CB Awards honour the beauty industry’s brightest stars

Last night, on 6 June 2013, the inaugural Cosmetics Business Innovation Awards honoured the brightest stars of the beauty industry. Organised by the team behind Cosmetics Business, the awards were presented during an evening ceremony at the London Film Museum. Uniquely, the event celebrated individuals and companies involved in the beauty business in its entirety – from inception to retail – recognising the vital role that each stage plays in the success of the industry.

Cosmetics Business received almost 150 nominations and the standard of entries was outstanding. The winners in the New Product Development and Innovation categories were Mibelle Biochemistry, which scooped the Innovation in Ingredients award for PhytoCellTec Argan; L’Oréal, whose L’Oréal Paris Mousse Absolue won Development and Innovation in Packaging; and X-Rite Pantone, which won the Technology award for its PANTONE CAPSURE technology.

In Retail Innovation, Urban Retreat at Harrods was voted the winner of the Premium Beauty Retailer category, while Superdrug took the Mass Beauty Retailer one. The victor in the Online Beauty Retailer category, meanwhile, was feelunique.com

The Brand Innovation categories included Beauty Brand Launch, which went to B. Beauty. nails inc. was chosen as Brand of the Year and the award for Advertising and/or Social Media Campaign went to Bare Escentuals for its bareMinerals Force of Beauty Campaign.

The awards honouring Creative Teams included best PR Team or Agency, which was awarded to Bourjois Cosmetics UK, and Store Design and POS Innovation, which Premier won for its Dead Sea Premier SALT SPA concept.

There were also two Special Awards: one for Eco-Sustainability, which was won by Weleda for its Weleda Body Lotions, and the Rising Star in Beauty award, which was scooped by Reena Hammer of Urban Retreat Group.

The Cosmetics Business Innovation Awards winners were selected by a panel of ten beauty industry experts headed by Emma Reinhold, Editor of SPC and Cosmetics Business. The panel included George Hammer, founder of Urban Retreat Group; Jo Malone, creator of JO LOVES…; Jonathan Ford, Creative Partner at design agency Pearlfisher; Vivienne Rudd, Mintel’s Director of Insight, Beauty & Personal Care; Hilary Dart of Hilary Dart Associates; Julie McManus, Scientific and Technical-Regulatory Affairs Director at L’Oréal UK & Ireland; Aaron Chatterley, founder and CEO of feelunique.com; Alice Hart-Davis, award winning beauty journalist and creator of Good Things; and Simon Duffy, co-founder of Bulldog Natural Skincare.

On the night, four of the judges – Malone, Hammer, McManus and Ford –delivered entertaining and informative keynote speeches about their respective areas of expertise in the beauty business.

The event was hosted with humour and energy by Katie Piper, presenter and founder of The Katie Piper Foundation, which provides support for those living with scars and burns. And the night helped raise funds for both The Katie Piper Foundation and Look Good…Feel Better, the beauty and fragrance industry’s charity, formed to help women combat the visible side effects of cancer treatment.