Thursday, December 15, 2011

WWD 2011 Beauty Inc Awards

On December 8, the 10th annual WWD Beauty Inc Awards breakfast was held. The emotional moment was hit early in the program when William Lauder, executive chairman of the Estée Lauder Cos., Inc., accepted the first Corporate Social Responsibility Award on behalf of his recently deceased mother, Evelyn Lauder. After he spoke, the crowd stood to acknowledge her contributions to the industry and the breast cancer awareness campaign she held dear. Evelyn Lauder was awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility Award posthumously.

Here's a partial list of the award winners, starting with the Product of the Year Awards.

Mass Color Cosmetics: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure
Prestige Color Cosmetics: Dior Addict Lipstick
Mass Skin Care: Physicians Formula Skin Care
Prestige Skin Care: Lancôme Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector
Mass Hair Care: Clairol Nice 'n Easy Color Blend Foam
Prestige Hair Care: Bumble and Bumble The Straight Line
Mass Fragrance: Avon (for Outspoken Intense by Fergie)
Prestige Fragrance: Justin Bieber Someday

The Prestige Brand of the Year was awarded to Estée Lauder, while Maybelline took home honors for the Mass Brand of the Year. Newcomer of the Year awards went to Julia Goldin, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Revlon, in the mass category and Alexander Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, in the prestige category.

The Eco Awareness Award went to Pantene for the Natural Fusion line. P&G has had a corporate-wide effort in sustainability, which it launched in its beauty business.

Tom Ford Beauty won the Prestige Launch of the Year Award - no wonder! Surprisingly (to me), the mass Launch of the Year Award went to Selma Hayek for Nuance.

Retailer of the Year awards went to Duane Reed (mass), Macy's (prestige), and Sephora (specialty). Birchbox won the Prestige Digital Innovator Award, while Neutrogena won in the mass category.

Fittingly, Peter Philips, Global Creative Director for Makeup of Chanel, won the Creative Influencer of the Year Award. WWD noted that many credit him with single-handedly bringing lipstick back with the launch of Rouge Coco. That launch was rivaled only by the launch of Rouge Coco Shine - also his.

Finally, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, the honorary chairman of L'Oreal, received the Visionary Award, which recognized his leadership in building L'Oreal into a global powerhouse during his 18-year run as CEO. Ever humble, he said term "visionary" made him uncomfortable. He prefers to be remembered as a "brave soldier."

What do you think? Were these awards spot-on? I'll confess that one of them left me baffled. Can you guess?

Illustration courtesy of WWD

9 comments:

Lexi Jadoff said...

I'm guessing by your recent fragrance posts that Justin Beiber baffled you ;) To be honest, I haven't smelled it, but I just can fathom that is the best prestige perfurme that came out all year. And, is it even prestige?

Charlestongirl said...

Yep, Lex, Justin Beiber's fragrance was a commercial success because of screaming teens. I assume it's "prestige" because it's sold in department stores. That doesn't speak to quality, so I'm wondering about the award criteria. :)

Evelyn said...

The first time I saw the Beiber perfume I mistook it for a bottle of Marc Jacob's Lola. Then I saw the life size cutout of Beiber. hm. I wouldn't class it as a prestige fragrance either, then again I wouldn't include any celebrity's fragrance because they tend to all smell the same - fruity and bubble gummy, etc. eh. If I'm a snob so be it.

Charlestongirl said...

If you are a snob, Evelyn, then join our very good club! We'll call it Celebrity Fragrance Phobes. :)

Eileen said...

I got such a laugh out of the Beiber award. Perhaps the judges were just delirious and suffering from a bad case of Beidber Fever :-) It does call into question many of the other awards, though, doesn't it?

As for Selma's new line, I read about it in a magazine interview with her, but I have yet to actually see it. Supposedly, its skin care is based on her grandma's folk remedies and the colors are those found in human skin. Hmmmm . . . Has anyone seen or tried it yet?

I think the Tom Ford and Peter Philips awards were spot on. Those two men have had an incredible impact on beauty lately.

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Eileen!

Yep, Beiber Fever...maybe the judges had teenaged daughters.

I saw Hayek's line when it arrived at CVS. There was a prominent display at first, and every sample was plundered before I got there. I suspect someone grabbed all of them (typical, from what I'm told there). So, I didn't try it - and probably won't.

Totally agree on Tom Ford and Peter Philips! Also on Dior Addict, one of my faves. :)

bisbee said...

I have tried several of Salma Hayek's skin care items - and I am quite pleased with them! Maybe you should go back and see if you can get any of the sample sizes. I like it better than most other "drugstore" skincare I've tried.

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Bisbee! Thanks for the info...good to know!

Anonymous said...

I also enjoy the Salma Hayek line. Her lipstick, My Favorite, is excellent, and I enjoy the firming lotion, too, despite its very odd wheat smell (my lotion criteria: affordable, absorbs fast, and moisturizes. This does.) try it!