The Face Behind the Skincare Brand: Hillary Ann Clark
Hillary Clark is a beauty industry veteran, professional makeup artist, and the founder of Beauty H-A-C. (Yes, H-A-C does stand for Hillary Ann Clark, but it also stands for Holistic And Clinical). She’s spent more than two decades dedicated to helping women make great beauty choices.
The Early Days
Hillary likes to say she had the good fortune of growing up in a “Beauty Family” of female entrepreneurs. Her Grandmother was the first female lingerie buyer for a major department store in the Bay Area (hello, grandma girl boss). And, Hillary’s mother and aunt started working in beauty boutiques in early school and continued throughout early adulthood. Her aunt is still in the beauty business and has owned her beauty boutique for over 30 years. Major role models.
It’s no surprise Hillary caught the beauty bug early, stealing her mother’s Chanel lipstick and experimenting with just about any product she could get her hands on.
From Beauty Counter to the Skincare Brand
Hillary began her career working in the cosmetic department at Nordstrom, where she soon was promoted as Beauty Director. Not long after, Sephora.com recruited Hillary to assist in launching one of the first retail beauty websites. It was 1999 and it was the Wild West of online beauty. And, she thrived.
Working bi-coastally as the West Coast Beauty Editor, she partnered with NYC editorial staff and contributed to Beauty Stories for Sephora Magazine. As a seasoned makeup artist, she was able to work backstage for NYFW on the artistry team for Betsey Johnson, Zang Toi, Richard Tyler, and more.
It was a dream come true... until it wasn’t. The corporate structure of Sephora.com changed and became less artistic as the company grew. So in 2002, Hillary left to open her boutique, Blush Beauty, on Union Street in San Francisco. It had a Glam-Squad service model as a by-appointment atelier — the precursor to the personalized services we now know and expect today.
Her boutique took off. It was featured in Allure Magazine, Allure Brides Magazine, and in the New York Times Sunday Magazine feature ‘Beauty 911.’ She was working bi-continental, living between Switzerland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, seeing private clients while studying the European aesthetic for skincare. (Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds.)
When she finally returned to the US, Hillary became more involved with brands like Stila, Lorac, and Perricone MD. And here begins her venture into product development.
Hillary’s Brainchild: Beauty H-A-C
As Hillary began aging (gracefully, we may add), she found there were still some much-needed products missing in the beauty world. And, after being in the beauty business for more than two decades, she knew what exists and what doesn’t. She set out to create her own “I Wish I Had This” products.
Enter Beauty H-A-C. Hillary was determined to start with products that shared the powerful lymphatic cleansing and collagen-building power of rollers. She decided to create a product that simplified the steps and maximized the benefits: a more delicate roller for the eyes, and a larger roller for the face and neck, attached to a skin-loving serum. And, voila. Beauty H-A-C is not just her business, it is all of her beauty experience and passion wrapped into proven Holistic And Clinical products. And, she can’t wait to share them with you all.
For beauty tips right from the source, follow Hillary on Instagram @hillaryclarkbeauty.