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Q & A with Ron Robinson of BeautyStat Cosmetics

With your background in chemistry, what made you decide to go the cosmetics route?

I grew up in Brooklyn after my parents migrated to New York City from the Caribbean. I attended college on Long Island graduating from Adelphi University with a degree in Chemistry and Biology. My parents convinced me to attend medical school with hopes that I’d find financial security with a stable and notable profession, but I quickly realized it was not for me.

A year later, I dropped out and applied to any chemist job I could find. I quickly landed an interview, but it wasn’t until I pulled up to the address that was given to me, did I realize I was interviewing with one of the major divisions under the cosmetic giant Estée Lauder Companies – Clinique.

I was hired on the spot. And that is how I fell into the beauty industry and have been passionate about it ever since. It was love at first sight. I had no idea there was a whole world of science that went into making beauty products.  I was fascinated by how beauty blends both science and art. I was in love.

Describe an accomplishment in the early stages of your career that shaped you.

Shortly after I started working as a chemist for Clinique, I was charged with the task of formulating new anti-aging moisturizers for the brand.  This project was very challenging and I made hundreds of batches before landing on the perfect formulas. These formulas became some of the best sellers for the brand, but more importantly, they really delivered significant improvement in consumer’s skin. This experience made me realize how powerful beauty is. Beauty can make consumers look and feel good and I wanted to be a part of that.

After working for big brands such as Estée Lauder, Revlon, and Avon, what made you decide to launch your own brand?

Before I launched my own beauty brand, BeautyStat launched as a social media agency 11 years ago.

After spending over 15 years working for brands like Clinique, Estée Lauder, Revlon, Avon, and L’Oréal, I saw a new trend emerging—social media. In the mid-2000s, I saw the fast rise in social media (Facebook and Twitter emerged), and I felt there needed to be an online community where consumers can connect with beauty experts in order to learn more about what beauty products worked and didn’t. So I created BeautyStat.  The mission was to publish expert beauty content and product reviews so that consumers could learn more from insiders. This would help them make better-educated beauty purchase decisions and would give them the opportunity to share their beauty experiences with other beauty fans.

I was running BeautyStat for nearly 11 years. During that time, many many friends and colleagues would ask me, “Ron, why don’t you start your own beauty brand???”  My answer was always “The world does not need another beauty product”.

Until… I started researching a new vitamin C skincare technology.  We found a way to stabilize pure vitamin C (a holy grail in skincare).  I got back the independent clinical testing results.

I immediately said, “This is a breakthrough. We need to launch this under BeautyStat Cosmetics,” and right there, the brand and product were born.

BeautyStat Cosmetics appears to be an overnight success with the amount of press coverage and sales achieved in a relatively short period of time. What has the journey really been like for you?

The relatively fast success of the brand was overwhelming for me at first. I felt scared. I felt pressure to continually deliver.  But since, I’ve learned to put less pressure on myself and just do my best.

As a DTC exclusive brand, how has the current climate affected your business and how are you adapting?

No doubt, we have seen a dip in sales since the pandemic started.  What I’ve done to adapt is to make sure that I step forward and share my care and concern for consumers during this time.  And even as sales have dipped, we are donating our product to health-care workers and will continue to do so.

Is there a new product in the works?

Yes.. new eye cream launching [this week].

What was your first paying job?

Given I was pre-med, my first job was a paid internship as an assistant lab tech job in a hospital on Long Island.  It was a fun experience but being a doctor was not what I was meant to do.

What would you tell your 25-year old self?

I would tell myself to live more in the moment.  Really, really savor the present.  Life goes by so quickly.

ABOUT RON ROBINSON

Ron is a veteran cosmetic chemist with over 20 years of experience in creating innovative, big-selling beauty products for leading beauty brands (Revlon, Avon, L’Oreal, Estée Lauder, Clinique). He founded the influencer agency, BeautyStat, where he has helped both start-up and large brands grow brand awareness, engagement, and product sales. His clients include Shiseido, COTY, P&G Beauty, AHAVA, and Stila Cosmetics.

Ron recently started his own beauty brand, BeautyStat Cosmetics. He is also a resident beauty expert for (Allure magazine and Refinery29).

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