Hero, We are Family

There are family owned beauty heroes that are keeping it in the family.

Independently owned cosmetic brands are all around us especially in the vegan and organic sphere but as quickly as they appear; big corporations are ‘acquiring’ them.  However, there are still family-owned companies in our midst, some stretch back years and have become dynasty’s. This hero piece is a celebration of beauty heroes we love that are still owned by the original family.

Estee Lauder is a big corporation with many brands under its umbrella but it’s still very much a family affair.  Estee Lauder officially launched four products in 1946 following many years selling her homemade creams to women in beauty salons — this venture actually started out with her husband Joseph.  There are now three generations of Lauders involved in the business from their sons Leonard and Joseph – who learned about creams at the dinner table — to grandchildren Jane and William.  The company owns quite a lot of other brands, Origins; Smashbox and Becca to name a few, investing and elevating them to international status.

Hubert d’Ornano and his family own one hundred percent of Sisley-Paris which he founded in 1976.  D’Ornano’s grandfather Guillaume co-founded Lancôme in 1935 before selling his shares, and Hubert joined his father and brother Michel to launch Orlane (a luxury skincare brand they sold in 1968), so cosmetic development definitely runs through the veins of the D’Ornano family.  Even though this luxury family brand sells all over the world it is one that is sticking very close to its roots and seems to live by the motto “what’s created in France stays in France!” because their production, administration, and research laboratories are located there with manufacturing in its factory in Blois and their headquarters located in the heart of Paris. 

Nudestix‘s concept is simply genius.  Makeup in child-like crayon format.  That’s it!  Two generations of the Frankel family – Gen X and Gen Z – developed this convenient brand. Jenny is a chemical engineer with twenty years of experience working in the cosmetics industry as a product developer for MAC then co-founder of one of my all-time favourite makeup brands Cover FX.  Jenny’s inspiration came from her two daughters Ally and Taylor ( Gen Z) who seemed to gravitate towards easy to use no-fuss products that allowed them to enhance their individual beauty in less than 10 minutes.  I love this brand! My first encounter was with their matt lipsticks, I was not a fan of anything matt but these were the perfect formula with no drying or caking as I feared might happen.  They have grown into blushers; foundations; concealers and eye shadows mostly keeping with the crayon format.   

You know the saying “behind every man is a strong woman,” well I’m sure Dr Gross won’t mind me saying this about him and his wife.  This is a dynamic duo.  Dr Dennis Gross, MD dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon is a New Yorker and Carrie his wife is a Californian.  This east meets west coast couple co-founded this very well respected Dr Dennis Gross, MD skincare range starting with a patented Alpha Beta Peel.  Dr Dennis loves to reside in the lab or his clinic and Carrie is a wiz in the office.   They have daughters so they may get involved in dad and mum’s iconic business one day.  This brand is new to me but is so well respected among my peers.

If you enjoy We are family beauty heroes that keep it in the family. We are Family beauty heroes that keep it in the family, then read more from Julie’s beauty Heroes Here

Beauty Editor Julie Jacobs