MEET DR. ROBB AKRIDGE: CO-FOUNDER OF CLARISONIC
Photo Credit: beautyinthebag.com
Dr. Robb Akridge (fondly called “Dr. Robb”) is a scientist by training who has done everything from study marine biology and botany to research AIDS vaccines and work for Sonicare. After jumping from a senior scientist for the toothbrush company to a beauty entrepreneur, the opportunity arose to start his own business. Dr. Robb cashed in his 401K and spent two years developing the assays and safety testing of the soon-to-be beauty device must-have: clarisonic.
After a few failed prototypes and learning curves, the Clarisonic came to life and sales began to grow. Shortly after, Clarisonic was featured on Oprah and the craze for the electronic beauty device took off.
BITB spoke with Dr.
BEST IN BEAUTY: MEET THE CEW BEAUTY INSIDER AWARD WINNERS
Photo Credit: cew.org
Curious about what beauty insiders picked as the best beauty products of 2016? The winners of the prestigious 22nd Annual CEW Beauty Insider Awards are in, and as always, Beautyinthebag editors cast our votes and some of our favorites won. (See the products with an *).
Held at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria in New York City, Tony Award winning actress, Laura Benanti hosted the event, the single beauty awards program in which the winners are determined exclusively by industry insiders. CEW’s more than 6,000 U.S. members whittled the potential winners down to 212 finalists from more than 800 entries. Then the winners were chosen by CEW’s Board of Governors and a select group of
GET POLISHED … NO POLISH REQUIRED
Like most of you, I love nail polish. Right now I’m loving it all shades of blue, rich or vibrant purples, pale pink tones and black, but unlike most of you I love it only on my toes. For my fingers, I’ll always choose a nice clean buffed nail over color any day. There’s just something about a buffed nail that I can’t get enough of. It’s chip free so perfect if you’re more the low-maintenance type and gives your nails an understated “finished” look with a healthy-looking, natural sheen.
You might be wondering what my dilemma is. The truth is, if I step into a salon to get it done, it’s hard for me to justify spending the same amount of cash on a mani when I won’t be getting the “included
FGI PANEL: THE ART OF THE BEAUTY START
“You are probably looking at the luckiest woman in the world,†said Essie Weingarten, founder of essie, the ubiquitous brand of jaunty nail polish carried in salons around the world. Weingarten detailed her climb from bottling colors at home to selling her brand to L’Oréal at last month’s Fashion Group International (FGI) beauty symposium entitled, The Art of the Beauty Start.
Weingarten was one of five panelists who spoke about ways that small, niche beauty brands can break into the marketplace and stay above the red line. Sponsored by Self magazine and The Estée Lauder Companies, the luncheon event drew a packed crowd to the New York Hilton for insights
