History of BOOM!

With Enthusiasm, Cindy shares the history of BOOM. She shares what inspired her vision for the brand and also why ageful beauty is important to celebrate. Watch the video to hear how the pro-age company came to be. 

Video Transcript:

I'm Cindy Joseph and I'm the CEO of BOOM by Cindy Joseph, the first pro-age cosmetic line. And I'm also known as the spearhead of the Pro-age Revolution. I realized that all cosmetic companies are actually--the cosmetics are relatively similar. The difference is the branding and the marketing and who they're speaking to. So as a woman, we kind of choose our cosmetic line, not only by the colors and the textures but by what we identify with. So you're choosing your different lines because you relate to the lifestyle that they represent. 

But there was one thing in common, of every single cosmetic line for older women, younger women, rich, poor, any demographic, they were all anti-age. And I thought, bingo, I want to create a pro-age cosmetic line. And I could come from so many different positions. First, being a woman my whole life, and then a makeup artist, and then a model, and seeing how women responded to me as a model, and how excited they were to see a woman with silver hair and crow's feet who was clearly over 50 years old in the magazines that they've been looking at, you know all of their lives. So there was this energy and this excitement. 

So one of the things I started with was, it's not about concealer, correcting flaws, changing how you looked, it's about celebrating how you look. The thing that I noticed the most when I was working with all the most beautiful women in the world when I was a makeup artist was, I can be working with four supermodels in one day and they all came across completely different. And it wasn't because of the shape of their nose, or the color of their hair, or their complexion, it's because they all carried themselves differently. They were in a different mood every day. And as a makeup artist and really watching the face and the skin and how the skin responds to emotion. 

When a girl was really turned on and excited about her life and walking in there feeling great, then, you know, maybe she just did a trip around the world or got this amazing job or had a new boyfriend, I was like, what is going on? She is so radiant and beautiful, and we haven't done the beauty lighting on her. We haven't put a stitch of makeup on her yet, or done her hair, what's going on there? And when you start talking about it and getting it out on the table, and that's a really big part of what BOOM is all about. It's a meeting ground for women to meet and start talking about these things that matter to us. 

So the inspiration for the actual products was, pair it down, don't tell women that they need to wear anti-aging cream and anti-wrinkle cream, anti-me, anti them. This is about celebrating your age, not just accepting it, but celebrating it and being excited about it, and wearing your crow's feet like a badge that you earned, that you gained in your life. So I didn't want any of these cosmetics to try to obliterate. 

One of the words that I am fascinated by is this word, ageless. I have often heard myself be introduced as an ageless beauty and I very diplomatically give my thanks and I appreciate the intention, but I say I'm not a blank slate. I am not just this, you know, characterless person. In fact, I have more character than ever and that's what I've developed and gained throughout my life. And I prefer ageful beauty. So I've been having fun kind of, you know, shifting the languaging around to kind of wake people up to what's really going on. And what's really going on is a pro-age revolution. 

There are not a lot of manufacturers and products out there that speak with a positive message to older women. We can also take a look at how positive are the messages to women in general. I mean, we know Dove has just had done a brilliant campaign, you know, really pro women and celebrating all sizes, all ages, and everything. And my company, though small, is doing it. But most all cosmetic companies, they really promote anti-age. They are against age. They want you to be against age. Women go to hairstylists, hair salons, looking for somebody to help them transition from their dyed hair to their natural silver hair. And most stylists will try to talk them out of it. It's starting to change. 

The reason I'm modeling is because people have woken up and smelled the coffee, the industry, the media, the advertisers, the manufacturers realize that I am alive and well, I'm making money and I am spending money and so is my entire generation. So they're kind of forced to get a pro-age attitude and get on the bandwagon. If they want to, you know, take our consumer dollars, they got to speak to us in a positive, exciting way. 

I think the advertising industry will always play on fear, but I think now they're adding a new attitude and a new way of delivering the message. And instead of playing upon humans, not just older people, but people's insecurities and self-doubt and fears and their playing on our desire and what's attractive to us. It's more about seduction, rather than fear-based, it's more seduction based. 

One of the things about my cosmetic line, I have skincare and cosmetics, which is all of four products. So it really is pared down. The three Boomsticks and one of them's a moisturizer. So that's skincare. The other two are what I call cosmetics. So they give you something that you don't already have, yet they do give you something that you do already have. And the difference is this. When a woman is happy, her circulation revs up, okay, and she becomes colorful in all the areas where the capillaries are close to the surface. So the lips become redder, the cheeks, the neck quite often, the forehead. So that's what Boomstick color does. It recreates what a woman's skin already does when she's revved up, when her circulation's revved up. When she's happy, dancing, working out, making out, embarrassed, that's what happens. 

And back in the day when a woman couldn't wear makeup, because good girls didn't do that, they would bite their lips, pinch their cheeks to give him that flush look because they knew they looked their most attractive when their circulation was revved up because emotionally they were turned on and excited. So that's all Boomstick color does. So you could call that enhancing the natural beauty that a woman already has. 

And the other one is a little bit of radiance because I also noticed that when a woman has really turned on and excited and happy, not only does her color rev up, but she becomes dewy, her skin becomes more moist to the point of gleaming this radiance. So Boomstick Glimmer recreates the natural radiance that a woman's skin takes on when she's really having a good time. So they are creamy. 

Now, these products are for women of all age because all women tend to do that when they're really feeling good, but women of age have more character and texture in their skin. And what happens is, when they put on things that are supposed to cover wrinkles, they actually add texture. Wrinkles are texture. So you're actually adding more texture. So what you want is you want to eliminate the powders and the thickness and the mask and keep things very fresh, very dewy and very creamy. So that's kind of the basis of what BOOM is about. 

I think that the advertisers can speak to all of us. You know, there are women who are in their 80s, and they are dressed to the nines, and they've got crazy colors, and hats, and glasses and everything. And then I consider myself maybe a little more natural. I kind of, you know, don't do a whole lot of changing or dressing up. And for me, I feel like if I did, I'd be in a costume. But I love seeing other women do it. So we all pick and choose. You know, some women may say, "No more makeup, but I'm gonna keep my hair blonde because it just feels good. And you know, my background is Swedish," or whatever. Whatever the woman's choices are, I think the manufacturers are now paying attention to that. 

So you look across the cosmetic companies and they've still got the anti-aging stuff, but then they're also saying, "Hey babe, you know, throw on some red lipstick and matching fingernail polish, and have some fun with what you're doing and continue playing dress up." 

So I think the spectrum is changing. And you know, that whole thing about consumer demand, demand consumers, the consumer really is the one that makes the decision, and the smart businesses and advertisers are listening to the consumers and giving us what we want. I think maybe the older woman has become invisible and disappeared and wasn't being noticed for a really long time. And now we are speaking, you know, we've stood up and roared and we want to be heard and we want to be seen. And so the advertisers are going, okay, check out...Look what they're doing over there. We'd better pay attention to them. They're coming to our stores. They're out there buying and participating in life, big time. So things are definitely changing. It's very, very exciting.