The Glossy Beauty Podcast

In December, America’s first big move to regulate the beauty industry in more than 80 years went into effect with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulatory Act of 2022, best known as MoCRA. But it isn’t until the end of this month that the industry will meet its first big deadline from the Food & Drug Administration. By July 1, brands and manufacturers must provide a list of their products and where they were made to the FDA through its online portal called Cosmetics Direct. It’s the first of many deadlines and requirements, some of which are still in flux, that will slowly reshape how the industry is regulated over the next few years. For example, MoCRA will give the FDA new visibility into what’s in beauty products and where they are manufactured. It also provides new authority to the FDA to issue mandatory product recalls and alert consumers to common allergens through mandatory warning labels. That’s thanks, in part, to new visibility into fragrance ingredient lists, which had long been classified as intellectual property but must now be shared with the FDA.Previously, America’s regulation was made up of small federal and state laws, which created a growing movement for better regulation. For example, brands like BeautyCounter spent years lobbying for better regulation on social media and on the hill in Washington, while brands like Henry Rose by Michelle Pfeiffer was created to offer an alternative to the under-regulated fragrance industry.  So how did this piece of legislation finally get passed? While you may not know attorney Katlin McKelvie by name, she is a Washington D.C.-based lawyer who was integral in the creation of MoCRA. McKelvie has more than two decades of experience working in food and drug law, including 11 years at the FDA. She also served as the Deputy General Counsel of the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services and as the Deputy Health Policy Director and Senior FDA Counsel to the Senate Committee on health, education, labor and pensions for chair Patty Murray. While working with Congress, she helped shape many pieces of legislation that have impacted us all, including MoCRA, before becoming a partner of a private D.C. firm called Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.On today’s episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, McKelvie shares the origin story for MoCRA, including the challenges and compromises made during its early days in the Senate. She also shares the challenges she suspects brands may face while navigating compliance, the requirements the FDA will release next and the changes consumers can expect in the coming years. 

Deepica Mutyala, founder of Live Tinted, discusses the brand's evolution, from viral video success to focusing on complexion products. She shares insights on starting the brand, progress since the BLM movement, and the importance of inclusivity in the beauty industry. Mutyala highlights Live Tinted's commitment to diversity and future plans for expanding their makeup offerings.

Unlike many beauty executives, Sara Mitzner, vp of brand marketing at AS Beauty Group since 2019, started her career in fashion. Her resume includes roles a Complex, Fullbeauty Brands and Swimsuits for All. AS Beauty Group is a personal care product company that owns Cover FX, Laura Geller Beauty, Julep Beauty, Mally Beauty and Bliss brands.Mitzner has led many of AS Beauty brands' biggest marketing moves, including Laura Geller Beauty pivoting its strategy to attract and acquire more mature consumers. According to Mitzner, in April, AS Beauty Group's sales were up 140% year-over-year. "It's been fun for me to be at a company in an industry that they always say is recession-proof," Mitzner told Glossy.On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Mitzner discusses the future of AS Beauty Group and the Gen X opportunity in beauty.

Taylor Frankel is one of three co-founders of Toronto-based Nudestix. And, as the beauty brand's main face, she has been spending the year celebrating its 10-year anniversary. She founded the brand with her sister, Ally Frankel, and her mother, industry veteran Jenny Frankel, when the two sisters were teenagers.In today's competitive beauty market, making it to the 10-year mark deserves to be celebrated. As such, the brand has kicked off a tour, during which Frankel will participate in brand activations in her home base in Toronto, as well as in New York, Los Angeles and London. These customer-facing events will include panel discussions, workout classes and influencer dinners.On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Frankel discusses Nudestix's points of difference, the unique ways it works with influencers and celebrities, and the strategies it's using to grow its skin-care business.

When Mielle Organics founder and CEO Monique Rodriguez started the textured hair-care brand in her kitchen 10 years ago, her goal was to create healthy organic products for her textured hair.Now, a decade later, Mielle Organics has become a household name and staple for many consumers with varying hair types. The brand is distributed in over 87 countries and over 100,000 stores across the U.S. In January 2023, Mielle Organics was acquired by consumer goods company Procter & Gamble for an undisclosed sum.On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Rodriguez discusses what's next for Mielle Organics under the new ownership and what it means to be a 10-year-old beauty brand in 2024.

Prequel Skin is less than a year old. But the direct-to-consumer brand, founded by dermatologist Dr. Sam Ellis, in partnership with Ben Bennett's incubator, The Center, has caught on. That can be owed, at least in part, to Ellis's social following: She has 336,000 YouTube subscribers, 226,000 Instagram followers and over 129,000 followers on TikTok.The brand's products span multitasking cleansers and moisturizers for the face and body, skin barrier-boosting ointments and a duo of serums, including one with vitamin C and one meant to address skin redness.On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Dr. Ellis discusses how she came to create content as a dermatologist, why that's proven valuable, why she partnered with The Center and how her brand is inspired by favorite French pharmacy products.

When Prose launched in 2017, custom hair care was an untapped market, allowing the brand to disrupt the space. Since then, Prose has sold over 10 million units and expanded to skin care, in May 2023.May 2023 also marked a significant milestone for Prose: It reached profitability before bringing in about $135 million in sales for the year. In 2024, co-founder and CEO Arnaud Plas estimates the brand will do about $160 million in sales. Plas credited the brand's skin-care line as a major driving force behind its profitability. It has been reported that the category accounts for about 10% of the brand's sales.In its next stage of growth, Prose will use its learnings and tech innovation to expand into new categories, including textured hair care, and build upon its momentum in skin care.Three years into leading marketing for Prose, CMO Megan Streeter joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to chat about what's next for the brand, how it's further revolutionizing beauty tech and how the customization market is expanding. 

Since launching in 2018, Westman Atelier has become one of the most covetable brands in luxury beauty. From the $68 foundation sticks that introduced the brand to the market to newer launches like the Lip Suede Matte Lipstick ($50) and, most recently, the Suprême C serum ($325), the brand's products are the kind that people like to show off on their vanities or pull out of their handbags. The Suprême C serum is its second skin care product — the brand will be leaning more heavily into the category in the months ahead, with plans to grow it to 10% of its business in the next year.Westman Atelier was founded by husband-and-wife Gucci Westman, the celebrity makeup artist, and David Neville, co-founder of Rag & Bone. Before founding the brand, Westman had stints as Lancôme's international artistic director and Revlon's global artistic director. She is known for her clean, you-but-better aesthetic and has worked with actors including Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Aniston.On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Westman and Neville come together to discuss the start of their careers, the brand's first true lipstick and new serum, and the reason Westman has remained the brand's most powerful marketing tool. 

As more consumers indulge in self-care at home, the body-care category is continuing to grow, allowing brands to seize the moment.For 7-year-old body-care brand Billie, which was acquired for $310 million by personal care company Edgewell in 2021, the body-care surge couldn't have come at a better time. Before the acquisition, Billie solely sold direct-to-consumer. But in 2022, it launched in Walmart before expanding to Amazon, Target, Ulta and Kroger last year. In February, Billie rolled out its biggest category expansion yet with new body wash, body lotion and deodorant products.On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Cooley talks about Billie's trajectory post-acquisition and the plans the brand has in store this year.Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Digiday Media's WorkLife is proud to present season three of The Return, a podcast about the modern workforce, with this season focused on middle management.Last season, we heard what it’s like for Gen Z to enter the workforce for the first time in a post-pandemic world. We highlighted themes like why values are so important to Gen Zers, whether or not they are loyal to their employers, how they use TikTok for career advice, what it means to be a young professional who is a boss to older workers, and so much more.This time, we’re hearing from the population of workers that some argue is the backbone of a successfully-run organization: middle management. They are the ones who are navigating those RTO mandates, welcoming a new generation of workers that have a different approach than those who came before them, the rise of artificial intelligence – the list goes on.In season three of The Return, we speak to middle managers themselves to hear beyond their everyday stresses of the job, but what they need to guarantee everyone they manage has what they need to be the best at what they do. C-suite, listen up because they need your help too.We dive into how middle management stress is a decades-long issue (there are New York Times headlines dating back to 1971), how the wrong people are being chosen to be managers which is leading to the rise of “accidental managers,” what it’s like to have hard conversations and having to be a therapist at times, where people are finding support as a middle manager, and how AI is impacting the job of a middle manager.With a Q+A format, you will hear in-depth conversations with folks including Colette Stallbaumer, Microsoft’s general manager of Microsoft 365 and Future of Work Marketing, Rob Pierre, former CEO of advertising services platform Jellyfish, and Emily Field, partner at McKinsey & Company who co-authored “Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work,” to name a few.Season three of The Return is hosted by Cloey Callahan, senior reporter at Digiday Media’s WorkLife, and produced by Digiday Media’s audio producer Sara Patterson.Subscribe to the WorkLife podcast now on Apple Podcasts – or wherever you get your podcasts – to hear the first episode on Tuesday, April 23.