Photo: Courtesy of KNC Beauty
Watch the full conversation between Kristen Noel Crawley and Fashionista Beauty and Style Director Steph Saltzman on The Fashionista Network.
On a trip to Japan in 2015, Kristen Noel Crawley needed a solution to her chronic chapped lips, made worse by long travel days and the harsh winters in her native city of Chicago. She fell in love with the idea of a hydrating lip mask like those she saw in the Japanese superstore Don Quijote, but was disenchanted by the long ingredient lists on the products she saw. Once home, she set out to find a natural alternative that would solve her chapped lips once and for all.
The trip marked the beginning of what would become KNC Beauty, now an award-winning brand whose products have starred in many viral moments online.
After a year of testing, research, development and sampling, KNC Beauty’s first product, the All-Natural, Collagen-Infused Lip Mask was born. “I just launched it, not even with a plan in mind,” Crawley shared with Fashionista’s Beauty and Style Director Steph Saltzman. “This is something that I felt was needed in the market.” Once the product launched, Crawley said, “The reception was so amazing. It snowballed into what KNC Beauty is today.”
The brand now hosts a range of eye, lip and face products, including Allure’s Best Eye Mask of 2020, the All-Natural, Retinol-Infused Eye Mask, shaped like a shooting star. Its unique, “Instagram-friendly” shape led to lots of organic user-generated content for the self-funded brand. “We’ve had quite a few viral moments which have been great, but [virality] also comes with this own set of challenges,” Crawley explained during the live show. (Watch it here!)
While there have been plenty of pinch-me moments over the years, Crawley first felt like she made it when Violet Grey picked up KNC. “I remember when Cassandra [Grey, the founder of Violet Grey] reached out, I screamed,” Crawley said. “Once Violet Grey got on board, everyone started to take notice. KNC Beauty products can now also be found at Moda Operandi, Bluemercury, Nordstrom, Revolve and Thirteen Lune.
Another major milestone for the brand, winning one of Allure’s Best of Beauty Awards, was a total surprise to Crawley.
“My PR submitted us for the award,” Crawley shared. “I think I missed the email, so I wasn’t even aware [of the nomination]. On Instagram, I saw that Allure put out the winners … I went on the website, scrolled, and saw that my eye mask won best eye mask. I cried.”
Crawley also talked about why the brand’s been embraced by younger generations, garnering celebrity fans, her search for an investment partner and the slate of new products she’s about to release. Watch the interview here.
This conversation was hosted on The Fashionista Network powered by interactive media platform Fireside, where viewers get the chance to participate and speak directly with industry figures. Learn more about The Fashionista Network here.
Source: Fashionista.com
