what she does: Lobell, a makeup artist, launched Stila cosmetics in 1994.
born: 1964
foundations: Lobell's projected to earn $15 million in international sales this year. Her success is rooted in her concept -- she makes user-friendly, richly formulated cosmetics for busy women who want to look great without a complicated routine.
turning point: "I had a friend who was opening a boutique, and she asked me if I wanted to put a makeup line in it. I said, 'Sure, why not?' I had no idea what I was getting myself into."
how she got there: "I trained at the London School of Makeup and, because I used so many different lines of makeup, I learned what I liked best."
the basics: "I never had a business plan -- though I did have the background in makeup artistry -- and I simply started finding the labs, developing formulas, putting together a color palette and designing packaging."
the package: Inside each package of Stila is an inspirational quote from the likes of Emily Dickinson and Amelia Earhart. "When I started, the only package available was basic black plastic. Both from an aesthetic and an environmental point of view I knew that's not what I wanted. So I started looking elsewhere. I thought it would be great to have those quotes in something you look at every day."
Stila style: "We have a base collection of colors and we also do seasonal colors so every spring and fall there's new stuff to play with. I don't want women to say, 'I can't do that, because I'm not Kate Moss or Gwyneth Paltrow.' Stila takes fashion colors and makes them wearable."
her message: "The way a lot of advertising works is negative, in an 'if you have this you'll be younger, better, perfect' sort of way. That's not my message."
the company's growth: "So far, we've surpassed everything we thought we'd achieve," says Lobell. Stila is distributed in several department stores -- Barneys, Saks and Nordstrom included -- as well as boutiques both in the U.S. and abroad.
her advice: "I've found that when it came to doing something I loved and fighting for it, things worked out. If you're going to kill yourself to develop something, you've got to enjoy it."
her family: Lobell's husband, InStyle magazine reports, is actor Anthony Edwards from "ER."
born: 1964
foundations: Lobell's projected to earn $15 million in international sales this year. Her success is rooted in her concept -- she makes user-friendly, richly formulated cosmetics for busy women who want to look great without a complicated routine.
turning point: "I had a friend who was opening a boutique, and she asked me if I wanted to put a makeup line in it. I said, 'Sure, why not?' I had no idea what I was getting myself into."
how she got there: "I trained at the London School of Makeup and, because I used so many different lines of makeup, I learned what I liked best."
the basics: "I never had a business plan -- though I did have the background in makeup artistry -- and I simply started finding the labs, developing formulas, putting together a color palette and designing packaging."
the package: Inside each package of Stila is an inspirational quote from the likes of Emily Dickinson and Amelia Earhart. "When I started, the only package available was basic black plastic. Both from an aesthetic and an environmental point of view I knew that's not what I wanted. So I started looking elsewhere. I thought it would be great to have those quotes in something you look at every day."
Stila style: "We have a base collection of colors and we also do seasonal colors so every spring and fall there's new stuff to play with. I don't want women to say, 'I can't do that, because I'm not Kate Moss or Gwyneth Paltrow.' Stila takes fashion colors and makes them wearable."
her message: "The way a lot of advertising works is negative, in an 'if you have this you'll be younger, better, perfect' sort of way. That's not my message."
the company's growth: "So far, we've surpassed everything we thought we'd achieve," says Lobell. Stila is distributed in several department stores -- Barneys, Saks and Nordstrom included -- as well as boutiques both in the U.S. and abroad.
her advice: "I've found that when it came to doing something I loved and fighting for it, things worked out. If you're going to kill yourself to develop something, you've got to enjoy it."
her family: Lobell's husband, InStyle magazine reports, is actor Anthony Edwards from "ER."