Since 2013 Parlux has held the license for the Kenneth Cole fragrance business; and this month the company launched a collection of fragrances that can be worn alone or layered according to consumer’s personal tastes and moods.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Catherine Scott, founder of Honest Hazel gives a bit of insight into how she’s methodically built a viable beauty brand with just one product. And, she speaks to the invaluable benefits of having a community of founders to...
At last month’s Indie Beauty Expo in Los Angeles, of the 150 cosmetics, personal care, fragrance, and lifestyle brands exhibiting, many were compelling; but only one stood out as a real game changer. Cosmetics Design interviewed Lindsay Knaak-Stuart,...
Today the company is launching its new Miss de Gaspé collection, a more affordable assortment of reusable waterless skin care masks that incorporate the same innovative ingredient delivery system as the luxury Nannette de Gaspé collection does.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Gretchen Chevalier, founder of ittsē, explains how her work in beauty manufacturing led her to develop a distinctive color cosmetics brand around functional, stylish packaging. And, she shares practical yet daunting advice...
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Melisse Shaban, founder of Virtue Labs, concisely discusses the science that makes her brand’s hair care products distinctly different from other shampoos, conditioners, and hair styling products. And, she’s quite candid about...
Pink pepper, black pepper, white pepper, Sichuan pepper…2017 was the year of pepper accents in fragrance—again. Here, I explore the technical and aromatic nuances that peppers have added to fine fragrance over the past year.
The multinational cosmetics, personal care, and fragrance company is debuting its Amazon Echo skill Let’s Get Ready for all Echo devices this month. Voice services, chat bots, and virtual assistant tools like this are on the rise; and Coty is an early...
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Lori Machiorlette, founder of Worth Beauty—the company behind the blendSmart mechanically rotating makeup brush—talks about how her business has progressed to become a “spinning revolution” around the globe. And she reminds...
The North America – based New Avon LLC announced a line of beauty-from-within products this week. But Espira is more than simply ingestibles for hair, skin, and nail health; the brand also has product lines for overall nutritional support as well.
This week Level Brands, the licensed brand marketing firm where Kathy Ireland serves as chairman emeritus and chief brand strategist, announced a partnership with Isodiol that is being touted as ‘a multimillion-dollar cannabidiol (CBD) products deal’.
In their Indie Beauty Profile, Tran Wills and Ali Elman, founders of the nail color and nail care brand Base Coat describe how the brand evolved as a natural complement to their Base Coat nail salons. And Elman advises prospective indie brand founders...
The relatively new beauty tool brand launched in Canada just last month and is hoping its distinctive and ergonomic brushes can change consumer expectations there and update color cosmetic application techniques as well.
Many cosmetics, personal care, and fragrance brands are experimenting to discover what luxury means in a digital age. Curiously, the latest marketing initiative from fitness club company Equinox may offer some ideas. The company’s new Commitment collection...
This year independent cosmetics, personal care, and fragrance brands became so prominent, Cosmetics Design launched a weekly column dedicated to these innovative startups and their founders. The Indie Beauty Profile is on vacation this month. But in the...
The long-standing indie skin care brand announced two new products this week, expanding the popular mask category and bringing naturals into the body firming niche.
Noble is the first personal care brand from PanaceaNano, a company co-founded by Fraser Stoddart, one of three men awarded the prestigious prize in 2016 for what have been called molecular machines.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Rachel Katzman, founder of Cuvée Beauty modestly describes what may seem like a typical early-stage startup. And while her hair care and hair styling brand is just one year old, a toast is certainly in order – the entire Cuvée...
The company’s Essential Energy brand will launch globally in January 2018. And it promises to bring new ingredients, packaging, fragrance, and experiences to US consumers passionate about wellness, mindfulness, and beauty.
With an emphasis on convenience, the new Simply Me Beauty brand was developed with millennial consumers in mind and is being touted as a makeup line for women on the go.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Tina Rowhanian, Co-Founder of CleanTan USA, traces out the time and specific considerations that she and Julie Pefferman put into building the self-tanning skin care brand. And, Rowhanian underscores the importance of copious,...
The Estée Lauder Companies’ color cosmetics brand has stepped up as a thought leader today and all throughout National Trans Awareness Week. Here, Nancy Mahon, senior vice president of global corporate citizenship and sustainability for MAC, shares insight...
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Kelly Jones, founder of the niche fragrance brand Kelly + Jones, explains how her innate entrepreneurial spirit led her to create a line of fragrances for wine and sprit lovers.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Leyna Allred, Owner of Urb Apothecary, describes how (for her brand) ingredient sourcing and environmentalism go hand and hand. And, she reminds her fellow founders that any failure can be leveraged as wisdom.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, LaKeisha A. Entsuah, founder of Elements of Aliel, speaks without pretention about her skin care line inspired by the hope of motherhood, enriched by Ghanaian culture, and formulated with signature ingredients like African...
Today, personal care and cosmetic ingredient makers know that all things green, bio-based, and alternative are of great interest to the beauty manufacturers they serve. And yet, this is the digital age. How are beauty ingredient companies to engage in...
On the premise that different consumer demographics appreciate different product customization and retail options, the new HairRx brand is set to make its retail debut on QVC before the year is out.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Jené Roestorf, founder of Luxe Botanics advises prospective entrepreneurs to put their egos aside. And, she paints a vivid picture of a skin care brand that delivers on so many of the promises that indie shoppers are looking...
In their Indie Beauty Profile, Begoña Sanjuán and Isabel Ramos, co-founders of AYUNA • less is beauty, share insight into their very carefully conceived green luxury skin care brand and have some pithy advice for their fellow founders—really, it’s good...
In her Indie Beauty Profile Ulli Haslacher, president of Pour Moi Beauty, explains that the brand, which may look like an overnight sensation, has years of work behind it. And, she pauses to celebrate the remarkable volume of early press coverage devoted...
The pharmacy-led retail chain announced a new personal care brand this week, one backed by years of R&D and an online community of thousands of women who were involved along the way with product testing and the like.
Since early this year, Cosmetics Design has been publishing the Indie Beauty Profile column weekly, showcasing the inspiring work of cosmetics and personal care entrepreneurs and their innovative brands. Now after nearly 30 installments, we pause to reflect...
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Michelle Ranavat, founder of Ranavat Botanics, talks about the entrepreneurial spirit she seems to have inherited and how that spirit along with her supply chain experience have enabled the Ranavat brand to move from idea...
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Katy Foxcroft, co-founder of Tancream, explains how she and her team have worked to develop a new category within sun care.
The long-anticipated makeup collection from singer, actress, and business woman Rihanna launched globally late last week and is a real entrepreneurial departure from both the indie-startup approach and the one-off celebrity business strategy that’s been...
In recent weeks, the at mass beauty brand has gotten serious about influencers and opened an interactive NYC pop-up shop. Now the brand has announced Issa Rae as its latest ambassador.
In her Indie Beauty Profile, Donna Pohlad, founder and CEO of the at-home hair color brand dpHUE has a single word of advice for her beauty brand founding counterparts and her full remarks here illustrate nicely how she herself has taken that wisdom to...
The Indie Beauty Expo opened its third annual show in New York City last week, and Cosmetics Design was there, meeting with founders, discovering new brands, learning about product launches, and identifying the trends and innovations that are emerging...
In his Indie Beauty Profile, Rick Sliter, CEO of BioClarity describes how he and his colleagues leverged a biotech ingredient idea to launch an acne treatment line, and how beneficial digital word-of-mouth marketing has been to building the brand.
The beauty tech brand and the broadcast TV shopping network teamed up on an AR beauty purchase platform that lets consumers first virtually try on product that they see being demonstrated and then buy that product from QVC within the same app.
In his Indie Beauty Profile, Dr. Kalidas Kale, founder of Exquis Skincare, speaks candidly about the resources, financial and otherwise, needed to launch a personal care brand, and he shares insight on how new technology can be used to enhance the benefits...