Cosmoprof After Dark: ICMAD Honors Out-of-the-Box Beauty

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It was a night of beauty, music, innovation and colorful hair. 

The Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors (ICMAD) honored three beauty business experts, as well as more than 40 beauty industry finalists (from a pool of 120 entries), during its 12th annual Cosmetic Innovators of the Year (CITY) Awards in Las Vegas on Monday at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Who are the top innovators of 2016?

Kicking off the evening's festivities, ICMAD honored three beauty insiders who have made indelible marks on the $56-billion cosmetics industry.  

Harlan Kirschner, The Kirschner Group, was the master of ceremonies during Monday's event. Kirschner started in the beauty business with a few small lines servicing the West Coast in 1984, which ultimately grew to become a thriving global professional sales organization, The Kirschner Group, Inc.

The company offers complete global coverage to manufacturers with more than 100 sales and educational personnel. Kirschner is on the board of the Professional Beauty Association, and is a 2014 City of Hope Honoree.

With their hair colorfully styled in a rainbow of colors, Tish and Snooky Bellomo from MANIC PANIC, who were also former backup singers for Debbie Harry of Blondie, took to the stage. They showcased their musical talents and their story of how they started from a small shop in New York City that sold hair coloring, clothing and other fun items, mostly to punk rockers and club kids, and later evolved into a global sensation featuring their rainbow assortment of MANIC PANIC hair color and cosmetics. 

What was the key to their success? The Bellomos told the audience they were adaptable and learned things along the way such as selling their product to record stores, tattoo parlors, and at nightclub and fashion boutique shows because they didn't really fit in the traditional beauty space. Initially, they didn't know what niche marketing was, but they did it, they said.

Finally, ICMAD CEO Pamela Busiek concluded the evening's festivities by telling the audience, "I encourage you to think out of the box."

Here are the finalists with the winners in bold:

Product Innovation

Product Color Cosmetics: 

  • Cover FX, Cover FX Custom Cover Drops
  • IT Cosmetics, IT Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara
  • Palladio Beauty Group, FIFTY-FIFTY Cat-Eye Liquid Liner + Smoky Kajal

Product Facial Skincare:

  • Bioelements, Plump Start
  • BioMimetic Laboratories, Inc., Erasa XEP30
  • Patchology, Patchology SmartMud

Product Bath/Body/Fragrance:

  • Coastal Salt & Soul, Blissful Body Butter
  • Vita Liberata, Vita Liberata 3-In-1 Self-Tanning Dry Oil SPF 50
  • Whish Beauty, Rice Milk Firming Body Cream

Product Haircare: 

  • Fairy Tales Hair Care, Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Line
  • HATCHBEAUTY PRODUCTS LLC, Body Breakthrough Volume Boosting Hairspray
  • Lotus Rx, Lotus Rx Hair Solution

Product Accessories & Tools: 

  • Clarisonic, Alpha Fit
  • FOREO, FOREO IRIS
  • TEMPTU, TEMPTU Air

Package Design Innovation

Package Color Cosmetics: 

  • gloProfessional, Suede Matte Crayon
  • HCT Packaging, Lilah B. Divine Duo Lip And Cheek
  • IT Cosmetics, IT Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara

Package Facial Skincare: 

  • AMOREPACIFIC, Age Correcting Foundation Cushion SPF 25
  • Elizabeth Arden, Elizabeth Arden Superstart Skin Renewal Booster
  • World Wide Packaging, NuFACE 24k Gold Gel Primers

Package Bath/Body/Fragrance: 

  • Besame Cosmetics, Decades of Fragrance Eau de Parfum 50ml
  • Defineme Fragrance, Defineme Fragrance Oil Collection
  • Thymes, Frasier Fir Ceramic Poured Candle 3-Wick

Package Hair care: 

  • amika, amika Silken Up Dry Conditioner
  • FHI Brands, Stylus
  • World Wide Packaging, StriVectin Hair N1A114 Technology

Package Accessories & Tools:

  • invisibobble, invisibobble POWER
  • IT Cosmetics, IT Cosmetics Love Beauty Fully Love is the Foundation Brush
  • Japonesque, Japonesque Kumadori Brush Collection

Marketing/Advertising Innovation Print

Best Cause Marketing:

  • Iredale Mineral Cosmetics Ltd, Rise Above With Love: Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign For Living Beyond Breast Cancer
  • MENAJI WORLDWIDE LLC, Clear Shave 3-in-1 Formula
  • Obliphica Professional, Obliphica Professional

Innovative Launch Campaign: 

  • Cover FX, Cover FX Custom Cover Drops
  • Gavee Gold Collection, NewBeauty Innovative Launch Campaign
  • IT Cosmetics, IT Cosmetics Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara

Member’s Choice Product: 

  • Amazing Cosmetics, Amazing Cosmetics Corrector
  • Elysee Scientific Cosmetics, Inc., Elysee Time Out-Ap Age-Defying Moisturizer
  • Flip-It! Cap Company, Flip-It!
  • Luxury Lady Ltd., ChinUp Mask

Member’s Choice Package: 

  • Bellapierre Cosmetics, Precious Diamonds Instant Cellular Wrinkle Eraser
  • HYNT BEAUTY, Aria Pure Lipstick
  • Nosco, Modere I/D
  • RST, Inc., Oreve Beauty LED Peptide Correcting Serum
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