Leslie Blodgett

Leslie Blodgett General Information

Biography

Ms. Leslie Blodgett serves as an Executive Chairman of Bare Escentuals, has been recognized as one of the "Top Entrepreneurs of the Decade: 2000-2009" by Inc. Magazine. She is the Founder and served as Chief Executive Officer at bareMinerals. Since launching bareMinerals, an award-winning line of mineral-based products in 1995, Leslie has inspired and empowered women all over the world by making them feel beautiful. An advocate for the community long before social media came along, Leslie can be credited with spearheading a community-enabled approach - personally responding to letters, emails and phone calls; putting stock in the value of genuine, personal relationships and ultimately allowing women to have a much broader brand experience. With a background in product development, including positions at companies like Neutrogena and Max Factor, Leslie's solid experience coupled with her predisposition to intuit what women want while foreseeing trends are key factors that continue to propel her success and ever-growing popularity. Seeing an opportunity to educate women about bareMinerals away from the typical beauty counter, Leslie partnered with QVC in 1997 and reached massive audiences on television with an untraditional approach to bare-skin beauty. Undaunted by the obstacle of selling foundation on TV, Leslie's passion and authenticity resonated immediately with women nationwide that were looking for healthy makeup alternatives. In 2006, Leslie took Bare Escentuals public in one of the largest cosmetic IPO's of the decade. Then, in 2010, Bare Escentuals was acquired by Shiseido, the Japan-based leading global cosmetics company, for $1.8 billion making it one of the largest cosmetics mergers in history. Bare Escentuals is currently available in 31 countries with over 6,000 points of distribution. Serving on the board of Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), Leslie was also the first recipient of the organization's Achiever Award in 2006 for her contributions to the industry. She was honored at CEW's annual 'Beauty of Giving' luncheon in 2009 for her commitment to making women happy; an approach that is anchored in engaging in real, open and honest dialogue, and in turn, one that has transformed Bare Escentuals into a peer-to-peer community of its own. She is the Board Member at Stella & Dot.