![\"IMG](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_1254.jpeg\")
Joanna Austin and her sons Jack, Parker, and Cade AustinProvided by Joanna Austin<\/p>\nJoanna Austin has worked in and around the beauty industry for about 30 years, but it wasn\u2019t until she became a mother of three boys that she started thinking about products for young men.<\/p>\n
When Austin met Stephanie Capuano, fellow \u201cboy mom\u201d and founder of skincare company 31st State, Austin said she found a company with a mission she could get behind.<\/p>\n
Austin joined the 31st State team and is now the CEO of global operations as it plans its expansion to the United States.<\/p>\n
Capuano founded the UK-based skincare company with young men in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoys are too often left out of the skincare conversation,\u201d Austin said. \u201cThis brand was designed to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin started in advertising and public relations, finding her niche in consumer marketing.<\/p>\n
She worked with GAP, Johnson & Johnson, Banana Republic, and Visa, but Austin said she was \u201cbit by the beauty bug\u201d when she worked with Olay.<\/p>\n
In 2008, Austin started a luxury cosmetic and skincare company with two other partners called Le\u2019Metier de Beaute, which means \u201cthe craft of beauty\u201d in French.<\/p>\n
Starting with a tight budget, Le\u2019Metier de Beaute eventually grew to the point where it was sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms, and 42 Neiman Marcus locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company also expanded to sell its products in Hong Kong, France, and the United Kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2014, Austin stepped aside from her company to focus on raising her third child and moved to Manhasset.<\/p>\n
She then continued to do consulting for beauty brands and was named the publisher for the Long Island Press in 2019.<\/p>\n
A year and a half ago, Austin met Capuano through a friend and began what started as a consultant-client relationship.<\/p>\n
Austin said she quickly \u201cfell in love with this brand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so kismet because my boys were in the target audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin said her three sons, Jack, Parker, and Cade Austin, have been great sources of input for 31st State\u2019s products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joanna Austin and her sons Jack, Parker, and Cade AustinProvided by Joanna Austin<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t understand who you want to buy your product, you will not be a successful brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin\u2019s sons and her husband all use 31st State\u2019s products, and she said her boys don\u2019t hold back if they have an opinion. \u201cI have an in-house focus group.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
31st State sells Clearing PadsFace + Body, Foaming Face Wash, Spot Control Gel, 2-in-1 Hair + Body Wash, and Roll-On Deodorant that are all available on their website and on Amazon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Austin emphasized the importance of simplicity in its products. \u201cYou don\u2019t need 17 steps to have good skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each product is made to European Union standards with simple vegan formulas and a trademarked Pacific Air fragrance that is meant to recall the scent of Capuano\u2019s birthplace of California, the company\u2019s namesake.<\/p>\n
As the company expands to the American market, Austin is working on figuring out logistics and manufacturing partners in the US.<\/p>\n
31st State will be releasing ads, but it\u2019s focusing on a word-of-mouth strategy for its expansion.<\/p>\n
The company has already done a pop-up to get its products in people\u2019s hands and will be in Pop Up Grocer in Manhattan from April through July 2026.<\/p>\n
New York is the company\u2019s primary market, but Austin is also looking to get a foothold in her home state of Texas.<\/p>\n
Austin says the skincare industry has had a lot of new entrants targeting teens but most have been focusing on teen girls.<\/p>\n
She said skincare issues come up often when she talks with other moms, so it was not surprising to her that young men are where the market growth is.<\/p>\n
Throughout her career, Austin said she has always looked for purpose-driven companies, not just products.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t cure cancer,\u201d Austin said. \u201cI can\u2019t solve world peace, but if I can bring joy to someone\u2019s life\u2026that\u2019s so needed in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joanna Austin has worked in and around the beauty industry for about 30 years, but it wasn\u2019t until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4708,8424,9,24,63,122,124,123,3743],"class_list":{"0":"post-97876","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-ceo","9":"tag-manhasset","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-queens","14":"tag-queens-headlines","15":"tag-queens-news","16":"tag-skincare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}