New Finds At Indie Beauty Expo Los Angeles
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Growing up was all about having brand affinity to large, corporate conglomerates owned by companies like L’Oreal or Estee Lauder. These days it’s the indie beauty brands are who are catching my attention and heart. In every category from makeup, to skincare, to sexual wellness, Indie Beauty Expo is the place for these often founder-led brands to be discovered by leading retailers and press outlets.
Indie Beauty Media Group built a platform with Indie Beauty Expo that is set to help independent beauty brands succeed. IBE was actually founded by a indie brand founder herself, Jillian Wright. She was a clinical aesthetician who created her own skincare line for her spa, but felt none of the current tradeshows spoke to her needs. Years later and an expansion that now includes Indie Beauty Expo in NYC, Los Angeles, Berlin, Dallas and London . . . it is safe to say she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. IBE has grown to include Beauty X for two days prior to the expo which is an educational summit focusing on business acumen and networking time for brand founders and leadership teams.
BeautyX Summit and UpLink will have it’s own review later for brand founders as I highlight it in addition to educational workshops at Foundermade, CosmoProf , and others, as I put together my list of top conferences and tradeshows new beauty and wellness founders should attend.
So what exciting new brands did I find at Indie Beauty Expo? I’ll have longer product summaries showcased throughout the year of some of the brands I am trialing, but here are 5 that immediately caught my attention that I think you should have on your radar this year.
KegelBell:
So I should save the best for last, but in case your attention span is only 8 seconds, I didn’t want you to miss this find. You have FaceGym to tone muscles in your face and now you have KegelBell, the gym for your vagina. No, the goal is not to have the world’s strongest vagina, but can you tone it? Well in just 5 minutes, 3 times a day, you can. However, why would you want to? Well I’ll skip past the benefits of vaginal rejuvenation and bladder leakage straight to what I think most women would be interested in, more intense orgasms. Yup, Kegelbell is FDA-registered, made of medical-grade silicone, and will give you more intense orgasms. If Equinox could promise that, I would have used the gym more often, lol. At $110 to try it out, it’s a steal compared to laser vaginal rejuvenation treatments claiming to do the same thing sold for an average of $3,000 in a package of three sessions at many of my medical spa clinics! I am very interested in the results and the results compared to some of these medical spa packages so be sure to come back in March during Woman’s Month for a full feature. For now, check out more info straight from the source, here. PS - Unlink the months you have to put in at the gym to start to see changes, you can see results from KegelBell in as little as two weeks!
Winged CBD:
Beauty has been going overboard on green with the inclusion of CBD. In a world where I feel like I couldn’t possibly hear about one more CBD brands, Winged CBD caught my attention with their story of being formulated specifically for women and their pregnant founder who was just full of light. I’ve sampled my share of CBD products so I almost wondered if their daytime CBD gummies was swapped with a THC batch because I was that relaxed. I have some other gummies and tinctures I’m sorting through, but will be happy to give this line a full review in the upcoming weeks.
Saalt:
So this was a category I was familiar with, but honestly had no interest in using. My sister Ashley Renne was in India with me at the beginning of the year and was raving about the product category during a conversation we were having about sustainability. When I first heard the same mentioned at Indie Beauty Expo, I just expected another skincare brand, but Saalt is a period cup company. It’s a reusable soft silicone cup worn internally like a tampon that collects, rather than absorbs, your period. They have a great FAQ page since I’m sure if you are anything like me, you have a million questions running around in your head about this. Thanks to my IUD I haven’t had a chance to try this yet, but the FAQ page does go over what to do if you want to use this cup if you have an IUD as well. One quick tip that one of their marketing representatives gave me before I jump to the next find that I’ll pass on to you . . . if the thought of a period cup makes you think “ick” out loud when you first heard it, save the first time you are going through the removal process for the shower while you are getting used to it. In the name of being more ecofriendly, I’m going to be giving this a whirl.
Orgaid:
Sheet masks are wildly popular, but these single-use skincare heroes can come at an environmental cost when you aren’t using a mask that is biodegradable. That’s why I loved that Orgaid’s three face masks are made with over 70% organic ingredients, free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and fragrance in addition to being biodegradable. You can’t beat being more green while getting your glow.
Georganics:
The best thing about Indie Beauty Expo is that they have so many great brands to explore that I got a chance to discover for the first time. The toughest part about Indie Beauty Expo? There are so many great brands to explore and not enough time in the day! Sadly I was rushing off to attend a talk and wasn’t able to make it back to the Georganics booth, but if this UK brand had some very interesting products in oral care. If you’ve followed my Instagram Stories, you may have seen my visit to see an Ayurvedic doctor while visiting India in January. One of the many new habits I brought home with me after that trip was using coconut oil to do oil pulling. I actually have a whole post planned on this topic and other Ayurvedic practices planned in the upcoming weeks, but here’s the short version of what oil pulling is. It’s an ancient Ayurvedic tradition of swishing oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for at least 20 minutes to improve oral, and in turn, overall health. The doctor advised to use sesame or coconut oil and this brand actually has an Oil Pulling Mouthwash made with virgin coconut oil like I’ve been using, but flavored with peppermint!
