Last Thursday in New York City, the best beauty brands you haven’t heard of yet came together at the first ever Indie Beauty Expo, “A day devoted to independent beauty brands and the people who love them.” The Indie Beauty Expo (iBE) ™ had The Altman Building bathed in violet light and overflowing with stunning florals as the day-long, interactive event gave press, buyers, consumers and other industry professionals an opportunity to experience, connect with and buy from the best independent beauty and wellness brands.

Press Breakfast

iBE kicked off with a press breakfast. Exhibiting brands had the opportunity to present their stories (you can’t find an indie beauty brand that doesn’t have an inspiring backstory full of wonder and whimsy) to the national beauty media. This was followed by the trade portion of the expo where industry professionals (like me!) got to meet, learn about and experience dozens of beauty and wellness brands. It was great to meet IRL people I have emailed with, interacted with on social, etc. In the evening, the event opened to the public with discounted shopping, more panel discussions and the opportunity to connect directly with brands. For indie beauty-obsessed consumers, this was basically the equivalent of a 10-year-old girl getting to spend an intimate evening with Taylor Swift and her cats.

Panel Discussions

There were panel discussions throughout the day addressing topics like Natural Beauty Explosion: Pioneers Talk Trends, Myths, Facts, Hot Ingredients and More, which was led by Well+Good co-founder Melisse Gelula and included a panel of industry pioneers like Gina Carney, founder of RGB Cosmetics and indie beauty queen, Tata Harper.

About iBE

iBE was co-founded by Nader Naeymi-Rad, entrepreneur and CEO of Vesture, and celebrity aesthetician/beauty entrepreneur, Jillian Wright. As a spa owner, Jillian is always looking for new and notable beauty products to offer her customers. Additionally, as creator of her own eponymous skin care line, she felt a need to bring together media, buyers, retailers and indie beauty loving consumers for an exclusive, curated event that showcases and promotes independent beauty and wellness brands. Thus, the Indie Beauty Expo was born.

It’s All About Curated Indie Beauty

“There was an unmet need,” Wright told Charlotte’s Book earlier this summer. “Broadly speaking, up until now there were two kinds of beauty shows.” These two types of beauty shows are the multi-day professional trade shows with 1000+ vendors, and the afternoon mini-expos with a dozen or so independent brands. Until iBE, nothing existed in between those two extremes. “So iBE fills the gap,” Jillian explained.

Filling the Gap

Fills the gap, indeed. The packed event was a rousing success, and the impressive numbers show just how unmet the need for this type of event was: There were 80 exhibitors (initially, they were hoping for 40!), 100+ press (including Allure, Elle, InStyle, and W), 200+ buyers (including Barneys, Goop, Saks, Spirit Beauty Lounge, Target and Whole Foods), 300+ other industry professionals and 300+ consumers. This wasn’t just a bunch of us New Yorkers, either. Attendees flew in from Miami, South Carolina, Spain and even Tokyo. Ripples of the event’s success can still be felt online as well: A week later, attendees and exhibitors are still Instagramming pictures of the event (and their sizable product sample haul) with the custom hashtag, #weareindiebeauty.

Wright was, understandably, thrilled “I thought the expo was going to be epic, but it turned into electric. The happiness and positive energy in the air made it a very special environment to be in.” I wholeheartedly concur.

Creativity, Camaraderie and Collaboration

I feel truly lucky to have been in attendance at this event. As a female entrepreneur, I was moved and inspired by all the girl bosses in the building! Leave it to the ladies to populate an event brimming with creativity, camaraderie and collaboration. Missed this year? Fret not. iBE 2016 is already being planned…for NYC and LA. Go to the Indie Beauty Expo website now and sign up for news and updates.

Need an Indie Beauty Fix RN?

My personal highlights and favorite finds from iBE 2015: Every sample I received (and I received A LOT) were stellar! Since traditional skin care gets a lot of press attention, I chose to highlight some unique, (mostly) non-skincare items in my roundup, below.

LuliTonix Black Magic. After chatting extensively with several brands upstairs, I headed to the lower level (where iBE’s cafe was located) quite parched. I made a beeline for LuliTonix and asked for a cold, refreshing drink. Naturally, they handed me the quintessential summer refresher, lemonade. Did I mention it was pitch black charcoal lemonade? This lemon “detox and purification elixir”, made with activated charcoal, tastes like subversive summer…not too sweet but just sweet enough. It was refreshing, zesty and energizing. Activated Charcoal (one of my favorite skin care ingredients) is a detoxing debutante, so I was glad to get into some old Black Magic.

Juara Enzyme Scrub. Juara’s Coffee Scrub is one of my all-time favorite, all-star products that I will buy forever. It was with much excitement and anticipation, then, that I sampled their new face scrub. This gentle yet powerful scrub combines botanical enzymes and physical exfoliants to rid skin of impurities while improving texture and tone. It exfoliates, cleanses and refines while minimizing the look of pores to reveal a smoother, more radiant complexion. I had to shout it out because the results were striking after just one use! My skin looked younger and more luminous in minutes. Once again, it’s Juara scrubs FTW!

Rituel de Fille.  This whole line got me more excited about makeup then I’ve been in a long time. Trying these products felt like the first time I opened my Nars Last Dance Palette – a watershed moment in my beauty junkie journey. Rituel de Fille’s packaging is stunning, but their products are spectacular. With rich, saturated hues for eyes (which comes in a chic little hexagon and is called Eye Soot – brilliant), cheeks and lips in dreamy, creamy formulations, this is the makeup Stevie Nicks would wear if she were a Limelight club kid…and that’s as high a compliment as I could possibly pay to a makeup line. Expect big things from this indie brand.

Kypris Body Elixir: Inflorescence. I love me some body oil. It’s probably the beauty product I own the most varieties of. Since Kypris’s Clearing Serum was the only organic beauty product to make a real difference with my breakouts, I could not wait to get Inflorescenced. First, I fell in love with the forest green glass bottle. Then, I fell in love with the intoxicating Neroli scent, one of my favorite essential oils. Now, I’m in love with the results. Inflorescence is a rich, aromatherapeutic body oil containing clinically proven actives (Sweet Iris Stem Cells & Vitamin C Ester) typically reserved for facial care and 12 of the most potent and nourishing botanical oils, including Sunflower, Moringa, Prickly Pear and Tamanu seed oils. This multi-active oil gets to WORK from day one. It  soothes dryness, softens, tones, enhances elasticity and luminosity, provides an antioxidant boost to SPF, diminishes the appearance of sun-overexposure and inspires collagen production. I apply it to damp skin immediately after I shower, as it allows me to spread it more easily…which will stop me from blowing through the whole bottle by Labor Day!

Sprayology Body Balance homeopathic oral spray. I’ve shared about struggling with Adrenal Fatigue before; and if you are a sufferer yourself, you know it can manifest in myriad ways. When I was introduced to Sprayology and their Body Balance spray immediately upon entering iBE, I was jazzed. Body Balance was designed to address symptoms of adrenal exhaustion including: dizziness, fatigue and weakness, mental exhaustion, skin dryness and lost sense of well being. I’m trying my best not to use up the one month supply bottle within one week, but no promises.

By: Claire McCormack, Twitter & Instagram: @clairemcmack

Creating a new habit requires constant repetition. We thought we’d review our top tips to beautiful, ageless skin. May they become your new skin care habits.

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A question that comes up frequently in the beauty industry—whether it’s beauty editors, news publications, blogs, founders of beauty brands or friends asking me for advice—is “What is your top beauty secret?” or “What is the most important thing that I can do to keep my skin looking great?”

There is No Magic Bullet

The truth is that there is no one THING, product, practice or secret that will keep you looking like you are 19 through your 90s. Like everything else in life, looking—and more importantly, feeling—great takes work and consistent care. If your skin is really important to you, take care of it by going for regular facials, even if you only go quarterly. Preventative care is essential. Also, commit to some kind of a regimen. You don’t have to spend endless hours with masks and all types of steps, but commit to cleansing, and toning; Lavido Purifying Face Cleanser and Hydrating Facial Toner are great choices for the summer. And find a serum and moisturizer that works for you and use it. Establish some type of ritual for morning and evening. If you are lazy like me, your night ritual might consist of using an Ursa Major Essential Face Wipe and following it with Emma Hardie The Midas Touch Face Serum. It takes about 60 seconds. The point is, just do something!

Tuning Into What We Need

Whether we are talking about hair, skin or body, the first step to taking proper care of ourselves is tuning into what our bodies need. If you have been to a good nutritionist, (I was lucky enough to find Joy Bauer) she will go over basics of what are and are not good food choices, but she will also tell you to listen to your body. If we take a moment to sit still with ourselves and listen, our bodies will tell us what we need. It is really remarkable. Have you ever been thinking about what you wanted to eat for dinner and felt like a big juicy steak and spinach? Now, I am not a physician or nutritionist (and vegans, please cover your ears), but it’s possible that at that moment, your body was in need of iron and animal protein. Similarly, ever notice on really hot summer days, we tend to gravitate towards salads and fruits and eat a little lighter? Those foods are mostly water based and our bodies are likely in need of hydration. In the same way that we should be listening to our bodies to know what they need on a given day to perform optimally, we also need to learn to listen to our skin.

Notice Patterns

In the winter skin tends to dry out from the cool frosty air and wind, so we might mix a face oil with a rich moisturizer, Cosmetics 27 Huile 27 with Baume 27 for example, to give our skin the protection that it needs. Whereas on a warm summer day, skin is more vulnerable to congestion as it produces more oil than usual. On days like this, mixing a few drops of a serum (Right now I am using Cosmetics 27 Essence 27) with a daily anti-aging sunscreen, such as Institut Esthederm Bronz Repair Face Cream SPF 20, or a light BB Cream (B. Kamins makes a great one), is all that is needed. (Side Bar: Institut Esthederm Time Technology Cream is a great moisturizer for summer evenings. It is light and contains just a bit of sparkle, which looks beautiful, especially on sun kissed skin.)

There is No One-Cure-Fits-All

In other words, there is no one best beauty or skin care tip that’s a one-cure-fits-all. Do your own research, see what the experts are saying, but then tune into your skin. Take a moment and look at your face in the mirror and examine its landscape. Is there a part of your face where blemishes tend to pop up with seasonal weather changes? For me its on either side of my chin and begins when temperatures change significantly, so at the beginning of the summer and then again when the temperatures really drop transitioning into winter. Start to notice these patterns and shift your facial care regimen slightly to accommodate your skin’s needs. There are no hard and fast rules for certain seasons, either. You may find during the summer that after a day in the sun, your skin is really dry and needs some TLC…have that rich winter moisturizer on hand!

A Word on Anti-aging and Massage

A tip that I picked up from both from skin care expert Yasmine Djerradine and Michele Evrard, the pharmacist that founded M.E. SkinLab, the company that manufactures the Cosmetics 27 skin care line, which I love…is massaging the face.

Massaging The Face

When applying product, morning and evening, take an extra 30 seconds or more (if you have the patience), and actually massage the product in. Whether you are using a serum, face oil or moisturizer, literally spread it on from the bridge of your nose in horizontal downward strokes toward your cheeks and press hard, then move your fingers up the bridge of your nose, between your eyebrows and smooth down those annoying lines that start to form in your mid-thirties. I do this at least 8 times. Next, spread your fingers, position them on top of your eyebrows and applying pressure, move them up to your hairline and repeat. Then do the same in your temple area. Just try it, it feels good. It will also release any tension that you may already carry in that area, which will prevent future lines that may appear as a result of scrunching your forehead.

Massaging The Eye Area

While applying under eye cream, apply pressure, and starting from the under eye area closest to your nose, sweep your fingers up the half moon shape of your under eye area all the way through where your crows feet might start. Repeat this 3-4 times. Apply even more pressure where the crows feet appear. Don’t be afraid to message it in. There is a myth floating around that applying pressure to this area will have a negative impact. It isn’t true! I’m using Emma Hardie Age Support Eye Cream right now. It’s all natural and extremely moisturizing. The under eye area is the driest patch on the visage. Using an eye cream is a good habit to get into, even if you are in your mid twenties.

Got Smile Lines?

Make sure to apply pressure in that area, horizontally intersecting the smile lines in an upward motion. If you are uncertain, moving your fingers up your face is usually a safe bet. You will wake up the dermis and muscles directly under it as well as get the blood flowing. Think of it as exercise for the muscles in your face.

Final Tip

Remember to smile, even if it’s just with your eyes; happiness always radiates beauty.

Stay tuned for more holistic beauty tips that actually work from our panel of beauty experts and us regular girls at Travel Beauty.

By: Alyssa Barrie Weiss, Twitter @AlyssaBarrie