Beauty Brand Incubators Launch New Merchandising Concept

TWIST new brand venture and Global Beauty Group, two brand incubators in the beauty sector, announced a joint venture called BFF Ventures, LLC, and will launch a new merchandising concept, bff APPROVED by bff BEAUTY (www.bffbeautyshop.com) on June 8, 2010.

Recognizing that the opinions of family and friends are primary motivators for consumer beauty purchases, the two companies licensed the successful, digital media property www.bff.tv from its founders, Meryl Poster and David Rubin, with the goal of leveraging the impact of site's integrated digital media platform to influence consumers' engagement with beauty brands or products previously validated by friends' recommendations.

"We are very excited to be working with BFF ventures, whose years of experience will add so much to this licensing opportunity for BFF," said Poster.

Under the auspices of the newly created bff BEAUTY brand with its bff "Approved" seal, TWIST and Global Beauty Group seek to reinvent the way in which consumers shop by featuring the curation of existing brands' beauty products and offering limited edition bff approved "one 4 u, one 4 me" deals. The site will feature unique video content, bff expert beauty bloggers (www.divaliciousblog.com and www.butterflydiaries.com) and hand-picked products to further support the idea of sharing and connecting on multiple levels. The first two brands featured are ModelCo and Sampar, with the following products: Lip Lights Lip Gloss, Tan Airbrush In a Can, Ultra Lip Gloss and the Prodigal Pen Acne Stick. The featured lines are not only about beauty, but also about the interactive experience of sharing a special purchase, which ultimately strengthens the connection between friends and the products they use.

"The opportunity to leverage the bff digital media show is all about friends' connecting, and using an energetic, youthful community to create an integrated retail platform for existing brands based on like-minded recommendations," said Tina Hedges, co-president, TWIST. "It allows us to organically tap into the primary motivation for beauty purchases - the suggestion of friends."

Hedges added that the company has additional plans to launch bff-developed and branded beauty products in the near future.

The launch is in conjunction with National BFF Day, and, as part of its charitable efforts, BFF Ventures is launching bff bracelets to support American Freedom Foundation.

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