As an accomplished beauty industry executive with nearly 20 years of experience with brands ranging from pharma to startups to entrepreneurial ventures I’ve worked with beauty businesses that were bootstrapped, private equity-backed or incredibly generously funded. As someone working closely with emerging, classic, and cult brands, I’m close to evolving trends and implementation. I’ve consulted with specialty, prestige, mass market, and masstige brands both nationally and internationally. My specialties are color, skincare, and treatment though I’ve worked with hair color and fragrance as well. I’m a wickedly creative marketer and brand evangelist with a track record of advising future cult brands.
Have a beauty idea? I’ll help you turn it into a business. Have a beauty business? I’ll work with you to transform it into a brand.
Drop me a line at beautyconsulting [at] hirachel.com to start a conversation.
My key areas of expertise include advising on:
- Brand creation and positioning
- Strategic planning
- Branding & creative strategies
- Marketing & PR
- Sales & education
- Product development, updating, or enhancement
These are some of the additional ways I might be able to help you move your brand or idea forward:
- Product Development: As a former makeup artist and cosmetic industry insider, I’ve worked on a lot of famous faces and developed products for celebrities including Christina Aguilera and Mary J. Blige, and a wide range of prestige, mass market, and masstige brands. If you need inside into a particular demographic, I can help with naming your line or individual products (hello Essie nail polish!) or launching your line. I can also brainstorm with you and your team to better understand your industry. Hey, the Washington Post called me “A hotshot beauty consultant” for a reason. I can work with your on-staff chemists to update existing lines or help you integrate current or future trends in ingredients, target zones, demographics, or more in your beauty or lifestyle brands. I’ve consulted for cosmetics giants including the Estee Lauder brands, Shu Uemura, Benefit Cosmetics, Coty, Procter and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, and many more. I’m a frequent guest speaker and repeat keynote speaker for the Society of Cosmetics Chemists and many more groups. I also appeared on the Sundance Channel series Love/Lust & Makeup along with Stacy London & Bobbi Brown.
- Beauty Business & Cosmetic Industry Consultant/Expert: I’ve been quoted in hundreds of publications nationally and internationally and regularly appear as a beauty industry expert on numerous TV programs and documentaries. I’d be happy to add insights to your brand or campaign or work with you on a consulting basis to offer advice on how to make your TV show, movie, or book more authentic.
- Team Building/(Retro) Beauty Events: My book Hello Gorgeous! Beauty Products in America ’40s-’60s inspired a week-long retro beauty event at Henri Bendel. Okay, maybe inspired is too modest a word choice. As a marketing strategist, I worked with the beauty team at Henri Bendel to create a buzz-worthy, lucrative, and really fun event. I’d love to work with you to create a fun afternoon or evening out for cosmetic industry executives or those in the style industry.
- Beauty Content & Copywriting: I’m a prolific writer and style content developer. I’d love to create customized content, columns, or publications for you or help you to come up with the right wording, taglines, or catchy, kitschy copy.
- Guest Lecturer/Speaker: I’ve lectured on beauty history and advertising and cosmetic and fragrance marketing at top-tier universities including the Fashion Institute of Technology. I’ve taught personal branding on the graduate and undergraduate levels at NYU; and partnered with luxury brand LVMH on their luxury retail series for which I created/taught: From Cleopatra to the Kardashians, a short history of beauty culture at Parsons School of Design. I’m a dynamic and entertaining public speaker and have been the keynote speaker at the Society of Cosmetics Chemists speaking on topics including the history of beauty marketing and women in STEM.
- Brand Sparks: Need to add more personality to your brand? Depending on your product or needs, I can provide fun quotes and advice at press events, act as your representative at events, or go-to expert for on-air demonstrations and more.