Why Are We Doing This?

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Covering the beauty industry as a journalist means that you spend a lot of time thinking, talking, reading and writing about ingredients, packaging, textures, retail trends, brand and business best practices, the minutiae of social media engagement, and more. But, perhaps like many other professionals, you probably don’t spend nearly enough time focused on the “why.”

This month I had the pleasure of working with Aurore C. Bardey, Ph.D, SFHEA, of the London College of Fashion, who presents emerging research into the emotional and intellectual benefits of cosmetics. Her findings are ongoing, but fascinating, and point to the power beauty brands have to transform consumers’ mindsets.

I also had a wonderful time interviewing Latina beauty influencer Jackie Hernandez, who has worked her way up from waitress to social media star to makeup brand founder in just a few short years. Hernandez has launched in several markets, including the United States, Mexico, the European Union, and select Central and South American markets—all with self-financing scraped together from her influencer business. Passion matters in creating something that is just yours.

Finally, I was thrilled to see the range of creative initiatives from suppliers and indie and multinational brands for bringing ever-higher levels of sustainability and corporate responsibility to the creation, use and disposal/recycling of packaging. Each individual story highlighted how much technical and cultural innovation is at work in the beauty and personal care space.

As L’Oréal’s Philippe Thuvien notes, “[W]e believe we have a responsibility to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the consumer.”

We all have a why—as individuals, companies and an industry—and it’s not always (solely) “money.” I’d love to know yours. Email me, tweet at us or reach out on LinkedIn.

We’ll see you next month for our big anti-aging special issue.

Be well.

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