Laura Geller’s Beautiful Journey

Beauty partnerships are proliferating; community building and brand aesthetics are supporting their growth. Fashion Group International (FGI) explored this phenomenon, and more, at its Beauty U Beauty Symposium, at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) Katie Murphy Amphitheater last month. The event examined what drives innovation in beauty and what supports its staying power in a changing environment. Speakers demonstrated that passion, drive and vision are integral to success, but elements of surprise and ingenuity keep it exciting.

Maryanne Grisz, president & CEO, FGI, welcomed attendees and thanked event sponsors: Glosswire and ELF Beauty; marketplace presenters, Pura, Scent Marketing Inc., and Laura Geller Beauty, and Fashion Institute of Technology. Caroline Fabrigas, CEO, Scent Marketing Inc. and Karen Young, founder and CEO, The Young Group, served as event co-chairs.

Laura Geller, founder, Laura Geller Beauty shared her lifelong love of beauty.

A Lifelong Beauty Journey

Geller grew up in Rockland County, New York. She attended beauty school after high school and followed her passion for makeup with a move to the School of Visual Arts (SVA). There, Geller studied theater and makeup, applied the makeup for numerous celebrities, and made the decision to segue into beauty retail.

Her love of sales and a self-confessed “gift of gab,” enabled her career to flourish. Geller opened a retail store on New York’s upper East Side. There, she “sold so much makeup and received so much press,” that her reputation grew. Her tips and tricks translated professional makeup and techniques for all women. Her makeup for mature skin caught the eye of QVC, which offered her an opportunity to sell and demo her makeup.

“Twenty-eight years later, I’m still there,” she noted. Geller acknowledges that her unique ability to talk to women and create “community,” are integral to her brand.

Maintaining Connections

 “I sold my business in 2012, and I’m still the face of the brand,” she said. “If I can leave you with one thing, it’s this. You don’t have to be the person who always talks, you just need to know your product; people will relate to that. If you can’t communicate your product well, get yourself someone. You need that connection and that is the connection I built over 28 years,” said Geller.

She explained that the most important thing is caring about your community, which has expanded since her presence on TikTok and social media. In addition to her widely recognized baked cosmetic formulations and contouring products, it is her approachable tone and disarming directness that remain at the core of her message.

“In over 40 years in the business, I never dreamed they would have something like social media,” she admitted.

She marveled at its outreach, concluding, “It is where you must be.”