The Glossy Beauty Podcast

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.

Tina Chen Craig started Bag Snob, her original claim to fame, in 2005. She hustled her way to the front row of New York Fashion Week when "blogger" was still a dirty word and before "influencer" was in anyone's vocabulary. Then, in 2019, she did something she never expected to do and launched a beauty product, marking her first step in building a full beauty brand spanning skin care, body care and color cosmetics. Called U Beauty, the brand launched on Net-a-Porter in November 2019 with Chen Craig's original product, the Resurfacing Compound. Based on units sold, it's still the brand's bestseller. The product, with various sizes priced $88-$228, is a multi-tasking serum with ingredients including retinol and vitamin C. Typically, these ingredients can't be combined, but the brand's patent-pending Siren capsule technology makes the mix possible. On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Chen Craig goes deep on everything from starting Bagsnob.com when a "Google domain thing" cost $10 to developing UBeauty's most recent launch, its Super Intensive Face Oil. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Running two beauty businesses without outside funding is no small feat, but Maria Hatzistefanis, founder and CEO of Rodial and Nip+Fab, is making it work. And her businesses are thriving. Hatzistefanis launched the luxury skin-care and makeup brand Rodial in 1999, after being fired from her investment banking job in her early 20s. She went on to launch Nip+Fab in 2010. Now best known for its bestselling Glycolic Fix product range, Nip+Fab was originally meant to be Rodial's more accessible, mass-market little sister. "My idea [for both brands] was to come up with products that would give you instant and long-term results," Hatzistefanis told Glossy. "I had a passion for researching ingredients that no one else was using." Today, both Rodial and Nip+Fab are sold in over 10,000 stores across 35 countries. Rodial is distributed in luxury department stores, including Harrods, Selfridges and Blue Mercury, while Nip+Fab is available at Boots and JCPenney. "We have been growing double-digits year-over-year, for both brands," Hatzistefanis said. "Plus, profitability has been a driver of our business, and we've always been profitable." On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Hatzistefanis discussed the ins and outs of running a business for over 25 years and the next stage of growth for Rodial Group. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Along with being the founder of 7-year-old Megababe, Katie Sturino is an influencer (803,000 followers on Instagram, 25,000 on TikTok), a body positivity advocate and the author of the book "Body Talk," published in 2021. Megababe is best known for its first product: Thigh Rescue, an anti-chafe stick of which over 1 million units have sold. In addition to being sold at Target, Ulta, Goop, Anthropologie and Nordstrom, among other retailers, the brand launched at Walmart in early March. "Megababe is still self-funded; we have never taken $1 of fundraising," Sturino said on this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "It's a different type of approach than other brands that launched at the same time. Most people will take funding and grow really big." Also on the podcast, Sturino discusses her start in content creation, Megababe's expansion to Walmart and new categories, the brand's first big marketing investments, and her response to the current heightened fixation on weight. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Tattoos are now big business for the beauty industry. Since 2021, tattooing and tattoo care products have attracted both investor and strategic acquirer attention. Brands like Mad Rabbit have raised millions in outside funding to provide tattooed customers with before, during and aftercare products. According to a 2015 Harris Poll, more Americans are getting tattoos, with 29% having at least one. Specifically, 47% of millennials have one compared to over 36% of Gen Xers. What was previously associated with only select groups of people, tattoos are now more common among people from all walks of life. “A big agenda of Mad Rabbit overall is continuing to push and champion self-expression and make it normal and OK for someone to express themselves in any sort of room,” said Oliver Zak, co-founder and CEO of Mad Rabbit, on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast. Mad Rabbit launched in 2019 with $600 invested between its co-founders, Oliver Zak and Selom Agbitor. They bootstrapped the business until being cast on “Shark Tank,” where Mark Cuban invested $500,000 in the brand for 12% equity. Cuban has further invested in subsequent fundraising rounds. Mad Rabbit has raised $16 million in total funding thus far. Speaking on the podcast, Zak detailed the marketing steps the brand took to support its 2023 launch into Walmart, the reasons why people need tattoo care in the first place and the factors driving interest in the tattoo care category. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Love Wellness, the supplements brand created by "Laguna Beach" alum Lo Bosworth in 2016, is now eight years old. The brand's bestsellers include its Good Girl Probiotics and The Killer boric acid suppositories, both designed to support vaginal health, as well as its Bye Bye Bloat de-bloating supplement, of which 2 million bottles have sold. Last week, Bye Bye Bloat became a full-blown franchise with the launch of the brand's first true body-care products: a $14.99 Lymphatic Massage Roller, a $24.99 Firming Clay Body Mask and a $19.99 Detoxifying Body Oil. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Bosworth discusses the origin story and growth of Love Wellness plus the playbook she's leveraging to build a product franchise. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

When Clinique’s 52-year-old Black Honey lipstick went viral on TikTok in 2021, it represented a major shift for both the decades-old brand and the beauty industry. For the industry, it introduced the notion that viral TikTok moments could be a cash windfall for brands and worthy of their always-on marketing attention. For Clinique, it jumpstarted the need for the brand to act like a nimble startup and affirm its cultural currency. Since then, Clinique has been bullish on reaching younger consumers through college campus activations, building on its Black Honey fame with new products, and further developing its science-led background with new studies and liaisons with medical experts. At the helm of this growth is Michelle Freyre, global brand president of Clinique. She joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 2020 as svp and global general manager of Clinique. Previously, Freyre spent 20 years at Johnson & Johnson holding various leadership roles within its consumer health product division. Freyre joined the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast to talk about post-Black Honey virality, the significance of Gen Z’s love for skin care and the new needs states of today’s beauty customers.

Though actor, podcaster, investor and brand founder Sara Foster never intended to launch a clothing line, it turns out she's quite good at it. Four-year-old Favorite Daughter, which she and her sister Erin Foster created in partnership with Centric Brands, was profitable by year two, she said. In 2023, the brand tiptoed into beauty, launching a duo of lip oils with Saint Jane, the "clean" beauty brand founded by Casey Georgeson. Now, with Georgeson's help, Favorite Daughter is launching its first two fragrances — one for each sister. Sara Foster's signature is called "Grecian Nights," while Erin Foster's is "Italian Summers." "We knew we wanted the packaging to be a beautiful moment. And we knew we wanted the fragrance to be the cleanest, but with real efficacy — that's a problem with clean fragrances; they don't last," Sara Foster said, regarding the fragrance development process. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Sara Foster discusses the road to launching a brand, the brand's expansion into beauty, the type of partners she wants to work with and the reason she prefers a customer event over an influencer blowout. According to Foster, beauty isn't the last new category you'll see from the brand. "I think, eventually, Favorite Daughter will be providing everything for you," she said. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Maintaining the cultural relevancy of a 40-year-old brand is no small feat. However, Sarah Koch, svp and gm of Kendo Brands, is up to the task when it comes to OleHenriksen skin care. “You have to be true to your core as a brand, but then you have to continue to evolve with the consumer so that you're relevant to where he or she is in their lives,” said Koch on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast. The anti-aging brand was founded in 1983 by Ole Henriksen, a Danish esthetician who developed a collection of products that exfoliate, treat and soothe the skin. The 40-year-old brand was purchased by Kendo Brands in 2011 and relaunched in 2017. At the time of the relaunch, the portfolio was streamlined into four franchises to target the top five skin-care concerns and sharpen the focus on the brand's Scandinavian roots. But brand relevancy is also about where the brand is found. In January 2024, the formerly Sephora-exclusive brand expanded to Ulta Beauty. Also this year, the brand plans to expand its best-selling Banana Bright franchise with an undisclosed product. “It's the sort of launch that brings everything together — like our Scandinavian heritage, efficaciousness and joyful glow — into one product. It will be potentially game-changing for the brand,” she said. Koch further spoke on the Glossy Beauty podcast about brand relevancy, the reason OleHenriksen won't be launching scalp care anytime soon, and the motivation for teaming with TikToker Alix Earle. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Kyle Leahy, Glossier's first CEO after its founder Emily Weiss vacated the role in May 2022, has had a busy first year-and-a-half in the job. She brought the brand into wholesale for the first time. brokering its partnership with Sephora, which has been a great success. She's also continued the brand's WNBA partnership, launched its first college tour and increased the cadence of its launches. But perhaps most importantly, she can be credited with the revival of the brand, which, as she said in her 2023 Glossy 50 profile, is a long-haul job: “We genuinely believe we’re on year 10 of building a 100-year brand.” On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Leahy spoke about all of the above, in addition to what the brand did when Reddit leaked its eye cream launch and what Glossier has in common with Taylor Swift. She also addressed social media rumors regarding whether or not the brand had reformulated its bestselling fragrance, Glossier You. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

Botox has dominated the neurotoxin market since its FDA approval for cosmetic use in 2002. However, its iconic status would not be possible without the backing of global company Allergan Aesthetics. In addition to Botox, Allergan Aesthetics itself a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company AbbVie, which houses aesthetics brands including Juvéderm, SkinVive, Kybella and Coolsculpting, among others. In its full-year 2023 earnings released in February, AbbVie reported that the global net revenue of its aesthetics portfolio was about $5.3 billion, with global Botox Cosmetic's net revenue reaching $2.7 billion and global Juvéderm's net revenue equalling $1.4 billion. Leading this portfolio of aesthetics products, and guiding the future of the aesthetics industry, is Carrie Strom, svp of AbbVie and Global Allergan Aesthetics president. Strom has kept busy over the last year. In May 2023, Allergan received FDA approval for Skinvive by Juvéderm, and in early Oct. 2023, it became available for patients to receive as a treatment. Skinvive has been available in Europe since 2017 and marketed under the name “Volite.” Plus, the company has driven countless marketing moments, including the first-ever Juvéderm Day in Aug. 2023 and the fifth-annual National Botox Day in Nov. 2023. In addition, Strom has busied herself by shoring up Botox’s status, as competitors, including Jeuveau and long-lasting neurotoxin Daxxify, nip at its heels. In conversation on the Glossy Beauty podcast, Strom discussed how younger consumers are changing the aesthetics market and how Skinvive can serve as an entry point for new patients, among other topics.

Renée Rouleau, the celebrity esthetician and entrepreneur, opened her first spa and launched her first product in 1996. By 1999, she had become an early entrant in e-commerce. Today, rather than giving facials, Rouleau is focused on her role of founder and CEO of her brand, which offers a robust assortment of SKUs. Still, she makes time for celebrity clients, which include Lili Reinhart and Demi Lovato. Rouleau is known for her unique approach to categorizing skin — she does so by assigning it to nine types, rather than the traditional three or four. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Rouleau spoke about how she categorizes skin, how getting a headstart on e-commerce worked to her brand's advantage and why, after 27 years, she's rethinking her DTC sales focus.

Though Moroccanoil co-founder Carmen Tal initially launched the 15-year-old hair- and body-care brand with little to no beauty experience, she has been able to grow it into a global empire. In February 2023, Moroccanoil, which is currently distributed through thousands of salons, announced a three-day, Las Vegas-based event for professional hairstylists called The Collective. Meant to showcase the brand's network of global talent, the sold-out event eventually hosted 2,000 people in Las Vegas. "Every [attendee] had the opportunity to either learn or demonstrate their skills. It was incredible to see the [hair-care] community, which is very close, share information," Tal said on the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "Trends are changing and tools in the industry have changed, allowing [hairstylists] to do better work. ... Everyone left with a sense of accomplishment and education." With the surprise success of the event, Tal said she is looking forward to producing similar opportunities to bring the brand's community together IRL this year. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Tal talked about the importance of community, as well as her brand's longevity in the hair-care space and its road to becoming a global brand. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

This week, we’re doing things a little differently. Joining us on the Glossy Beauty Podcast is Laurie Lam, E.l.f. Beauty's chief brand officer, providing an up-close look at the beauty brand’s latest project: a 15-minute short film, “Cosmetic Criminals,” which is playing in select AMC theaters before the start of the movie “Mean Girls”. It is also streaming on Amazon Freevee. The film parodies the true crime genre, prompting viewers to piece together who is “E.l.f.-pinching,” which is the brand’s term for “borrowing” products without intending to return them. The concept, Lam said, was introduced to the brand by its community. Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

With over a decade's worth of experience in the hair-care industry, entrepreneur Shelby Wild is now venturing into the mass hair-care space. In July 2023, Wild unveiled California Naturals, a clean hair-care brand that launched direct-to-consumer and with exclusive distribution at Target. Compared to her previous hair-care brand, Playa, Wild is taking a different approach to hair care by zeroing in on more affordable but still effective products. Currently, all of California Naturals products are priced under $10. According to previous Glossy reporting, prior to launching California Naturals, Wild raised $4 million from consumer investors L Catterton, Sandbridge, Midnight Venture Partners and Elizabeth Street Ventures. Investors Eric Ryan and Roth Martin also contributed to the brand's funding round. Though California Naturals, with its accessible price point, may target a different consumer, the core of why Wild got into hair care in the first place remains. "Most of what I did at Playa informed California Naturals. I always knew that I wanted to create a mass market iteration of Playa," Wild said on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "I grew up in the South ... and we weren't a high-income family. So for me, throughout my childhood, product development and product discovery was happening on the shelves of Target, CVS and Walmart. It wasn't happening in Sephora or Ulta. While I was creating these prestige products [at Playa], I was also seeing and hearing the feedback — not only from our own customer service channels, but also from my peers at home — that the price point was just too high." As California Naturals approaches its first anniversary, Wild said a few exciting things coming down the pipeline. For starters, the brand tapped pro-skater Tony Hawke, who also serves as the chief culture officer, to create a new fragrance for the brand set to launch this month. A-list actor Owen Wilson also joined the brand and will be a major part of the product development side of the business as well as future marketing campaigns. And in February, California Naturals is set to launch moisture shampoo and conditioner, which was mostly driven by the brand's community and audience. On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Wild talked about the reason she launched a second brand and the differences between mass and prestige.

After working in Hollywood for over two decades, Ashley Tisdale has now set her sights on the wellness space. In 2020, she launched an online community platform called Frenshe with the goal of making wellness and wellness-focused goals a bit more accessible to all. Two years later, that community transformed into the wellness brand Being Frenshe. And in July 2022, the brand launched at Target with a 45-product assortment spanning candles, body washes, hair masks and bath bombs. "I wasn’t even thinking about doing a product line. I was very much just wanting to connect with people," Tisdale told Glossy in a July 2022 interview. "I started to understand what [people] were going through in the pandemic, together." In the years since, Being Frenshe has had its fair share of TikTok virality due to the success of its hero products, the Body Serum Sticks, which have magnesium on the ingredient list. And in June, the brand won two Self Healthy Beauty Awards for its body lotion and body oil. Tisdale credits Being Frenshe's quick rise to fame to staying true to the brand's original mission of offering wellness with a non-intimidating and inclusive approach. On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, founder Ashley Tisdale talked about Being Frenshe's early stages and how staying authentic has helped the brand grow.

Before the term "clean beauty" was coined, brands were making notable strides in the space. One of those was Pacficia Beauty, a 100% vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand founded in 1996 by Brooke Harvey-Taylor and her then-partner-now-husband Billy Taylor. The brand, which is currently based in Portland, Oregon, is partly a love letter to Harvey-Taylor's childhood, she said. She grew up on a ranch in Montana where she was first introduced to the world of clean, cruelty-free beauty. "[Pacifica] is a beauty company based on the strong beliefs that animals, humans and the planet should be treated with compassion and that fearlessness is our greatest natural resource," Harvey-Taylor said on the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "We use this brand to make a difference in the world, and we work tirelessly to do that. I'm proud that this has been my trajectory in the beauty industry and my contribution. I've always had a very clear position on accessibility, fairness and justice." Through the brand's progressive stances on sustainability, environmentally-friendly packaging and what Harvey-Taylor describes as "compassionism," Pacifica Beauty has been able to resonate with a diverse group of consumers, which has led to its longevity in the beauty industry. Now, Pacficia Beauty is looking to the future after a recent investment from private equity firm Brentwood Associates in 2022 and a newly focused business plan, which includes more innovative products and a prioritization of safe, accessible beauty. On this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Harvey-Taylor talks about how Pacifica has been able to stay true to its core values while evolving and growing in the ever-changing beauty industry.

Over the past year, the Glossy Beauty Podcast has provided an insider’s look into the beauty industry through thoughtful interviews, unique perspectives and forward-thinking commentary. But this week, we’re taking a look backward. For the final episode of the year, hosts Emma Sandler, Glossy’s beauty and wellness editor, and senior reporter Sara Spruch-Feiner, are joined by myself, Glossy’s West Coast Correspondent, to reflect on 2023 and offer our predictions for the year ahead. The changing finance landscape — and how it impacted brand closures, as well as mergers and acquisitions — was a topic du jour. As was the opportunity for brands using TikTok Shop. We dissect the growth and innovation in the fragrance category, which is having a gangbuster year, and what we can expect from influencer- and community-focused marketing in 2024. Keep scrolling for highlights, and be sure to listen to the full episode for the team’s end-of-year thoughts. We’ll see you next year!