This year's event included lots of new element on the show floor, as well as plenty of product innovations, with both a significant number of brand new companies making their first appearance at the event, as well as more established players bringing new products to the market and platforming them on the show floor.
The Discover Green section created a big buzz on the show floor and this year featured a number of first-to-exhibit companies, presenting brand new portfolios.
Amongst those newcomers were probiotic skin care player Bio Milk, a line of products developed and brought to market by Valerie Casagrande, and featuring five SKUs.
Another new comer in the green section was Fivesse, a range of soaps and scrubs that is based on organic coffee grounds. The range has been brought to market by Eric Clayton and Michael Wong, a pair of entrepreneurs based in Orlando, Florida.
Also making a splash on the show floor with just one SKU was the brand Purvari, a new-to-market hydrating mist produced from organic rose petals sourced in India and using a unique distillation process.The brand was developed and created by Purvi Sahu, an actress and classical dancer.
The Discover Beauty area always creates a buzz at the event as it highlights some of the newest and most innovative brands in both the North American and global markets. This year the area featured more than 40 brands, which included up and coming players like Amapella, Avya Skincare, Botanic Farm, Ecru New York, Hey Honey, Nigella Therapy, Manuka Doctor, Pila Ani
Founded by Jessica Estrada and Kyle Frazier (pictured), Hue For Every Man is a male grooming line that is targeted at multicultural consumers, a fast growing category in the North America market. The line hit brick and mortar retailers in 2016 and is now available in more than 100 barber shops across the U.S. The line currently includes it eponymous pomade, a shave therapy and awakening mist, together with a shampoo and conditioner.
This year the Boutique built on the success of the past three years in providing samplers of 20 brands for the event's visitors to buy as a sample box, with $10 on each purchase going towards the Look Good Feel Better Foundation. Brands participating in the Boutique this year included Acure, Biotop, Essie, My Skin & Co, MyChelle, Purlisse, Rodial and Skinesque.
In the show floor's Discover Green section, one of the first time exhibitors was probiotic skin care brand Bio Milk. Founded by French national Valerie Casagrande and operating out of New Jersey, the brand has been on the market for less than a year and is currently made up of a line up of five products that includes day and night creams, a detox scrub, a serum and a body lotion.
Fivesso is another first time exhibitor in the Discover Green section. Founded by Michael Wong and Eric Layton (pictured), the company is based in Orlando, Florida and the brand currently comprises three body scrubs and six soaps, all of which contain biodegradable exfoliating properties. The products are all produced using organically sourced coffee grounds, with a combination of four based organic essential oils.
Another first for the Discover Green area was the organic foam-to-powder 'Refresh' dry shampoo that is the latest product from the people at Innersense Organic Beauty. Company founder and CEO Greg Starkman (pictured) says that the product is the first of its kind in the organic market and believes it is likely to create a big splash in a category that has been waiting for this kind of innovation.
RawChemistry is an interesting line of fragrances and skin care products out of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. Situated in the exhibition space's Discover Scent section, the company was highlighting products from its range that included an award winning men's pheremone cologne, pheremone oils targeting both men and women, a unisex natural face moisturizer and a vitamin C serum.
Brand new to the market and exhibiting with just one stand out product was Purvari Hydrating Skin Elixir. Developed and created by company founder Purvi Sahu, the spray was formulated using ingredients that have been sourced ethically and sustainably from India. The main ingredient is rose petals, which are distilled using a unique process that is said to enhance antioxidant and rehydrating prpoerties.