Beauty Independent Unveils 2023 Beacon Awards Nominees

The 2023 Beacon Awards is shining a light on 116 outstanding nominees across 25 beauty, wellness and personal care categories.

For the fourth annual beauty awards program produced by Beauty Independent and sponsored by Voyant Beauty, there’s a wide-ranging collection of contending buzzy brands, retailers, entrepreneurs, executives and investors. The entrepreneur and executive nominees include Ulta Beauty CEO Dave Kimbell, Briogeo founder and CEO Nancy Twine, RMS Beauty founder Rose-Marie Swift and Henry Rose president Debi Theis.

The brands and investors scoring nominations include Youthforia, Julie, NuFace, Le Mini Macaron, KimChi Chic Beauty, Jason Wu Beauty, Nécessaire, Homecourt, Access VC, Willow Growth Partners, True Beauty Ventures, Sandbridge Capital, Prelude Growth Partners, New Incubation Ventures, and Stride Consumer. Ulta, Beautyologie, Luminous and Glowbar are the retail honorees. The full list of 2022 Beacon Awards candidates is available here.

The Beacon Awards is highlighting emerging beauty brands, retailers and voices at a challenging time for the indie beauty segment. They’re navigating a shaky economy, a decline in external funding availability and fierce competition, among a myriad of factors affecting budding businesses. In recent weeks, stores from Shen Beauty and Inside Outer Beauty Market, a former Beacon Awards winner, have announced they’re closing. Brands such as Lady Suite, Doubledown Cosmetics, Athr Beauty, Earthwise Beauty, Lilah B., Bite Beauty and Vapour have shuttered or will shutter soon.

“The past few years have not been easy for the emerging beauty and wellness brand community, which is why programs like the Beacon Awards that highlight excellence are so important. We are proud to recognize the incredible work and innovations coming from this group of people that are driving the industry forward,” says Andrew Davis, an expert evaluator for the 2023 Beacon Awards and chief commercial officer at Voyant Beauty, a contract manufacturer and parent company of indie beauty-focused division Atelier. “Atelier is helping high-growth emerging beauty brands become the big players of tomorrow, and this program allows us to connect with these very brands. The 2023 nominees are truly a standout class.”

While it’s been a tough period for indie beauty, Nader Naeymi-Rad, founder of Beauty Independent parent company Indie Beauty Media Group, points out there remain many bright spots. “These are uncertain times, and as we adjust to this post-pandemic new normal, there have been a lot of changes, but one thing that’s constant is the incredible innovation from beauty and wellness entrepreneurs that the Beacon Awards was created to recognize,” he says. “It’s an honor and pleasure to celebrate the people who are driving our industry forward, these are the people everyone will want to keep an eye on.”

Beauty Independent was established in 2017 and introduced the Beacon Awards in 2020 as the beauty industry was confronting the pandemic. Over the next several weeks, a panel of 20 expert evaluators from the industry will have the difficult task of choosing winners from the accomplished nominee cohort. The experts bring knowledge accumulated over decades about crucial aspects of beauty and wellness such as retail, funding, media and manufacturing.

The expert evaluators include Carol’s Daughter founder Lisa Price, Advent International operating partner Janet Gurwitch, L’Oréal group president of acquisitions Carol Hamilton, Unilever Prestige CEO Vasiliki Petrou, KSJ Collective founder Kelly St. John, Beauty Pie founder and 2020 Beacon Awards industry icon winner Marcia Kilgore, Hero Cosmetics co-founder Ju Rhyu, Shiseido SVP of Global M&A Carla Ruiz, Caliray founder and 2022 Beacon Awards Industry Icon winner 2023 Wende Zomnir, and Wander Beauty founder Divya Gugnani. Expert evaluators are assigned to committees concentrating on specific awards categories based on their backgrounds and expertise.