ABOUT THE PROJECT:

The Beauty Innovator Awards is Refinery29’s annual celebration of the products, people and brands shaping the beauty landscape. This year, R29 took a deeper dive into the meaning of beauty in 2020.

PHOTO CREATIVE STATEMENT:

Beauty may not top the list of Big Things we'll remember about 2020, there is still so much beauty to celebrate this year.  We may have changed our routines, i.e. prioritizing our skin's hydration and care versus a weekend-ready-beat, and we also found our new at-home and mask-compatible staples: Zoom power-lip, flexible comfortable (washable) mascara, the grocery-run cat eye, and ALL of the hand creams.

In thinking of what, visually, feels aspirational and joyous in a time, we keep coming back to moments of the super-real and deeply human energy/depth of street and docu- style photography.  

Rather than envisioning something dreamy/surreal/quiet in-studio etc., this year, we are trying to stay relentlessly in the present and feel we have a great opportunity to explore what that feels/looks like in the beauty space. Real faces, real beauty; highlighting our human existence.