About this episode

Carmine Montalto interviews Stephanie Farsht about the benefits of waterless beauty formulations and their impact on product potency and innovation.

We tend to think about innovation in beauty as adding more — more actives, more steps, more complexity. But what if the next frontier in formulation is actually about removing something fundamental instead? In this episode of the Skincarma Pod, Carmine sits down with Small Wonder Co-Founder and CEO Stephanie Farsht to explore one deceptively simple question: What if water — the foundation of most beauty products — is actually making them less effective? Drawing from her background in strategy and innovation at Target, along with years teaching entrepreneurship and innovation at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Stephanie explains how she approached beauty not as a traditional founder, but as a systems-level problem solver. The conversation explores the hidden trade-offs inherent to conventional water-based formulations — from ingredient degradation and oxidation to the need for preservatives — and why powder-based products offer a fundamentally different approach to potency, stability, and performance. Together, Carmine and Stephanie unpack the science and philosophy behind Small Wonder’s powder-to-lather haircare system, including the challenge of preserving active…

People in this episode

Host: Carmine Montalto

Guest: Stephanie Farsht

Topics covered

• waterless beauty
• potency in beauty products
• innovation in formulation
• powder-based products
• active ingredients
• packaging redesign
• consumer interaction

Keywords

• waterless beauty
• formulation
• powder-based products
• active ingredients
• innovation
• packaging
• haircare

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Small Wonder, Target, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management

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