The Business of Beauty: How Science-Driven Innovation Drives Growth and Success

Fact: Any beauty-lover (speaking as one myself) or brand-founder would dream to have 30-minutes in a room full of experts to pick their brain about the industry. What ingredients are the most impactful? What does the future of beauty look like? Do I need a complete overhaul of my skincare routine? (It's a totally simple question that I'm sure they'd know the answer to!) At Marie Clarie's 2025 Power Play summit presented by Clinique, that dream was a reality for those in attendance. One of the panels at the event, which was held at the beautiful St. Regis Atlanta, was for "The Business of Beauty: How Science-Driven Innovation Drives Growth and Success" and just as the name alludes to, it covered all things related to the current state of the beauty industry.

Leyte Winfield, Ph.D

Moderated by Marie Claire's editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike, experts Leyte Winfield, Ph.D, Dr. Uchenna Okereke, and Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd dished about the empowered beauty consumer, how AI is making its mark on the industry, and Clinique's impactful history. But first, the group tackled the elephant in the room: With the current oversaturation of beauty brands and information, how are brands managing to stand-out and continue to be innovative?

"What I think brands are doing to keep up is really utilizing AI to make sure we provide patients, or rather consumers, with products that are tailored to their skin care needs," said Dr. Uchenna Okereke. "It's not a one size fits all anymore." As such, new technology like AI, paired with a science-first approach from brands and their products, has helped bridge the information gap to give consumers back the power, and newly educated buyers are expecting more.

"The younger generations are not hooked on catch phrases. They want very clear claims. They want very clear directions for use. They want very clear understanding if things are going to be compatible," added Leyte Winfield, PhD.

"Science is having her main character moment, and I'm here for it," she continued, adding in how her patients are coming in more educated than before — for example, asking about her certain ingredients and how they'd react to their skin types. "I think that's one of the key factors that can keep brands, you know, ahead of the game is really focusing on the science and investing in research."

The topic of researched-back skincare was a constant throughout the conversation, as was Clinique's longstanding role as a pioneer. "Clinique has been quietly doing their thing since 1968," said Winfield. "I think that many of us think, 'Oh, it's just skincare.' But you don't realize that, particularly with Clinique, which is a brand that's very committed to science, there are people who spend their whole career PhD scientists developing those products that we use," added Dr. Woolery-Lloyd.

Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd

Woolery-Lloyd, who works mainly with patients dealing with complicated pigmentary disorders, noted how integral Clinique's innovative formulas were when there weren't many skin-specific products on the market.

"It was very challenging for me 20 years ago when I used to see patients, and they have a rare or complicated pigmentary disorder," she said. "20 years ago, I had two or three things that were available for me to treat or manage these conditions. And I distinctly remember when the even better Dark Spot Corrector — now it's called the Dark Spot Clearing Serum — came out because it was the first innovation that was mainstream, that was available to address hyperpigmentation. As someone who specializes in hyperpigmentation, it was really groundbreaking."

Brands like Clinique have been able to continue this longevity by "Doing events like this, and then also in really speaking to the science of their products," noted Okereke. "Clinique is being nimble, right, and kind of going with the time, and saying, 'Okay, well, this is a different, you know, subset of customers' and they do want to know this information, and putting it out there, making it accessible to them, I think, is really important."

However, newer brands are faced up against the attention economy on social media, and it's more challenging than ever to prove new products as useful to the consumer. According to Dr. Wingfield, the director of the cosmetic science program at Spelman College in Atlanta, she's teaching her students to be skeptical about the constant flow of new brands and products. "We are glad that there are these new products that are coming out," she says, "But what's happening with the old products? Are we creating more waste? How are we being renewable in this space? What have we not explored as it relates to innovation and converting waste even into new chemical products?"

Dr. Uchenna Okereke

One of the biggest innovations in skincare isn't an up-and-coming formula or ingredient: It's social media itself, and the concept of "Skincare education online" according to Woolery-Lloyd. "I think that it makes skincare companies more accountable. I think 10, 15, years ago, you could throw out a product and make almost any claim you want without really having any data to back it up."

Of course, Okkunaike saved the best for last, asking the panelists to share the ingredients or products to look for that will actually benefit our skin. Beauty lovers wouldn't be surprised to hear that the lineup included SPF, peptides, and vitamin C and E. While these products were once relegated to the skincare category, you should look out for them in your makeup, too.

"There's a skinification of makeup, where makeup products have added benefits, so things like niacinamide, or, you know, different vitamins, like vitamin C, or the easiest example is SPF," shared Dr. Woolery-Lloyd. "I love products like that, because you can have a little bit of double duty, especially for people who are more simplistic. I don't like very complicated skincare routines."

Dr. Wingfield closed the panel to a mountain of applause after speaking on how the next generation of cosmetic chemists will alter the industry. "I think the biggest trend that we want to see is a push past Eurocentric standards of beauty and narrowly defined lenses of beauty. There's a depth of work that needs to be done to really push the limits of where that needs to go. So I think what we want our students to go into the lab understanding is that there is still space that they can navigate and establish and innovate, intersecting not only race and gender, but also culture, and then, of course, science."