Category Creator of the Year
Hair: P&G Beauty
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Forget good hair days. P&G Beauty has had a great hair year. With a broad portfolio spanning megabrands like Pantene, pharmaceutical brands like Head & Shoulders, Gen Z darling Aussie, and niche brands like Nou, P&G Hair Care has achieved market leadership in both value and volume share growth in the US in 2023. Its acquisition of explosively textured hair care brand Mielle Organics in June solidified that position, while direct-to-consumer brand Native, which it acquired in 2017, added fuel to the fire with its successful foray into hair care. Together, the two brands are the fastest-growing hair care brands in the United States. But P&G is also winning with heritage brands like Head & Shoulders and Herbal Essences, which launched Bare, a clinically proven formula that fights dandruff with just nine ingredients. It has signed a partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to certify its ingredients.
Skin: Glitter Recipe
In the first nine months of 2023, the fastest growing category in beauty by units sold was prestige skin care. And Glow Recipe is likely the brand driving most of this growth. Founded in 2014 by Christine Chang and Sarah Lee, Glow Recipe is projected to reach $300 million in sales by 2023, thanks to star products like Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops, which are estimated to reach $42 million in sales alone. The brand is a Gen Z heavyweight — #GlowRecipe has more than 1.3 billion views on TikTok — but it’s also expanded its reach with Pomegranate Peptide Firming Serum, which is expected to reach $15 million in sales this year. Its social media statistics are equally impressive: CreatorIQ reports that it has ranked as the top skincare brand on EMV for the past two years, with its 2023 EMV valued at double that of 2018.
make up: Charlotte Tilbury
The stars are aligned at Charlotte Tilbury – and it’s not just thanks to brand ambassadors such as Bella Hadid, Kate Moss and, most recently, Elton John. In a red-hot makeup market, the brand was the third-biggest share gainer, and its clout on social media is equally impressive; It had the second-highest EMV among other beauty brands at $440 million, a double-digit increase from the previous year. -year. Charlotte Tilbury was a standout, having had a strong year in make-up, helping parent company Puig become a strong make-up company. Still, innovation remains the name of the game, whether it’s a new app that serves as a handy hub for makeup tutorials or a launch like the Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur liquid lipstick that takes the brand’s number one line into a new category. Tilbury’s favorite saying is “If you give someone the right make-up, they can conquer the world” and she has effectively made that saying a reality.
Smell: Dior’s
Dior is after the gold medal when it comes to fragrance. LVMH Moët Hennessy The luxury brand owned by Louis Vuitton renewed its well-established J’Adore series this year with L’Or, the first work of the brand’s new master perfumer Francis Kurkjdian. It also celebrated J’Adore’s legacy and history with an extensive show at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which began in 1999. With Dior’s best-selling men’s fragrance, Sauvage, the company has emerged as a strong player in the fragrance category, skillfully drawing on its history and always using today’s cutting-edge technologies. And what not to do admire about this?
Brand Builder of the Year
Mary Van Praag, Chief Executive Officer, Milani Cosmetics
When industry doyenne Mary van Praag joined Milani Cosmetics as chief executive officer, COVID-19 was in full swing and the bulk color category was down 20 percent. Undaunted, Van Praag used his unique energy and got to work. It assembled a senior leadership team, refocused the business on its core expertise in color cosmetics, doubled down on its hero products (Make It Last Setting Spray was up 70 percent) and re-established relationships with its key retailers. The strategy worked. Fast forward three years and Van Praag has turned things around. Milani was the only independent brand in the top 10 in the bulk color category, with sales up 30 percent this year to an estimated $200 million. Milani is winning over Millennials thanks to savvy social media campaigns like “NoFilterJustMilani,” which promoted the launch of her 45-strong concealer line. For Van Praag, success lies in the courage of his team. “I realized the key elements to driving a vibrant, growing mass color brand were probably not being executed correctly,” he said earlier this year, noting that the company was overly focused on in-store products moving forward. experience too. “It is a combination of essential architecture, innovation and engaging communication.”
Reporter of the Year: Elf Beauty
Elf Beauty kicked off 2023 with a compelling Super Bowl commercial and continued its huge success story throughout the year. The company recorded its 19th consecutive quarter of growth under CEO Tarang Amin, becoming one of only five public companies to achieve this. Quarterly sales increases were eye-popping: A 76 percent increase in the three months ending Sept. 30, for example, after posting a 78 percent increase in the quarter ending March 31. It is targeting future expansion with the acquisition of hot skincare brand Naturium for $355 million as part of its broader strategy to become a major player in skincare. International expansion was also on the agenda this year, with expansion into Europe through Douglas. Elf also launched TikTokShop, the platform where he became the poster child for success. While this may seem like a lot to accomplish in a year, Amin enjoys it, instilling agility, innovation and equality as core company values. The goal: to work at the pace of culture. “Time is not an issue as we can take the energy of the team and make good ideas come to life faster,” he told Beauty Inc earlier this year. “This is the unique ability to balance speed, quality and costs. “Most companies usually choose one or two of the three,” he continued. “We insist that we need all three.”
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