Beautiful People: Industry experts discuss the future of beauty

Representatives from LS:N members such as Nokia, Panasonic, Bacardi and Cowshed gathered at LS:N Global HQ to hear six beauty experts speak on themes ranging from the growing importance of blogging to how a global brand can be local.

The importance of blogging

Beauty blogger and industry insider, Becci Vallis, talked about how the beauty industry was initially slow to recognise the importance of the internet, but is now increasing its focus on the web and on bloggers. ‘The beauty industry has been behind the fashion industry in terms of being aware of bloggers,’ she said. ‘L’Oreal, for example, has failed to recognise the importance of the internet in the past but has decided to fully embrace it in the next two years.’

The Aesop experience

Indi Davis, marketing coordinator at Australian international beauty brand Aesop, discussed some of the service techniques the company has promoted in its string of worldwide stores. ‘Our shops have a calmness,’ she said. ‘We control the atmosphere and the music. Our people don’t ask you about the weather, they don’t ask you how you are. That is not what they are there for.’

Sonic beauty

Sonic artist, Julian Brown, discussed new ways in which sound is being used in social media and the endless possibilities that it has for beauty companies. ‘We don’t often think about sound because we live in such a visually centred society,’ he said, ‘and people often don’t realise its huge importance.’ Playing members a range of instantly recognisable sounds – from a light sabre to a mobile phone alarm tone – he demonstrated just what an emotive role sound plays in all our everyday experiences.

Grow your own

Herbal Botanist, Alex Laird, spoke about herbal beauty and the enormous benefits of organic, slow energy release foods. Discussing her vision for the Urban Physic Garden (a garden with a focus on medicinal plants and herbs that heal), she told members: ‘It is a way of celebrating us and our diversity – and at the same time it is about pleasure. What we want to do is to get people growing their own Urban Physics Gardens.’

Communication through packaging

Micha Weidmann, who runs his own London design studio, spoke of his company’s recent work designing the packaging for a range of products for the organic and sustainable beauty brand, Davina Peace. ‘Putting all the ingredients round the packaging in such a bold way created a transparency and linked back to the idea of ‘responsible luxury’,’ he said. ‘It was clean and clear. If we had added colour or extra design details it would have taken away from the impact.’

The future of beauty

Finally, LS:N Global Editor, James Wallman, gave an overview of our Beauty Futures report. ‘What we do here at LS:N is we get in touch with the innovators,’ he said, going on to explain the importance of the Diffusion Of Innovations curve and how we apply here at LS:N to mapping the development of future trends.

If you would like to know more about LS:N Global’s network events, contact Alena Joyette. To purchase a copy of our Beauty Futures report, click here.