What I Learned as a Product Developer at Sephora

Even before the 'Clean at Sephora' program launched, Sephora had a no-no list of ingredients they would not allow in their products. As a result, I learned so much about ingredients – their function, how they work together, and how to swap out ingredients to get the same effect without any banned substances. I worked closely with Chemists and absorbed all of the knowledge I could.

When I started ĀTHR beauty, I put this experience into action right away. Since I've banned over 1400 ingredients from my products, knowledge of creative and effective alternatives is essential.

Currently, the US has only banned 11 ingredients from cosmetic formulations. The EU is far ahead with over 1300 banned ingredients.

When developing a new product, you create what's called a 'Product Brief' to give to manufacturers. This is a document that outlines what kind of product you would like to create. It includes things like the texture, the finish, the color, the feel, the balance, the ingredients you've banned, and the effect a product should have. The manufacturer works from your brief and you go back and forth until you're happy with the formulation. Basically the clearer and more thorough you are with this brief, the faster you will get the exact product you're looking for.

Once the Chemists created an initial sample, I would go to the lab to shade match, test the formulas for color, payoff, the press of the product, how soft it was – basically every element of the product. This would continue until we reached product perfection!

My experience at Sephora is why I'm able to launch new products so quickly and smoothly at ĀTHR Beauty. I spend a lot of time at the factory talking to the Formulators, Chemists, and Lab Managers. We work together to think creatively, problem-solve, and bring my vision to life.

Packaging can make or break a beauty product. There are so many options for consumers to choose from, so to stand out, your packaging needs to catch their attention and inspire a sense of connection with your brand. With ĀTHR Beauty, I wanted packaging that is not only sustainable and zero-waste, but magical, cosmic, and deeper than surface level.

When I was at Sephora, I traveled worldwide to trade shows to learn about new packaging options and innovations. I learned what is possible and what people respond to.

When I started working with the Sustainability team at Sephora, I learned that 1/3 of the landfill was from personal products alone! Recyclable, sustainable packaging was (and still is) desperately needed in the cosmetics industry.

To educate myself on how truly sustainable packaging could be possible, I spent a lot of time researching how the whole recycling process works. I visited recycling plants to learn the lifecycle of a piece of packaging as it goes through the whole process. This knowledge really informed the packaging choices I've made with ĀTHR Beauty. For more on how we created the industry's first zero-waste eyeshadow palette, read our blog.

As my expertise and passion for sustainability grew, my role further expanded. I became the Head of R+D, Sustainability in addition to leading Product Development for all Sephora Collaborations.

I went to a Sephora Conference last month (as a Brand Founder this time) for brands that Sephora believes in and wants to help grow. One of their presentations was on sustainability and they presented resources on packaging and formulations that I had created during my time there. It was great to see all the manuals I put together being shared with the beauty community!

At Sephora, we would be developing up to three years ahead, so you learn to predict what will excite customers in the future. I traveled to Asia, Korea, Japan, Italy, and France to learn about the new innovations in beauty from Trade Shows, Manufacturers, and special events.

Working on some of the most anticipated and beloved beauty launches in every category, I learned what is needed in a high-performing beauty product. I worked hand-in-hand with the Sephora Pro Makeup Artist team whose expectations of any beauty product are very high. I learned how to develop products that are pro-artist quality, but still wearable + usable for anyone.

With ĀTHR Beauty, I create clean, non-toxic, organic, and sustainable formulas but I do not sacrifice any level of performance. The same payoff, longevity, blendability, and beautiful pigmentation can be achieved with completely clean ingredients.

Being familiar with any one component of creating and bringing a new product to market is helpful, but having gone through the whole process many times over makes launching new products at ĀTHR Beauty really efficient.

For every product we launched, we worked hand-in-hand with the Sephora Pro Makeup team. We also scoured ratings and reviews to see what customers were looking for, what was missing, and what they absolutely loved.

I learned that fine balance between the makeup artist lens and the everyday woman. Items had to be beautiful, unique, and aspirational, but also functional, wearable, and easy to work with.

We also worked with store managers and merchants throughout the process and would do look-back reviews to see how products performed and what we could've done to make it better. You can always improve, and that culture of constant learning and progression really shaped how I create products.

I studied color theory extensively in my Art School days, and at Sephora, I learned to apply my eye for color to cosmetics. With the Pantone collaborations, we'd sometimes be working with a shade that was difficult to wear. I was tasked with creating palettes and products that would celebrate that color, but still be wearable and balanced with other shades.

At ĀTHR Beauty, I play with countless shades of color when I'm developing a new palette. I enjoy color so much and I spend a lot of time combining shades with each other, putting them in different orders, and making sure they all work together beautifully. I go over it many, many times and eventually land on the perfect combination that speaks to my spirit.

I just love expressing myself through color. I was actually courted by Nike years ago to be one of their Lead Color Designers. Even my house is an explosion of color! I have a magenta couch, my kitchen is neon teal and my kids' rooms are lemon yellow. When I was a kid, I had to majorly negotiate with my mom for more color in my room. Her whole house is white and I just wanted color, color, color all over the place!

For years, I kept trying all these clean beauty brands and feeling disappointed in their efficacy. They just didn't compare to conventional brands. Especially with eyeshadow and colored cosmetics – I found the colors were so lackluster and the formulas were just not up to par. That's why I started with eyeshadow – I love to express myself with color and I couldn't find the shade range I was looking for. It was the most frustrating thing to buy as a consumer.

Infused with Rose Quartz, Amber, and Ruby, each palette includes matte blushes and shimmer highlighters in three shades. The perfect balance of touched-by-the-sun warmth, and crystal-infused shimmer.

As if stardust fell from the sky and landed on your perfectly illuminated cheekbones, you will literally #shinelikeadiamond with these diamond-infused highlighters. The three shades will be:

• Yellow Diamond
• Pink Diamond
• Pure Diamond