The Red Carpet of the beauty world was held on March 9th at the Altman Building in New York City with lines of eager CEW members anxious to sample and vote on their favorites extending behind the ropes all the way down the block. As always, it was a sold out event.
More than 2,100 beauty industry insiders attended the 17th Annual Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Beauty Awards Product Demonstration – widely considered the most important night among beauty afficionados. Their mission – to sample and vote on the best of over 600 products submitted to the professional organization’s Insider’s Choice Awards. The products on display – representing 26 categories and 350 brands – are all entered in the awards contest that culminates with a gala luncheon in May, when product winners will be announced.
According to CEW President, Carlotta Jacobson, “This event is like the biggest beauty counter in the world, and it gets more exciting every year. We have added some new categories, including the popular Eco Beauty Award. 40 companies submitted products for this category alone. The categories most in demand are still skincare and anti-aging, and we continue to see exciting new launches. Mascara is another category that shows strong growth. There must be a million mascaras by now on the market but new ones keep showing up. Prestige and Mass brands represented at the Beauty Awards are about equal now.”
While the beauty execs sniffed, sampled, spritzed, and smoothed, as they sipped champagne, four key trends emerged from the products on display.
- Complexion Perfection: Specialized primers and foundations combat redness while providing a luminous, natural finish.
- Hair with Benefits: Hair products featuring added benefits such as strengthening, shine enhancement and dry shampoo are becoming standard.
- Application Efficiency: More and more makeup and skincare products come with built-in tools such as scrublets, applicators and more.
- Longer Lashes: Lashes are getting longer and longer with mascaras that feature built-in growth serums and enhancers.
The 26 award categories are divided among makeup, skincare, hair, fragrance, men’s products and more for both high-end and drugstore price points. The highly coveted Indie award also goes to innovative brands less than 5 years old. The criteria for selection in the voting process are innovation and delivery system/packaging. For the first-time ever, CEW has created the first Eco Beauty Award, for products that have demonstrated best practices and progress toward sustainability.
So what does this all mean for BITB readers? Well, all of the winning products get the chance to display the CEW Beauty Awards Seal on their packaging or displays. Look for the seal this summer to learn what the insiders consider to be the best of the best. Foursquare will features where the winning products will be sold so you can find these must-have products wherever you are.
Get all the deets at cew.org
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