CEW(UK) Announces Finalists for Members' Achievers Awards 2013

CEW(UK) announced the four shortlisted members’ achievers for the CEW(UK) 2013 Achiever Awards. The Members’ Achiever Award is unique to CEW(UK) and was established to acknowledge and encourage women in beauty to aim for the top, recognizing the rising stars within the industry.

The four finalists are:

  • Jamila Askarova, co-founder, Gazelli Skincare—Askarova grew up watching her mother pioneer the first cosmetics laboratory and factory in her native country, Azerbaijan. With her international upbringing and great ambition, Askarova joined the team with a primary objective to expand both the spa and retail elements of the business on to a more global platform. In 2011 Askarova launched the premium skin care brand Gazelli in London, bringing to the market the unique ingredient, the Gazelli White Oil. She created a brand with professional and retail ranges, and a core treatment menu, all of which blend the expertise and research from Azerbaijan with her creative vision, business acumen and knowledge of the European market. Askarova put together a team in London to ensure high quality and consistency from product development through to branding, packaging and distribution. Gazelli has won a prestigious industry award for innovation, and has captured the hearts of beauty lovers across Europe. Askarova shares her time between Baku and London with upcoming projects including a launch of the first Gazelli House in London, a complete rebrand of the global flagship in Azerbaijan, and setting up unique partnerships with leading spas and retailers across the world. All of Askarova’s hard and inspiring work is balanced with family life and caring for her son with the hope that he too will one day join the family business.
  • Bella Blissett, You Magazine beauty columnist and freelance journalist—Blissett is an award-winning journalist, author and consultant for some of the world’s leading beauty brands. Having joined the Evening Standard features desk at the age of 21, she was approached by Octopus publishing to author a book entitled Ask: The 1000 Most Asked Questions About Beauty. Digging for answers to all manner of conundrums, she fell in love with the beauty industry and has remained so ever since. Striving always to generate forward-thinking ideas and content for any given publication, she has now carved out a successful freelance career, contributing to titles as varied as Elle, Red, Stylist, ES Magazine, Tatler, Men’s Health, Country & Town House, Psychologies, Zest, and Raconteur Media. Since 2011, she has been You Magazine’s beauty columnist, covering everything from serious science to fashion-led looks that only the brave dare try. Always with multiple projects on the go, she now also consults for beauty powerhouses L’Oréal Professionnel, Toni & Guy Hair Meet Wardrobe, Wella, Essie, Maybelline and St Tropez. In the future, she hopes to delve further into the world of books, presenting—and continue her pursuit of the most cutting edge technology and colorful creativity that the beauty industry so uniquely has to offer.
  • Charlotte Knight, founder and creative director, Ciaté London—Charlotte Knight is a celebrity manicurist who used her years of catwalk and salon experience to develop the Ciaté brand in 2009. Originally a salon based nail technician, Knight went on to launch her own chain of nail bars and became one of U.K.’s leading session nail artists. Working on fashion shows, magazine shoots and in nail bars, inspired Knight to create Ciaté, a luxurious, sophisticated and trend setting range that every woman can afford to enjoy. Knight has continued to drive the brand to success, enjoying vast growth year on year, increasing by 163% last year, and with an expected turnover in excess of £30m in 2014. The company is now in 4000 doors globally across Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia, the U.K., the U.S. and Canada in 35 countries. Through Knight’s ground-breaking designs and unique nail art offerings, it is no wonder that she recently won Women: Inspiration & Enterprise’s Ones to Watch award for her leadership and innovation with Ciaté. Quoted in Stylist as spontaneous and unafraid to fail, Knight is a truly ambitious woman, earning a reputation as one of the most innovative experts in the industry.
  • Christina Moss and Julia Yule, co-founders and directors, Bloom and Blossom—Sister-in-laws Moss and Yule founded Bloom and Blossom in 2008 with the vision of creating a sophisticated, natural skin care range, suitable for pregnancy and baby. Leaving careers in finance and PR, they set about developing a unique collection of natural, safe to use, stylish and importantly solution-focused, hero products for new and expecting mums. Launching a company in the depths of a recession was never going to be easy. In the early days everything was done from the kitchen table, stock filling every room, and all family members helped to pack orders, fill gift sets and make deliveries. The hard work paid off when Space NK launched the brand nationwide in 2010. Bloom and Blossom has gone from strength to strength and is now available across the U.K.’s leading retailers. The brand has gained cult status among beauty editors and consumers and has a string of A-list fans, including The Duchess of Cambridge. Among a prominent selection of accolades, they won the CEW(UK) Beauty Award for Best New Brand: Prestige in 2012. Having three young children between them and still being just a two-woman show, they live and breathe the brand, learning every step of the way. With new products in the pipeline and international expansion underway, it is truly an exciting time at Bloom and Blossom.

Members are invited to vote for the winner of this award. This year, voting for the winner of the 2013 CEW (UK) Members' Achiever Award is being hosted on the website of the CEW(UK) Achiever Awards' title sponsor, feelunique.com, and the winner will be announced as part of the CEW(UK) Achiever Awards 2013, taking place November 4, 2013 at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London.

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