iBE 2016 New York Recap

Indie Beauty Expo NYC just wrapped up and I can’t wait to share all the details with you guys! It was a fun couple of days filled with events, meeting Instagram friends face to face, and getting to see some lusted after products in person. Indie Beauty Expo is an event focused on Independent beauty brands and in case you missed it, I interviewed iBE’s co-founder, Jillian Wright, this past spring. This was their second year running and they held 2 events this year, including an event in LA back in May and this event in NYC August 24th and 25th. To be clear, this isn’t a green beauty event since it’s just about independent brands, but being that a lot of organic/green beauty brands happen to be independent, this event has a huge draw for them. I’d say I was familiar with at least a quarter of the brands that were there, and even some that were new to me happened to meet my clean and green standards.

First things first, Beauty Heroes Reception:

Lin Chen, Amber, Me, Amanda, Lisa and Tricia (see blog links below)

Jeannie (founder of Beauty Heroes) and some brand ambassadors: Katie, Rebecca Casciano (rebeccacasciano.com), Amanda and myself

I got into town Tuesday and that night Beauty Heroes was hosting a reception at Red Flower, which has an adorable space at 13 Prince St. Honestly, I was looking forward to this event just as much as iBE! We had an intimate gathering and I was able to meet up with several other Beauty Heroes Ambassadors and other bloggers- not to mention Jeannie, who founded Beauty Heroes! It was so amazing to just be able to talk to so many people I usually just have to interact with through a screen. I loved seeing Katie from TheGreenProductJunkie.com, Lisa from ThisOrganicGirl.com, Amanda From ABeautifulPursuit.com, Tricia from NihaoNewYork.net, Amber from MsCentsible.com and more! I was also able to meet Shrankhla from Uma Oils and learn about Honua Skincare and how they got started.

Even Adrian Grenier stopped by and I VERY discreetly took a photo with him (see him?!) in the background- and by very discreetly, I mean he left immediately after and I’m pretty sure it was due to my photo taking and the fact that the whole room full of women was oogling him… Oh well. Then a group of us went to eat at Bottega Organica’s restaurant… Ummm, why have I not known that this existed? It was amazing! All organic and so delicious.

Bottega Organica even has their own Olive Oil! 

Next up, iBE:

iBE kicked off with a press event from 2-4 on the first day, and I was able to meet up with Lisa of ThisOrganicGirl.com (who has guest posted here twice!) to discover all the booths together and meet brand founders and get a chance to chat with them before the event officially started. I have to pause here and say how much I disliked what I wore. Such a girl thing to say, I know. I actually had brought something else to wear but I only had heels to go with it and after trotting through NYC in heels the last day and half, I was not about to put heels back on. So I went with flats and an outfit that would match. Phew, ok now onto the important stuff.. Some of the highlights were meeting Janis of Kosmatology in person (I talk so much about her products for good reason!), chatting with Laurel from Laurel Whole Plant Organics– who I met last year at ANFGB and she is just so lovely and knowledgable, meeting Krista from Root– remember when Suzi and I created a collection for them? I love love love seeing all their stuff in person!, and meeting Tanja and Max from Max and Me (I’ll have more about them on the blog soon). I also loved chatting with Jana from Captain Blankenship again, discovering Sigil, stopping by Suntegrity, Laguna Herbals sunscreen, Au Naturale and more.

Krista from Root

Laurel Shaffer

Amber, Lisa, Amanda and myself

During the main event from 4-8pm, they had several different speakers including a representative from EWG.org. The space filled up fast and I loved bumping into even more bloggers and friends. They also had a braid bar and beautiful flower wall to take photos in front of. All in all, a gorgeous event that has a lot to offer for natural beauty enthusiasts! Next year they’re adding an additional venue making for three events in total: LA, Dallas, and NYC. I can’t wait to see what next year holds!