Time to Get Busy

Suddenly, it was Labor Day weekend and time to kiss summer 2004 “good bye.” Even though here in the U.S., August is not a month-long holiday, there is a sense of quickening and getting back to business as the calendar page turned to September.

It’s market time, with HBA, Health & Beauty America, taking the stage first (Sept. 28-30), followed quickly by Ex•Tracts (Oct. 8-11) and Luxe Pack Monaco (Oct. 20-23).

In addition to a host of exciting new products, markets offer a chance to attend seminars (especially HBA with its three-day educational program), see old friends and network with new ones. Plan to attend at least one—or join us at all three!

This year’s International Packaging Design Awards (IPDA), held in conjunction with HBA and sponsored by Cosmetic Packaging & Design and Happi magazines, is a larger competition than ever. See which entries made the finalist ranks (p. 22) and come to the HBA Awards Dinner on Sept. 28 to find out which are this year’s category leaders and the overall package of the competition.

Other features in this issue include: a review of the FIT Capstone 2004 (p. 44) in which graduate students take a fresh look at the beauty industry and come up with some fresh ideas; The Prestige Beauty Report (p. 58); and an overview of the latest in secondary packaging (p. 68).

I’ve been lucky enough this year to take part in two industry events that were unique and powerful. In the spring, I was a walker in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Boston. I kept company and pace with some wonderful people for two days and 40 miles, and helped raise money for a worthy cause. As of mid-August, Avon reported that a total of almost 9,000 participants in four Walks had raised more than $4.5 million. This effort, along with other charitable projects shows the beauty business as an industry with a big, generous heart.

In July, I was invited to attend the Estée Lauder Companies Course at Vassar. Read about the experience (p. 39) and gain some insight as to how a company becomes “world class.”

Finally, it’s a Presidential election year and politics is in the air. Whatever your convictions, please do get out and vote—yes even if it’s for Ralph Nader—every vote counts.
See you all at Market,

Janet Herlihy
Editor
[email protected]