Jury of Cosmoprof India Awards 2023

Company founder Florence Bernardin is totally trilingual, fluent in English, French and Japanese (kawaii philosophy Fifteen years at Japanese cosmetics giant, Kao Corporation, fed a lifelong fascination for Japan and Asia in general. An insatiable curiosity and 12 to 14 trips to the region each year give Florence the edge and the ability to source and assess products like no one else. This translates to a truly original and operational take on the cosmetics world. Florence is recognized as THE Asian beauty expert within the industry.

Nandini Bhalla is a senior journalist with over 18 years of experience in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle space.

Nandini became one of the world's youngest Editors of a major publication, when she launched Italian fashion magazine Grazia at 24. Three years later, she took over the reigns at Cosmopolitan India, part of the India Today Group, as Editor and Digital Editor.

At Cosmopolitan, Nandini gave the women's magazine a fierce, feminist voice, and placed emphasis on 'people stories'. She initiated many 'firsts' for the brand, including India's first Digital Themed issue, India's first Feminism Issue, India's first Blogger Awards and first-ever Work From Home Issue, which was launched on April 06th 2020, just days after a global lockdown was announced. At Cosmo India, she spearheaded the Cosmopolitan Fearless List, the Women in Tech List, and Women Entrepreneurs List, all initiated to encourage young women to explore more avenues, take bigger risks, and follow their dreams.

In 2020, Nandini also took over as Editor of Harper's Bazaar and Editor of Brides Today, in addition to her role at Cosmo India.

At Harper's Bazaar India, Nandini focused on the titles key pillars—fashion, luxury, and art, and worked to create hundreds of high-impact covers and fashion editorials that garnered unparalled traction for the brand. With a focus on Indian craft, body positivity, inclusivity, inspirational stories and rousing photographs, Nandini helped put Harper's Bazaar India firmly on the top spot in the Indian media industry. 

Now, Nandini is the Editor-in-Chief of The Word. Magazine, a first-of-its kind digital magazin.

Mr. Biju Kassim is the Customer Care Associate and CEO of Beauty, Shoppers Stop. With an illustrious career spanning three decades in the beauty industry, Mr. Biju Kasim brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role as the Customer Care Associate and CEO of Beauty at Shoppers Stop. His career has been marked by extensive engagement across the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, and Africa markets. Throughout his journey, Mr. Kasim has played a pivotal role in brand building across various retail formats and distribution channels in the region. Notably, he has demonstrated remarkable proficiency in the prestigious and luxury beauty segment and has contributed significantly to global brand expansion in emerging markets.
Prior to his association with Shoppers Stop, Mr. Kasim held the position of Senior Vice President of Beauty at Reliance Brands Limited. During his tenure, he made significant contributions to the development and success of the beauty division, including the successful launch and growth of beauty brands in the Indian market.
Additionally, Mr. Kasim has a distinguished nine-year tenure as the Managing Director of Intercraft Trading, where his leadership and strategic acumen were pivotal in the company's growth and success in the beauty and cosmetic sector.
To complement his extensive practical experience in the beauty and retail industry, Mr. Kasim holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. His academic background has equipped him with a strong foundation in business management and strategy, enhancing his ability to lead effectively in his current role.

CEO of the British Beauty Council, retail maven and brand creator, Millie Kendall has been instrumental in the success of cult brands including Shu Uemura, Aveda, Tweezerman, L’Occitane and Ruby & Millie. Having worked with the UK’s leading retailers, Millie has been creating and marketing beauty brands for the past 30 year's. Millie was awarded an MBE in 2007 for her services to the cosmetic industry, and an OBE in 2022 for services to the hair and beauty industry.

In 1990, Millie met Ruby Hammer and launched Ruby & Millie in 1998. This was the first mid priced make-up brand to cut across existing price and brand perception barriers, launching first in Harvey Nichols then Selfridges and simultaneously going on to retail successfully in Boots. Today, this remains a modern retail growth strategy but for the 90’s it was a completely unique concept.
Millie has also collaborated with beauty journalists and Vogue beauty editor Anna-Marie Solowj to launch concepts like BeautyMART. A ground breaking approach to beauty retail that was born from the realisation that retail methods hadn’t changed in decades, despite consumers shopping very differently with increasing globalisation and the advent of online, BeautyMART became a disruptive and ground-breaking approach to beauty retail - the first beauty boutique in store and online, curated by an editor, featuring a mix of multi priced, globally- sourced products that offered a more democratic choice for the customer. BeautyMART paved the way for this new retail approach now emulated across the globe.

In 2015 alongside Solowij, Millie Kendall launched the PR company Brandstand Communications bringing in partner Andrew Perera, former VP of communications for M.A.C. and PZ Cussons, a couple of years later to run the business.
The PR business offers a selective array of services – from business planning and strategy to retail launch, PR and marketing.
Then in 2018 Millie Kendall, Anna-Marie Solowij and Kate Shapland (former Telegraph beauty director) founded the British Beauty Council, a non-profit organisation that aims to support a successful, innovative, and inclusive British beauty industry.

“THE BRITISH BEAUTY COUNCIL REPRESENTS THE VOICES, OPINIONS AND NEEDS OF THE BRITISH
BEAUTY INDUSTRY”
The British Beauty Council was founded to represent the voices, opinions and needs of the British beauty industry – from hairdressing to cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, therapy and spa; in education and training; and from formulation to manufacture, supply, logistics packaging, design, retail and media.

"We are a not-for-profit, inclusive organisation that works to engage politicians and business leaders about the value of British beauty to the national economy, and its key role in the UK’s creative and cultural character. Our ambition is to ensure that the beauty industry is recognised and valued at all levels of government, throughout the wider economy and by consumers."

Rajiv Nair is the Group CEO of India’s largest Dermatology Chain Kaya Limited with businesses across  22 cities in India and 3 countries in the Middle east. Kaya has the  largest pool of Dermatologists across India has been instrumental in shaping the Industry in India . Kaya is a listed company and was the brainchild of Mr.Harsh Mariwala who is the chairman of Marico Limited.  Kaya is a pioneer of aesthetic dermatology in India and has a large range of Services with strong focus on Innovation , SOPs and customer outcome. Kaya also has a large range of products for Skin, Hair and Body which are retailed through its 75+ outlets in India and 23 in the middle east. Kaya also has its own D2C website with Omni Channel Capabilities besides partner Ecommerce players such as Nykaa, Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart , Tira etc.

Rajiv has over 3 decades of experience in retailing and started his journey as a Retail Management trainee at Shoppers Stop and held various leadership positions in the company. His last role was as the head of the Women’s and the kids wear verticals at Shoppers Stop. He was also instrumental in launching the UK based brand for mothers and babies “mothercare”. Rajiv has also worked as the Business head for general merchandise and apparel at Hypercity retail India which was a chain of Big Box hypermarkets. Prior to Kaya, Rajiv was the CEO of French Apparel retailer Celio which is menswear brand with presence across India and had a JV with the Future Group.

Rajiv has a Masters Degree in management from NMIMS and he has an Executive MBA PGPMAX from the Indian School of business.
 

As Global Partnerships Director, Fernanda leads BEAUTYSTREAMS’ partnerships and brand collaborations with key organizations around the world, working closely with regional teams on both strategic and operational levels. Fernanda has over 17 years’ experience as a correspondent and editor for international digital media, and was previously the Latin America Trend Director at Stylesight.

Fernanda’s diverse background allows her to lead international projects, build strong collaborations with leading trade shows, beauty associations, and global consumer and trade press worldwide. Fernanda has been directing co-marketing projects with Cosmoprof Bologna, North America, India, and Asia for more than 5 years, initiating iconic projects. She is a frequent lecturer at trade events worldwide.
 

Mr. Jayan Sathyan, is the Group Head-Beauty of Lulu Group International, based in Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates. Mr. Jayan Sathyan has over 20+ years of experience in the Luxury Retail in Beauty and Watches in India and International Markets. He is currently heading and expanding the Beauty division of Lulu Group across many countries.

Spoorthy Shetty is the Chief Executive Officer of BBlunt- India’s leading hairdressing company which in the past had received an investment from one of India’s largest publicly listed conglomerates, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. Currently BBlunt is wholly owned by Honasa Consumer Ltd. (Mamaearth) which is also a public listed company.

Spoorthy Shetty has over 30 years of strong experience in the services and retail industry having worked with some of India’s reputed names like Tata, Marico and HUL. 

She has an excellent track record of driving customer service excellence and delivering consistent profitable business growth in all these years.
She believes that in the recent times there has been a marked departure from the  ‘chauvinistic mindset' people had earlier towards the beauty industry almost labelling it as flippant & frivolous. She is proud of the fact that the industry plays a significant role in encouraging & empowering women to be fearless in their pursuit of beauty.  She is passionate about the industry as it is one of the few sectors that has more than 2/3rd women workforce & over 60% women entrepreneurs.  She urges the women folk to compete, not complain, to not expect ‘preferential treatment’ else be ready for ‘differential treatment’. 

With a burgeoning population, a booming economy, rapid urbanization & a growing awareness & appetite for pursuing skincare/beauty, she hopes that the Indian beauty industry is at a crucial inflection point & is poised for take-off.
Her goal is to continue to spread the Bblunt wings across the 5 business pillars viz. Company owned & Franchised salons, Training Academies, In- house Products and Film Shoots & take happy hair days to everyone from the unknown guy sitting on the salon chair to the who’s who of the film industry. 

Launched in 2020, Simply Nam is new & innovative Indian beauty brand that combines the best of science and nature - to create safe, effective and long-lasting products with guaranteed results. "For many years, I have worked as a makeup and beauty professional. I have been taught by and worked with the best, and learnt from 20+ years of experience, what Indian women want and need in their every day makeup & beauty routine. Through my new collection of products, I hope to help women look and feel like the best version of themselves." 

A year after its inception, the innovative beauty & cosmetics brand - designed in Scandinavia, with the Indian woman in mind is ever expanding; with sheet masks, liquid lipsticks, make up bags and more. All products are developed and produced in close collaboration between Namrata Soni and some of Scandinavia's best laboratories and the most experienced manufacturers. Every formulation is uniquely designed for Indian skin, as well as the Indian lifestyle and climate. The brand is 100% vegan and cruelty free, and we are a clean beauty brand.