ReVive Skincare CEO Elana Drell-Szyfer on navigating crises in the beauty industry

RéVive Skincare CEO Elana Drell-Szyfer has been in the beauty industry long enough to weather past global crises. "I've lived through them all," she said on this week's episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, in reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis.

But this is her first time at a smaller, independently-owned company. Drell-Szyfer was at L'Oréal and Estée Lauder Companies, respectively, during those past challenges.

"I think the measures are the same, you just feel them much more acutely, probably because your resources are much more constrained and the effects are much more immediate," Drell-Szyfer said of Covid-19's impact on RéVive

RéVive felt the effects of the pandemic early, because of its large customer base in China -- the company expanded to Tmall, Little Red Book and Taobao last year, and 15-30% of its customers in the U.S. are actually Chinese tourists.

"Even before the virus spread to the West, we were going to re-forecast our year based on things that were happening in China," Drell-Szyfer said. "And then of course March hit."

The company is adapting much the way every sector is: by taking previously offline efforts into the virtual world, from deskside promotions (where the company representatives present products to customers, influencers and reporters where they work) to meetings with retailers. "I don't think it's been a hindrance to communication at all," Drell-Szyfer said.

Despite the concept of luxury "revenge buying" RéVive is still anticipating lean times, projecting no domestic demand in April and May. "Domestically, we're essentially expecting no orders -- or that's how we're projecting our own cash flows, from a very conservative perspective," she said.