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Pretty Tough In The CaTskills Men’s grooming titan CHRIS SALGARDO’s journey from Kiehl’s to Atwater has been epic. Now, he’s ready for more. BY MARCO MEDRANO
Win te r 2024 | Th e Hol i d ay s & B eyond
hether you’re incessantly following skincare trends (who isn’t?), flipping through men’s fashion magazines (they still exist, yes?) or scrolling through your socials full of movers and shakers, I know you’ve seen Chris Salgardo somewhere. I mean, the beauty industry A-lister makes himself noticed. Salgardo’s public persona—bearded, burly, playful, larger-than-life—belies how often he seems to downplay his formidable business chops. Honestly, who among us could credibly go from a biker convention to the boardroom…in the same outfit? Exactly. Salgardo’s long and public tenure as CEO of megabrand Kiehl’s in many ways helped to shape much of how the men’s grooming market is perceived today. With his patented entertaining, force-of-nature insistence, Salgardo showed tough guys how to care for their face confidently and efficiently at any age. Salgardo spoke to men who looked like him in a clear voice to counter the endless cacophony of contradictory (mis)information the beauty industry invariably is known for. A resident of the Hudson Valley/Catskills for more than a decade, the grooming executive says his environment has had a profound influence in developing his latest and most personal venture, Atwater, his new premium skincare brand for men. The handsome skincare brand contains all the good stuff and none of the bad stuff—really. And at a price his competition sells for twice or three times more. But who’s the real Chris Salgardo? Is he the couture suit-wearing dandy on the Chanel fashion show red carpet? Or is he the biker-booted leather-clad stud on a motorcycle ride fundraiser for amfAR? Or the T-shirt-and-jeans on weekends dude chillin’-and-grillin’ with his Catskills friends? Of course he’s all those things which tracks perfectly with his early career days on a retail floor working behind a beauty counter. Let’s see what the man of the hour is up to. How different has your work life been from Kiehl’s to Atwater? Oh, it’s been a significant shift in my dayto-day work life. While I cherished my 18 years at Kiehl’s, Atwater has introduced
