARCHIVE

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BEAUTY BULLETIN
Quem Disse,
Berenice?

Move over, Gisele.

Brazilian model Waleska
Gorczevski turned more
than a few heads during
the fall 2014 season,
logging an impressive
roster of 54 shows in her
debut season, including
Chanel, Valentino, Prada,
Miu Miu, Calvin Klein
and Cline. She was the
most-requested model
at So Paulo Fashion
Week that year, after
being discovered in 2012
by Kee MOD in her native
Florianpolis, a city in
southern Brazil. With a
romantic, soft face and
soulful green eyes, the
model of mixed PolishBrazilian background
has a versatile beauty
reminiscent of her
famous compatriot;
insiders say it was
no coincidence that
Gorczevski opened the
winter 2016 show for
Colcci, a spot that was
Bndchens until she
retired from the runway
in April 2015.

Since its launch in 2012,

the quirky approach of
Quem Disse, Berenice?
to cosmetics has
struck a chord with
Brazilians. A powerful
advertising campaign
showing women of all
ages, colors and sizes
wearing bright red
lips, dark smoky eyes
and colorful mascaras
stirred things up in this
market thats been
dominated by traditional
players. Quem Disse,
whose prices are lower
than prestige brands
like MAC, expanded
nationally last year
from its home base in
So Paolo, opening 90
stores across Brazil and
launching e-commerce,
to reach a total of 130
doors countrywide.

Clockwise from top left:

Giovanna Antonelli,
Veggie Box, Heloisa
Assis, Full Moon Spell.

Bela Gil
When this nutritionist,
chef and TV show host
posted on Facebook last
year that using turmeric
instead of toothpaste
was a healthier way
to clean teeth, she
provoked a storm of
social media criticism
from dentists all over
Brazil. But Bela Gil also
attracted thousands
of new followers to her
philosophy that favors
using natural and

organic ingredients,
whether its for cooking
or beauty purposes. Gil
has sold nearly 300,000
copies of her cookbooks
in Brazila feat in this
country where people
buy less than two books
a year, on average. The
daughter of famous
Brazilian musician
Gilberto Gil, she has
moved beyond the
kitchen into an overall
lifestyle, including
recipes for all-natural
hair moisturizers and
post-waxing balms that
promise results that are
as good as conventional
products.

News in Nails
With more than 3.5
million Instagram
followers, actress
Giovanna Antonellis nail
styles are possibly the
most copied in Brazil.
LOrals Colorama
brand has successfully
leveraged her social
media following with
a series of collections
designed by the actress
that have signicantly
impacted the publics
taste in nail colors.
Her predilection for
bright, solid colors
like orange, hot pink
and black sparked a
change in consumer
behavior, as Brazilians
traditionally favor classic
reds and nude shades.

From top:
Model Waleska Gorczevski;
lifestyle guru Bela Gil,
and Quem Disse, Berenice?

Nail also continues to

be a relatively strong
performer in a difficult
environment, with
Nielsen reporting that
while Brazilian women
are buying fewer items,
they are trading up in
terms of quality and
price.

Veggie Box
Subscription services
are still quite new in
Brazil, and the organic
cosmetics market is
underdeveloped and

fragmented. Enter
Veggie Box, which sends
a box of organic and
cruelty-free cosmetics
monthly to subscribers.
The boxes are lled with
established brands like
Surya, as well as goodies
from handmade artisan
shops. Launched in
January 2015 after a
crowdfunding effort that
raised 18,000 reais
about $4,500by the
end of the year, the
start-up had expanded
its client base at a rate
of 30 percent a month
and has already caught
the eye of potential
investors.

Full Moon
Spell
Cutting hair according
to the phases of the
moon is a common
practice in Brazil, but
one hip So Paulo hair
salon takes it a step
further. Once a month,
the Laces and Hair
salon offers an entire
hair-spa day, called the
Full Moon Spell, with
treatments that promise
to add 1.8 centimeters
to clients locks in
28 days. A hit among
Brazilian socialites and
TV stars, the treatment
rst targets split ends,

26 WWD BEAUTY INC

removing them in
a procedure called
embroidery, which is
followed by an infusion
of organic detox and
multivitamin creams
that are applied to the
hair, followed by a laser
treatment session
to stimulate blood
circulation in the scalp.

The Queen
of Curls
Back in the early
Nineties, Heloisa
Assis, then a nanny
and cleaning lady,
decided she was tired
of treatments for black,
curly hair that involved
radical straightening.
She took matters into
her own hands, enrolled
in a hairdressing
course and created
Super Relaxante to
make Afro-Brazilian
hair more manageable
without losing its curls.
Now, Assis is one of
Brazils most powerful
entrepreneurs, whose
company, Beleza
Natural, operates 33
salons and 10 kiosks;
this year, the company
continues its growth
spurt with plans to open
two more salons and
10 kiosks, and expand
internationally.

WAYNE TIPPETTS/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Waleska
Gorczevski

  W  W

BEAUTY CEO SUMMIT

   f  T        

LAUREN BRINDLEY
WALGREENS

JENNY FRANKEL
NUDESTIX

KILIAN HENNESSY
BY KILIAN INC.

summits.wwd.com
ATTEND: KIM MANCUSO, KMANCUSO@WWD.COM, 646.356.4722
SPONSOR: ALEXIS COYLE,  WTWW
EVENT SPONSORS

FAIRCHILD
SUMMITS
ANNUAL
PARTNERS

JAMIE KERN LIMA

IT COSMETICS

BEAUTY BULLETIN

ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE

Finders,
Keepers,
Makeup
Seekers

Frustrations with nding the perfect

lipstick shade led engineer
Asmau Ahmed to develop Plum Perfect,
a color-analyzing technology
and mobile application.

Asmau Ahmed
in her Chelsea
offices.

28 WWD BEAUTY INC

SMAU AHMEDS EARLY KNACK

for experimentationgrowing up
between Nigeria and London, her
familys laundry rooms were converted into science labshas served
her well as an entrepreneur. Like any woman,
I love fashion and makeup, but my real interest
has always been nding solutions to problems,
she says. It just so happened that for Ahmed,
makeup was a continual headache. My sister is
just as dark as I am, but I would try on her lipsticks and look like a cartoon character, she says.
After leaving her chemical-engineering career
for Columbia Business School, Ahmed worked
nights on developing a proprietary technology
that analyzes skin, lip, hair and eye color, knowing that minute details like undertones are often
undetectable to the human eye.
In 2014, she launched the Plum Perfect mobile
application, to which users upload seles and
receive makeup shade recommendations that
complement their skin color. BeauTV was next.
Launched in December on Plum Perfect, it generates personalized shade suggestions for makeup
used in YouTube beauty tutorials. Plum Perfects
technology isnt solely consumer-facingAhmed
licenses it out to IMAN Cosmetics, and a topsecret project with Macys Inc. is in the works.
Though her vision for Plum Perfect has always
been to help women nd the right shade of
makeup, Ahmed says her photo-based technology
is at the forefront of changing consumer behavior.
Its natural for people to take seles, and we're
riding that wave, says Ahmed. The younger generation thinks more visually, and theyre going to
shop more visually. Ellen Thomas
PHOTOGRAPH BY AMY LOMBARD

BEAUTY BULLETIN
SHOPPER STALKER

The Buy Side

La Prairie Skin
Caviar Concealer
Foundation in
Warm Linen, $215
The only product
in the Skin Caviar
line that Wu hasnt
tried, she was eager
to give this a go.

ELLEN THOMAS heads to Flushing, Queens,

to scope out the neighborhoods wildly different beauty hot
spotsone all-American, the other 100 percent Korean.

The Face Shop

Mango Cleansing
Foam, $12
White plans to
test this against
her current
cleanser from
Nature Republic.

La Prairie
Cellular Luxe
Lip Color in
Geranium, $55
Wu loved the
bright color
after having her
makeup applied
by a consultant.

The Face Shop

Character Masks,
$4 each
These are so cute
how could you not?
White says.

The Face Shop

Real Nature
Masks, eight for
$2 each
Sheet masks are
inexpensive, so
they make good
gifts, White says.

La Prairie Cellular
Hydrating Serum, $220
Wu picked this up for her
daughter who has dry skin.

La Prairie Skin
Caviar Liquid Lift,
$525
Caviar makes my
pores small and
helps with wrinkles,
Wu says.
La Prairie Skin
Caviar Luxe Cream
Sheer, $430
I saw my skin
change and the ne
lines disappear,
says Wu of the one
product she says she
cant live without.

Whats in
Shirleys Bag?
TOTAL SPENT:

$1,573.25
DECEMBER 23, 2015, 12:44 P.M.

Macys
136-50 ROOSEVELT AVENUE,
FLUSHING

MISSION:

SPLURGE
ON SKIN CARE

HIRLEY WU IS SERIOUS ABOUT SKIN CARE. The 49-year-old got hooked

on the La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Cream a couple years ago, and says its
pricey star ingredient made her skin so smooth and soft she now swears
by a strict regimen from the brand. Wu stopped into her neighborhood Macys to
replenish items in her extensive routine, which includes two toners (she switches
formulas depending on the season), plus La Prairies Foam Cleanser and Skin
Caviar Luxe Eye Lift cream. She never shops online and relies on a trusted sales
consultant to introduce her to new products. When it comes to makeup, Wu, a jewelry-seller on Canal Street, is brand loyal to Chanel, but was swayed by a La Prairie
foundation after learning it, too, contains caviar. I dont keep a budget in mind,
says Wu about shopping for beauty. Ill pay any price for a potent ingredient.

30 WWD BEAUTY INC

Whats in
Naomis Bag?

The Face Shop

Cleansing Foam
Mousse, $5 each
White and her
friend picked these
up because they
were on sale.

TOTAL SPENT:

$53.57
DECEMBER 23, 2015, 2:40 P.M.

The Face Shop

136-53 ROOSEVELT AVENUE,
FLUSHING

MISSION:

LAST-MINUTE
HOLIDAY
SHOPPING

K-POP FAN SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL, 18-year-old Naomi White is just

as enthused about Korean skin-care products. I wanted to get on the
bandwagon, says the college freshman. White popped into The Face
Shop while she was in town for winter break, on the hunt for sheet masks to
give as holiday gifts to friends and family. Even Whites mom is on board with
the K-beauty craze. Im not a heavy face-mask user, but my mom is really, really
into it, she says. Despite the occasional splurge on a MAC lip pencil, most of
Whites beauty budget is devoted to Korean nds from brands such as Tony Moly
and Nature Republic. Im doing a purge [of old products], says White, who
researches extensively on YouTube (her favorite guru is Zabrena) before buying. Within the last few months Ive spent $500 or $600 on new [skin care].

WU AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BY PATRICK MACLEOD; PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEORGE CHINSEE

The Face Shop

Wash Cloth,
$3.20
White needed a
new washcloth
and she snapped
this one up.

ADVERTISEMENT

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EASY BREEZY BEAUTIFUL



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KATY PERRY

LA
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LILIFTING
IFTING
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A WHOLE NEW LOOK IN LASHES

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WWD
Beauty Incs
First Annual
Ranking
of Beautys
Strongest Brands

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARCEL CHRIST

WWD BEAUTY INC

33

When Procter & Gamble Co. paid $57 billion

for Gillette back in 2005, no doubt company
executives thought it was a sure bet. After all,
P&G was the top consumer products giant
in the realm of womens products, Gillette the
leader in mens. It was a marriage made in massmarket heaven. Then came the recession,
followed by the digital revolution, and a whole
new rise of competitor was born: The Disruptor.
Gillette still commands a reported 60 percent
of the retail market. But that market is contracting,
replaced by digital-rst brands like DollarShaveClub.
com, which has been able to grab close to 10 percent
of the $3 billion blades market. And though Gillette
led suit against Dollar Shave Club in December alleging patent violation, the rival upstartand its estimated two million subscribersshows no signs of
going anywhere.
Of course, the razor category is not alone. Business
models across all industries are being upended. Over
the last ve years we have seen disruption in every
industry and category you can imagine, says Dana
Cho, partner of Ideo. The competitive landscape and
ease with which a start-up can put something on the
market are all contributing to companies asking what
they should be doing next.
Nowhere is this more true than in the beauty industry. After recovering from the Great Recession of 2008,
many of the most esteemed brands in beauty have struggled to retain relevance as the traditional demographic
and psychographic drivers of their business evolve at
the speed of light, driven by the technological revolution. It begs the questionwhat does brand longevity
look like today? Can a heritage brand, one that is 60, 70
or 80 years old, or even 100, maintain its relevance in a
rapidly changing market?
This is the question everyone is asking, says Carol
Hamilton, group president of LOral Luxe USA, who
oversees brands including Lancme, Kiehls and Urban
Decay. But its not just heritage brands. In this fastmoving market, how do all brands maintain and retain
their relevance?
In this brave new world, where the Millennial is
the new Boomer, big is no longer necessarily a benet
when it comes to brand relevance, and the way brands
respond to change is key to future longevity. There is a
lot of emphasis, particularly with publicly traded companies, to have a short-termist approach to their brand
image, their products and how they execute and adapt
34 WWD BEAUTY INC

their language, says Lucie Greene, worldwide director

of the Innovation Group at J. Walter Thompson.
That can be dangerous, because if you stick with the
short term and whats working, its working now, continues Greene. But successful brands are constantly
reevaluating and pivoting. They arent afraid to pivot.
In other words, as Darwin taught us, the key to evolution is adaptation. A brand doesnt have a life cycle,
says Hamilton, but it is tougher for a heritage brand
to reinvent itself. You have to know what to keep and
what to evolve.
The key to doing that lies, of course, in a deep knowledge of the consumer you are targeting. When it feels
like there is a lot of uncertainty, says Cho, we always go
back to the consumer, because that is our foundation.
That anchors our strategic thinking. If you are serving
the consumer, you add value and are able to understand
emerging behaviors and insights.
It sounds so easy, but of course how brands engage
and interact with, understand and involve consumers is
changing practically every day. For example, how many
of you not only have a Snapchat account, but know
how to post a message in under a minute? Such rapidre and ephemeral communication methods may seem
counterintuitive to an industry built on emotion and
human touch, but thats just the point. If you can be
more adaptive while establishing a key brand behavior,
you can future-proof yourself, says Greene. When you
think about youth, they are constantly adapting. And if
you look at a 50-plus consumer, they are loyalbut they
are also increasingly behaving like Millennials. Millennial behavior is becoming mass behavior.
So which brands are doing a good job of maintaining their relevance? To nd out, we combed through
sales data, brand equity analysis, digital market
insights and our own reporting to compile a list of the
25 brands in beauty that are maintaining their mojo in
increasingly complex times. Though their names are
familiar, the landscape they are operating in is anything but. Jenny B. Fine

WWD
Beauty Incs
First Annual
Ranking
of Beautys
Strongest Brands

LOral Paris

Compiled and
researched by
Jenny B. Fine and
Faye Brookman

2 3 4 5
MAC

Chanel

Neutrogena

Urban Decay

LORAL PARIS IS A

IN AN ERA WHEN MAKEUP

IF THERE WAS EVER ANY

NEUTROGENA IS WINNING

BE IT PRODUCT TRENDS

cross-category, crossgenerational powerhouse.

According to data from
IRI, it has top 10 sellers
in 13 categories; it is
number one on Millward
Browns 2015 list of top
personal-care brands.
Dominant in hair color
and makeup, LOral is
increasing its presence
in skin and hair care with
innovative launches and
a wide cast of celebrity
spokesmodels. LOrals
digital presence is also
impressive (it pioneered
try-on apps with Makeup
Genius)and it ranks third
on L2s digital index.
L'Oral is a hit with
editors, consumers and
the industry, earning
85 awards (the most of
any brand) in the last
ve years.

reigns supreme, MAC is

the undisputed emperor.
It is the top-ranked
prestige color brand in
the U.S., according to
the NPD Group, and the
fourth-biggest brand
overall when taking into
account all categories
even though its in
only a fraction of the
doors of the big three.
Digital dominance?
Check. It rules the social
media indexes of Tribe
Dynamics and L2, and
is the most mentioned
brand in vlogger videos,
according to L2. It
has also set the gold
standard for corporate
social responsibility with
the MAC AIDS fund,
which has raised more
than $400 million to
date for research.

question of whether
a heritage brand can
remain fresh with a
broad cross section of
consumers, Chanel has
laid the argument to
rest. It is the numberone fragrance player in
the U.S. prestige market,
number nine in makeup
and number ve overall,
and has perfected
the art (and science)
of keeping a brand
simultaneously hip and
iconic. While it has yet
to achieve a signicant
social media presence,
L2 cites Chanel for
successfully keeping
gray market products at
bay on Amazon.com. But
its products are a clear
winner with consumers,
racking up 54 awards
over the last ve years.

the mass skin-care

market-share skirmishes
at the moment, with
bestsellers in every key
category, according
to IRI. Be it acne,
antiaging, cleansers
or moisturizers,
Neutrogena has been
adroit at creating
rather than following
market momentum, as
with the 2015 top-selling
Hydro Boost Water Gel.
Editors love the
brandits award count
over the last ve years
reached 60, and digitally
it is upping its game.
L2 reports that
Neutrogena is the top
skin-care brand in
category search visibility.

or the digital dominion,

where Urban Decay
goes, others follow. The
brand has excelled at
marrying innovation
and execution. Its
Naked series of palettes
may have spawned
countless imitators,
but the original and its
subsequent iterations
continue to drive
Urban Decays sales.
Digitally, the brand is
equally as dominant,
ranking number one
on L2s Digital IQ Index
Ranking, which singled
out the brand not only
for its social media
performance, but for
also having the top
mobile experience in
beauty bar none.

35

6 8 10 12 14

Our
Methodology
WWD BEAUTY INC

consulted a variety
of sources to compile
our list of beautys 25
most powerful brands.
1. Domestic Sales

For the prestige

market, we looked
at rankings from The
NPD Group from
Nov. 2014 through
Nov. 2015. For the
mass market, sales
data from IRI for the
52 weeks ending
12/27/2015 were
used.
2. Brand Equity

Millward Brown
provided its index of
the Top 15 Personal
Care Brands for 2015.
3. Digital Success

To determine the
brands with the
strongest digital
engagement, we
consulted L2s 2015
Digital IQ Index for
the beauty category,
as well as Tribe
Dynamics Earned
Media Value index for
social media for 2015.
We also consulted
Sephora.com, Ulta.
com and Birchbox for
their lists of highestrated brands and
bestsellers.
4. Awards We
compiled data from
2011-2015 from the
following Awards, in
alphabetical order:
Allure, Cosmetic
Executive Women, The
Fragrance Foundation,
InStyle, Marie Claire
Prix dExcellence and
Renery 29 (2015
data only).
5. Innovation We
took into account our
own reporting when
factoring in product
innovation and trend
leadership.

36 WWD BEAUTY INC

Maybelline
New York

MAYBELLINES STRENGTH

lies in its modernity.

The brands age101
years old this year
belies its youthoriented approach to
marketing and product
development. Maybelline
has successfully
capitalized on its historic
strengths in mascara
to dominate the overall
eye category. While the
brand isnt the strongest
social media performer,
its strength in search
engine optimization
and its effective use
of shoppable usergenerated content on its
own Web site propelled it
to the number-two spot
on L2s digital ranking
index.

Este Lauder

Lancme

bareMinerals

Sally Hansen

THE NAYSAYERS WERE

LANCME HAS PROVEN

CALL IT THE FIRST SOCIAL

AN EMPHASIS ON

many. Este Lauder

is one of the most
venerable names in
beauty, but could it nd
its mojo with Millennials?
The answer seems
to be a resounding
yes. According to The
NPD Group, Lauder
is the third-largest
prestige beauty brand
in the U.S. It has also
effectively leveraged
its spokesmodel
Kendall Jenner to drive
awareness among
younger consumers and
ranks number nine in the
gifted segment, in L2s
Digital IQ Index. Look for
the brand to capitalize
on the strength of all of
this as it gears up for the
launch of The Este Edit
collection of makeup
and skin care in Sephora.

to be one of prestige
beautys most consistent
players. Ranked number
two in sales in the U.S.
according to The NPD
Group, it is the highestranking prestige brand
on Millward Browns
top 15 list, coming in at
number four for 2015,
a 23 percent increase
over 2014. Lancme is
also one of the most
consistent winners
of Marie Claires Prix
dExcellence, and it
occupies the numberthree spot on L2s Digital
IQ Index, thanks to the
strongest desktop site in
the Index which excels at
content and commerce
integration.

media makeup brand.

Under the auspices of
then-ceo Leslie Blodgett,
bareMinerals forged a
new distribution path for
the industry, as well as a
new product category
mineral makeup. While
it has since evolved
considerably as a
brand, adding skin
care, liquid foundations
and a full makeup line,
bareMinerals is no
longer an Indie outsider.
It is the sixth-largest
prestige beauty brand
in the U.S., according to
NPD, and gifted in the
digital sphere, says L2,
which notes the brands
particular strength in
rate and review on its
recently revamped
Web site.

creating rst-tomarket technology

has propelled Sally
Hansen to continued
strength in an otherwise
sluggish nail category.
The brand consistently
innovates in product
development, quickly
translating trends from
the professional market
to the mass market,
as with its Miracle Gel.
It is also best of class
digitally in its category
with the launch of its
ManiMatch app last
May, which enables
users to test out over
200 nail colors and
helped catapult Sally
Hansen to the number
12 ranking on L2s Digital
IQ Index, a 24 percent
increase in its standing
compared to 2014.

7 9 11 13 15

Benet
Cosmetics
BENEFITS TAG LINE IS

Laughter is the best

cosmetic! and no
doubt it is smiling all
the way to the bank.
Its problem-solution
approach to product
creation coupled with
an emphasis on in-store
brow services have
made it a rst-to-market
player that other brands
emulate. Benet is a
social media standout
(it is the sixth-most
mentioned brand on
sephora.com and Roller
Lash was the most
popular product of
2015 on Birchbox), and
it eagerly experiments
across platforms. The
strategy works: Benet
ranks seventh in prestige
makeup.

Dove

Nars

Dior

Clinique

FROM BAR SOAP TO

WHETHER NAMING A

DIOR STAGED A COUP

THE LEADING PRESTIGE

beauty: Dove has

effectively transcended
its roots as a
moisturizing soap to
become a multifaceted
brand with one of the
most resonant points
of view in the industry.
Dove was an early
adopter in championing
a higher purpose with
its Campaign for Real
Beauty, whose content
from curly-haired
emojis to self-esteemincreasing videoshas
helped the brand
increase its value 10
percent in the last year
according to Millward
Brown, which ranks it
number eight in its top
15 personal-care brands.

blush Orgasm
or creating edgy
collaborations, Nars has
never believed in playing
it safe. The approach
resonates with both
industry insiders and
editorsNars racked up
72 awards during the last
ve years, second only to
LOraldominating the
blush and eye shadow
categories. It also has
a signicant presence
digitally, and was one
of the rst to capitalize
on its community of
Narsissists with a
plethora of launches.
Nars is the third mostmentioned brand on
sephora.com, according
to L2, as well as the
third most-mentioned in
vlogger videos.

when it landed Johnny

Depp to be the face
of its 2015 hit mens
scent, Sauvage, but it
is far from the brands
only win recently. Dior
has successfully honed
its cosmetics meets
couture strategy to
drive both its fragrance
business (JAdore is a
perennial bestseller)
and its color cosmetics
business, which is a
standout at Sephora.
Strong globally and
ranked number nine
overall in the U.S.
prestige market, the
brand also consistently
garners numerous
awards for its mascaras,
eye shadows and
fragrances.

beauty brand, occupying

the number-one spot
in skin care and the
number two in makeup,
Clinique is a giant in the
midst of a reinvention.
It excels at creating
categoriesas with
its Even Better Clinical
Dark Spot Corrector
and the wildly popular
Chubby Sticks, although
the pace has slowed
somewhat in the last
couple of years. But that
looks to be changing, as
does the brands digital
presence. While not a
strong force on social
media, Cliniques Web
site is among the best,
with an L2 ranking of
six, and its awards tally
of 45 makes it a winning
proposition with editors
and industry insiders.

16 18 20 22 24
Cover Girl

Jo Malone

TRESemm

Revlon

OPI

COVER GIRLS 'GIRLS CAN'

THERE IS ONLY ONE NICHE

IN 2013, TRESEMM

REVLONS OWNER,

QUICK: WHAT DO HELLO

campaign to help young

women overcome
boundaries and break
through barriers is a
successful metaphor for
the brand, which despite
stormy times with
parent company Procter
& Gamble has remained
a strong mass market
contender. It has bestselling items in the top
10 in every key makeup
category, according
to IRI data, and is
collectively number
one in foundation and
number two in mascara.
Its digital presence is
equally strong, with
an L2 ranking of six
thanks to initiatives like
an aggressive YouTube
search strategy.

player in NPDs list of

the top 10 fragrance
brands, and it is Jo
Malone, ringing in at
number nine. One of the
fastest-growing brands
of the Este Lauder
Cos. Inc., according to
industry analysis, it has
reportedly sustained 30
percent average annual
sales growth over 20
years. The brand isnt a
digital powerhouse, but
its emphasis on creating
memorable in-store
experiencesbe it
through customization,
fragrance combining
or a robust gifting
programhas enabled
it to pull away from the
pack despite being in a
crowded category.

became the official hair

sponsor of New York
Fashion Week, in a bid
to establish the saloninspired hair-care brand
as a leader in styling.
Mission accomplished.
The brand is a leading
player in myriad
hair-care categories,
according to data from
IRI, and, along with sister
brands Dove and Axe,
is credited with helping
to fuel the sales of
Unilevers personal care
division. TRESemm
has a respectable social
media presence for its
category. Tribe Dynamics
ranked it third in hair
care, with an earned
media value of $12.7
million, and the brand is
known for its strength
with how-to videos.

Ronald Perelman, may

or may not be looking
at selling, but one thing
is certain: ceo Lorenzo
Delpani is condently
moving forward.
The brands recent
campaign, Love Is On,
appears to be garnering
results, and the followup, Choose Love, is
currently launching.
According to IRI, Revlon
occupies the top spots
in foundation, lipstick,
lip liner and eyeliner. The
brand is a beauty editor
favorite, with more than
35 awards, and it ranks
29 in L2, which cites its
effective tablet-specic
advertising strategy as
among best in class.
However, when it comes
to social media, Revlon
still lags.

Kitty and Kerry

Washington have in
common? Theyve
both been tapped
by OPI as celebrity
collaborators. Its that
kind of dichotomy that
has helped OPI maintain
a strong business in both
the professional and
retail sectors at a time
when the nail business
overall has been
challenged. The brands
consistently fresh
approach is reected in
its digital engagement
and award wins, where
perennial bestsellers
such as Lincoln Park
After Dark are cited
frequently, as are newer
shades and treatments.

17 19 21 23 25

Giorgio Armani
Beauty
EVERYONE KNOWS

foundation is a loyalty
category, and that has
certainly proven to be
the case for Giorgio
Armani Beauty. Though
its color cosmetics
line is in relatively
limited distribution, it
is a consistent awardwinner with editors and
a clear leader in the
face category. Armani
has adeptly launched
of-the-moment limitededition products
that capitalize on the
brands red carpet
and runway strengths.
That, combined with its
number-two ranking in
U.S. prestige fragrance
sales, according to NPD,
has made Armani a force
in the specialty arena.

Philosophy

Tom Ford

PHILOSOPHY HAS

TOM FORD HAS NEVER

successfully recast
itself from a bath and
body business beloved
at gift-giving time into
a serious, well-rounded
contender that is the
fourth-largest prestige
skin-care brand,
the seventh-largest
fragrance brand and
the eighth-biggest
prestige brand overall,
according to The NPD
Group. Philosophy is in
the top third of digital
performers, lauded
for its efficacy across
platforms. Look for
its recently launched
philanthropic platform
beneting mental
illness to reinforce the
brands relevance with
Millennials.

shied away from

controversy, and
the unconventional
route has served
him well in beauty.
First, he launched
an ultraexclusive
fragrance collection that
spawned a category
into itself. Next came
color cosmetics, with
stratospheric prices,
supertight distribution
and unabashedly sexy
products. The approach
has worked: Industry
sources estimate the
brand will reach retail
sales of $500 million
for scal 2016, making
Tom Ford one of the
most-watchedand
fastest-growingbrands
in prestige beauty.

Olay

OLAYS STRUGGLES have

been well documented.
But under Alex Keith,
president of global skin
care & personal care at
Procter & Gamble Co.,
Olay is now rmly in
turnaround mode and
starting to capitalize
on its historic market
strengths. It ranks
one, two and three in
mass-market antiaging
skin care, according to
IRI, and is still strong
in moisturizers and
cleansers. Digitally,
Olay has deployed
an aggressive search
strategy, according to
L2, which says it owns
4.7 percent of total
skin-care ads, behind
only Amazon. And it has
maintained its stature
with editors, winning
more than 35 awards.

John Frieda

JOHN FRIEDA HAS

consistently launched
innovation in the massmarket category since
the debut of its Frizz
Ease serum. It has
maintained its strength
in that category, while
continuing to pursue
a path to newness in
others. For example, a
recent standout launch
was Root Blur, a rst-tomass market two-tone
concealer for the hair to
hide regrowth. The brand
is also a consistent
award winner, racking
up the wins not just
for its tried-and-true
stockkeeping units, like
Frizz Ease, but for many
of the new products it
launches annually.

WWD BEAUTY INC

37

ITS A BRAVE NEW WORLD

FOR BEAUTY MARKETERS, WHERE FORTUNE
FAVORS THE BOLD, THE BRIGHT
AND THOSE PLUGGED IN ENOUGH TO MOVE
AT THE SPEED OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
BY RACHEL BROWN
PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHRISTINE HAHN
ILLUSTRATIONS BY HATTIE STEWART

38 WWD BEAUTY INC

Talk about a meteoric rise. Two years ago, Katy DeGroot quit her job
as an executive team leader at Target. Today, shes recognized practically every
time she steps into one of the retailers stores. Usually, the first thing people
say is, Oh my God, youre so small, chuckles DeGroot, a 5-foot-3 tomboy version of Mariah Carey in her Butterfly phase who is better known by her social
media handle LustreLux, but its never really awkward. Its like seeing one of your
friends. DeGroot started LustreLux as a Web site with no grand ambitions to
become a social media sensation. I just wanted to create something that mixed
my sarcasm and humor into writing and doing a few pictures, she says. It was
very Millennial of me to not want to listen to anybody and do whatever I wanted
to do. The appeal of her approach soon became apparent. Two months after
LustreLux started posting on Instagram and YouTube, DeGroot was picking up
10,000 subscribers a day. She crossed 500,000 subscribers in eight months
and has now amassed more than 2.6 million followers. Shes partnered with brands
including Make Up For Ever, Benet, NARS
and Philips to promote products, signed up
as a stylist for Ipsy and recently settled in
Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career as
a social media makeup buff.
DeGroots swift ascent from nobody to
somebody parallels rapid changes in the
beauty landscape caused by social media.
Social media is shaping consumer behavior, says Shelley Haus, vice president of
brand marketing at Ulta Beauty. Scrolling
through Instagram, the pictures and videos
bring things to life in a way thats superabsorbable. [Consumers] go to Instagram for
beauty inspiration and to learn how to wear
this or do that. They relate in a really visual
way, and they are getting a sense of urgency.
The sea change is creating a new generation of consumers, a swelling group of
young women who devour beauty content,
determinedly search for details about products they covet, itch to try new brands and
crave great scores. Increasingly, brands are
responding by unleashing newness at warp
speed, solidifying relationships with social
media stars, ambushing trends and quickening the pace of their marketing efforts. With
social media inaming desire for products,
its a kill-or-be-killed environment in the
beauty business, and the kills can be immediate and very, very big.
To wit: Kylie Jenners Lip Kit, $29, sold
out in minutes when it launched online.
40 WWD BEAUTY INC

Beccas Champagne Pop highlighter, cocreated with YouTube personality Jaclyn Hill,
generated an estimated $20 million in sales
during the second half of 2015 and was the
biggest single-day seller in sephora.coms
history. Tartes Amazonian Clay Matte Palette doubled its sales expectations after the
brand partnered with 12 inuencers during
the year, and the Too Faced Stardust palette,
designed with Instagram inuencer Vegas
Nay, propelled the brand into being one of
the strongest performers at Ulta.
Mary Beth Laughton, senior vice president of digital at Sephora, says Instagram
can stoke unprecedented demand. There
is so much more content available to help
clients over that decision-making threshold,
she says. The rise of visual social media
has powered not only the ability for a client to explore more, but also make more
informed decisions by seeing more images of

product on faces and how to use products.

Survey results bear out the impact of
Instagram on sales. In its 2015 study of the
U.S. cosmetics industry, TABS Analytics
found Instagram is very important in the
purchasing decisions of 31 percent of Millennials who are heavy buyers of cosmetics,
an 11 percent increase from 2014. Instagram
is becoming much more important to the
women who are the drivers in the category,
says Kurt Jetta, ceo and founder of TABS,
noting African-Americans and Hispanics are
more than twice as likely to say Instagram is
important in their decisions. Heavy buyers
are 30 percent of the shoppers in the beauty
category, but account for 60 percent of sales.

he power of social media

to move the merch has
given rise to a new breed of
brands that live primarily
online, such as ColourPop,
Sigma Beauty, Dose of Colors and BH Cosmetics, all
of which have greater Instagram followings
than established brands including Revlon,
Cover Girl and Wet n Wild. And it has propelled existing brands who have mastered
the mediumsuch as Anastasia Beverly
Hills, Tarte and Too Facedinto exponential
sales increases.
Wende Zomnir, founding partner and
chief creative officer at Urban Decay, says
the new breed of brands are effectively mining a distribution channel their larger rivals
havent masteredmuch as the rst wave of
Indie brands did during the Nineties when
Sephora opened in the U.S. It reminds me
of when we started, and [bigger brands]
would not go into Sephora. So, Sephora
was our venue, and it created a new way of
doing business, she says. I love watching

I LOVE WATCHING ALL OF THESE

BRANDS ON INSTAGRAM. WE CAN
COMPLETELY LEARN FROM THEM. LOOKING
BACK AT DEPARTMENT STORE BRANDS
THAT EVENTUALLY WENT TO SEPHORA,
YOU WOULD BE MISTAKEN NOT TO.
WENDE ZOMNIR, URBAN DECAY

CHARTING THE RISE OF LUSTRELUX

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WHATS THE RECIPE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS? Tribe Dynamics

Christina Goswiller says it includes: striking a balance between accessible
and inspirational content, high-quality imagery, strategic hashtags,
appealing contests and giveaways, consistently posting, creating a voice
thats relatable and knowing the right reposts to spur conversation.

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all of these brands on Instagram. We can

completely learn from them. Looking back
at department store brands that eventually
went to Sephora, you would be mistaken
not to.
Thus far, social medias impact has been
seen primarily with makeup, but as marketers look to apply their insights to other categories, the lessons about what worksand
what doesntare being applied across the
board. Thus far, the mix includes initiating
affiliate programs, linking with social media
inuencers on limited-edition products (palettes anyone?), peddling vibrant and inexpensive hero items, and celebrating usergenerated content.
Visually, Instagram has evolved relatively rapidly. Photo albums rather than
billboards garner the highest engagement.
A case study by Curalate shows that the
brand Sigma Beauty posts four to ve
user images per day on Instagram to push
24,000 clicks per month to its online product pages. Leveraging a Curalate service
titled Fanreel, those pages contain user
images pulled from Instagram exhibiting
looks fashioned with the brands products.
Consumers who check out those images
spend 12 minutes and 25 seconds on Sigma
Beautys site, compared to three minutes
and 12 seconds when they dont.
Consumer behavior is driven by showing the product as it is being used in real
life, not necessarily on a white background,
says Matthew Langie, chief marketing officer of Curalate.
Rickys NYC president Richard Parrott
believes professional hair care will be the
next category to take off on Instagram.
Thats a huge opportunity, he says. They
have the content, but they are not using it
so much on social media. They are using it
in the professional world.
On the skin-care front, Haus says, [Instagram] has lent itself to products that are
sexier and, obviously, color is sexy, sexy, sexy,
but as people are getting more into skin care,
even Millennials, a little bit of the sexy is
being put into skin care.
Masks, which can be displayed in a highly
visual manner, are a case in point, with links
to how-tos on the immediate horizon as well.
Este Lauder has high hopes for its metallic
Advanced Night Repair PowerFoil Mask on
social. It is great to experiment on Instagram with a really visual skin-care product to
WWD BEAUTY INC

41

THE
NEW
COLOR
CREW
Makeups Insta-launches
are coming in fast and
furious. Here is
a whos who of the
new kids on the block.
ELLEN THOMAS

Actress-turned
Internet-entrepreneur
Gwyneth Paltrow is
the creative director
of Juice Beautys rst
foray into color. Look
for major Goop play
of the collection,
which features
pigments derived
from natural sources.

2 Milk Makeup

The brainchild of
Milk Studios founder
Mazdack Rassi and
his fashion editor
wife Zanna, the lines
chunky lip markers,
high-gloss eye
slicks and a last-allweekend lash stain
take inspiration from
the downtown
model-DJ set.

3 Pat McGrath
Labs
Superstar makeup
artist Pat McGrath
staged guerilla-style
pop-up parties
announced on
Instagramfor
the launch of her
rst namesake
products, Gold
001 and Phantom
002. Available only
online, they sold
out in a snap. Stay
tuned for Part 003.

4 The Este Edit

Splashy packaging,
neon lipsticks,
a Kendall Jennerdesigned palette
and a slew of trenddriven skin-care
offeringsthink
water packs and
algae soapcomprise
Este Lauders
Sephora-exclusive,
Millennial-minded
push.

5 Winky Lux

42 WWD BEAUTY INC

Cheeky packaging
and funky hues make
Winky Lux a social
media standout.
The richly pigmented
Lip Velours even have
their own hashtags.
The online-born
brand hits Aerie
stores this month.

gauge engagement versus [engagement from]

an image of a serum or a cream, says Geri
Schachner, senior vice president of global
communications at Este Lauder.
For its part, later this year, Juice Beauty
will launch a mask with a colored formula
that contrasts with skin tones to make a
skin-care statement on Instagram. To circumvent the issues skin-care posits, brands
have honed in on featuring packaging
ingredients such as apples or roses, or symbols marketing like beakers or egg timers.
Because newness is a key driver on Instagram, companies are evolving their launch
strategies accordingly. Some brands like
Winky Lux introduce new products every
three weeks to a month; others, like Urban
Decay, introduce iterations of existing bestsellers, such as its Naked Smoky Palette.
Taking a cue from Beyoncs surprise album,
brands are also launching products on unexpected dates like Winky Luxs product timed
with the rst snowfall in New York or ColourPops to celebrate a collaborators birthday.

ew trends dont occur as

often as new products, but,
when they do, they spur
crazes on social media that
savvy brands are cashing
in on. The brands that are
going to win can capitalize quickly on a certain trend, whether it is
through optimized content, a quick-thinking
inuencer mailing or repurposing products
in their line to t that trend, says Julia
Sloan, vice president of global communications and fashion relations at Nars.
Tarte, for example, jumped on the baking
trend with its existing Smooth Operator Clay
Finishing Powder and Maracuja Creaseless
Concealer, which resulted in a 48 percent
bump in concealer sales. When Benets
marketing department saw strobing emerge,
they packaged together four legacy products
in Strobe Your Ego kits and sent them to
inuencers. The brands Watts Up Cream-toPowder Highlighter, included in the package,
sold out on sephora.com. To have a product
thats been around for four years sell out was
massive, says Claudia Allwood, U.S. digital
marketing director for Benet. That was a
lesson. We have to have our nger on the
pulse of whats coming next.
Both retailers and brands are working
harder to get the earliest possible reads on
trends. At a gathering of YouTubers, three
attendees had colored eyebrows. A month
later, Winky Lux released Rainbow Brow Palette, a consistent bestseller that allows users

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEORGE CHINSEE

1 Juice Beauty

to colorfully brighten their brows.

Ulta scours inuencer content daily
to detect looks or products that are being
repeated and generating their own vocabulary. Once people attach a name and a howto to it, thats when it starts being a trend.
We know theres a groundswell when there
is user-generated content around it, says
Haus. Ulta is also working with manufacturers to shorten the nine to 12 months it takes
to go from product idea to execution. We
are continually thinking about how Instagram and other social channels have created
an immediacy and how do we keep up with
that, says Haus.
Social media is like bam, bam, bam, says
DeGroot. If youre not doing it tomorrow,
youre late.
As user-generated content explodes,
brands are ceding control of the ow of information. For the launch of its spring collection, Tarte opted for social media inuencers
to unveil the products before doing so itself.
That strategy netted 20 million Instagram
impressions prior to the collection being
available for sale, leading to a growth rate of
80 percent for Tarte on Instagram and a 38
percent boost in engagement on the brands
Instagram account.
Marketers are also improving on identifying the right inuencers rather than the

TO HAVE A PRODUCT THATS BEEN AROUND

FOR FOUR YEARS SELL OUT WAS MASSIVE.
THAT WAS A LESSON. WE HAVE TO HAVE OUR FINGER
ON THE PULSE OF WHATS COMING NEXT.
CLAUDIA ALLWOOD BENEFIT

most prominent ones. A brand might have

a location in Boston they really want to pay
attention to, and they nd an inuencer who
has an audience there, says Daniel Saynt,
founder and ceo of inuencer casting and
creative agency Socialyte. They are looking
for a demo and audience to hit.
Long-term deals with DeGroot and other
inuencerssix-month to two-year contractsare escalating and the compensation
can be eye-popping. Fashion blogger Kristina
Bazan, who has 2.2 million Instagram followers, set a new bar by nabbing a reported
seven-gure contract with LOral in October.
For the proven inuencers, brands are going
to try to create long-term relationships,
says Kenn Henman, ceo and founder of
uFluencer Group. Instead of a oneoff palette they will create a collection
around an inuencer. For the smaller
inuencers, they are going to still be
one-offs.

#SNEAKPEEK
FOR THE MOST
up-to-date makeup
news on Instagram,
beauty junkies rely
on Sophie Shab.
Better known by her
handle Trendmood,
the 34-year-old Los
Angeles makeup
artist consistently
posts scoops that
surprise brands and
delight her 373,000
followers. Whether its
Urban Decay, Benet,
Anastasia, ColourPop
or countless others,
Shab reveals the latest
in her relentless feed
of product images,
swatches and behindthe-scenes shots.
Were putting
it out there before
anyone else, says
Shab, who is rarely

seen in her accounts

product-heavy
Instagram posts. I
work 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. I
have pulled over to the
side of the road to put
up a post because it
has to be there before
anyone else gets it.
Claudia Allwood,
U.S. digital marketing
director for Benet,
says Trendmood
regularly exposes
campaigns and new
items a month or so
ahead of a brands
schedule. For example,
Trendmood posted a
picture of a marketing
deck for Benets
Air Patrol
before official
images of
the product

were issued. Allwood

doesnt know how
Shab got her hands
on it. Her entire
channel is based on
getting early access
to information, and
we keep waiting to see
if she has our stuff,
says Allwood.
Shab estimates
she posts about
once every two
hours. In between,
shes constantly
checking e-mails,
scouring social media,
making phone calls
and sorting through
the mountain of
merchandise that
arrives at her door.
She says brands and
members of
her makeuploving network

are the primary

sources for her
scoops.
Shab is so effective
in getting early
information that
some brands have
been forced to scuttle
carefully crafted
launch strategies
and resort to back-up
tactics. The leaked
photo can be really
bad, and it doesnt
make the product
look great. We dont
want to release things
before we plan to,
but sometimes we
have to, says Wende
Zomnir of Urban
Decay.
Increasingly, Shab
is being looped into
the process. Brands
are starting to use her
to leak things, says
Allwood. Some are
also using the feed
to deploy up-to-date

information. When
one of its palettes
sold out over the
holidays, Urban Decay
contacted Shab with
details on where it
was being restocked
that she then posted
to her followers.
Shab insists she
makes no money
from the brands she
posts on Instagram.
However, she is
dipping her toes into
collaborations, like
a makeup organizer
with Zahra Beauty.
But her primary
motivation is
providing up-to-theminute info on new
items. I did it in the
beginning for myself
because it is my
passion, says Shab,
and I do it for the
makeup community
because it is needed.
R.B.

Going forward, brands hope Instagram

and other social media platforms will make
images shoppable. Instagram inched toward
commerciality last year with the launch of
new ad formats but advancements havent
yet made social media a formidable vehicle
for direct sales. During the most recent holiday season, the analytics rm Custora found
that social media channels were responsible
for a mere 1.8 percent of online sales. Social
media works more [to push] in-store purchasing because it is almost entirely the people
who are really into the category that are on
social in high numbers, says Jetta of TABS.

he other challenge is staying

ahead of the game. Much
as Instagram exploded over
the last 24 months, other
platforms are gaining speed
exponentially, particularly
Snapchat and Periscope.
Bullish on Periscope, Tarte chief marketing officer Candace Craig Bulishak says its
ideal for education and live product demonstrations like painting swatches on skin.
People arent looking for that highly edited
content any more, she says. They want to
see relatable, raw content. Its a departure
from the highly edited videos and polished
photographs we created in the past. Because
of this idea of conversational marketing, it
makes sense that the future of social is all
about live-streaming and connecting with
consumers in real time.
Snapchat captures spontaneity, says Allwood, underscoring Instagram content is
becoming curated and intentional. Snapchat
is for those silly moment-to-moment experiences that are fun to share, but arent worth
crafting a clever caption, lter and requiring
an elevated creative effort, she says, noting
unboxing has moved to Snapchat.
DeGroot, who had 1.3 million followers on
Instagram as of press time, is spending more
and more time on Snapchat. Its basically like
texting your viewers, she says. Ill ask them
about products and what kind of video theyd
like to see next. It makes it a lot easier to connect with them. People see who you really
are on Snapchat because its so unedited.
WWD BEAUTY INC

43

FORWARD
With change happening at the speed of light,
we asked five leaders in high-tech, high-touch
categories outside of the beauty industry, for their
insights on staying ahead of the curve.
BY JENNY B. FINE

How do you stay ahead of trends,

ahead of a market that is moving so fast?
CARLOS BECIL: Im always looking outside of the tness category

for trends. We are in the service business, so I draw inspiration

from luxury hospitality and retail brands, and by thinking about instore and in-hotel experiences. Secondly, I have a team that comes
from a diverse backgroundfashion, technology, hospitality, retail.
You have to get people who are close to consumers from different
businesses to be part of the process in identifying what is going on.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Our speed-to-market is incredibly quick.
Most fashion retailers are producing product six to 12 months
ahead of when they are selling in-store. We are doing six to 12
weeks, so were able to think carefully about what we produce, how
we produce it and react quickly to trends. Our merchandising and
design process is a blend of traditional trend forecasting combined
with data and analytics based on what customers are looking for in
real time.
MARC LORE: At a high level, do less reading and more thinking.

There are only a limited number of hours in the day and any free
minute I get I spend thinking about the future and new ways of
doing things. I spend a lot of time thinking about what has happened historically, how and what the megatrends are and where
they may go. A lot of people spend a lot of time reading to give
them an idea of where things are headed, but by that time it is
too late.
44 WWD BEAUTY INC

Participants:
Carlos Becil
Chief Marketing Officer
Equinox Holdings
Carlos Becil is the chief
marketing officer of
Equinox Holdings, which
owns and operates tness
clubs in the U.S., U.K. and
Canada including Equinox
Fitness, Pure Yoga and
Soul Cycle. He joined the
company from Starwood
Hotels and Resorts in 2013,
and oversees consumer
engagement programs,
brand partnerships and
growth opportunities.

Daniella Yacobovsky
Cofounder
BaubleBar
Daniella Yacobovsky is
cofounder of the online
jewelry retailer BaubleBar.
She and cofounder Amy
Jain conceived the company
for a Harvard Business
School project while earning
their MBAs. Previously
she worked in nance at
American Capital Securities
and UBS Investment Bank.
Marc Lore
Cofounder, Chief Executive
Officer, Chairman
Jet.com
Marc Lore founded the
innovative e-commerce
company Jet.com in 2014
and has since raised
more than $200 million
for the venture. A serial
entrepreneur, Lore founded
Quidsi Inc., the parent
company of sites such as
Diapers.com and Soap.
com, which Amazon.com
acquired for $545 million
in 2011.

Tim Williams
Cofounder,
Chief Executive Officer
YR Live
London-based Tim Williams
worked in the software
industry before he and a
partner founded the event
company, Luma, which
offered live event printing.
That technology lead to the
creation of YR, the modular
digital design and print
studio that allows users
to create personalized
clothing instantly. YR
currently has outposts in
Macys and TopShop.
Uri Minkoff
Cofounder,
Chief Executive Officer
Rebecca Minkoff
Uri Minkoff and his sister,
Rebecca, founded their
company in 2005 with
the launch of a handbag
collection. Since then,
Minkoff has overseen
the companys growth
into a full lifestyle brand.
With more than 14 years
of experience as an
entrepreneur, Minkoff
has also successfully
cofounded health-care
companies, including
LifeWorks Wellness Center
and Bodyhealth.com, and
technology companies
Fortis Software and Loop.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXANDRE KOROBOV

Uri Minkoff
Rebecca Minkoff

Carlos Becil
Equinox

Tim Williams
YR Live

Daniella
Yacobovsky
BaubleBar

Marc Lore
Jet.com

WWD BEAUTY INC

45

TIM WILLIAMS: We are quite keen to

employ fashion-conscious young people to

keep our brand fresh and to benet from
their knowledge and their personal style.
We like to think we can work with lots of
different people and brands and genres, so
that we stay ahead of styles and fashions,
and can shape ourselves to match any
brand that uses our technology.
URI MINKOFF: I have a technology back-

ground, and there are different disciplines

that Im able to apply here. Sometimes in
fashion you are looking at what is happening in fashion, but there are a lot of technology publications and sites and blogs
that have relevant information for me that
I look at and then gure out how to apply
that to what we are doing.

Who, on a global basis,

do you nd the most
inspirational/innovative
in digital marketing
and why?
Shock
and Awe
Under Carlos Becil,
Equinox has created
a deliberately
provocative voice
that you either
getor you
dontsuch as the
recent Commit
To Something
campaign, which
touches on topical
hot-button issues
like breast feeding in
public. To rise above
the tness clutter
we elevate ourselves
with a provocative
voice and socially
relevant message,
says Becil, and it has
worked well to keep
the brand relevant.

CARLOS BECIL: Burberry. They seem

very committed to investing in digital

and they have continued to expand their
platforms and content strategy. Theyre
not afraid to test new ground and keep
expanding digitally to see how it impacts
their business.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Sephora is very
creative at nding ways to be relevant in
your life. We love their how-to content and
how clever they are about the format in
which they surface that content.
MARC LORE: Airbnb has done an amazing

job of creating a community and building a brand in social media even though
they dont control the end-to-end experience themselves. Warby Parker has done
a lot of interesting things in social media
and video communications. The idea of
starting online and building a brick-and-

It is the little things together that build a brand

and build emotional connections with consumers...all the
little things that you think dont really matter collectively
create brand differentiation.
MARC LORE JET.COM

46 WWD BEAUTY INC

mortar store is an interesting approach to

building a brand.
URI MINKOFF: Under Armour. We know

them as an apparel and footwear brand.

Now theyve spent a tremendous amount
of money to buy communities and wearable-related products. It will be fascinating to see how they are going to combine
those two audiences of technology equipment plus a huge amount of consumers
who are loyal to the apps they bought
along with their product.
Im also fascinated by what Christian
Louboutin has done with user-generated
content to create a tremendous amount of
engagement and heat around something
that is a luxury product.

What are consumers

looking for in terms of
an experience that goes
above and beyond what
your competitors provide?
CARLOS BECIL: Science-driven results.

Our members are looking for substance

and not hype. There are so many trends
and fads in tness, but we tap into a lot of
leading minds in science to drive our programming. Our environment is also a differentiator. We focus on an elevated design
and we obsess over cleanliness and amenities. Many members come for results, but
they stay for amenities.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: The small
touches of customer service, and small elements that feel human, whether they are a
personalized thank-you note; the care we
take in packaging an order [or] the bonus
treat if we know its your birthday. The
human elements are what keep her excited
to come back and interact with us.
MARC LORE: It comes down to the little

touch points. It is the little things together

that build a brand and build emotional
connections with consumers. Its the handwritten notes, what the messaging is on
the error page, all the little things that you
think dont really matter collectively create brand differentiation. We have a person full-time whose sole job is to focus on
those 100 different touch points.
TIM WILLIAMS: Interactivity and an

experience on the shop oor that people

havent had in the past. Consumers are

looking for something above and beyond
it is about creating an atmosphere where
people want to stay longer and giving
them a richer experience. We give customers a chance to create what they came in
to buy.

If your voice is true to your audience, then they do

open e-mails, they do look at your social posts
and they do want to know what you are talking about.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY BAUBLEBAR

URI MINKOFF: Relating the personal nar-

rative of Rebeccas lifeshe is a Millennial who started with nothing and has
achieved great successwith that of the
consumer has been a differentiator.
Also our in-store experiencewe were
the rst to look at consumers and the
human and emotional and mental issues
around shopping and use technology to
give shoppers the experience they want
when they are in the store.

How do you cut

through all of the clutter
in the marketplace?
CARLOS BECIL: We have a very provoca-

tive voice and attitude. Our most recent ad

campaign is called Commit to Something,
and it was shot by Steven Klein. Its not
about tness; it is about life. We elevate
ourselves with a provocative voice and
tone and socially relevant messages to rise
above the tness clutter.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Its getting
increasingly tougher. We have always been
passionate about thinking carefully about
the type of content we are putting out. If
your voice is true to your audience, then
they do seek out content, they do open
e-mails, they do look at your social posts
and they do want to know what you are
talking about.
MARC LORE: From a marketing and

advertising standpoint, it is doing more

traditional marketing. TV, print, radio,
outdoorthose are all really important
components of a well-rounded marketing
campaign. You need to do all the direct,
hard-hitting marketing and the online
marketing, as well, but it is the more
diversied approach that creates an opportunity to tell a story and show the personality of the brand.
URI MINKOFF: By doing things that are

exploratory and innovative and uncomfortable. We nd the most comfort where

others would be uncomfortablewere

constantly looking to allow customers to

see we are all in this digital experiential
journey together and we are willing to join
in that with you and in some cases lead
you and sometimes it will work and sometimes not.

What was the most

interesting development
coming out of the
CES show?
CARLOS BECIL: The continued conver-

gence of tness, fashion and technology.

Activity tracking remains very strong.
There isnt anything you cant put on your
body that doesnt track something.
MARC LORE: The focus on smart technol-

ogy, like smart homes, smart cars. There is

no doubt that is where we are heading and
that aligns well with our focus on empowering consumers to shop smarter to save
money. Jet.com is allowing customers to
pull costs out of the system in ways that
match their preferences. If you build a bigger cart this is how much you can save, if
you waive your right to return or choose
this ship method, this is how much you
can save.
TIM WILLIAMS: Overall, it was seeing
things develop that have been around a
while but are really working now. Everyone was showcasing some interesting
wearables and they are all quite useful
things. Much more real world, not crazily priced, products you could see being
released in the next year as opposed to
ideas that might not make it. Also, 3-D
printing was more real this year.

Speed
Chic
A key differentiator
for BaubleBar
is speed-tomarket, says
co-founder Daniella
Yacobovsky.
Whereas most
accessories
companies have a
production time of six
to 12 months before
the -merchandise
hits shelves,
BaubleBar has a
turnaround time
of six to 12 weeks.
We're able to think
carefully about what
we produce, how we
produce it and react
quickly to trends,
says Yacobovsky.

URI MINKOFF: One of the things Im

looking at with intrigue is if youre on

your laptop or phone, how is the in-store
experience going to be replicated via
augmented or virtual reality so that you
feel like you are in a physical store. That
is some years away but it is very intriguing to me.
WWD BEAUTY INC

47

There is something about people having unique, oneoff items but not paying a premium for it and getting it in the
same amount of time as a regular item. The future
is the normalization of customization.

more domestic sourcingbeing able to

leverage overseas supply chains to make
one or two or three of something becomes
a challenge unless they can come up with
a different supply chain.

TIM WILLIAMS YR LIVE

Whats next in
personalization and
customization?
CARLOS BECIL: All of the activity track-

ing has the potential to be data overload,

so we are working on how to take data and
turn into something meaningful. I dont
think it will ultimately stick with consumers unless they can do something with the
information and help change their results
and body and mental well-being.

The Consumer Rules

For Marc Lore, the cofounder and ceo of Jet.com, the
future of personalization and customization revolves around
anticipating how and what customers want based on their
purchasing patterns and then empowering them to shop
smarter. We are allowing customers to pull costs out of the
system in ways that match their preferences, he says..

DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Finding the balance between personalization and social

validationwhen our customer is selfnavigating on the site, the two sections she
goes to rst are New Arrivals and Bestsellers. Bestsellers is one of our highestconverting pages. There is an element
of social validation that is powerful in
commerce. She does want choice, but she
wants it married to what other people like
and what is popular and trendy right now.
Honing in on specics around personalizationlike she never buys bracelets or she
loves statement earringsand marrying
that with elements of social validation is
powerful. For us it is about striking that
balance.
TIM WILLIAMS: Its about speed and qual-

Magic Mirror on the Wall

Uri Minkoff uses technology to create a deeper emotional
connection with customers shopping at Rebecca Minkoff.

We were the rst to look at the human and emotional and

mental issues around shopping, he says, and use technology
to give shoppers the experience they want to have when they
are in the store.

48 WWD BEAUTY INC

ity. Currently, you can get an expensive

monogrammed itemyour design on a
Louis Vuitton bag or sneakers at Nike ID
and then they are made to your specications and sent to you in 3 to 6 weeks. The
future is bringing that time downbeing
a much more instant world, where you
can watch your T-shirt or sweatshirt being
printed in front of you. There is something
about people having unique, one-off items
but not paying a premium for it and getting it in the same amount of time as a
regular item. The future is the normalization of customization.
URI MINKOFF: The thing that unlocks the

whole thing will be better 3-D printing.

This is also where you are going to see

How are you evolving

your strategy in
response to the primacy
of mobile?
CARLOS BECIL: It is our number-one pri-

oritywe have reinvented mobile experience for our members. Our member app
is one-stopyou can check in to a club,
plan your workout, book classes. It is completely synched with Apples Health so it
tracks your workouts and offers custom
content with. Furthermore, our new editorial magazine. It helps members to stay
connected to the brand and maximize
results.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: We are thinking about design as mobile rst. We are
thinking about the mobile experience and
then scaling up. It took us a while to shift
the organization to that mind-set. The
opportunity to experiment with customer
acquisition on mobile is interesting. If
you are looking at ad units and cost of
acquisition, its lower on mobile than
desktop. That is where we are seeing efficiencies and where we can make the best
use of our dollars.
URI MINKOFF: You want to build out the

best e-commerce experience and optimize

your mobile ad and marketing spend, but I
really think that its an investment in content that will drive more of that.

How can beauty

marketers stimulate their
e-commerce business?
MARC LORE: A big part of that has to do

with assortment. There are not as many

opportunities for consumers to shop
and get all their beauty needs online
at the same place they go to for other
things they are looking to purchase, so it
forces consumers to make a completely
separate shopping occasion to buy beauty
productswhich is not what consumers
want. Figuring out a way to sell prestige
beauty to [new] marketplaces will open
the opportunity to sell longer-tailed

productsyou can offer colors and

different types of products that wouldnt
make sense in the offline world. That
will open new avenues to grow the
business and grow revenue. I also see an
opportunity to make better use of video
online to quickly educate people on how to
use certain products.
URI MINKOFF: One question is how do you

get the products out so there that may be

discovery products in store that you are
afraid to buy online. How do you create
a condence around the idea of I tried it
and liked it and it becomes a replenishable item.

What is one thing

about marketing to
Generation Z that keeps
you up at night?
CARLOS BECIL: I dont see it as marketing to them, but what is the experience I
am going to create for them? As we think
about the tness club for Gen Z or Millennials, it is not really a one- or two-hour
stop in their day. If I want them to have
a commitment to the brand, how do I get
them to feel they belong, and be part of the
community? That requires an investment
in technology and thinking about how we
adapt our environment and programming.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Their unpre-

dictability, in terms of where and how

you reach them, and the increasingly high
bar of their expectations. They want better product, faster, wrapped up in a more
beautiful, seamless customer experience.
They also rely on a variety of channels for
information and they have shorter attention spansthat is denitely a challenge.
URI MINKOFF: It seems to be a super-

hyperfast-moving generation with an even

more inherent lack of loyalty. We saw the
rst shift in lack of loyalty with Millennials. This is that on steroids.

ness increases, we will see a big impact on

beauty, health, hospitality, tech and tness.
DANIELLA YACOBOVSKY: Retailers and
brands really getting smart to the idea
that improved personalization and experience have to start at the supply chain
level. Starting to think about supply chain
and product development to personalize
and better predict what customers will
want to see once you are messaging to
them is a powerful way to approach that
problem and something few people are
focused on.
MARC LORE: The next logical evolution

of omnichannel is the convergence of the

online and offline worlds so you bring
the benets of online off, and vice versa.
When you go to a brick-and-mortar store,
you should have the richness of data and
reviews that you get online. Same thing
onlineyou should leverage the fact that
the inventory you are looking for online
is located within a few miles of where you
live and how do you access it and bring it
to the customer faster. That is what were
going to see in the very near future.
TIM WILLIAMS: Its got to be 3-D printing.

It is still too far away to do reliably and

fast enough to make it viable for people
like usthere is not enough volume available. But bringing the reality of live printing and live design into peoples homes is
really exciting. There is lots of technology
out there already and its not quite there
yet but it will be.
URI MINKOFF: The next next is that all

of a sudden the whole world is local, that

you can reach the global marketplace of
billions of people at a moments notice
and they can reach you. It is a new set
of rules and a paradigm shift in terms of
how we look at things. The immediacy of
the global consumer and what that means
from a product perspectivein terms of
seasonality, logistics, pricing. A lot of businesses are living on archaic models.

Creative
Control
While 3-D printing
for the masses is
still a ways off, Tim
Williams, cofounder
of YR Live has
created a concept
that comes close,
enabling consumers
to print customized
designs on a variety
of merchandise. Thus
far, YR has partnered
with the likes of
Macys, Topshop and
Nike. Consumers
are looking for
interactivity and an
experience on the
shop oor that they
havent had
before, he says.

Whats the next next?

CARLOS BECIL: The shift in importance of

mindfulness and meditation and sleep on

brain health will have a huge impact. We
are investing a ton in sleep-science studies
to better understand the impact of sleep
on results and behavior. As public aware-

Generation Z seems to be a super-hyperfastmoving generation with an even more inherent lack of

loyalty. We saw the first shift in lack of loyalty with
Millennials. This is that on steroids.
URI MINKOFF REBECCA MINKOFF

WWD BEAUTY INC

49

THE STAT DEPT.

Hey, Big Spenders

TABS Analytics November 2015 survey of consumer
buying trends and growth drivers for the makeup category shows
Millennials rmly in the drivers seat.

The Young Guns

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

As household income goes up so does the
likelihood of being a heavy cosmetics buyer.

Channel Changers

Millennials ages 18 to 34 are two times more likely

to be heavy buyers of cosmetics (10-plus products
a year) than the rest of the population.

$125K or more

Specialty retailers are the fastest-growing channel

for cosmetics and are driving growth, with 12 percent
penetration growth versus 1 percent for the food,
drug and mass channel.

13%
$100K-$124K

$25K or less

9%

20%
% of
population

$75K-$99K

12%
$25K-$49K

25%

$50K-$74K

19%

% of whom are heavy buyers

% of
population

14%
19%
19%
18%
15%
15%

18 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 to 74

% of whom are
heavy buyers

Ulta

+41%

44%
40%
31%
23%
16%
19%

+25%

Walgreens

+11%

+6%
-2%
-11%

-16%

Online

-25%

Wal-Mart
Grocery

Dollar Stores

47% of heavy buyers say social media is very important

in making purchasing decisions versus 31% who prefer
advice from in-store beauty advisers.
(% of heavy buyers relying on social media)
2014

30%

Target

Social Stars

39%
33%

Sephora

31%

27%

2015
Blogs

29%
29%
24%

YouTube

28%

20%

Pinterest

19%
20%

Instagram

15%
19%
20%

Facebook

Twitter

13%
12%

Source: TABS Analytics 2015 Cosmetics Study

50 WWD BEAUTY INC

GRAPHICS BY CARLOS MONTEIRO

PHOTO CREDIT TKHERE

17%

2016 CHANEL, Inc.,

B, ROUGE COCO

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