Brittany Brown founded Project Beauty Expo in 2016. That year the event ran in Washington DC; for 2017 and 2018 PBE opened in New York City; and this year it’s happening in LA.
PBE is an opportunity for brand founders to connect with consumers, retail buyers, and media. And it’s an event where women of color leading beauty businesses go to build a bigger community and learn more about what they can do to succeed in the competitive cosmetics and personal care marketplace.
The Expo will be “part conference [and] part shopping marketplace,” according to the event website. “We created opportunities for aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs that want to learn How to Build a Successful Beauty Business. We have 2 days jam-packed with workshops, networking opportunities, shopping, beauty demonstrations and much more!”
Exhibiting brands
Among the indie brands exhibiting at this year’s show are Bailly, a fragrance line founded by Ariel Gough and Edwina Govindsamy; Love and Snow, a hair care brand led by Love White; oneKIN, an online marketplace featuring brands in and beyond beauty, founded by Marvin François and Yvener Petit; and Violet Body, a bath and body care brand founded by Robbin Turner.
Educational sessions
Featured workshops at this year’s PBE event include The Future of Retail, presented by Shopify; The Art of Product Photography with Jurada Studio; and Growth to Scale: How to 10x your sales with Facebook and Instagram Ads, presented by Abu Fofanah.
Innovative indie
Independent beauty brands are known as early innovators and many industry insiders and observers keep an eye on indie—product developers, market researchers, media, retailers, investors—to understand what’s possible, what works, and what’s coming next.
As a show created by and for women of color, PBE offers an even more focused opportunity for trend spotting and innovation discovery. At PBE 2018 in New York City, Cosmetics Design spoke with 6 entrepreneurs about their unique takes on beauty: watch that video interview here on Cosmetics Design.
To learn more about Project Beauty Expo 2019 and find a link to buy tickets, click here.
To apply as an exhibitor, click here.
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.