A little rain wasn’t enough to deter nearly 400 beauty founders, executives, and industry leaders from attending BeautyMatter’s 2026 NEXT50 summit on October 22. The room was filled with people building what’s next in beauty, from emerging founders challenging established categories to retailers, investors, and industry leaders looking for the next big idea.
BeautyMatter isn't about passive engagement. The choices we make, the inspiration we find, and the company we keep have the power to impact our world in more ways than we can imagine. The conversations onstage were only part of the experience. Just as important were the introductions made over coffee, the discussions that continued between sessions, and the connections that could lead to something much bigger.
For the founders selected for this year’s NEXT50 cohort, connecting with the wider industry was a highlight. Reflecting on the event on LinkedIn, an attendee from BonWellness shared, “From meeting amazing founders and industry innovators to sharing the BonWellness story and connecting with people who are shaping the future of beauty and wellness, I’m leaving feeling so inspired, energized, and excited for what’s to come.”
The day began with coffee, conversation, and perhaps the best kind of shopping: the NEXT50 SuperMarket stocked with products ranging from this year's NEXT50 to more established beauty powerhouses, where attendees could shop until they dropped without ever tapping a card. Part showroom and part discovery experience. The SuperMarket puts products directly into the hands of buyers and industry decision-makers, creating opportunities for discovery that extend well beyond the event. With retail buyers among the attendees, the activation offers emerging NEXT50 brands exposure to potential stockists, and previous SuperMarket participants have gone on to secure retail distribution after their products were discovered at the event.
BeautyMatter’s take on the traditional goodie bag, the SuperMarket offered a more intentional and sustainable approach, allowing guests to handpick products they genuinely wanted rather than going home with a swag bag full of products they won’t use. Attendees were buzzing that there was an on-site shipping station so attendees could send their selections straight home, avoiding overstuffed luggage and the hassle of carrying their finds. It also brings back the NEXT50 magic when attendees open their boxes a week later.
The 2026 NEXT50 magazine gave attendees another way to connect with this year’s cohort, featuring all 50 brands alongside original reporting and insights from BeautyMatter’s editorial team. Throughout the day, guests flipped through the coffee table–worthy magazine, spotting familiar faces and emerging names, and took to social media to celebrate their inclusion. The magazine is built for a longer shelf life than the summit, with reporting worth returning to as these companies grow.
BeautyMatter founder and CEO Kelly Kovack and co-founder and President John Cafarelli officially welcomed attendees before Kovack introduced an interactive collaboration with fragrance house Givaudan, inviting the room to help capture the spirit of NEXT50 in scent.
Most fragrances start with a brief. This one started with a room.
“The idea here is to crowdsource a fragrance,” Kovack explained. Attendees scanned a QR code and answered questions about how they felt arriving at the summit, from excitement and nerves to the unexpected LA rain. Phones were soon out across the room as guests tapped their responses to a series of questions, collectively shaping the creative brief for a Givaudan perfumer. Alongside the audience's input, the event's color palette and visual identity, the front page of the Los Angeles Times, and the day’s weather report will inform the final scent, merging facts and data with the emotions of the room. A Givaudan perfumer will then have complete creative freedom to interpret these elements and translate a moment in time into fragrance.
Describing the experiment as an “olfactive time capsule” of BeautyMatter events, Kovack revealed that the finished fragrance will debut in the SuperMarket at FUTURE50 in New York. At its heart, the collaboration is a celebration of the BeautyMatter community, with each attendee contributing to a scent that captures the collective energy, emotions, and experiences of the room. The ambition is to repeat the experience at future gatherings, capturing the atmosphere of each event in scent. Next time, the room won’t just look and feel like BeautyMatter; it will smell like BeautyMatter, too.
Originally titled "The 6-7 Generation," the opening panel was renamed after the viral expression became "cringe," demonstrating just how quickly cultural relevance can expire. Moderated by BeautyMatter Editorial Director Janna Mandell, the discussion brought together Doug McCracken, CMO of Coverstar; Lynn Casey, Cultural Futurist at Shine Scout; and Brett Andersen Minetti, VP of Business Operations and Strategy at Bubble to explore Gen Alpha’s cultural influence and why brands should understand the behaviours behind trends rather than chase fleeting viral moments.
A discussion on the K-shaped economy, moderated by BeautyMatter’s VP of Foresight and Intelligence, Roseanna Roberts, brought together Jeffrey Wagstaff, CEO of cosnova USA; Antonio Statelli, President of North America at Elemis; and Elizabeth Lafontaine, Director of Analytical Research at Placer.ai. With beauty retailer visits up approximately 3% in 2026 and masstige outperforming prestige, panelists explored how consumers are shopping across price tiers, increasingly prioritizing performance and value over traditional category distinctions.
For emerging founders in the audience, one of the morning's most actionable moments came during Kovack's conversation with Ulta Beauty Chief Merchandising and Digital Officer Lauren Brindley and Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Mahoney. The executives discussed Ulta Beauty's cultural and organizational reset, from appearances at the Super Bowl and music festivals to closer collaboration between merchandising, marketing, and digital teams. With 47 million loyalty members and approximately 95% of sales linked to its loyalty program, the retailer has substantial consumer data informing its approach to discovering and developing brands.
But Brindley's message to founders was particularly encouraging: they don't need to wait until they have a fully developed product or are ready for nationwide distribution to approach the retailer. Ulta Beauty is already working with entrepreneurs at the idea stage and can introduce brands through smaller store rollouts, online distribution, or TikTok Shop.
“Don't wait to have the conversation,” Brindley told the audience. “If you really believe that there's something unique and truly differentiating that is not in the industry today with your brand, come and talk to us.”
It was precisely the kind of access that makes a gathering like NEXT50 valuable: emerging founders hearing directly from a major retailer about what it takes to get through the door, with Ulta Beauty representatives in the room to continue those conversations.
Cafarelli joined Mohammad Alshammari, International Business Development Manager at Boutiqaat; Teresa Heitor, Portfolio Director of Consumer Goods at Messe Frankfurt Middle East; and Dr. Sari Chairunnisa, Deputy CEO of ParagonCorp, to explore the Middle East’s growing influence on global beauty. Building on BeautyMatter's GCC beauty market report, developed with Beautyworld Dubai, the discussion examined homegrown innovation, influencer-led commerce, and cultural nuances in a market projected to approach $21 billion by 2030.
Moderated by BeautyMatter Senior Editor Sara Spurch-Feiner, Michelle Miller, CMO of Anua; Abdellah Mellouk, VP of Integrated Marketing at Scentbird; and Jan Coleman, VP of Global Brand Marketing Partnerships at The Walt Disney Studios, explored how entertainment fandoms are creating new opportunities for beauty collaborations. With Scentbird’s Twilight campaign generating more than 10 million organic video views, the discussion examined how brands can convert cultural enthusiasm into lasting consumer relationships.
Spruch-Feiner kicked off the afternoon with a conversation on the growing importance of micro- and nano-influencers. Tucker Borgman, VP of Growth and Investment Strategy at Morphe; Kristen Wiley, founder and CEO of Statusphere; and Jeremy Lowenstein, CMO of Milani Cosmetics, explored how trust, niche expertise, and authentic relationships are becoming more valuable than follower counts alone. Borgman shared Morphe’s approach to activating 150 to 200 nano-creators simultaneously, demonstrating how smaller creators can deliver content at scale while maintaining credibility with their audiences.
Roberts joined Lauren Bowker, founder and CEO of EXIST; Joshua Britton, founder and CEO of Debut; and Colleen Quinn, Chief Innovation Officer at KilgourMD, to explore advances in biotechnology, AI, and color-changing materials, alongside the challenges of securing investment, meeting retailer expectations, and bringing scientific innovation to market.
“I don’t think that the future of self-care that requires empathy can come if it’s not coming from humans that are empathetic,” said Joshua Katz, founder of Norms, during a discussion spotlighting three NEXT50 founders challenging underserved categories. Moderated by Cafarelli, the conversation brought together Katz, Wizard Wellness’s Lorne Lucree, and Sleep or Die’s Lauren Sudeyko to explore how science, contemporary branding, and a fresh perspective are reshaping allergy care, hemorrhoid treatments, and sleep. Their businesses demonstrated how overlooked consumer needs can create opportunities for innovation well beyond traditional beauty categories.
The discussion also delivered one of the day’s more unexpected moments when Katz presented the BeautyMatter team with merchandise bearing the slogan “Buttholes Matter.” The exchange prompted an impromptu round of “Sneezes Matter,” “Sleep Matters,” and, ultimately, “It all matters.” Beyond the laughs was a serious point: categories that consumers have historically been embarrassed to discuss can offer considerable opportunities for founders willing to address them openly.
Mandell brought a discussion on the increasingly blurred boundaries between social commerce and physical retail. Amber Turley, VP of Omni Convenience and Commerce Partnerships at Sephora; Pilkyung Choi, Brand President of Laneige at Amorepacific; and Kayleigh Christina, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Clearstem, explored how brands convert digital discovery into retail sales and sustain demand beyond viral moments. As Choi emphasized, virality may attract consumers, but product quality keeps them coming back.
Kovack returned to the stage to close the 2026 NEXT50 Summit, thanking the speakers, sponsors, partners, and attendees who made the day possible. The programming gave way to a cocktail hour, where conversations continued, and new connections were made.
Across the day's discussions, a common thread emerged: Building the next generation of successful beauty businesses requires more than responding to trends. Whether through scientific innovation, cultural understanding, consumer relationships, or new retail strategies, the industry's future depends on identifying opportunities that create lasting value.
For the NEXT50 brands, the summit was more than an opportunity to showcase their products. It was a chance to connect with the founders, retailers, investors, and industry leaders who can help turn emerging businesses into the next generation of category leaders.
Stay tuned to BeautyMatter for more in-depth coverage of the conversations and insights from the 2026 NEXT50 Summit.