Nice article about the founder of Benefit Cosmetics - an IU Theta!
 

This was in the Indiana Daily Student yesterday. I thought you might enjoy reading it. :)

Cosmetics queen comes home
Alumna opens first Indiana makeup counter

Before meeting their boyfriends, Jean Ford's sorority sisters always stopped by her room in the Kappa Alpha Theta house.

Ford was a vendor for Holiday Magic Cosmetics, but she said she had more fun giving her friends makeovers and wasn't concerned about making money.

"I was a dateless wonder for the first three years of college," Ford said of her time as a student at IU in the 1960s. "I never went out, but everyone I made up looked good."

Ford and her twin sister Jane went from giving their sorority sisters makeovers to founding Benefit, a cosmetics company with more than 600 counters in 10 countries.

The San Francisco-based company is bringing Jean back home to debut the company's first counter in Indiana Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Sephora in the Keystone Mall in Indianapolis.

"It's about time Benefit got to Indy," Jean said. "I'm excited ... because that's my hometown."

Jean describes Benefit as cosmetics that are not only beautiful, but solve a dilemma. She said the cosmetics, known for their quirky names and whimsical packaging, blend color and trend into a kind of art piece.

"I think beauty ought to be fun," Jean said. "At best, it shouldn't be taken seriously. Smiling is the best beauty cosmetic and I try to bring humor (to Benefit)."

The opening of the Benefit counter Saturday will feature "Dallas," a bronzer product with the tag line, "an outdoor glow for an indoor gal." Jean said the powder personifies Benefit's products in that it's easy to use and gives instant results.

"Everyone can use it and everyone does use it," Jean said. "And the box is so darn cute."

After all, she designed it. Jean received a degree in art education at IU and said that degree and other experiences at IU, such as being a member of IU Student Foundation's prestigious Steering Committee, played a key role in helping her launch her company.

"My degree in art ed and the IU Foundation gave me the opportunity to succeed," Jean said. "I had no idea I would found a cosmetics company that would be global.

While she lived in the Theta house at IU, Jean said the look seen across campus was "Twiggy," after the famous model, with girls peering out from eyes thickly lined with black eyeliner and weighed down with false eyelashes and soft matte eye shadows.

"If I got extra money I'd wear Estée Lauder," Jean said, "but there wasn't a large variety like there is now. There was very high end and then drugstore. But it was pretty cute."

Scott Lundy, color specialist at Sephora, said the store has been busy preparing for Ford's visit and the opening of the counter.

"The response we've gotten has been amazing," he said. "Indiana people love Indiana and Indiana things, including a major cosmetics line."

Ford's visit marks the store's first major event since it opened in October of last year. Lundy said the store has already scheduled 200 appointments for the seven hours the 10 visiting Benefit specialists will be available.

Opening a Benefit counter in Indianapolis is the beginning of Jean's dream to open a Benefit boutique in the city.

"I do miss Indiana," Jean said. "I've been in California for 30 years, but I still feel I'm a Hoosier and I still have a great fondness for IU."

Thanks so much for posting this, SisterHavana. I had heard of Benefit but did not know that the founder is a Theta. I'll have to take a closer look at their products.

They have the best mascara FYI... the badgal

Even though Benefit's color cosmetics don't work with my skintone (*pout*), I'm addicted to their Brow Zings!

Is Benefit cosmetics close to other cosmetic brands? I know it's a department store brand because it's sold at the Macy's here, but I'm used to using a mix of Lancome and Bare Minerals cosmetics, though I used Clinique in high school. Is it similar to them? How is Benefit price wise?

Very similar, though I find their colours a bit... um... bright. Well, that might be my skin tone again, because their colors look great on a friend of mine.

But yes, they're comparable to other department store brands.

I have fair skin. So bright and dark colors dont do well on me. But soft,natural colors do as do most pinks (but not "80's pink") :) Do they jsut have bright colors or do they have soft and more natural looking ones?

ThetaPrincess Here's the Benefit site on Sephora.com They have some softer colors.

I love their packaging!

Colors that look fine on paler skin tones tend to go a bit bright, chalky, or ashy on darker skins. That's what happens with Benefit stuff on my skin, but why it looks really good on my friend who has Scandinavian ancestry.

I love their eyeshadow! My favorite is "Fate Made Me Do It."

That's cute! That reminds me of the names of the O.P.I. nail polish (as in Aphrodite's Pink Nightie).

I recently tried some Benefit products.

I really like their Bad Girl Blue mascara, Eyecon dark circle cream, mr. Frosty eye pencil, Eye Bright pencil, and the gilded eye pencil.

I sat next to the San Francisco Alumnae Chapter delegate at Grand Convention last summer.

During a break, we talked about the cute brown and blue Vera Bradley ID cardholders that each attendee received...along with the current Vera Bradley catalog of course! ;-) We talked about a possible Theta/Vera Bradley connection. Other than Vera Bradley being based in Indiana, the 2 of us did not know of anything else. Maybe someone here could enlighten us?

But I digress...the SanFran delegate then told me that she works in advertising for Benefit Cosmetics and that their founder is a Theta. I had not known that prior. So we chatted about Benefit and their products for a bit.

Then I asked if Benefit's founder had considered any promotional tie-in with Theta, especially at GC (like Vera Bradley had). She said it had been discussed amongst the decision-makers and they were in favor, but it just didn't come to fruition in time for GC. I did mention that it would be great if it happened for GC in 2008 and then I said "hint, hint." She laughed but agreed.

Guess we'll know come Summer 2008...!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

I think Vera Bradley is a Kappa Delta (or atleast that is what I have been told numerous times).

Interesting! Thanks ThetaPrincess24.

Guess that is 1 of the reasons why we say "whatever the letter, we're all Greek together!"