Amy Jeffries

Partnerships Director, Gleam Futures

Retail

TOPIC: How to work with the right influencers for your cosmetic campaign

Amy is Partnerships Director at leading digital-first talent management business, Gleam Futures. Since joining Gleam Futures Amy has led the strategic career development of some of the UK’s biggest creators, entertainers and entrepreneurs who have emerged from digital platforms over the last ten years. Across a roster spanning entertainment, fashion, beauty, parenting, health and food, Amy has been instrumental in diversifying digital-first talent into the fields of publishing, licensing, media and entertainment.

Since becoming Partnerships Director in 2020, Amy oversees relationships with key commercial partners for the business on behalf of rostered talent including brands, social media platforms and media publishers.

Anna Brightman

Co-Founder, UpCircle

Ingredients

TOPIC: Fruit stones & coffee grounds: Beauty from upcycled ingredients

Anna launched UpCircle alongside her brother in 2016 and the brand has taken the beauty world by storm. UpCircle are the pioneers of the circular skincare trend.>Prior to launching UpCircle, Anna worked as an area manager of several supermarket stores. Despite the huge responsibility, this role afforded her, she was keen to forge a new path in an industry closer to her heart. Anna combines her passion for skincare and previous experience in logistics and management to single-handedly manage operations, marketing and new product development for UpCircle.

All UpCircle products are natural, organic, vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, sustainable, handmade in the UK and housed in 100% recyclable packaging. But their key point of difference from other beauty brands is that each of their products is made with a core repurposed ingredient. “Natural” is the new “normal” – UpCircle go a step further with their waste-fighting formulations.

Alex Fotheringham

Operations Director, Microbiological Solutions Ltd

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Keeping track of EU legislative changes

Operations Director, Alex Fotheringham, leads the cosmetics team, which provides both the microbiology testing and regulatory support to more than 300 cosmetic companies. Alex devised MSL’s Brexit strategy and was also involved heavily in the development of VeganSure and its subsequent registration with The Vegan Society’s Trademark scheme. Alex is also a member of the ‘CTPA UK CPNP Taskforce’ and The Society of Cosmetic Scientists.

Barb Paldus

CEO, Codex Beauty

Packaging

Panelist: Should we all get naked? The naked packaging implications for industry

Founder and CEO Barbara Paldus is a scientist, entrepreneur and passionate investor in natural beauty. Prior to launching Codex Beauty, Paldus spent two decades leading innovation in the fields of spectroscopy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.

By the age of 34, she had co-founded two Silicon Valley companies that, among many breakthroughs, helped pave the way for carbon cycle measurements, food integrity testing, accessible vaccines, personalised medicine and cell therapy. Paldus has been awarded more than 30 U.S. patents and numerous honours for achievements in science and holds a PhD. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Bernhard Henes

Head of Biotechnology, Mibelle Biochemistry

Ingredients

TOPIC: Skin and sleep deprivation

Bernhard Henes, Head of Biotechnology at Mibelle Biochemistry since 2013, leads the development of biotechnologically sourced active ingredients for the cosmetic industry. Before Mibelle, Bernhard worked for 6 years at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) and prior 5 years at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences as scientist in biotechnology research.

Brian Allen

Global Marketing and Sales Director, Siltech

Ingredients

Panelist: Clean beauty: Hero or villain?

Brian Allen is a Global Marketing and Sales Director for Siltech. He joined Siltech in 2018 to lead the personal care segment after thirteen years with Wacker Silicones. Brian’s tenure at Wacker included Sales Director for North and Central America as well as positions in marketing, sales and technical management. Prior to Wacker he served as a R&D Chemist for Intertape Polymer Group. His blended experiences across technical and commercial roles provide a diverse perspective. Brian has a MBA with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Toledo and he is a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists.

Dr Carol Treasure

Founder & CEO, XCellR8

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: From bathroom to ocean: Tackling aqua toxicity

Dr Carol Treasure is the Founder and CEO of XCellR8, an animal-free testing laboratory. XCellR8 conduct regulatory in vitro safety and efficacy tests for global cosmetic ingredient manufacturers as well as high street retailers including Lush and The Body Shop.

Treasure holds a PhD from the FRAME Alternatives Laboratory at the University of Nottingham, based on skin cell biology and reconstructed skin models for cosmetics testing. She has devoted her career to using innovative science to replace animal testing over the past 25 years. She founded XCellR8 in 2008 with a mission to accelerate the world’s transition to 100% animal-free testing and the company’s work has been recognised at a regulatory level by the OECD and by top funding bodies such as Innovate UK and Horizon 2020.

Elise Ngobi

Senior Brand Strategy Manager, Dash Hudson

Retail

TOPIC: The Power of Prediction: Why social shouldn’t be left to chance

Elise Ngobi is the Senior Brand Strategy Manager at visual marketing platform Dash Hudson’s London office. Her expertise draws from a stint in a scaling startup, and years in the social, digital, content and print marketing world.

Gary Parker

Sustainability Group Head, Health Environmental & Regulatory Services, Intertek

Packaging

TOPIC: A product lifecycle that won’t cost the earth

Panelist: Should we all get naked? The naked packaging implications for industry

Gary Parker is the Sustainability Group Head at Intertek. Gary has worked on sustainability issues for over 20 years. He pioneered sustainability at the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline before leading the sustainability team at the UK packaging institute Pira and then becoming Sustainability Group Head at Intertek.

Gary has led hundreds of sustainability projects for many of the world’s best-known companies. He has also been involved in major government-funded projects such as the European Union’s review of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.

Gary’s key areas of expertise are corporate sustainability, life cycle assessment, carbon footprinting, sustainable packaging, recycling, energy conservation and business strategy in terms of the circular economy. His first degree was in biology and he obtained post-graduate diplomas from Stanford and Oxford.

Grace Forsyth

Director of Brand Management, Own Brand, New Flag GmbH

Packaging

Panelist: Should we all get naked? The naked packaging implications for industry

With 4 years of experience as the Director of R&D and a new role leading the Brand Management team, Grace has been at the heart of brand and product development for the fast-growing hair and beauty business at New Flag GmbH.

As lead “movers and shakers” in the industry, New Flag live for the “pulse of beauty” with a large hair & beauty distribution focus, along with a portfolio of globally successful own brands. invisibobble, pure97, Urban Alchemy and Foamie make up the own brand portfolio. Foamie is fighting the war against plastic, as the first mover in the solid shower care space, looking to “think outside the bottle”

Foamie’s disruptive and innovative products for the bathroom promise both a purpose of reducing plastic, and multifunctional formulations that are truly good for your skin, cruelty free, vegan and Made in the EU.

Jan Hasselblatt

Director, Global Business Development, UPM Raflatac

Packaging

TOPIC: Labelling & Decoration

Jan Hasselblatt works within UPM Raflatac’s Films SBU and is responsible for global business development. Jan works within a global team of experts focusing on brand owners in the Home and Personal Care, Food and Beverage end use segments. Jan’s duties include understanding the packaging needs and trends in the chosen end use segments in our long value chain, translating this within UPM Raflatac to tangible sustainable packaging solutions and promoting these to brand owners small and big.

Jan’s career at UPM Raflatac has included leading sales in the Benelux, Director of UPM Raflatac’s Films Business in Europe as well as Global Key Account Director. Jan has also represented UPM Raflatac several years on the board of Finat, The European association for the self-adhesive label industry and thus has a broad network within the industry. Jan has a Master’s degree from the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland.

Jo Chidley

Founder, Beauty Kitchen

Packaging

TOPIC: Refillables: Are they for you?

Jo Chidley is a chemist and the Founder of Beauty Kitchen, leaders in effective, natural and sustainable beauty. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of sustainable beauty, Jo is driving the beauty industry forward with better practise approaches, always. She is Beauty Kitchen’s toughest critic, inspecting everything from the efficacy of the products, to the way ingredients are sourced, right down to the packaging sustainability for each and every product. Sustainability in packaging is a subject that is close to her heart.

Karine Fleury-Richards

Co-Founder/Director, Flores Brand Works

Retail

TOPIC: How to take off in travel retail

The early days of Karine’s career began in new product development within the global NPD team at Lancôme, Paris. Subsequently, she progressed to the UK with L’Oréal, Paris. Later, at Estée Lauder Companies Travel Retail, Karine enjoyed various positions in marketing, sales, brand management, passengers and consumers insights plus category strategy. Following a promotion to develop a new department for Shopper Insights and Category Strategy for EMEA, she was further promoted to Global VP Travel Retail to ensure its continuing success.

Laura Rudoe

Creator & Founder Evolve Organic Beauty and S5 Skincare

Ingredients

Panelist: Clean beauty: Hero or villain?

Laura Rudoe set up Good Ventures in 2008 as an ethical development company with the mission to create new organic personal care brands that make a difference. A former Management Consultant and Venture Capitalist, Laura holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and was a founding employee of NUDE skincare – so was well equipped to face the challenges of starting a skincare business.

Laura is a passionate advocate of ethical and environmentally friendly business as well as natural and sustainable living. Her deep appreciation for nature is at the heart of everything she does.

Luke Grocholl Ph.D

Regulatory Affairs Expert, Merck KGaA

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Navigating fragrance allergens

Luke Grocholl has been with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for 17 years with experience in chemical manufacturing, quality, sales and marketing experience. He has worked with flavours & fragrances for 8 years with a global focus on regulatory compliance as well as religious (halal/kosher) dietary requirements and consumer-facing quality demands such as organic, natural, and fair trade. He oversaw the modernisation of flavour and food additive sites to meet FSMA compliance requirements as well as the evolving EU needs.

Luke brings experience with cosmetic ingredient requirements in the US and EU and contributed to food certification for India and Israeli sites. In addition to his flavor and food additive focus he has experience with pharmaceutical excipient and regulatory needs and is an active member of IPEC-Americas as well as FEMA.

Lori Fiori

Co-Founder/Director, Flores Brands Works

Retail

TOPIC: How to take off in travel retail

With a passion for marketing, Lori started her career with Estée Lauder UK, working with start-ups such as Prescriptives as well as the market leaders Clinique and Aramis. Following, as GM for Stila, she led brand strategy and managed financial, sales, PR and training. After a 5-year sabbatical living abroad, Lori returned to Estée Lauder Travel Retail, this time as Director of the EMEA Retail team where she quadrupled growth in sales and distribution. During her global COO role at Clive Christian Perfumes, she perfected her skills in sales, distribution, logistics and NPD.

Dr Mark Smith

General Director, NATRUE

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Hyper-certification: How much is too much?

Mark graduated with an M.Chem (Hons.) and a PhD in chemistry. Following research positions in the UK and Canada, in 2014, Mark joined NATRUE and became Director-General of NATRUE in 2016. Mark is involved in the running of the association and takes the lead role in all political, regulatory and scientific affairs of the association.

Mary Kernohan

Head of Nurture, SnapDragon Monitoring Ltd

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Black market beauty: Fighting the fakes

Mary Kernohan is Head of Nurture at award-winning brand protection agency, SnapDragon Monitoring. Mary works with brands on a daily basis, helping them find solutions to tackle online sales of counterfeit goods using registered intellectual property.

As one of the founding members of the SnapDragon team, Mary has been instrumental in its growth and success, which now sees the company defending businesses of all sizes, globally.

Nicola Kilner

CEO, DECIEM

Retail

TOPIC: Direct-to-consumer vs. omnichannel

Nicola’s journey into the beauty industry began at UK pharmacy chain, Boots, where she served as beauty buying manager for innovation, seeking out small independent brands and catapulting them to a UK audience. She later joined the late Brandon Truaxe in building DECIEM, which was, at the time, a start-up with limited resources. Now famed for its commitment to innovative formulas and honest pricing, DECIEM has become known as one of the most disruptive brands in beauty.

Renée Appel

Associate Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Make America safe again: An update on US regulations & the Natural Cosmetics Act

Panelist: The great CBD debate

Renée’s work spans two sides of the spectrum: the proactive and reactive. She works with companies of all sizes on the development of lawful products and marketing tactics, while also assisting clients who are subject to litigation or government enforcement actions.

Her practice focuses on advertising and marketing, personal care and cosmetics products, consumer financial protection matters, and general regulatory compliance. Renée has a knack for problem-solving, which begins with asking the right questions of her clients, interpreting the rules and regulations that apply to her clients’ situations, and devising expedited resolutions.

Renske Gores

Segment Market Manager – Cosmetic Packaging, Specialty Plastics Eastman

Packaging

TOPIC: Can chemical recycling benefit business and planet?

Renske is a 10-year marketing professional with degrees in Journalism and Communications – reputation management. She has worked with numerous leading global brands. In her current role as a market development manager for Eastman’s Specialty Plastics business, Renske leads key sustainability projects in bio-sourcing and recyclability for both food and beverage and cosmetics applications.

Rouah Al Wakeel

Director, RAW Cosmetics

Ingredients

TOPIC: The current landscape of cosmetics ingredients

Rouah completed her degree in pharmaceutical science then went on to study cosmetic science. She has over eight years’ experience working as a formulator, product and project manager and scientific adviser within the industry. In the last few years, she has focused her attention to understanding the science behind raw ingredients, taking a particular interest in how and why they work.

Dr Theresa Callaghan Ph.D

CEO & Founder, Callaghan Consulting International

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Cosmetic Claims: Challenging the Fantasy

Dr. Theresa Callaghan PhD is a skin care scientist and cosmetic product claims specialist. With an international career spanning more than 30 years she has worked for a number of well-respected personal care companies at the senior level.

In 2008 she set up her own consulting business, anticipating a need for more discipline of cosmetic claims, and furthering scientific developments involved in that process. As a scientist and the author of the popular book Help! I’m Covered in Adjectives:Cosmetic Claims & The Consumer, Theresa is also very widely published.

She sits on the scientific editorial board of the International Journal of Cosmetic Science, and is an active member of a number of professional societies including the British Herbal Medical Association and the Society of Cosmetic Scientists.

Tom Szaky

Founder & CEO, Terracycle

Packaging

TOPIC: Striking the right balance in sustainability

Tom Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. TerraCycle operates in 21 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that currently go to landfill or incineration.

TerraCycle is also the lead company in a new circular shopping platform called Loop that enables consumers to shop for some of their favourite brands in durable, reusable packaging. Launched in May 2019, Loop is a key step in helping to end the epidemic of waste that is caused by ' single use' consumption. Tom and TerraCycle have received hundreds of social, environmental and business awards and recognition from a range of organizations including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Schwab Foundation, Fortune Magazine and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Tonya Esposito

Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Regulatory & Testing

TOPIC: Make America safe again: An update on US regulations & the Natural Cosmetics Act

Panelist: The great CBD debate

Tonya has represented numerous clients in private litigation, as well as in several government investigations brought by the state Attorneys General, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the US Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Her experience spans a range of issues, including: antitrust, advertising, financial services and white collar litigation and government investigations.

Wizz Selvey

CEO & Founder, Selvey Consulting

Retail

TOPIC: Legacy vs indie brands: Who will survive?

Wizz is the founder of Selvey Consulting, a luxury brand and retail consultancy born from her passion for sourcing and building innovative brands, combined with that of developing unique consumer experiences.

She specialises in helping brands stand out in a competitive market by identifying growth opportunities via customer engagement and current trends. Consultancy clients include beauty online retailers, beauty technology companies, independent brands and global beauty brands.

As Head of Beauty at Selfridges and Director of Cowshed Beauty and Soho Home, fifteen years in the industry have provided experience across brands at all stages of their development. It is the cross-pollination of ideas between independent brands and large corporates that fuels her knowledge of business growth.