John Bell & Croyden Press Day Showcase, part one

what drew my gaze and why I think the PR team did an exceptional job

I was meant to do a “October Newness” part two for my paid subscribers, but in the end decided to experiment - because why not ? - and do something different instead. As I have been a beauty industry insider for many years, I saw a lot of things going on behind the scenes and they often play a part in how I end up perceiving brands or team leaders. Post Covid I haven’t been to many Press day showcases and when I attended the one done over two days by the John Bell & Croyden team in September, I was curious to observe how things have changed. Which brands would be showcased, what would conversations centre on, who was in attendance?

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Let me start with a compliment for the John Bell & Croyden team who were efficient, helpful and did a stellar job of making sure each brand that was part of the press day was visible. Most brands had at least one person present to answer questions and show the products, which I always find helpful, as opposed to you just looking at the display and picking up a press release. There was haircare, a segment that is growing, especially post Covid and more people noticing thinning hair or hair loss. There were French hair brushes from Altesse Studio and La Bonne Brosse (a brand that has become very visible in the UK in the last year, with multiple retail partners, including Selfridges and Liberty of London. I wrote about one of their brushes, the smaller 04 here and I continue to be quite enamoured with it still, brushing my hair with it twice daily. I had a very animated and insightful conversation with the team working with Denmark’s Scandinavian Biolabs - they have quite an extensive line of hair care and I plan to feature two of their products on my Substack soon. The shampoo and conditioner made a favourable first impression and you can read my thoughts about the duo here. There was also Rita Ora’s haircare brand Typebea, launched in partnership with Anna Lahey. Both women are no strangers to hair problems, Rita in particular, with her frequent performance and travel schedule that take the toll not only on skin, but hair as well, so it would be interesting how it performs and stands to competition from other celebrity haircare brands, like Beyonce’s Cecred and Tracee Ellis Ross’s Pattern beauty. Personally I am not drawn to celebrity brands at all, but it is interesting that JB&C brand team chose to onboard Typebea - with Selfridges & Sephora UK also stocking the brand.