The nominations process for Beauty Independent’s Beacon Awards program, which shines a light on the best and brightest in the indie beauty market, is open for its third annual award season.
Beauty enthusiasts and insiders will be able to nominate people and brands they believe to be worthy of 2022 Beacon Awards, sponsored by Intrepid Investment Bankers, through the publication’s website until May 9. The 24 people and brands that walked away with Beacon Awards last year include Paula’s Choice founder Paula Begoun, Pai founder Sarah Brown, online international retailer Secret Skin, clean makeup brand Ami Colé and skincare brand Youth to the People.
The Beacon Awards program’s focus on the indie beauty segment is unique. Its 24 categories cover a wide swath of the segment such as brands, investors, retailers, products, executives and social media, and showcase to the industry the innovators breaking new ground in beauty.
“The beauty market has changed tremendously since the pandemic hit the United States two years ago,” says Rachel Brown, editor in chief of Beauty Independent. “We’re honored to highlight indie beauty brands that are adjusting to the changed market, addressing niches that big conglomerates are missing, innovating on both the distribution and product fronts, and creating merchandise that keeps customers returning again and again. We can’t wait to see the companies and items our expert evaluators deem to be best in class.”
“When we created the Beacon Awards in the summer of 2020, we couldn’t have imagined how much it would resonate and, frankly, how much fun we as a team would have producing such a program from start to finish,” says Nader Naeymi-Rad, co-founder of Beauty Independent parent company Indie Beauty Media Group. “Since then, we have heard from investors, buyers, brand founders and other beauty professionals about what a highlight the Beacon Awards is for this community and what a mark of success it represents for brands. We are so fortunate to be the host of this incredible program and we look forward to bringing the program to more and more people each year.”
Beauty Independent’s editors and contributors are tasked with shortlisting nominees by narrowing down submissions to five official nominees in each category. Jessica Miller, director of operations at IBMG, will contact the official nominees about the Beacon Awards program over the next three months, and nominations will be announced in August, a month prior to the announcement of the winners during a special live digital event on Sept. 14. Official nominees will be eligible to pay an application fee to participate in the program.
Beacon Awards winners will be chosen by a panel of 25 esteemed evaluators, who will have the opportunity to weigh testimonials submitted online by Beauty Independent subscribers. Among the beauty industry heavyweights serving as 2022 Beacon Awards expert evaluators are Marcia Kilgore, founder of Beauty Pie and 2020 Beacon Awards industry icon of the year winner; Carol Hamilton, group president, acquisitions at L’Oréal; Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter; Joel Palix, former CEO of Feelunique and founder of Palix Unlimited; Michael Garcia, managing director of Intrepid; Nyakio Grieco, co-founder of Thirteen Lune; Summer Fridays co-founder Marianna Hewitt; and Ju Rhyu, co-founder of Hero Cosmetics. Hero Cosmetics’ investment deal with Aria Growth Investors was named indie deal of the year for the 2021 Beacon Awards. The evaluators are assigned to committees concentrating on specific awards categories based on their backgrounds and expertise.
The complete list of Beacon Awards 2022 categories:
For more information on the Beacon Awards, click here. To nominate a brand for an award, fill out an application here.
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