One of the biggest mysteries of the beauty industry is why it neglects affluent beauty consumers by often excluding gen X and baby boomers from advertising and product development. The value of baby boomers’ economic activity tops $7.6 billion, according to the AARP. In contrast, millennial spending is closing in on $1.4 trillion. The fact that even money doesn’t talk underscores the deep wound that is ageism.
Ageism prevents marketers from seeing older consumers as they really exist. Sonsoles Gonzalez, the fiftysomething founder of Better Not Younger, points out advertising largely doesn’t represent her and her friends as they actually live. A study by the AARP discovered older people aren’t typically pictured working or using technology. Of course, they do both. True inclusivity features their reality. Brands celebrated for their inclusivity like Fenty continue to ignore it and stick to spokespeople within a limited age range.
That’s not only a problem for older customers desiring representation. It’s a problem for younger customers advancing in a world in which age prejudices seem poised to persist. If they don’t participate in the change, they will be subject to the same discrimination their parents and grandparents faced. As we release the third part of our four-part series spotlighting 40 indie beauty brands led by pioneering founders 40 years old and above like Katonya Breaux of UnSun Cosmetics, Tina Hedges of LOLI Beauty and Emilie Davidson Hoyt of Lather, we’re increasingly beginning to understand this exercise isn’t merely to improve the contemporary conversation around age. It’s to help make sure the conversation progresses, and that gen Z and millennial founders and executives understand age inclusivity is as much about them as their predecessors.
Melanie Huscroft
Co-founder, Younique
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
We believe in uplifting, empowering and validating women around the world. We believe in using real women as our models, and doing whatever is in our power to hold up and revere real beauty.
What key milestones have the brand reached or will it reach soon?
Next month, we are celebrating our 7th anniversary and just launched in Austria, our 15th market to date. We also celebrated a historic launch earlier this year when we released our Moodstruck Epic 4D One-Step Fiber Mascara. The latest innovation in our lash technology, this product sold out in under three hours, had a waiting list of over 275,000 customers, and resulted in the largest sales day in company history. This newest innovation provides phenomenal lash volume and length for up to 12 hours thanks to its double-sided brush and interlocking Y-shaped nylon fibers, and has sold over 1 million units in the six months since its release.
How do you handle raising kids while building your brand?
I have four children ages 22, 18, 18 and 14. The balance between building a brand and being a mother is a constant and tenuous effort. Every evening, I review my calendar for the remainder of the week, making sure I can meet my obligations both at home and in the office. It’s a constant give and take that requires I weigh my priorities every single day.
What sort of boss do you try to be?
I believe in collaboration and empowering those that work in all levels of my organization. I try my best to hold a deliberate space where my employees can brainstorm, take risks, fail and succeed. While I expect accountability for those I manage, I realize that mistakes are inevitable and, when handled properly, can lead to magical feats of creativity and success.
If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change about the beauty and wellness industry?
The beauty industry has so much power to influence the way we as women see ourselves. Beauty products should be for everyone. Instead of using beauty products out of fear or to shape themselves into someone they’re not, I want to see them used more from a place of joy to accentuate the amazing features and personality women already have.
What was the greatest day at your brand so far?
The greatest day is undoubtedly the day we launched our nonprofit The Younique Foundation. The Younique Foundation was created to provide hope and healing to survivors of childhood sexual abuse through retreats, counseling services and many online resources. Its mission and heart are the driving forces behind everything we do.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
I’m 47 years old, and 47 can mean anything I want it to! Our negative feelings about age are nothing but mental associations we either create or ascribe to. The older I get, the more comfortable I am with myself and the world around me. Who says aging is a bad thing?
Josie Maran
Founder, Josie Maran
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
We are firm believers in the amazing powers of argan oil, and it is an ingredient that’s in every single one of our products. It is nature’s richest source of essential fatty acids, works wonders on all skin types, and we work with co-ops of Moroccan women to go from hand-harvested seed to bottle. The original 100% Pure Argan Oil has infinite uses, for hair, skin and nails, and we always recommend our customers to end with an oil.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
It started back in my modeling days, when I was sitting in the makeup chair and kept hearing from everyone that natural and nontoxic beauty products that also performed were simply not possible to be made. Well, I’m always up for a good challenge and decided to set out to prove those pros wrong.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
Aging is beautiful. Why be anti about it when we can instead celebrate life? We decided that “anti-aging” is just not part of our vocabulary. We strive to focus on the positive, not the negative.
How do you handle raising kids while building your brand?
I have two kids and two more stepchildren: 7, 10, 13 and 17 years old. I follow the mantra of, when I am with my kids, I try to give them 100% of my attention, which helps me know I’m doing the best I can as a parent and still follow my professional dreams.
If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change about the beauty and wellness industry?
I think that the industry would practice making things without the mindset that more is more and that, if you don’t hugely grow the bottom line every year, that you are a failure. We have to find a balance in what we are making and what we are contributing to consumerism and the lack of resources on the planet if we keep making more and more stuff.
What’s a beauty or wellness product you use today that you wouldn’t have thought you would have needed when you were younger?
Hair wellness. I used to have so much hair, thick and gorgeous and, as I age, I feel my hair is much thinner and needs any extra love I can feed it.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
I am proud of my age and love to share it with others to model what it looks like to feel good, real and honest through all ages. I learn so much about what women need every time I enter into a new phase of aging, so it really helps me design products for real issues.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
I’d like my brand to be known and loved throughout the world. I want people to feel like we’ve created a community and products that speak to them, inspire them, and that my products really work to bring them confidence and self-love.
Katonya Breaux
Founder, UnSun Cosmetics
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
UnSun was developed to address people of color that needed clean sun protection, but did not want to have to deal with the white residue typically left behind with clean, mineral-based sunscreen products.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
I discovered in my 30s that the moles that were popping up on my face were not genetic as I thought, but from sun damage. This changed everything for me, and I became obsessed with wearing sunscreen immediately.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
I know that some women have an issue with this term, but I don’t. Aging is a beautiful and natural progression of living. I am clearer in my thoughts, vision and awareness than I have ever been in my entire life. This is due to aging and living. After burying two beautiful people under 40 in the past 30 days, living is what we should all be grateful for. However, there are some aspects of aging that aren’t beautiful—ask my thighs—so, if someone creates products to help offset the aspects of aging that we like least, bravo to her.
Do you see yourself in beauty and wellness marketing and advertising?
I’m starting to. That’s a very exciting part of this new shift in the age of the woman. I know that we have a long way to go, but I’m seeing more reflection of who I am in the marketplace.
What’s your approach to marketing and advertising?
We try to incorporate all types of people in our campaigns. We’ve used teenagers, boys and women my age. I’m always on the lookout for mature women, and you can expect to see more of her with our new spring campaign.
What sort of boss do you try to be?
I try to be one that sets an example. I do realize that my fiery spirit and work ethic can be a bit much, but I want everyone around me to feel like we are a part of a family, otherwise their passion is diminished.
What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced growing your brand?
Self-funding! It was important to me to create a strong company before we accepted money, but it was challenging. I had to be very specific about where our limited funds went and made mistakes along the way. We have reached the point where I am comfortable taking on investment dollars and will do so for 2020.
What’s a pet peeve you have about how the business of beauty and wellness is conducted?
Authenticity. It drives me crazy when products put one thing on the front panel, but a deep dig into the ingredient list shows something altogether different. It bothers me when brands assume that the customer doesn’t know any better.
How has your beauty routine changed as you have gotten older?
I’m obsessive about everything that goes on my skin and in my body. As a longtime vegan and beauty enthusiast, I want to control the things that can be controlled.
What’s a beauty or wellness product you use today that you wouldn’t have thought you would have needed when you were younger?
I use retinol. Love it! I didn’t use it when I was young because my skin was naturally supple, fresh and without lines.
What do you think about procedures like Botox and plastic surgery?
I think that life is hard and, if a woman or man wants to do something that makes them feel good about themselves, then they deserve to do so without judgement.
What constitutes your role at your brand today, and how would you like it to evolve?
My role is currently CEO, and I hope to continue in this position for the long term. UnSun is my baby. We have and will continue to grow together, and I desire to be at the helm of that growth.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
Everywhere!
Amy Carr and Mary Schulman
Co-founders, PYT Beauty
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
Carr and Schulman: PYT Beauty is high-performance clean makeup that is formulated without the BS (bad stuff, of course) and offered at an affordable price point as we think that clean beauty should be for everyone that seeks it, not just the elite.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
Schulman: My career has kind of mirrored my eldest daughter as she grows up. I say this because I founded Snikiddy Snacks when she was young, knowing moms like me would want healthier, but still delicious snack options for their families. Fast forward a few years to when she’s 13 and starting to dig into my makeup bag, this pushed me to take a closer look at the ingredients in the cosmetics we wear every day. I realized there was a need for high-performance, yet affordable makeup that doesn’t use harsh chemicals and isn’t tested on animals. This is where the concept came from, but PYT Beauty is for anyone ready to make the jump to cleaner beauty products.
How do you handle raising kids while growing your brand?
Carr and Schulman: Amy has 10-year-old boy/girl twins and a 6-year-old son. Mary has two girls ages 14 and 13, and a 7-year-old son. We think it’s important to be good role models for our children. By demonstrating that women can start businesses and work hard to make it a success, we believe we are modeling for our girls, in particular, that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. Of course, it’s not easy balancing the stress of a startup business and making sure that we are present for the important family moments, but we do our very best.
What sort of boss do you try to be?
Schulman: I believe in giving those that work with me the autonomy to make their own decisions and manage budgets, but also expect them to be accountable for their decisions. I am a no BS kind of woman, which means that a compliment is real, but it can also mean honest, hard feedback happens, too. For the record, I also want honest, hard feedback coming my way as well.
What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced growing your brand?
Carr: Coming from big corporate environment, it is hard to not have a big checkbook behind us. We have to be careful on where we invest. Mary has taught me a lot on this front.
How is your beauty and wellness routine different from your parents’ beauty and wellness routines?
Carr: As a girl, my mom brought me to the Clinique counter and that was her beauty routine. She bought all of her beauty products from Clinique and never really thought as much about skincare. Now that I am older, I spend a lot of time on skincare, including sun care. I tend to always be looking for a better product.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
Carr and Schulman: We are both 44 years old and happy to share.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
Carr and Schulman: We will work hard to deliver on our promise of high-performance clean beauty that is without the bad stuff. We would like to find ways to keep our same great formulations that we have today and be able to reduce our prices even more than they are today so as to deliver on our goal of offering clean beauty for everyone that seeks it. We also hope to offer more eco-friendly packaging so that we can help reduce waste. There are over 1 billion plastic beauty packages each year that end up in landfills.
Alissa Bayer
Founder, Milk + Honey
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
Our products are a testament to our unwavering commitment to bringing an exceptional spa experience home. Our talented team of Milk + Honey spa aestheticians has provided us with crucial feedback and expertise throughout the development process. Select clients have also participated in our beta-testing process, providing us with invaluable customer feedback. Their hands-on knowledge and daily connection to both the spa and our customers are what set us apart from other product lines and highlight exactly who we are: born from the spa.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
I launched Milk + Honey after grad school because I decided I wanted to make a living making people feel good. I wanted to positively contribute to other people’s lives and wellbeing. It started as a spa and, from the very beginning, we were always focused on clean ingredients from the non-VOC paints on the walls to the beauty products our clients and employees were coming in contact with every day. Our founding principles were clear: to make people feel good, commit to clean ingredients, enrich employees’ lives, and give back to the community.
Back in 2006, it was hard to find brands that were clean enough and effective enough to carry on our retail shelves. So, we launched a product line of effective, nontoxic bath and body care products, which stemmed from my desire to create hyper-clean essentials I’d want to use every day. I had every intention of introducing skincare shortly thereafter, but it was crucial that we created products in that category that actually worked while still maintaining the same hyper-clean standards of our body care ingredients. It is no easy task to create skincare formulas that are hyper-clean while also highly efficacious. After working closely with our aestheticians for six years formulating, testing, going back to the drawing board, and testing some more, we finally launched our first skincare products in 2019.
What’s a pet peeve you have about how the business of beauty and wellness is conducted?
My pet peeve is definitely when I see the term “chemical-free” in beauty marketing. Water is a chemical, so not only is it misleading, but it also makes the clean beauty movement seem ignorant and misguided.
What do you think about procedures like Botox and plastic surgery?
If it makes you happy, go for it! Just make sure you go to a safe, professional business. If you don’t get a formal consultation first, run. At Milk + Honey spa, we did not offer medi services since Botox contains formaldehyde, which is highly toxic to the organs in your body. There was no way I was going to make money by injecting formaldehyde into people’s faces, but now there are cleaner alternatives such as Xemomin, so I feel more comfortable offering these services. In addition, we will be offering non-invasive services such as laser resurfacing, microneedling, PRP and CoolSculpting. I’m thrilled to have one of the country’s leading dermatologists join our team. We’re getting him involved in our product development now, too, which will be amazing to have not only aestheticians involved but to also have a preeminent dermatologist involved will be next level.
What constitutes your role at your brand today, and how would you like it to evolve?
I serve as the true North Star of Milk + Honey, which applies to both spa and product. I always want to be involved in product development and the growth strategy of my business. I don’t see that changing, no matter how large we get with the spas or product. I’ve already removed myself from our official org chart, but I’m still very involved in the vision, growth, strategy and entire product development process.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
Global distribution, and our products beloved and used every day by millions of people.
Maya Smith
Founder, The Doux
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
The Doux was developed by a professional stylist with 25 years of experience with textured hair. Our approach to haircare is based on science and real, practical experience with women of all nationalities and hair textures.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
We actually started in a military community. Our experience with active duty military members with strict dress guidelines and active lifestyles has shaped our perspective and approach to the needs of women transitioning out of chemically-treated hair. Using our amazing clients as our focus group, we developed our very own The Doux line of products for women who want salon performance and long-lasting results at home.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
There’s nothing wrong with a self-care regimen that’s tailored to the specific concerns of our skin/hair as we mature. However, I think that terms like “anti-aging” have always been used to use the fear of growing older to drive sales. Rather than using the fear of rejection to motivate the market, I would love to see more empowering statements that reflect a sense of acceptance and celebration of our transformation. Beauty in spite of age instead of beauty that resists aging, in my opinion, is a much more effective way of inspiring women to embrace the changes in their appearance as they mature.
Do you see yourself in beauty and wellness marketing and advertising?
I’m beginning to see a reflection of women who look like and have similar lifestyles as I do. It’s always been my hope to see more women of color, not only represented in print and digital media, but in the driver’s seat when it comes to telling our stories and sharing our perspective on the definition of true beauty.
What’s your approach to marketing and advertising?
The Doux has a unique position in that we work with a wide range of women and have a window into their daily experiences and struggles. While we’re relatively new to the major retail space, I’ve walked with my clients through life changes and have had hours of personal conversations about how they’re thriving and surviving in the process As a result, my marketing and advertising approach is grounded in some basic principles: honesty, authenticity and simplicity. My ultimate goal is to help women make informed decisions about the condition of their hair, what’s realistic for their current lifestyle and developing good hair habits to maintain the various styles they choose. Doux you!
How do you handle raising kids while building your brand?
I have five boys from 8 to 17. My husband and I include them in every part of the business whenever we can so we can spend time with them while we’re building a family business. They’ve been on this journey with us all along the way, so it’s a natural part of our lives. We emphasize that our goal is not just to build a business, but to leave a legacy. Women have been working and raising children simultaneously for centuries. The most important thing is keeping your priorities straight and balancing your time so that both have the proper amount of attention needed to grow and thrive. With five sons, that also means making sure there’s always enough groceries and clean underwear.
How do you think the beauty and wellness workplace of the future should be better than it is today?
Inclusion is key. I’d like to see more representation of the strength and beauty of women over 40 in my industry. Also, I would like to see more opportunities for collaboration across the industry. Basically, more of a focus on seeing beauty as wellness and wellness as beauty rather than separately.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
I don’t mind at all. I love not only who I see in the mirror, but the person I’m becoming. Acknowledging my age is my way of honoring all of my life’s lessons, and all that I’ve survived along this journey.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
I see The Doux expanding globally. I’d like to grow to create more opportunities in my community for young entrepreneurs, creatives and artists in my field. I also want to have a seat at the table when it comes to informing the marketplace and working with major retailers to help them be better able to respond to the changing needs of the consumer. The landscape is evolving rapidly, and it’s important to me that the voices and needs of real women are accurately represented and reflected as this industry continues to expand.
Tina Hedges
Founder, LOLI Beauty
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
LOLI, which stands for Living Organic Loving Ingredients, is the world’s first zero-waste organic beauty brand. Our Made Safe-certified products are upcycled from organic superfoods, waterless and packaged in food-grade, recycled, recyclable, reusable and garden-compostable materials. LOLI is also the first beauty brand to be a member of FRDM and Made In Free World, tech platforms and organizations that allow us to monitor our supply chain for the stopping of people trafficking.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
After many years as a marketing executive in the beauty industry, I had a crisis of consciousness, and I realized that we needed to stir up a clean and conscious change. Most beauty products are diluted with 80% to 95% water, polluted with synthetics, toxins, chemicals and fragrance and, then, over-packaged in single-use plastic. Despite the fact that the world is experiencing water scarcity, there are health concerns with beauty ingredients and, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. There has to be a better way to deliver effective skin, hair and body products without harming people or the planet. That’s why I decided to reimagine a more sustainable, healthy approach to beauty.
Have you experienced age discrimination?
Absolutely and shockingly so! When I went to raise money, I was told by several prominent investors in venture, that it was a “pity” that I had so much experience, that LOLI had traction and that I was over the age of 35. They flat out said that, if I was younger, straight out of a business school like Stanford or Harvard with no experience and LOLI was just an idea, they would have written me a check for $2 million. We speak often about gender discrimination in startup financing, but I have experienced both gender and age discrimination. I’m fairly certain those investors would not have had the same perspective if the founder of LOLI was a man over 40. It was quite a blow and took lots of willpower for me to keep calm and carry on. LOLI succeeding is also a vindication for all the women out in the world with a purpose, a dharma or a dream. Don’t let your age or your experience be a deterrent.
How can you confront age discrimination in your capacity?
It’s tough as the world has fallen in love with unrealistic views on youth and beauty, aided by apps, filters and flattering selfie angles. When I started my beauty career over two decades ago, there was a sense of admiration and awe for the senior executives who had tons of experience. As a fledgling assistant marketer, you felt lucky if you were mentored or singled out by these talented leaders. Now, the prevalent attitude in the junior workforce is, “What can you do for me?” or, even worse, “What value do you add since you didn’t grow up in a digital world?” Mentoring has become one-sided and transactional as there is less loyalty and deep respect for the wisdom that comes with decades of experience. It’s important to bridge this attitudinal gap and find a way to foster a mutually respectful relationship between the generations entering the workforce and the experienced executives leaving the workforce.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
It’s such an antiquated approach to defining how to combat such a varied set of physiological, mental and emotional characteristics. “Anti” is so negative. What are we trying to reverse? With all the advent of topicals, injectibles, lasers and device treatments, does “aging” even have the same appearance or characteristics? Where does the beauty of wisdom, truth and experience play in our lives?
What sort of boss do you try to be?
This is a really interesting topic as I believe the qualities needed to lead this new workforce are very different than in previous decades. I try to always lead from a place of curiosity and empathy, but not at the expense of discernment or discipline. I lead by the Chinese mantra, “As above, so below.”
What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced growing your brand?
By far, finding financing has been the toughest challenge. It’s super hard to look sideways and see some of my cohorts in my tech accelerator getting financing so easily as they fit the mold: young, just out of business school and a vision to change the world but no experience. I was able to raise two rounds by sheer persistence and not leaving any stone unturned. I also put myself out there by going to pitch competitions, which wasn’t easy, but made me hone my LOLI Beauty startup elevator pitch.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
Leading the zero-waste beauty movement!
Mariska Nicholson
Founder, Olive + M
How did the idea for the brand come about?
I was a single mom at the time, and I was using a face oil that had been given to me as a gift. When I was ready to repurchase the product I discovered, it cost $200. That price tag simply was not part of my single mom budget. I have a culinary background, so I decided to fearlessly get in my kitchen and create my own face oil. I was on a mission to create an effective, luxurious and affordable formula that a single mom could plug into her budget. So, I did!
What key milestones has the brand reached or will it reach soon?
We recently launched in 100 Target stores. This accomplishment is huge for the brand as it allows us the accessibility and inclusivity that is the main pillar of the brand ethos. We are driven to share the powerful, natural and clean benefits of plant-based oils with women everywhere. We see Target as an obvious vehicle for this distribution. Our goal with Target is to be in all the premium beauty stores they have, which currently I believe is 900 doors.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
I suppose whatever marketing spin doctor came up with the term meant well. The term “anti” means “opposed,” so the translation would be “opposed to aging.” Aging has never really been on my radar until recently. Recently, I have been thinking to myself how much smarter I am at handling life than I was when I was younger: less reactionary, less opinionated, way more chill. My daily routine now has joy, including practices like meditation, workouts, a plant-based diet and deep breaths. I categorically did not have these things in my life in my 20s or 30s, and let me tell you they would have saved me a lot of grief! But I also know I wasn’t ready for them, and age for me has opened that door. I am not opposed to aging. I look at my body as a temple, and try to treat her with as much respect and kindness as I can as she ages. And, well, some days are better than others!
How do you handle raising kids while building your brand?
I have two boys ages 15 and 16, and they are everything to me. It’s definitely a balancing act to try and do both business owner and mom, and do them both well. And it is an ever-changing balancing act as the boys grow and the business grows. I have always worked for myself, so my boys have grown up seeing their mom hustle. I think through all the challenging times and crazy long days, this sort of work ethic is inspiring to them, at least I hope it is! I tell them all the time, “Boys, all we can do is show up every day, and do our very best and, then, what will be will be, but, at the end of the day, we know we did our part, and we did it with all of our heart!”
What sort of boss do you try to be?
Inclusivity is guiding principal in my personal and professional life. My team works with me not for me. We all come to the table with different strengths and abilities. We are here to collaborate and build one another up, so collectively we can build a successful brand as a team. No one scores a touchdown on their own. I am crystal clear on that.
How is your beauty and wellness routine different from your parents’ beauty and wellness routines?
As a little girl, I remember sitting at my mother’s vanity and playing with her makeup, plowing through all her lipsticks and powder compacts. She was devoted for years to some Avon-type situation where the lady would come to our house, and they would spend the afternoon applying layer after layer. I remember thinking it seemed so complicated and time-consuming. In defense of her generation in Texas, “putting your face on” was standard practice just to go to the grocery store.
Today, my standard practice is clean, hydrated skin with some tinted sunscreen, lip gloss and maybe mascara on a meeting day. My father loved cheese so much he used to say he would eat a piece of cardboard if it had cheese on it. I am not completely dairy-free, but try and avoid it when I can (and never on cardboard!). I work out every day. I never saw my mother work out, and my father played tennis occasionally on the weekends. And everyone in their generation smoked and drank martinis like the apocalypse was coming. I would say my beauty and wellness routines are radically different from my dear and darling late mom and dad.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
I have no problem sharing my age with people. I own 54 and stand in her power! I mean, if someone asks you your age and you decline to answer, doesn’t that say something about your age right there? Why get caught in that trap of not owning it? To me, being authentic is empowering and being empowered keeps me young at heart.
Cecil Booth and Rebecca Booth
Co-founders, VENeffect
What makes your brand different from all other brands?
Rebecca Booth: Our commitment to helping women navigate hormonal change.
Cecil Booth: We offer skincare solutions to optimize skin based on hormonal variation throughout the month and as we age uniquely as women. I believe that my sister’s expertise as an OBGYN specializing in hormonal vitality brings a very relevant and needed voice in beauty. So much of our feeling of wellbeing and our appearance is influenced by hormonal changes by design, yet we have so little information and solutions to navigating these effects. Our goal is to share the wisdom and the solutions.
How did the idea for the brand come about?
Rebecca Booth: I shared with my sister the intricate design of the feminine hormones and the many ways we can optimize vitality as women.
Cecil Booth: It started as a conversation between two sisters about how hormones are so negatively perceived but are what define us as women. In discussing solutions to skin in particular, my sister shared with me the science of phytoestrogens and their benefits topically as a safe and effective way to inspire skin to peak vitality. We spent six years researching, sourcing and formulating skincare with these plant molecules to safely and effectively mimic what estrogen does for our skin: increasing elasticity and luminosity.
What’s the toughest challenge you’ve faced growing your brand?
Cecil Booth: While we found the experienced beauty retail leaders open to hormonal beauty solutions, the sensitivity of the topic was challenging for outsourcing messaging at the point of sale. We would find pockets of brilliance—a sales associate with a particular passion and confidence for the need and solution, but the high rate of turnover and pressure to make the sale leaves newer, more consultative brand messaging at a disadvantage. We have worked hard on our messaging, training and accessibility to the founders.
If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change about the beauty and wellness industry?
Cecil Booth: To eliminate fear: fear of aging, fear of hormones, fear of illness. It is such a huge block for facilitating change. If we could flip the fear to finding inspiration–how to age well, how to adapt, how to help, how to be well–we would open the paths of conversation and solutions for ourselves and others.
How is your beauty and wellness routine different from your parents’ beauty and wellness routines?
Cecil Booth: Our mother is beautiful, and I have memories of her sitting at her vanity table at night, and the ritual of Pond’s Cold Cream and a warm washcloth. I can recall the smell of it. The options were simpler then, and the lack of cable television and social media made cultural references much easier to navigate. Wellness was not part of the lexicon.
I chose a career in the beauty industry from the moment I graduated college and have been fully immersed as a marketer, product developer and beauty founder. My routine could not be more different as I have been lucky enough that experimenting with beauty and wellness routines has been a part of my job. I was literally paid to research and develop beauty products, a dream job. As I have aged, I have actually found that less is so much more. Color cosmetics are less and less appealing, and skin and overall health so much more important. Self-care is the best thing that has happened to our age group and the numerous ways we can practice it.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
Cecil Booth: When we started our research, I was in my early forties with two young children, and feeling firsthand the effects of waning estrogen. I feel it is an advantage to sharing my age, now 57, as it is aligned with the need that we are meeting and the experience we have to meet that need.
Rebecca Booth: Having turned 60 this year, I had to get used to sharing that I am a sexagenarian. I use it as inspiration to my patients and our customers as I have been through all of the stages and found the secrets that I love to share.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
Cecil Booth: I would love to see it accessible to more women worldwide, growing and thriving alongside a vibrant beauty and wellness industry.
Emilie Davidson Hoyt
Founder, Lather
How did the idea for the brand come about?
Out of a personal need that I had for great beauty products without synthetic fragrance. [Lather is different from other brands because of its] transparency, quality and approachable price point.
What are your thoughts on the term “anti-aging”?
I’m not a fan. We shouldn’t be against growing old.
How could beauty marketing and advertising change to better resonate with you?
Celebrating age and the wisdom that comes with it would be welcome.
How do you handle raising kids while building a brand?
I have a daughter who is 15 and a son who is 12. It’s very difficult, and I try to include my children in business discussions.
What sort of boss do you try to be?
I try to be a good listener, a really good listener, which is something I’m always working on getting better at.
If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change about the beauty and wellness industry?
I would regulate synthetic fragrances and insist on full transparency of ingredients. I think most people would be shocked at what is happening in the fragrance industry behind closed doors and how this is impacting our health and environment.
How is your beauty and wellness routine different from your parents’ beauty and wellness routines?
I read the ingredient labels, and I know my parents did not.
What is your feeling about sharing your age?
I always share my age with people. I’m not embarrassed.
What constitutes your role at your brand today, and how would you like it to evolve?
I am very much a hands-on CEO, and I’d like to take a small step back from managing to spend more time developing innovative products.
Where would you like your brand to be in five years?
The leader and pioneer in wellness and clean beauty products.
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