When it comes to beauty, it’s no secret that Christian Dior has always been at the forefront of beauty trends and technology. Over tea and treats at Neiman Marcus’ Dior Mega Event, I had the pleasure of chatting with Lisa Hawkins, a St. Louis-area native and senior vice president of marketing, education and events for Dior Cosmetics. Dishing on everything from Dior’s state-of-the-art Air Flash foundation to the science behind the anti-aging Yquem sap found in Dior’s L’Or de Vie skincare line, I found that Dior beauty is anything but skin deep.
Tell me a little about Christian Dior’s beauty philosophy and the impact it has on women.
Working in beauty, you really get to understand the relationship and impact beauty has on women. It’s an emotional connection first, and then it's about the functionality of the product. All of us know how we feel when we’re looking good. It makes us feel better and more confident. And I think ultimately, that’s the goal. Just like Dior said, “not only more beautiful, but happier.”
Can you tell me about your start in the beauty industry and your journey to becoming the senior vice president of marketing?
I didn’t start with Dior, but I did start in beauty. Like many senior executives in our industry, I started working behind the counter, and it’s the best way to learn the business. My mom likes to say I went from coloring books to coloring people’s faces. It gave me a great springboard to build a career. I had the opportunity to advance, and I transferred around the country and finally ended up in New York. I decided to further my education and pursue my master’s degree and stayed in beauty after I graduated. It turned out I had a great opportunity at Estee Lauder. I was recruited to Dior’s management team 10 years ago. It’s been a fabulous opportunity, wonderful brand, and quite a journey. The brand is bigger than it’s ever been. It’s a global powerhouse growing very quickly.
What sets Dior apart from other cosmetics companies?
Starting from the beginning, Mr. Dior was the first couturier to introduce beauty at the same time as his first collection; first through fragrance, then lipstick. I think our commitment to quality goes back to the whole notion of French luxury. French luxury was really born in the court of Versailles. Known as the Sun God, Louis the 14th surrounded himself with the finest craftsmen in every category. He was obsessed with perfection. He celebrated pleasure for pleasure’s sake and art for art’s sake. And I think that tradition inspired Christian Dior in everything that he did. He always said that he could only feel satisfied when he was certain that he hadn’t compromised anything. That is still our mission today.
We’re constantly continuing to push the mark of new technology and introduce new products that are state-of-the-art. We have so many years of commitment, investment, experience, and learning that we are building upon that allow us to continue to grow that base year after year. His newest facility, which we just opened, is 100,000 square feet and we have 260 full time researchers dedicated to finding the best of the best ingredients to create the most phenomenal products. They work for everyone and every little detail is important to us. We try to make women dream and have a little bit of that promise of luxury in every single product that we make.
Tell me about the history and science behind Dior’s makeup. How can one product in a single shade work for all women?
That technology actually works with your own body chemistry. It adjusts to your own Ph level. The ingredient in the lipstick adjusts and matches with your own body chemistry. That’s why it looks different on everyone but it looks good on everyone because it’s really customizing itself to you.
The brow styler is a little bit different. It doesn’t self adjust. It’s a sheer pigment that allows your natural brow color to shine through. That really precise micro tip allows you to create these small little ticks that are almost the actual shape and size that a brow would be. When it blends with your natural brow it then mirrors what your natural brow looks like. We have tested it on everyone from the darkest raven-haired beauty to very pale blondes and it really does work.
What are some of your favorite products? What products do you recommend for women just discovering Dior beauty?
Start with one essential, our Detoxifying Skin Booster. It’s an amazing product and we suggest that any client who comes in and asks what’s the first thing they should try, that’s what we recommend. Beautiful skin is the foundation for all of your beauty. It works for every age, skin type, and tone. It’s just a phenomenal product.
Air Flash is our total beauty micro mist foundation that no other brand can offer. It’s very customizable. You can use it very lightly for a natural look or you can build it with a few more sprays and have a truly flawless, almost a photo shoot ready look. Our mascaras are legendary. Most of us girls can’t leave the house without mascara. We like to say, start with one and then you can mix and match, build and create different looks. It’s a fun way to experiment and give you a wardrobe of beauty just as you need a wardrobe of clothes.
