The Indie Beauty Expo 2019 + My Top Picks!
I attended the Indie Beauty Expo 2019 (IBE) in the New York Location. I’m thankful that I was able to attend as Press; which allowed me access to 240 different vendors. The event took place on both Wed 8/21 and Thurs 8/22. My objective for attending the IBE was to discover and connect with new brands.
What is the indie beauty expo & How I attended?
The Indie Beauty Expo was started in 2015 by celebrity esthetician, Jillian Wright, and entrepreneur, Nader Naeymi-Rad. It started out in New York City and throughout the years it has now expanded to London, Los Angeles, Berlin and Dallas. The Indie Beauty Expo is an expo that highlights and features an array of different types of Independent Beauty Brands. The brands featured at the expo were a nice medium of brands that are up and coming along with established brands that you may of heard/seen online.
I heard about the event several months ago. I looked into the ticket information and it was a little too expensive for my liking, so I pretty much erased the thought from my mind. A few weeks prior to the NY dates I spoke with a fellow beauty blogger and she advised to apply as Press. Which makes sense as I know I wanted to share my experience here with you guys!! With the IBE being in New York City and me living in Brooklyn, the commute was very easy!
What did I learn or take away from the event?
This was my first time attending an event like this and I really didn’t know what to expect. Being that I was interested in networking with brands, I knew to bring business cards. I also knew attending this event would take me out of my comfort zone. I can be very much of an introvert. I attended the first day of the event alone. I took the time to check out and introduce myself to so many different brands and people. By doing this I really think I made some great connections and gained a better insight on so many brands.
I’ve noticed that the topic of Clean Skin Care ingredients and CBD were quite popular. CBD has been become quite popular and infused into the Beauty World. While at the event I connected with a few brands that have beauty products that are made with CBD. I’m hoping to explore this topic in the near future!
Brands that interest me from the event and why?
I met with many brands and was blessed to received many product samples. I thought I would narrow down the brands and products that stood out to me the most. I was able to narrow down my top picks to 5 brands.
Good Science Beauty
Good Science Beauty is made with ingredients that are paired to boost the performance of one another. Their products do not contain any silicones, parabens and other questionable ingredients.
What interests me about the brand is that their products are made with a patented ingredient, Silicon. Not to be confused with Silicones. Silicon is a natural ingredient already found in the body. However GSB has patented Good Silicon to carry ingredients like lipids and amino acids to make them more effective.
I’ve had my eye on this brand for many months. They have quite a few products that I want to try but I wasn’t sure where I should start. At the IBE I was kindly gifted the 003-Hydrating Face Cream. This cream is aimed to boost the skin moisture and lipid layer. The cream is made with H.A (hyaluronic acid), Marine Omega-3 and other great ingredients. I’m looking forward to trying this out when the weather in NYC cools down more and the moisture levels drop. The cream retails for $98, which is very pricey. So I’ll be pretty rigid when reviewing it in the future. I also know that GSB has a few sales during the year. Last year their Black Friday Sale was epic! I’m hoping to have out a full review on it before the holiday season this year!
Banilla Co Clean it Zero- Cleansing Balm
Clean It Zero is a 3-in-1 cleansing balm that is intended to remove makeup and impurities in one step. It’s aimed to deep clean and exfoliate gently without stripping the skin. I had a brief conversation with a few of the brand reps. They informed me that the pink container as seen in the picture is their universal formula and they actually have about 4 other formula versions. My main question about the cleansing balm is if I would need to follow-up with another cleanser after using it. This is question that is not a one size fits all. But it boils down to the needs to your skin, what you wearing prior to washing your face (makeup, sunscreen, and etc.) and how your skin feels after.
I’ll admit it. I haven’t tried many cleansing balms and I do have one that I currently love (favorite cleansing balm), but to be fair I thought I would give this one a try. I feel like I had to use a significant amount to just breakdown my eye makeup (mascara primer + mascara). My under eye concealer removed fine along with my highlighter and bronzer. This is a formula that I need to try out more and on a consistent basis to get a better feel. I may end up really liking or may be more in tuned to experiment with one of their other formulas.
Croon Cleansing Puff
Featured: Cleansing Starter Microfibers $26
Croon is reusable facial puff that can be used to cleanse, exfoliate and remove makeup up to 200 times. Croon is different from other disposable wipes and even most reusable puffs as these can be used with only water.
What attracted to me stop and speak with the makers of Croon was the fact that I would love to eventually replace my conventional cotton rounds. I typically use cotton rounds to apply toner and beauty water/micellar water. I am afraid that using this puff to apply toner or a micellar water would cause me to use too much product. Being that I recently received it, I’m looking forward to testing this out to see. While testing it out I would love to see how it removes my makeup and sunscreen along with the exfoliating.
I also like the fact that you can choose from various colors like purple, blue, red and a sea foam green color. I was informed that the puff can be washed in the washing machine when its ready to be deep cleaned. I’m interested to find out how many times you can use it before it will need a deep cleaning through the washing machine. What I love about Croon is their Upcycle program. When it’s time to recycle your croon puff it can be returned by mail. In return, they will also send you a discount code to go towards your new replacement croon puff. I love this idea of sustainability.
Byroe (food infused skincare)
Byroe is described as cuisine inspired skincare. The brand is based out of the NYC area and incorporates natural ingredients in their products. All of their products are named after food like Bell Pepper Serum, Tomato Serum and the one that really caught my eye, Salmon Cream. While meeting with the reps I asked if the products need to keep refrigerated or stored in a specific way and was assured that it didn’t. By quickly glancing over the ingredients of their products, I can see that they incorporate various food extracts. This poses the question to me- how effective are these ingredients, do these products become less effective over time using them? Also the bottles are store in transparent containers. Should they be stored in dark containers?
I noticed that their products are pretty pricey and range from $72-$150 for one product. These price tags are very much along the luxury end and not something I would no be comfortable spending or even recommending unless I was 100% satisfied with the product.
Browluxe Precision Brow Pencil
As someone who has expertly sparse eyebrows, a good eyebrow pencil is a must in my everyday routine. I stopped to talk to the CEO & Founder of Brow Luxe, Giovanna Minenna. She quickly explained what makes BrowLuxe so unique and I was quickly able to see how it performs better than other brands. I explained to her a few of my challenges like- oily skin and color matching.
The Browluxe pencils are packaged in a sleek gold packaging and are mechanical. The color line is broken down into warm, cool and neutral. I was matched to the N2 Carbon. I was a bit skeptical at first as I thought the color may be too dark. I was assured this color would work for me but was also given other options. Fast forward a few days later, I’ve been using the pencil and I’m very impressed. The pencils retail for $18.95. I plan on doing a full review on it in the upcoming weeks. So stay tuned!