The Glossy Beauty Podcast

Launching Cheekbone Beauty in 2016 was a bit of a serendipitous moment for founder Jenn Harper. It all started in Jan. 2015 when she dreamed about "Native little girls with their brown little skin and rosy cheeks, covered in lip gloss." The dream, paired with Harper's recent sobriety journey and deeper discovery about her lineage and Ojibwe culture, inspired her to create a beauty brand. The journey to becoming a beauty founder was no easy feat for Harper. Until 2016, Harper's professional career was rooted in the food industry, specifically seafood. Though she had no formal experience in beauty, her determination to launch a successful brand and celebrate her indigenous culture were her biggest motivators. Through thorough research and sourcing, Harper launched Cheekbone Beauty in Nov. 2016 as a DTC brand."Going back, of course, I'd love to do things differently," Harper shared on the latest episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast. "However, I learned so much from starting things the way [I did], by being super scrappy about how we were going to build and learning how to [launch a business in real time]." In 2019, after Cheekbone Beauty's launch, Harper went on "Dragon's Den," a fundraising show similar to "Shark Tank." She did not accept an offer, but the exposure helped catapult Cheekbone Beauty's brand awareness. In addition to her experience on "Dragon's Den," Harper connected with Raven Capital, the first Indigenous investment fund in the world. The company initially offered Harper $350,000 to transition her business from being a private white label to creating its own products and packaging. Thanks to the funding, in March 2020, Cheekbone Beauty launched with its first proprietaryproduct, the Sustain Lipstick. As Harper looks to the future, she said she's excited about Cheekbone Beauty's direction. In 2021, the brand launched in Sephora Canada. And most recently, Cheekbone Beauty secured a partnership with Thirteen Lune — it will be available to shop on the marketplace's website and in 600 J.C. Penney locations. Apart from retail expansion, Cheekbone Beauty is also committed to innovation on the sustainability front through its packaging and clean ingredients. 

Like many people who rerouted their career path in the last three years, Cynthia Sakai made a mid-pandemic leap from the fashion industry to personal care."I had been in the fashion space for a really long time, and there was something missing. I felt I wasn't doing enough; I wasn't doing something that was making a difference," Sakai said on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "The beauty space and the wellness space was something that, as a consumer, I always loved — but I never wanted to create a brand just to create another brand."A CFDA designer who founded the Vita Fede jewelry brand, Sakai switched gears in 2020 by introducing evolvetogether with a line of medical-grade face masks. After proving popular among celebs including Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, the masks’ sales funded the brand’s expansion to a range of gender-neutral personal care products, each with innovative sustainable packaging. Among them: a powder face wash with dissolvable packaging, refillable hand sanitizer in glass bottles and biodegradable storage bags. Its best-sellers are a lip balm, a hand cream and a deodorant. “Consumers today want high-performing products that feature beautiful design, and are good for people and the planet,” she said. She added that sustainability alone has never been enough to clinch the sale. “You can't expect to change consumer behavior,” she said. “So we want to create a brand [where] people love the product first. They love the performance of it. And even if it wasn't sustainable, they would come back to us to purchase it."In the year ahead, evolvetogether plans to roll out new products, including candles and body care. It will also be fundraising, Sakai said.

If you’ve followed beauty dupe trends on TikTok, you’ve most likely come across a product or two from Milani Cosmetics. From its lip oil to its concealer, the mass makeup brand has seen multiple products go viral thanks to dupe-obsessed influencers like Mikayla Nogueira. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, the brand’s CMO, Jeremy Lowenstein, shares the details on the brand’s marketing strategy at a time when both TikTok and inflation are making price a big focus in beauty. Topics included how Milani responds to viral product moments on TikTok through campaigns and inventory, how it chooses its influencer collab partners, and why it’s important to have the right content for the right platforms. Also addressed: that viral TikTok video the brand made during the Depp-Heard trial last year.

Not long ago, the options for beauty consumers looking for clean hair care were limited to a handful of brands at either the luxury or the crunchy granola ends of the spectrum. Former business school classmates Lindsay Holden, Britta Chatterjee and Shannon Kearney saw an opening in the market for a mass premium brand appealing to millennials’ ingredient- and style-consciousness. Odele launched in 2020, quickly entering Target, where Holden was previously a senior buyer. Gender-neutral, minimalist, and at an accessible price point, it has since expanded to Ulta Beauty and CVS, and is in the process of launching products geared toward specific hair types. On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Holden and Chatterjee talked about the opportunity they saw for clean hair-care at mass retail and their process for branding and design.

While she may be best known for her acting and singing, Vanessa Hudgens, is not new to entrepreneurship. The 34-year-old star, with 49 million Instagram followers, is behind Caliwater, a cactus water she said she drinks every morning. She also has a margarita line, which she co-created with Ashley Benson and Rosario Dawson for Thomas Ashbourne. She first launched Know Beauty in 2021 with singer, Madison Beer. It was a somewhat complicated concept in which users used a DNA kit, which was used to pair them with personalized products matched to their skin type and concerns. Hudgens admits it didn't land and decided to go back to the drawing board entirely. Yesterday, she re-launched Know Beauty as a completely different brand. This time, it is sold on Amazon and has just one product, the $35 Glacial Bay Clay Mask.Hudgens partnered on the formulation with Cosmos Labs founder and CEO Mary Berry. And she noted in the conversation that the brand will continue to be "mask-forward." In the first Pop Edition of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Hudgens discusses what motivated the reinvention, what makes Know's starting SKU different and why Amazon made sense as a launch retail partner.

Meg Bedford has always been attracted to startups. Bedford, CEO of Loops Beauty, dabbled in editorial at Vogue before joining Tom Ford and eventually Pat McGrath Beauty, finally landing at Loops in Aug. 2022.Loops, the 3-year-old hydrogel face mask brand, has made a name for itself as a buzzy celeb-loved brand. In Oct. 2020, Loops announced model Emily Ratajkowski as its partner and creative director. Then, in July 2022, Loops appointed “Riverdale” actress Camila Mendes as its partner and creative director.Loops is sold through Ulta Beauty and expanded to Target in February. It was founded by brand incubator Syllable, in collaboration with content production house Shots Studio. Loops offers a variety of need-based face masks, ranging in price from $25-$35 for a bundle of five. The brand also offers a subscription service. According to WWD, Loops was expected to earn between $8 million and $10 million in retail sales in its first year in business.

When Tiffany Scott got the idea for Róen Beauty in 2017, her goal was to create a glam luxury brand centered on clean beauty products. After two years of searching, she found lab partners that understood her vision and mission. And she launched Róen Beauty in 2019 with non-toxic eyeshadows and a makeup brush. Shortly after the brand's inception, Scott met Róen Beauty's current creative director, Kate Synott, and the two hit it off. Scott's passion and innovative vision have successfully complemented Synott's expertise in makeup and skin care; together, they've transformed Róen Beauty into a premiere clean beauty brand. Since its launch, the brand has expanded to product categories including skin care, mascara and blush.For 2023, Scott and Synnott said continuing to produce new and exciting clean beauty products that are accessible is top of mind. Expanding into more product categories and physical retail stores are goals, as well. "The success has been really great, and the partnerships have been really great," Scott said on the latest episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast. "But we want to expand into [more categories] this year. And we have another exciting launch coming in Q2 that's a retail partnership. [The retailer] is a really beautiful, clean, well-known beauty retailer in the U.S. and abroad."

Growing up in communities of color, Jeff Lee and Courtney Shields were both early to understanding the importance of diversity and inclusion in beauty. When they met virtually through peers during the pandemic, they instantly connected over a shared desire to create a multicultural collection of beauty products catering to all. Their mutual passions for making all women feel seen and beautiful birthed DIBS Beauty, short for Desert Island Beauty Status, in September 2021. The co-founders secured $2.6 million in an initial funding round from Tula's co-founders, as well as major stakeholders at finance company L Catterton, which also invested in Tula, and influencers. DIBS Beauty's less intimidating and more inclusive approach to beauty also made it one of the fastest-growing brands in 2022, according to research firm Spate. Thanks in part to the virality of the brand's hero product, Status Stick, average monthly searches for the brand grew to 2,470 in 2022."The mission of DIBS Beauty is desert island beauty status. It's the makeup you would take with you to a desert island," Lee said on the latest episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast. In January, the company reported 700% year-over-year sales growth. With expansion top of mind for the co-founders, creating new, innovative products and expanding to new distribution channels are the biggest priorities this year. 

When Lauren Otsuki and Vimla Black-Gupta launched skin-care brand Ourself in February 2022, their main goal was to provide beauty consumers with cosmetic enhancement options other than injections and lasers. To date, the indie brand has received $30 million in funding for its groundbreaking, at-home biotech alternatives to clinical products. Ourself's science-backed products are said to give the same effects as fillers and toxins. The company's ability to leverage science has helped it gain a large following in less than a year. Currently, the brand has 23 products, with some standouts being a two-step lip filler alternative and a five-product hyperpigmentation healer. "The idea of Ourself was about looking like yourself — because when did that actually stop being OK? The second meaning of Ourself is that you actually do it yourself," Black-Gupta said on the latest episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast. "What our technology offers for the first time ever is to be able to get visible results that are self-administered from the comfort of your home. It's easy to use, and you get visible results."Co-founders Otsuki and Black-Gupta have long careers in the beauty industry. Otsuki previously founded five biotech firms, including SkinMedica and Alastin Skincare, and is the evp of Glo Pharma, Ourself's parent company. Black-Gupta was formerly CMO of Equinox and also held marketing roles at Estée Lauder, P&G and Bobby Brown.The duo is confident Ourself will revolutionize topical skin care. And as the brand prepares to celebrate its first anniversary, Otsuki and Black-Gupta are working to strengthen its DTC channels to ensure longevity. 

From Kylie Jenner to Martha Stewart, 51-year-old skin-care brand Mario Badescu has been cited as a go-to by a wide range of celebrities known for their strong thirst trap game.What started as a small facial studio in New York City has now become a brand stocked in thousands of stores at national and international retailers. Joseph Cabasso, the president of sales and co-owner of Mario Badescu, joins this week’s Glossy Beauty Podcast to talk the past, present and future of the brand. He tells the story of the brand’s history, including how his family acquired the brand and and who Mario Badescu was. During the episode, he shares accounts of its early days–including its big break with Henri Bendel and the start of its 40-plus-year relationship with Martha Stewart, who still goes into its New York salon for monthly facials to this day. He discusses the background of Mario Badescu’s best-selling hero drying lotion, as well as how the brand has evolved over the years to reach new generations, from Urban Outfitters and the VSCO girl era to TikTok today. He also gets candid about TikTok’s skin-care “cancel culture,” why his company is keeping prices low in a time of inflation, and why the brand is not big on paid influencer marketing.