Laura Geller Beauty ushers in new era on the heels of product milestone
Laura Geller Beauty, known best for its artisan-crafted baked makeup products, formulated specifically for mature skin—just celebrated a major product milestone.
The brand’s Baked Balance-n-Brighten Color Correcting Foundation just turned 20 and was awarded a seal of recognition from the National Psoriasis Foundation.
In addition, the company also rolled out the “Let’s Face It” campaign, which supports women over the age of 40 years with the notion that some makeup just won’t cut it anymore and Laura Geller is the solution.
DSN spoke to Geller, the founder of the brand about the milestone, the new campaign and what the future of Laura Geller Beauty looks like.
DSN: Can you tell us a bit about what this milestone means for you and the brand?
Laura Geller: It means everything to me. When I developed this product 20 years ago, I didn’t think 100 people would buy it (although I hoped they would!), and now we’ve sold over 7 million. I also think it’s a testament to when something works, don’t change it. Taking a cream formula and baking it for 24 hours on terracotta tile into a baked powder is a great process for product development and makes the foundation so easy to use and forgiving on mature skin. It’s been that way for 20 years and I’m so glad it continues to be such a successful product for the brand that’s beloved by women everywhere.
DSN: Can you tell us about the “Let’s Face It” campaign and how it came about?
LG: We do a lot of surveys on our website and hear from customers via email, social media, and even our toll-free phone line, and they were telling us what they were looking for and what they loved about Baked Balance-n-Brighten.
The three reoccurring topics were sensitive skin—whether it be rosacea or psoriasis, etc. that started flaring up for our customers in their later years—fine lines and wrinkles—being an issue now that our customer is over 40—and the fact that a lot of them haven’t worn makeup in years or were using makeup that stopped working for their skin. When they found Baked Balance-n-Brighten Foundation, it truly solved these three issues for them. We wanted to do a campaign that infused some humor into these issues and presented Baked Balance-n-Brighten as the solution. There’s a lot of serious issues that come up as we age, but beauty problems shouldn’t be one of them. I’ve been trying to approach aging gratefully myself and with a sense of humor, so I’m always encouraging my Geller Gals to do the same. I’m proud of how this campaign was able to do that too.
DSN: What are some key ingredients consumers with mature skin should look for when choosing makeup?
LG: Our skin tends to dry as we age, so I always tell customers to look for hydrating ingredients not only in their skincare but also in their makeup products. Jojoba Seed Oil, Centella Asiatica, White Tea Extract, and Hyaluronic Acid are all great ingredients to look out for and are intentionally included in some of the products in my line.
DSN: What type of products or formulations consumers over the age of 40 should stay away from in makeup?
LG: Pressed powders for foundation use—pressed powders unlike baked powders (because baked powders start their lives as creams) tend to be drying and cakey-looking—they’ll seep into fine lines and wrinkles exacerbating how deep they look. Since our skin is drier as we age, anything that dries you out or makes your skin look drier is a big no.
DSN: How has the brand continued to pave the way to become a leader in catering to mature skin?
LG: In 2022, we created a holiday called the National Mature Women’s Day on April 9th celebrating women over 40. Each year, we do a sale where your age correlates with the percentage you will receive at checkout. This is how we “put our money where our mouth is” and celebrate women for aging with shopping! This is certainly the next frontier for age-positivity.
DSN: Can you tell us about future plans for the brand, including how it will build upon the new campaign?
LG: Representation is so important to us—we have included exclusively women over 40 in our marketing campaigns, social media content, and website photography since 2021. I’m sure you’ve also seen some of our celebrity ambassador faces—Fran Drescher, Bethenny Frankel, Jennie Garth, Danica McKellar, Kyle Richards, and Patricia Heaton to name a few.
We plan to continue featuring faces over 40—and you can plan to see some new faces we think you’ll recognize this year. We also have a new campaign coming out this year for National Mature Women’s Day that is both poignant and hilarious that I can’t wait for everyone to see. It really builds on the poignancy and hilarity of our Let’s Face It campaign.
DSN: Are there any new launches coming later this year?
LG: We do—our Serum Blush went viral in 2022 when it first came out. We sold a year’s worth of inventory in only a few months and it took us over a year to get it back in stock with a 10,000 person waitlist. We sell 2 every minute! I’m exclusively letting you know here… that later this year we are coming out with a Serum Bronzer to follow up on the success of our Serum Blush. I’m so excited to get this refreshing dewy bronzer in everyone’s hands just in time for the summer season.
