This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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Nathalie Gerschtein’s career at L’Oréal started before she even graduated college.
“One of the reasons I joined L’Oréal, [which I met] on campus [in college], was because it would give me the opportunity to work internationally, and I knew I really wanted to discover different cultures, different go-to-market strategies,” she told Glossy. “Then when I started to work in beauty, I realized how joyful it is because beauty is about self-esteem, it’s about self-confidence, it’s about self-expression. And it makes people happy to interact with this category. So here I am, 22 years after starting in L’Oréal, [and] I’m still working in beauty today.”
More than two decades into her tenure at L’Oréal, Gerschtein has accomplished those early goals and more. She started in a brand marketing role for L’Oréal Paris skin care in France, was able to work across European and Asian markets, and, most recently, became the first woman to hold the title of president of the consumer products division at L’Oréal, North America, now based in New York City.
Today, she leads her team through a mix of experience and intuition. “Sometimes you have to look at all the analytics, understand your consumer, understand the data, and understand the market panels and everything — and sometimes you also have to trust your intuition and take a leap of faith,” she said.
This strategy has served her well, allowing her to put steam behind the right trends and products while continuing to better understand the evolving shopping habits of the mass consumer.
Gerschtein joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss her career growth and lessons learned, predictions for the future of the mass shopper, and recent challenges.
On powering bestsellers instead of racing new products to market
“There are shortcuts you cannot take. You can’t develop a product in two weeks because it’s simply not going to be a good product. I think it’s very important to be clear about what can be done and what cannot be done when it comes to speed to market.
[When it comes to what] trend to bet on or not to bet on, there’s a bit of intuition there, but intuition is not only a gut feeling. Intuition is also the experience that you’ve gotten over time that, at one point, makes you say, ‘We’re going to take a leap of faith and really going to bet on it.’ [For example], we’ve always been very big in foundation with L’Oréal Paris, and last year, we saw a product that had been in our portfolio for some time, which is called Lumi Glotion, that started to trend on TikTok, and we felt that was going to be big, because that’s what people want today. They want that kind of glow; they don’t want to look dull. We decided to take a leap of faith on this product and make it huge [through marketing budget]. And today, it’s our biggest product in our face portfolio, so that was definitely the right bet to take. Sometimes you have to look at all the analytics, understand your consumer, understand the data, and understand the market panels and everything — and sometimes you also have to trust your intuition and take a leap of faith.”
On changing high/low consumer shopping habits
“When it comes to beauty, there’s really only one consumer. I think a lot of people have a Maybelline mascara in their purse, but they might [also] have a YSL lipstick or Lancôme lipstick or Chanel powder. It’s become a bit blurry, in terms of the different channels and the different price points. You might really indulge yourself in a prestige lipstick because, at the end of the day, it’s not going to break the bank. But still, for your mascara that you’ve been using for a long time, why would you spend more than buying a Maybelline mascara? Consumers are becoming more agile across different price points and across different channels.”
On sponsoring female athletes
“Female athletes are getting more visibility, and it’s about time. At L’Oréal we believe that investing in women, giving a voice to women and showcasing the great things women do — whether it’s in science, it’s in sports, or it’s in any other practice — is really a great thing to do, and so that’s why we’ve been partnering with female athletes, to give them more [of a] voice. Carol’s Daughter has been partnering with Coco Gauff…The NYX team has been partnering with the Liberty WNBA basketball team. … There are a lot of different things we are doing with female athletes, and I think it’s great. It’s great for them. It’s great for more diversity in the world, and it’s great to show to the new generation what a more diverse place looks like. And I’m excited about that.”
