Key Takeaways:
As the drinks flowed and dinner was served at BeautyMatter's FUTURE50 Dinner, the New York skyline lit the way for a bright and promising partnership between Danessa Myricks Beauty, Neutrogena, and CVS. The room itself, every table, and every seat was thoughtfully designed to bring together a cross-section of the beauty community, fostering connection, conversation, and collaboration.
Although the initial spark happened in a less glamorous setting, while waiting in line for entrance, Krystal Walker, Lead Director of Innovation, Emerging Brands, Technology, and Fragrance at CVS Health, began chatting with Danessa Myricks, founder of her namesake cosmetics brand. Idle small talk turned into business propositions, while the ladies shuffled into the BeautyMatter event. Together, Myricks and Walker set out to blur the lines between artistry and everyday skincare, bringing professional-grade beauty to the aisles of America. The result: a collaboration that proves innovation thrives where expertise, trust, and accessibility meet.
This wasn’t a chance meeting; the collaboration cogs were whirling, with Walker making the introduction for Myricks and the Neutrogena Team after FUTURE50. Neutrogena and CVS saw in Myricks more than a makeup artist; they saw a creative force whose artistry, authenticity, and deep commitment to inclusivity aligned with their own missions: “We’re always very purposeful and thoughtful about what a collaboration looks like,” Michelle LeBlanc, Vice President of Beauty, Personal Care, and Hispanic Center of Excellence at CVS told BeautyMatter. “We are fans of Danessa, and we have authority and equity with our shoppers. We thought, how can we pull those two things together to bring a collaboration to life in a way that no one is doing in the marketplace?”
The collab included three “Get Glam Kits” featuring Myricks’ Neutrogena favorites. The Skin Prep Set included Neutrogena Hydro Boost Lip Oil, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating 100% Hydrogel Mask, and Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Wipes. Another kit included three limited-edition Hydro Boost Hydro Gel Masks, and the third kit included limited-edition Makeup Remover Wipes.
For Neutrogena, partnering with Myricks offered a way to translate its dermatological authority into something emotional, where skin health meets self-expression. Phallon Obomanu (Phyffer), Head of Drugs, Dollar, and Specialty at Kenvue (Neutrogena’s parent company), explained that the brand has always been inspired by people who were intentional with their makeup preparation process in the way Myricks is, as well as her natural affinity to engage with her audience.
Neutrogena and CVS not only understood the importance of skin as the foundation of beauty but could also amplify Myricks’ message to a broader audience through mass reach and credibility in skin health. Together, the trio shared a singular goal: to democratize beauty by making professional-quality artistry and science-backed skincare accessible to everyone, everywhere. Accessibility, inclusivity, and education became the North Star guiding every creative and strategic decision.
“There was nothing manufactured about the conversation,” said Myricks. “There was so much alignment, it was about telling a natural organic story to a larger audience and wrapping a bow around these three amazing products.”
Bringing the Get Glam Ready collaboration to life was less a linear project and more a creative choreography: three brands, each with distinct strengths, moving in sync toward a shared vision. From the first spark of the idea at the BeautyMatter FUTURE50 dinner to the kits landing on CVS shelves, the process unfolded over months of strategic planning, creative testing, and collaborative refinement. The development timeline was tightly orchestrated; they curated three kits designed to simplify beauty routines while elevating skin health.
At its core, the Get Glam Ready collaboration was more than a product drop; it was a statement about who gets to participate in beauty. By merging Danessa Myricks Beauty’s professional artistry with Neutrogena’s science-backed skincare and CVS’s unparalleled retail reach, the partnership redefined what accessibility means in today’s beauty landscape.
The democratization of beauty is not only a shared value among brands, but Myricks often points to a formative moment early in her career when she took half an unemployment check and walked into CVS to build her first professional makeup kit, filling the skincare section of her kit with Neutrogena products. That experience, she said, shaped not only her resourcefulness but her purpose. Myricks’ career is fueled by creating space, visibility, and products for people who, like her, rarely saw themselves reflected in the beauty conversation.
Launching through CVS gave the collaboration a uniquely powerful platform. With thousands of doors across the US, CVS transformed what could have been a niche collaboration into a nationwide movement—placing inclusive, high-quality beauty directly into the hands of everyday shoppers.
“What an authenticity-based collaboration can do to a community, whatever that community might be, is a ripple effect that is so much broader than anybody ever imagined, and that is really powerful,” Myricks said.
CVS has been intentionally redefining what beauty at mass retail looks like by elevating the in-store experience, expanding inclusive assortments, and spotlighting innovation through strategic collaborations. Once primarily known for convenience, CVS has transformed into a discovery destination for accessible yet elevated beauty, where education and experimentation meet everyday accessibility. The partnership with Danessa Myricks Beauty and Neutrogena embodied that shift, showcasing how the retailer is curating artistry, credibility, and representation all under one roof.
Social media played a pivotal role in amplifying the Danessa Myricks Beauty x Neutrogena x CVS collaboration, bridging digital influence with real-world accessibility. Myricks’ authentic connection with her community proved instrumental in driving engagement and awareness. The launch secured 57 earned media placements, generating more than 1 billion impressions, while 17 earned social posts helped extend visibility and reinforce third-party credibility. Creator partnerships further fueled momentum, delivering 107 posts, more than 541,000 video views, and an estimated 61 million in potential reach, sustaining conversation well beyond launch.
What makes the Danessa Myricks Beauty x Neutrogena x CVS collaboration especially resonant is that the origin story reflects a broader truth about how meaningful partnerships are formed today. Before FUTURE50, the key players had not formally met. It wasn’t a pitch meeting or a scheduled business development call that set things in motion, but a shared physical space designed to spark conversation, curiosity, and connection. BeautyMatter’s FUTURE50 Dinner created an environment where leaders from different corners of the industry could meet as people first, professionals second, allowing trust and alignment to surface organically.
That human-first approach is precisely the value of BeautyMatter events. By convening founders, executives, creatives, and operators around shared values rather than transactional agendas, these moments become catalysts for collaboration that might not otherwise happen. FUTURE50 didn’t just celebrate excellence in beauty; it actively shaped the industry’s future by enabling relationships that bridge artistry, science, and scale.
