Meet the Geniuses Behind These O-Ward Winning Indie Beauty Brands

Pacitti’s background is in classical ballet. In fact, he trained with the School of American Ballet in New York City and danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle for 11 years before he made the foray into skincare. After attending the Gary Manuel Aveda Institute, Pacitti started choreographing skincare routines as an esthetician, working for skincare brand Kate Sommerville before opening his own clinic: Jordan Samuel Skin.

Pacitti knows that finding the right skin regimen is a delicate dance. He’s known for a straightforward no-nonsense approach to skincare, developing products that perform such as the O-ward winning The Matinee Cream Cleanser, which effectively hydrates as it deep-cleans skin.

After working for major haircare brands owned by Proctor & Gamble and L’Oréal, Gozalez found her own niche in the beauty world as a “fiftypreneur.” She went out on her own with the idea of creating haircare products designed for the 40+ woman, a consumer who doesn’t want to be defined by her age yet has specific needs for her changing hair.

“I wanted this brand to speak to an empowered woman who has the tools to look her best at any age—that’s why I named it Better Not Younger,” Gozalez says. The brand’s O-ward winning Wake Up Call Volumizing Conditioner restores shine and radiance to dulling, fine hair without weighing it down.

Growing up in Chad, Salwa Petersen was exposed to a number of Chadian beauty rituals, including Chébé, a custom where women used the powder from the seeds of the croton gratissimus tree to make a treatment for their long, luxurious hair.

After attending Harvard University (Oprah spoke at her commencement) and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and starting a career as a lawyer, Petersen returned to her roots in beauty and haircare, working in product development for some of the world’s largest brands. She then combined her on-the-job training with what she learned about Chadian beauty rituals to develop Salwa Petersen, a line dedicated to self-care inspired by African beauty. A star product: Chébé Du Tchad Hair Cream, which won a 2021 Beauty O-Ward for Best Treatment for Wavy Hair and is formulated with fair trade Chébé seeds from Chad.

Le Prunier, an organic skincare line that centers around the superpowers of plums, is the brainchild of three sisters. Born into a farming family, the sisters spent much of their youth on a farm, harvesting crops, and even attending trade shows for products.

After their family made the switch to organic farming and expanded their operations into Asia, the sisters learned about the many benefits of plum: a skin brightener that fortifies the skin barrier and protects skin from UV damage. As entrepreneurs, they worked with labs to harness the powers of plum in the most sustainable ways.

The brand’s Plumscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 31 combines plum oil, a plum superfruit complex, and zinc oxide to give skin superior, antioxidant-rich protection, shielding it from pollution, UV, and blue light damage. No wonder it won the 2021 Beauty O-Ward as Best Day Cream for Combination Skin.

Growing up in Columbia, Tata Harper developed a love for beauty and self-care at any early age. But it didn’t become her calling until her father was diagnosed with cancer and Harper took a personal interest in the ingredients that were in her own personal care products.

Her mission was to create luxurious products that were natural and non-toxic. This idea turned into a five-year journey that included working with top botanists and chemists to create 100% natural products that also felt luxurious and high-performance created in the brand’s own labs on a 1,200-acre certified organic farm in Vermont. Embodying the line’s gentle yet effective philosophy, Tata Harper Superkind Softening Cleanser (winner of the Beauty O-Ward for Best Cleanser for Sensitive Skin) goes on like a cream, but transforms into a lightweight foam that cleans sensitive skin without stripping.

Tired of stocking their bathrooms with different products for mom, dad, and kids, Odele was founded by a trio of sisters who wanted upscale, quality, and clean products that their entire families could use.

Between the three of them, they have 15-years’ experience in the retail, sales and marketing, and haircare spaces, so combining their extensive knowledge and collaborating to create Odele was a no-brainer. And judging by the award-winning Moisture Repair Conditioner (Best Conditioner for Curly Hair), the team cracked the code for a salon-quality formula that’s free of any sketchy ingredients, including the over 1,300 banned in the EU.

We often hear "less is more" is best when it comes to makeup, but for Katherine Power the saying became a business plan. After years of building brands such as Who What Wear, the fashion company that delivers digital content as well as clothing and accessories, and Versed skincare, a vegan skincare line that’s sustainability sourced and highly accessible, Power had the idea to launch Merit, a minimalist beauty line.

It’s a carefully edited collection of clean, sustainable makeup essentials that can create an effortless, polished look in minutes. Oprah Daily awarded the Merit Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil as the Best Lip Oil of the year–it hydrates with rosehip oil and shea butter, while delivering sheen and a your-lips-but-better shade range.

Power’s impressive focus and drive hasn’t gone unnoticed. She’s made Fortune magazine’s 40 Under 40 list and Inc’s 20 Young Entrepreneurs to Watch.

The products from NatureLab Tokyo are a celebration of Japanese beauty (affectionately called J Beauty by devotees), and are inspired by the culture's art and nature, but made using what's called green science.

The innovative technology combines unique botanicals such as apple and bamboo stem cells with research-driven science. Hishiya, the brand president and founding member of the NatureLab team takes pride in sharing ground-breaking production and the best of Japanese innovation, evidenced in the O-ward winning Perfect Texture Curl Cream, which can reduce breakage and increase hydration in just 30 days.