The Estée Lauder Cos.’ trio of California brands are under new leadership.
Following Tara Simon’s promotion to president of North America, the Estée Lauder Cos. has tapped Somer Tejwani, currently senior vice president, global marketing at Too Faced, to be senior vice president and global general manager at Too Faced.
Michelle Shigemasa, who previously spent nearly 14 years at Smashbox, has returned to the company as senior vice president and global general manager of Smashbox Cosmetics and Glamglow.
Tejwani assumes her new position on Jan. 1 and Shigemasa takes her role effective immediately. Both will jointly report to Stéphane de La Faverie, executive group president of the Estée Lauder Cos.
“Somer and Michelle will bring invaluable knowledge and deep expertise in driving innovation across our leading portfolio of iconic hero products, and they will play a pivotal role in leading our terrific teams at Too Faced, Smashbox and Glamglow,” said de La Faverie. “Together, they will help propel these brands by elevating their brand equity, inspiring creativity and enhancing consumer engagement through immersive brand experiences and product education. I am confident that they are the right leaders for these brands and I look forward to partnering with them moving forward.”
Tejwani joined Too Faced’s brand’s marketing team in 2012, four years prior to the Estée Lauder Cos.’ acquisition.
“I look forward to scaling our strengths to accelerate growth and unlock our full potential while continuing to enhance brand equity and nurture creativity and innovation across the business,” said Tejwani.
Shigemasa returns to the Estée Lauder Cos. after serving as chief executive officer of several beauty brands, including Murad skin care and R.E.M. beauty. Prior to this, she spent nearly 14 years in various leadership roles at Smashbox from 2004 to 2017.
“I’m committed to positioning and transforming Smashbox and Glamglow for long-term success by driving disruptive innovation in product and services, strengthening brand equity and delivering operational excellence,” said Shigemasa.
In 2023, Smashbox, Too Faced and Glamglow all initiated layoffs as those businesses faced challenges, while international operations have been scaled back for some. Since then, there has been a wider company restructuring at Lauder, but it is not known if these brands have been further impacted.
These are the latest moves in the company’s executive shuffle as it looks to turn around its fortunes. As previously reported, both CEO Fabrizio Freda and chief financial officer Tracey T. Travis plan to retire, as do Mark Loomis, group president, North America and Daniel Rachmanis, president of Latin America.
