Indie Beauty Expo headed west last week to spotlight rising indie beauty stars in downtown Los Angeles at the California Market Center. In total, almost 200 emerging brands packed IBE’s 45,000-square-foot venue with skincare, color cosmetics, haircare, tools and more. Representatives from a vast array of retailers descended on the expo from the local area and across the world. To gauge their impressions of the products on display, we recruited buyers from four very different companies—Omaha-based and dermatologist-owned online destination LovelySkin, two-store Canadian natural and organic beauty specialist The Truth Beauty Company, five-unit Southern California retailer Beauty Collection and Auckland, New Zealand-based clean beauty e-tailer Clean Beauty Collective—to select a few that stood out to them. Here are their top product picks:
Lovelyskin
Chrissy Kersting, purchasing manager
Cela Essential Balm
“The texture is incredible as it melts into an oil when it hits your skin and absorbs quickly so it isn’t greasy. I even used it on the plane on the way home to smooth through my hair, which had a bit of static from the dry air. Also, the scent is amazing.”
Pamela Storey, business development manager
Lalicious Extraordinary Whipped Sugar Scrub
“I love to use the Lalicious Extraordinary Whipped Sugar Scrub in the shower to gently exfoliate away dry skin cells. You can follow with the Lalicious Body Butter. This keeps my skin nourished and moisturized.”
Imbibe Beauty Renewal
“I thought that the Imbibe products looked interesting. It is a probiotic drink that helps with skin hydration and gut health. I’m anxious to try it.”
Jennifer Bryan, marketing director
Au Naturale Lip Oil
“The new lip oil from Au Naturale is perfection. It glides on easily and provides the right amount of shine without being sticky, plus it actually tastes good. I love the Cassis color for adding a little tinge of berry to my lips.”
The Truth Beauty Company
Jennifer Freitas, founder
Humble Brands Nothing Bad All Natural Deodorant
“I love that the scent range is inclusive of more male clients. As the client base expands, our offerings also need to address that. The price point is great too as traditionally we have seen males spend less on personal care. As a woman, I loved the scents and can’t wait to use my palo santo-scented deodorant.”
Aether Beauty Rose Quartz Crystal Gemstone Palette
“Makeup continues to be a huge category for us. Skincare is usually the first swap to clean, followed by makeup. However, no one wants to sacrifice ease of use, performance and efficacy. Aether Beauty is truly nailing it with the colors and diversity of shades. And the fact that it is available in a palette makes it much sought after by the conventional-going-green client.”
Ora Organic Good As Gold
“Love, love, love this brand! Internal wellness is an expanding category for beauty. There are all the adaptogens and antioxidants to consume with the idea that it feeds our skin from the inside out, and Ora is knocking it out of the park with taste, texture, diversity of products and branding. Overall, it truly offers a full package. Good as Gold is so incredibly delicious. I can’t wait to get it on our shelves.”
Foamie Shampoo Bar
“Plastic reduction continues to be a focus for the consumer, so I have seen an interest in the use of shampoo bars. Foamie, albeit packaged in cardboard, will capture that individual. I actually love the attractive packaging that offers use direction and the various scents.”
Beauty Collection
Dominique Rush, buyer
Love Sun Body Ultimate Daily Defense SPF 30
“Love Sun Body is of 100% natural origin and keeps our reefs safe. I am not the type of person that likes to wear sunscreen, but the 30 SPF in the Tiare & Vanilla scent is my favorite sunscreen for my entire family. I recommend it to everyone I know.”
LaFlore Probiotic Cleanser
“LaFlore’s Probiotic Cleanser gives the best of both worlds. Not only does it cleanse the skin, it also retains natural moisture without stripping the skin. We want to expand our probiotic offering at Beauty Collection, and LaFlore also offers touch-activated probiotic skincare.”
Teami 30 Day Detox Pack
“Teami’s 30 Day Detox really stood out to me. I love that they have a detox calendar that instructs the user which days to rotate the two teas. Education is what we love to give our customers when bringing health and wellness into our store, and this will offer a non-aggressive alternative for detoxing.”
Comprehensive Cranium Care Head Hydrate
“Skincare for the cranium is something that I have never focused on, and C3 Head Hydrate is an incredible moisturizer. I believe that C3 is really touching a demographic that needs more attention and care.”
Dame Eva II
“The Dame Eva II is crossing boundaries to improve comfort level in health and wellness. Another great quality is the discretion of all their products. They fit nicely in our personal care section without screaming, ‘Hello!’”
Clean Beauty Collective
Fleur Insley, founder
Aeos Enriching Moisturiser
“I love the whole concept of choosing your skincare based on color. This concept is just so unique and not what we would traditionally see with skincare that usually focuses on skin types/concerns. I also love their seed-to-soul philosophy and the fact that they have their own biodynamic farm. Lastly, although their bottles are small, a little goes a long way.”
Alder New York Everyday Face Cleanser
“This beautifully simplistic, clean, genderless skincare really appealed to me. I love the fact that they have no scent and that their names are their barcodes. Their Everyday Face Cleanser contains glycolic acid, which was a first for me. I haven’t seen glycolic used this way before. I have to say that, after using it for the last couple of days, it wins best in class for me.”
Cela Essential Balm
“Wow, where to start with this beautiful, beautiful brand? They ticked the boxes with their branding, packaging and design. Most importantly, their products are so luxurious and so addictive that they make you want to just jump into a big tub of them. The standout winner for me was the Essential Balm. I love the formulation and how it changes from a lightweight balm to an oil. It’s so surprising the first time you use it.”
Imbibe Beauty Renewal
“I was on the lookout for an ingestible brand while I was at IBE, and I’m glad that I was able to meet and connect with Felicity [Evans], the founder of Imbibe. It’s a true beauty ingestible that actually tastes great.”
Clove + Hallow Hydraglow Luminizing Serum and Hydratint Blush Serum
“I’ve followed Clove & Hallow for a while on Instagram, so it was really exciting to see the brand listing ahead of time. In particular, I was looking forward to meeting the founder, Sarah [Biggers], and talk to her about the products and what’s coming up. I discovered two new loves, Hydraglow Luminizing Serum and the Hydratint Blush Serum. I loved the formulas. The fact that they both contained hyaluronic acid was a big tick for me.”
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