At The Women in Beauty Series, leading women offer insights into beauty industry issues and inspiration for professional growth. Prior to the discussion, attendees have the opportunity to network with colleagues in an informal setting.
Upcoming Events TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2008 Jennifer Balbier Senior Vice President, Global Product Development M▪A▪C Anne Carullo Senior Vice President, Corporate Production Innovation Estèe Lauder Companies Harmonie Club, 4 East 60th Street 5:30 PM Cocktails, 6:30 PM Presentation Click here to register for this event. No refunds after June 6th. Jennifer Balbier could read the ingredients on a lipstick package and make it sound thrilling. She could, in fact, recite the phone book with the effusive intensity of a starlet. As the product development guru of M·A·C Cosmetics and a member of the ELC Corporate Product Innovation Team, it may be Jennifer's job to translate trends, textures and avant-garde elements into professional makeup and skincare products, but it feels more like her passion. She has even found inspiration in a box of truffles. Since joining M·A·C in 1998, Jennifer's intuition and artistry have been integral to the launch of M·A·C most successful products, as well as the VIVA GLAM lipsticks, responsible for raising over $120 million for the M·A·C AIDS Fund. Jennifer is a board member of the M·A·C AIDS Fund Foundation. Jennifer has been infatuated with the transformative effects of makeup since she was a teenager growing up in a small coal-mining town Bentleyville, Pennsylvania. "I had my own little makeup kit," recalls Jennifer who did makeovers on her mother, her aunt and all her girlfriends. "And I did hair, too," she adds. "I had teasing combs, a can of Aqua Net and lots of lipstick. Everyone was always telling my mom I should go to beauty school." Prior to joining The Estée Lauder Companies, she was the principle of her own product development business, The Pink Jungle.  At "the Jungle," she was part of the team that started Gryphon Development, and was responsible for all product for Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works.  She also worked on the start-up of jane Cosmetics, La Prairie, Calvin Klein, Givenchy and Ralph Lauren.  Other clients included entrepreneurs such as Frederic Fekkai, TOVA, Gale Hayman and Herb Alpert.  In 2002, Jennifer was presented with an "Achiever Award" from Cosmetic Executive Women. She served on the board of CEW for eight years where she was of the founders of the CEW Young Executive Committee.  "I love what I do! And I see great nuance, even in neutral colours," says Jennifer. "I painted 24 different little swatches of beiges on my wall in Bridgehampton so I could decide which one looks best in daylight, dusk and evening." Says John Demsey, group president of Estee Lauder Companies, "Jennifer's communicative, she's persuasive, a bundle of fire and joy-she's part Goldie Hawn, part Madame Curie. She's mentored most of the great product development teams for the past 20 years. She's brought me the wackiest of ideas and I always know that if she feels strongly about it it's going to important, and successful. She's in tune, she's forever 18." There is no one more passionate about her job than Anne Carullo.  As Senior Vice President of Corporate Product Innovation at Estee Lauder, Anne Carullo leads her team with relentless energy, fusing technology, science, and beauty to consistently push the envelope of the cosmetics industry. Anne began her career in 1979 at Revlon, moved to L’Oreal, then Max Factor where she helped create No Color Mascara, an instant hit. Her zest for innovation led her to Estee Lauder Companies in 1992. As Vice President of Corporate Creative Product planning, she led a team focused on driving innovation by looking outside the beauty industry for inspiration. She later joined Prescriptives, where she not only developed product, but was responsible for global marketing efforts including the innovative *Magic Collection. For the past 6 years, she has led the innovation initiatives for Estee Lauder brand.  Her most recent passion is focused on what she says is the most significant Skincare breakthrough in the past 25 years: Re-Nutriv Youth Crème, a totally new discovery based on years of research in the area of longevity. Youth Crème uses a new molecule that has 23 global patents. Her professional accomplishments have been recognized with numerous industry awards, including recipient of the 2002 CEW Beauty Award.