Dr. Jean-Michel Karam is an expert in the field of micro- electro-mechanical systems, and although he always suspected his work had applications for the beauty industry, he long resisted exploring them. “I had a bad opinion of the cosmetics industry,” he confessed to West Coast beauty editor Rachel Brown, summing up his opinion in two words: “pure marketing.” The Frenchman did, finally, approve the development of a skin care device within his company, which turned into a complete line called Ioma, which is launching in the U.S. this fall at Saks. The devices measure different parameters of a customer’s skin (moisturization, wrinkle depth, etc.), then prescribe a regimen that will result in measurable improvement about two months later. The line is expected to reach worldwide revenues of about $20 million this fall—but it’s not the numbers that have made Karam a believer in beauty, as you’ll read in “The Measure of a Man”. It’s the science.
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Indeed, this entire issue is devoted to the beauty industry’s quest for discovery. Jennifer Weil, our European editor, traveled to Darmstadt, Germany, where she toured Procter & Gamble’s research facilities for its professional hair care and devices businesses. There, she found a veritable world of wonder—from microscopes that magnify a hair strand up to 3 million times to acoustic cameras able to pinpoint the precise spot where an electrical device is malfunctioning. For a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of this beauty behemoth, turn to “Inside Oz”.
Johnson & Johnson is driven by innovation. Drawing on research powered by its pharmaceutical division—the company was the first to stabilize pure vitamin A—it has become a global skin care powerhouse, with its collective brands garnering a 26 percent share in the U.S. mass market alone. J.&J. is far from content to rest on its laurels, however, as WWD’s executive editor of beauty, Pete Born, discovered during wide-ranging interviews with Stefano Curti, president of global skin care, and Jeff Smith, president of U.S. skin care. “Beauty [stands] at the intersection of fashion, lifestyle and science,” Curti told Born. “We have the ability to access a vast amount of R&D resources and at the same time we are obsessed with consumer intimacy. Through the combination of these two things, we believe that we can drive innovation and invent the future of skin care.” The new generation leading the company is ready to speed forward; read about their plans in “Two for the Road”.
The five winners of L’Oréal’s annual Women in Science Fellowship Award know something about the future. They’re helping to invent it. From biomedical engineering to neuroscience, each is involved in fascinating research outside of the beauty domain. On the eve of receiving their awards (which brings a $60,000 prize for each), the women sat down with our mass market editor, Andrea Nagel, for a lively discussion. Their answers are in “The Brain Trust”, and as you’ll see, they’ve more than earned the moniker.