Our awards elevate visionary brands, disruptors, and sustainability heroes, hosting a celebration that empowers the entire beauty community.
Awards Committee:
Akshay Talati
Carla Ruiz
Carla Ruiz, SVP of Global M&A at Shiseido, brilliantly merges financial expertise with her passion for beauty. With an MBA from Columbia and a background in investment banking and global business development at Johnson & Johnson, she brings deep industry insight.
At Shiseido, Carla has spearheaded pivotal deals like the Drunk Elephant acquisition and the Tory Burch beauty license partnership. She leads her M&A team with a collaborative, founder-centric approach, seeing the industry's rapid change as an opportunity for respectful, accelerated growth. Beyond deals, Carla champions mentorship at Shiseido and supports first-generation college students through America Needs You.
Malena Higuera
Malena Higuera is a recognized leader in product innovation, culture and community-first marketing, and digitally-forward strategic vision, blending creative brand development, operational excellence with a passion for fostering diverse and inclusive cultures. With 25 years of experience on multiple brands at L’Oréal across all channels, key markets and categories, Higuera has built a reputation for fostering strong connections with consumers, retailers, and stakeholders, while always keeping a pulse on fast-paced business needs.
Aurelian Lis
Aurelian Lis is the global CEO of Dermalogica, a subsidiary of Unilever Prestige. For over 30 years, Dermalogica has been committed to elevating the skin care industry through providing world-class education to professional skin therapists and salon owners, as well as cutting-edge, professional-grade products that deliver results. Dermalogica is a standalone company headquartered in Los Angeles and is sold worldwide. Since 2016 the company has embarked on a digital transformation that has redefined the brand to new consumers seeking healthy skin. Dermalogica’s FaceMapping® technology is just one of the many examples.
Nicolas Geiger
Nicolas GEIGER is CEO for L’Occitane au Bresil brand, Managing Director of the Brazilian Business Unit and Group Business Development Executive based in New York.
Prior to that Nicolas was the President for L’OCCITANE GROUP in Japan for 5 years where he operated a turnaround plan for of the largest operation of the group. He first joined the company as a Marketing Director in Brasil, and was then 3 years later promoted General Manager of the subsidiary for 3 more years before leaving for Japan.
Before joining the L’OCCITANE GROUP, Nicolas started his career in the Teach First program (a spin-off of the Teach for America program in the UK), teaching mathematics for two years in a challenging school in North East London. After the program, he joined joined Angel des Montagnes, a small decoration company based in Geneva that he contributed to develop internationally before joining the INSEAD MBA program.In addition to his MBA from INSEAD and a certification in Business Sustainability Management from Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, Nicolas also holds a degree in Engineering Economics and Management from Oxford University and a Qualified Teacher Status for mathematics in the UK.