Bobbi Brown remembers her first 1991 feature in WWD well — even without it being cast onto a large screen at the Rainbow Room in New York City’s Rockefeller Center during the 2024 Beauty Inc Awards ceremony.
“I’ve always been someone who thought that makeup is really simple, and that anyone could do their own makeup — it’s about teaching them how to do it,” said the makeup artist, multibrand founder and, as of Wednesday, Pete Born Impact Award winner, in a fireside chat with Jenny B. Fine, editor in chief of Beauty Inc.
This ethos didn’t just inform that debut lipstick collection Brown developed for her namesake brand in 1991 — which she sold to the Estée Lauder Cos. just four years later, marking the beauty giant’s first full acquisition — but also her second makeup brand, Jones Road, launched nearly three decades later and, now in its fifth year, on track to hit $150 million in annual sales.
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“I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing every day,” continued Brown, who has taken a strictly direct-to-consumer approach with Jones Road, soon to open its eighth store. “I love working, I love creating, I love curiosity, I love new challenges — I love doing things that I have no idea how to do. I still have things to prove — not to anyone but myself — so I’m not done.”
Brown’s resolve is similar to that embodied by her fellow 2024 Beauty Inc Award winners, who have shone bright in a year of transformation for the industry and world at large.
Among them, MAC Cosmetics, which nabbed the Excellence in Philanthropy Award for its precedent-setting Viva Glam charity initiative, which now in its 25th year has raised more than $500 million to support medical research and the communities impacted by HIV/AIDS.
“This is a testament to what happens when beauty is not just a product, but a force of good,” said senior vice president and global general manager Aïda Moudachirou-Rébois.
Hourglass Cosmetics founder and president Carisa Janes, meanwhile, took home the Buzzy Collab of the Year Award for teaming up with Barneys New York for a five-week pop-up reviving the retailer, which was known, among many other things, for championing indie beauty brands and which shuttered its doors in 2020.
“Barneys saw the potential in young, unknown brands — but even more than that, had the courage and conviction to take a chance on brands like Hourglass,” said Janes. “It was an honor and the project of a lifetime to bring Barneys back with the creative powerhouses who helped make Barneys what it was, with the legendary designers it helped launch, and back for today’s emerging talent who have only ever heard of Barneys from Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.”
Blake Lively, whose Give Back Beauty-backed brand, Blake Brown, became the largest hair care launch in Target’s history in August, took home the Newcomer of the Year Award.
“We’re the newcomer here, which feels sort of odd to say because we’ve been building this brand for seven years now; it is older than my third and fourth child,” laughed Lively. “Corrado [Brondi, founder and CEO of Give Back Beauty] is nodding his head — he was actually a pre-pubescent brunette when we started.”
Other winners of the year included Makeup by Mario founder Mario Dedivanovic for Breakthrough Prestige Brand of the Year and Olivier Rousteing for Balmain’s eight-fragrance collection launch, Les Éternels de Balmain, licensed by Estée Lauder Cos.
The Mass Breakthrough Brand of the year, meanwhile, went to Byoma, which has propelled the role of the microbiome in skin health and is on track to reach $300 million to $500 million in sales by the end of 2025. “We’re just getting started,” said founder Marc Elrick.
Here, the complete list of 2024 Beauty Inc award winners.
The Pete Born Impact Award: Bobbi Brown, makeup artist and founder, Jones Road Beauty
An Appreciation: Masahiko Uotani, chairman and chief executive officer, Shiseido Co. Ltd.
Excellence in Philanthropy: MAC Cosmetics x Viva Glam
Buzzy Collab of the Year: Hourglass Cosmetics x Barneys New York
Icon of the Year: Clarins Double Serum
Founder of the Year: Victoria Beckham, Victoria Beckham Beauty
Brand Builder of the Year: Maureen Kelly, founder and chief executive officer, Tarte Cosmetics
Launch of the Year: Balmain Beauty
Campaign of the Year: E.l.f. Beauty, So Many Dicks
Market Maker: Ron Robinson, founder and chief executive officer, BeautyStat
Purposeful Initiative: Ulta Beauty, The Joy Project
Newcomer of the Year: Blake Lively, founder, Blake Brown
Products of the Year
Product of the Year, Hair: L’Oréal Paris Colorsonic
Product of the Year, Makeup: Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint
Product of the Year, Skin Care: Olay Cleansing Melts
Product of the Year, Fragrance: Bottega Veneta
Product of the Year, Wellness: Lemme GLP-1, Cravings & Weight Management
Breakthrough Brands of the Year
Breakthrough Brand of the Year, Mass: Olive & June
Breakthrough Brand of the Year, Prestige: Makeup by Mario
Brands of the Year
Brand of the Year, Wellness: Olly
Brand of the Year, Mass: Byoma
Brand of the Year, Prestige: Yves Saint Laurent Beauté
Category Builders of the Year
Category Builder of the Year, Skin Care: CeraVe
Category Builder of the Year, Makeup: Dior
Category Builder of the Year, Fragrance: Phlur
Retailers of the Year
Retailer of the Year, Company: TikTok
Retailer of the Year, Team: Sephora North America merchandising team
