Whitney Houston once said, “I believe the children are our future / Teach them well and let them lead the way.” Well, we at Allure wholeheartedly agree, so much so that we partnered with the Savannah College of Art and Design to foster the next generation of cosmetic industry leaders.
During a two-day event called Beauty Unlocked, held at the college’s Savannah, Georgia, campus, students had the opportunity to attend panel discussions with top executives, connect with experts one-on-one during portfolio reviews, and swatch, sniff, and suss out dozens of products before casting their votes in Allure’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
“You’re going to tell us the future of beauty,” said Patrick O’Keefe, chief integrated marketing officer at e.l.f. Beauty, addressing students while in conversation with Dianna Singh, Allure’s features director. O’Keefe was joined by Angelica Munson, chief digital officer at Shiseido, and Jana Barocas, global client partner for beauty at Roblox, to discuss the ever-changing digital landscape and how taking risks can help keep consumers engaged on every platform.
When insights weren’t flowing en masse, students received one-on-one coaching with representatives from companies including L’Oréal, Esteé Lauder, Medicube, and Rare Beauty. In total, more than 110 portfolio reviews were conducted with students from many of SCAD’s 100-plus degree programs, including illustration, user experience design, and animation. Of course, the school’s Business of Beauty and Fragrance program, developed by Associate Dean Meloney Moore in 2018 and presently chaired by Professor Dominica Baird, was particularly well-represented.
In typical Allure fashion, the event was bursting at the seams with products: skin care, color cosmetics, and new-to-market devices that would make even the most seasoned beauty devotee swoon. Gaggles of students flitted through the exquisitely-adorned halls of SCAD testing a mind-boggling number of products and casting early-access votes for our Readers’ Choice Awards. “We were so excited to bring Allure Readers’ Choice to the students of SCAD,” says Allure Editor in Chief Jessica Cruel. “Last year, we saw that Gen Z was more engaged with our poll than ever, so we wanted to use this opportunity to interact with that part of our audience in an in-person and tactile way.” And interact they did.