Solid Advice from an Indie Beauty Publicist: 5 Questions with an Industry Expert
Aimee Majoros is a beauty industry veteran with 25 years of experience in public relations and marketing. She has held positions in the PR departments of some of the world's most iconic beauty and fashion companies including The Estee Lauder Companies, L'Oréal USA and Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey. Aimee has worked with brands including Aramis, Clinique, Donna Karan, Givenchy, Godiva Chocolatier, Guerlain, La Mer, Matrix Haircare, Origins, Phillipe Starck and Tommy Hilfiger - along with many, many successful indie brands. Just a few of the indies Aimee has helped put on the map are Kahina Giving Beauty, Kreyol Essence, Maya Chia, One Love Organics and Skandinavisk.
Aimee left corporate life to establish her own firm with the desire to work with independent and emerging brands. She is passionate about helping these brands to grow and evolve.
1. Give us a brief summary of your business and how you got started.
We specialize in all facets of Public Relations for independent beauty brands, and have done so since 2004.
A few years ago, an editor at a major media outlet said that I was “The Original Indie Beauty Publicist” and it actually might be partially true - when I started working with what we now refer to as indies, there was no Indie Beauty Expo. My colleagues from the corporate world thought I was crazy. There were three aisles at The New York Gift Show called “Extracts”. There were nowhere near as many independent beauty companies as there are now but there were still some people doing very innovative and beautiful things.
I actually never intended to start my own business. I was interested in building my career in the corporate beauty world - I started working for The Estee Lauder Companies in the mid 90s and then went on to L’Oreal USA.. In 2003, I was working at LVMH on the Guerlain, Givenchy and Acqua di Parma brands, and the company sold half of our division which meant that basically everyone was let go. While I was looking for a new job, I simultaneously met two people with small indie brands. Both of them asked me for advice and I figured, well, I’m not doing anything, let me just try to help you... don’t pay me anything, let’s see how far we get. These two brands were so successful just from the small amount of effort I put in initially, that they not only started paying for my services, but told other brands about me. The business I didn’t know I wanted grew and it grew quickly. I still get most of my clients via word of mouth - if I actually reach out to you, you should know that you are VERY special because I hardly ever do that! Some of the brands from the first few years are actually still working with me. PR people don’t typically keep clients for 10+ years but I am very fortunate to have several amazing brands that keep coming back for more!
2. What is the most important factor for an indie beauty brand to become iconic and press-worthy?
The number one thing the press are looking for is innovation. What makes this skincare brand different from the seemingly thousands of other brands with a serum in a black bottle (I’m talking about a violet glass bottle actually, but to the consumer it looks black)? I’m always excited to spot brands with a real point of difference, because I know that something super unique will be a slam dunk with the press.
One of my newest clients, OOLI beauty, is a Black Woman Owned brand designed specifically for people with locs, created by a woman who has worn locs for around two decades. When I saw first OOLI on Instagram, long before the brand launched, I knew I wanted to be part of it - and I’m so lucky that the founder brought me on board. There are so many incredible brands in the natural hair category, but what was so cool about OOLI was that it addressed the unique needs of a very VERY specific niche.The brand has been growing by leaps and bounds and it is only a few months old. The press we got for OOLI in the first few weeks exceeded both my and the founder Jessica’s expectations - and my expectations were already quite high. I always thought this brand was just so different that it was absolutely going to be a smash hit with the press.
3. What is one trend in beauty that you see coming in the next year?
I think that we are going to see explosive growth in the intersection between beauty and other healing modalities. We will see high vibrational beauty as a real emerging category, I’m quite excited about that.
Renowned natural perfumer and aromatherapist Ixchel Leigh just launched her Artisan Parfums collection - each scent holds a specific vibration. Far more than just scent, these organic parfums combine raw materials in precise methods to encourage specific transformational outcomes for the wearer. It’s more than just about smelling good, her fragrances are designed to help you manifest positive change in your life. Ixchel has been working this way for years and I think scent + healing has been happening quietly for decades due to aromatherapy. The rest of the world is waking up to it and ready to embrace it, so I think we will see more “functional fragrances”.
Meraki is a luxe botanical hair care brand that infuses gemstones to create high vibrational, highly effective hair care essentials - amethyst, citrine, lapis lazuli, rose quartz and more. Both Ixchel’s Artisan Parfums and Meraki products actually contain a real gemstone in each bottle - in the parfums it is a Herkimer diamond which already has a hole in it to be worn as a protective amulet on a bracelet or necklace. Healing crystals + beauty = a natural combination that we will see more of, and I’m here for it!
4. What can beauty brands do to get exposure before they have the budget to pay for PR/press?
The first step to getting any kind of exposure is to do your research. Know who your customer is - just because you read Vogue doesn’t mean she will. Find the media outlets that would appeal to her and start reading them every day. Learn the types of topics they discuss and envision how your brand might fit in with their coverage. Follow the publications, editors and writers that cover product lines like yours - the more you know, the easier it will be for you to come up with a pitch that is relevant.
Can you do your own PR? Absolutely! It is very VERY time consuming though. I have been doing this for almost 25 years, and I’d absolutely hire someone to do my PR! I actually have a few clients who are ex PR people, so they know how to do PR - one of them is a former mentor of mine! They just don’t want to because they know that it is so much work, and they want to focus on creating their products.
I would invest in some outside help as soon as you can - but make sure you are ready financially before you take that step. I will actually turn down clients who aren’t ready - if you tell me you are going to take out a second mortgage to hire me, I don’t want to take your money. You don’t need to be with a big agency (in fact, smaller companies will get lost at big agencies, I’d avoid them) - you can hire a smaller agency or even a freelancer for less money than you’d think. Don’t discount freelancers - a one person shop might be just perfect for your brand.
If anything, talk to some PR people. I’m always willing to give tons of free advice. Beauty PR folks are good people by and large, you can pick up some interesting insights by talking with us even if you don’t end up hiring someone. Just make sure you find someone with beauty experience.
And make sure your social media is a true reflection of your brand - because this is where the press is likely to first encounter you.
5. What is one piece of advice or direction you would give to a beauty entrepreneur in the early stages of creating a product?
Don’t try to do it alone - that is how costly mistakes are made. There are so many moving parts to launching a beauty brand. I meet brand founders all the time who made very costly major missteps that could have been easily avoided if they had an expert working with them.
Get it right the first time - you don’t want to have to redesign your packaging in a few months for example because it won’t suit retailers needs. Don’t let retailers, press or consumers tell you what you did wrong, after it is already too late. If you bring people with the experience you might be lacking to the table, you won’t get it wrong. Ask other brand founders that you admire if they are willing to share resources, follow those people, see the kind of work they do. Talk to them.