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Loren Ridinger spent countless hours in the lab developing Motives, her color cosmetics line. While the range has done very well since it rolled out 17 months ago, it wasn’t until her teenage daughter finally ditched all of her other cosmetics that Ridinger breathed a sigh of relief.

“Kids are your biggest critics. They know how to be honest with you,” Ridinger told Happi in a phone interview from her office in New York City.

“When I first launched Motives, she was a M.A.C customer,” Ridinger said of her daughter, who has recently switched over to her mom’s concealer—one of the few products she was holding out on. Added Ridinger, “Now she tells me, ‘Mom, you have the best cosmetics’.”

There are others who agree—and many of them were at Market America’s 2010 International Convention, which was held in early August at the Greensboro Convention Center. The three-day event drew nearly 24,000 attendees, according to the company.

Loren Ridinger reflects on the success of Motives and gives details on what's next for the brand.

Founded 1992, Market America (MA) is the parent company of Motives and is headed by Ridinger’s husband, JR Ridinger. An internet marketing firm, MA claims to have three million customers and 180,000 distributors. Its roster of brands includes oral supplements sold under the Isotonix banner, HBA collections such as Royal Spa, Cellular Laboratories skin care and Fabulosity by Kimora Lee Simmons, Snap household cleaners and many more.The Motives by Loren Ridinger line includes facial cosmetics, nail lacquers, fragrance, skin care products and application tools.

At the sold-out convention—which featured celebrity appearances by Kim Kardashian and former NBA star Scottie Pippen—MA set up a nightclub-like suite to promote the Motives line and its new launches. Among its new additions is a weightless moisturizer billed by Ridinger as an all-in-one product. What makes this SPF-infused moisturizer unique is its spray delivery method, according to Ridinger.

The new Motives all-in-one weightless moisturizer.

“People don’t use moisturizer because they think it is heavy and greasy. I tried to eliminate all the factors that would deter people from putting it on. Because it is a spray-on it doesn’t take as much time.”

Ridinger said the easy-to-use spray makes it well suited for men—and it garnered much interest from guys during the convention.

Also new is a three-item gift set centered on Ridinger’s first fragrance, an eau de parfum called Mine that has top notes of gardenia, a heart of tuberose and jasmine and a musk base.

According to Ridinger, in its first 12 months, Motives pulled in sales of $23 million retail, and it has become the No. 2 line for MA. Among Ridinger’s goals for 2010 are to add 1,000 new consultants (in late August there were nearly 4,700, according to the company) and generate an additional $5 million in sales over its first year figures.

Lofty goals for sure, but Ridinger is confident that Motives’ price point and its ability to make women feel good about themselves will resonate with consumers even during the slow economic recovery.

“Makeup is one of those things that has been recession proof. Consumers can always buy lipsticks, something that makes them feel good. We are doing better than ever. We’re doing amazing,” Ridinger told Happi.

Ridinger, a self-confessed social media freak, credits the medium with helping her spread the word about Motives without traditional advertising. She’s constantly Tweeting (her Twitter account “lorenridinger” has more than 45,000 followers) and has a number of Facebook pages, which she uses religiously to sell her brand.

A new gift set is based on the Mine fragrance.

In fact, Ridinger was recently put in Twitter Jail, having reached the maximum number of Tweets. According to the website, there is a limit of 1,000 updates per day which is further broken down into semi-hourly intervals.

“I feel like [social media] is the best way for anyone to build a brand. Years ago, you had to spend a lot of money on advertising. You can use social media to build a brand. I talk about things for a reason; I tie it into products.”

And Ridinger’s followers can expect more Tweets about more new products in the coming months. In the Motives’ hopper are anti-aging products, new color cosmetics, and two more scents that will bow in 2011—a men’s version due out in February followed by a unisex launch later in the year.

As for Motives’ success to date, Ridinger attributes that to several factors. “It is a combination of incredible product, incredible people…and there’s is a lot of luck involved in it too.”