The 21st Annual CEW Insiders’ Choice Beauty Awards took place on May 15, 2015 at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. The event, presented by Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), is regarded as the Academy Awards of the beauty industry, and exuberantly celebrates the year’s breakthrough beauty products.

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Carlotta Jacobson, President, CEW remarked, “It is hard to believe it’s been 20 years since we began holding the beauty awards.

Left to right, Jeannine Shao Collins, Publishing Director, Meredith;
Jill Scalamandre, Chairwoman, CEW; and Carlotta Jacobson,
President, CEW

Our awards program copies the Oscars, and each year the awards get bigger.” This year CEW awarded 38 products across 37 categories, including cosmetics, hair care, bath and body care, skin care, lip products, fragrance and more. Jacobson also noted that the CEW Beauty Awards had garnered more than 180 million media impressions, a testament to its growth.

CEW’s 6,000+ US membership selected 210 finalists from more than 750 entries, and special awards were presented for the Eco Beauty category, Best Seller in mass and prestige, the Iconic Beauty award, the Indie Brand award, the Most Buzzed About, and the QVC Beauty Quest award, in which QVC searched for six brands for a chance to be featured on QVC.

“Every year there are countless innovations and advancements in the industry and we rely on these Beauty Awards to feature the very best,” said Jacobson. “Our list of winners represents the most groundbreaking products, perfectly curated by CEW experts. This year we are thrilled to bring consumers the first ever Insiders’ Choice Digital Beauty Guide to help them discover the most innovative products of the year and make informed purchasing decisions,” noted Jacobson.
    
The digital magazine includes winning and finalist products, expert tips from industry insiders, trend forecasts, and clickable icons to purchase products. An online version of the guide is available on CEW.org (view CEW's digital magazine here) and an app version is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, by searching “CEW Beauty Awards Insiders’ Choice Guide.”

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Other firsts at this year’s event, included for the first time in award history, a tie in the Eco Beauty Award category, between COOLA Suncare and Marula Pure Beauty Oil. This award, sponsored by Givaudan, is given to a brand that has moved further toward the goal of sustainability. CEW also awarded T3 Whirl Trio Interchangeable Barrel Styling Wand in the new Hair Tools category. This category highlights tools that aid in the styling and preparation of hair, including blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons, and brushes.

The presenters at the event.

    
Aisha Tyler, (shown in the photo at the top on the right), an actress and the star of TV’s The Talk, hosted the event and paid homage to the world of cosmetics and beauty. “These are the Oscars of beauty and we’ve invited the top industry influencers to be with us today,” said Tyler. She acknowledged the power of cosmetics and quipped, “Underneath all this makeup I really look like an NBA recruit.”
    
A roster of celebrity presenters and sponsors contributed to the festivities, with such notables as Martha Stewart, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Louis Licari, Owner of the Louis Licari Color Group, Contributing Editor to the Today Show; Dr. Ellen Marmur, Founder and President, Marmur Medical; and Gretta Monahan, Style and Beauty Expert on TLC’s Brides Gone Styled, on hand to present the honors.
    
Event sponsors this year included Meredith Corporation, Givaudan, QVC, Costco Wholesale, Nordstrom Beauty, Beauty Inc, Arcade Beauty, which noted it has combined the history and innovative solutions of Arcade Marketing and Le Papillion/Bioplan, to create Arcade Beauty, Birchbox, RPG, Conair, MaCher, Albea, Rpr Marketing Communications, Mintel, Piper Jaffray & Co., Nielsen, Yes to Inc., P&G Beauty, Kao USA Inc., KraftWorks, Consultancy Media, Suite K, Films for Industry, Tempt In-Store Productions, WWD, NPD Group, and EY.

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There was also some news about Arcade, which was listed in the event program - it is now known as Arcade Beauty. An insert in the event program, produced by the supplier, featured a paper disc that said: "Uncover the Future of Sampling." On the back, was a list of the numerous sampling technologies the supplier offers, including: ScentStrip, Rollerballs, MicroDot, MiniSprays, Scratch & Sniff and more.