The goal was to select the team that incorporated New Orleans, presented an on-trend concept, and overall wowed the judges with their presentation. The judging criteria included creativity, brand fit, retailer potential, and consumer appeal. It was important that the teams weren't too on-the-nose with their collections, as well.
After touring the city and being introduced to the products E.l.f. has to offer, each team was assigned a graphic designer to bring their vision board and specific products to life. Team Evolution — which included contestants Leslie Alvarado, Yuri Antillon, Kathlyn Celeste, Irsah Javed, and Mia Randria — presented the Treasured Metals collection. Inspired by the architecture abundance in the Big Easy, like iron fences, and brass bands performing during second lines, they created an eye shadow palette, blush and highlighter palette, lip gloss, and liquid lipstick.
"We learned that the people really treasured the history and culture of the city," said Kathlyn Celeste, a member of the team. "We really wanted to bring that into it. Paying attention to the metals in the city and knowing that metallics are really on trend and relevant, we were able to really meld everything together. Seeing how those metals evolve and transition is how we decided on the colors. For example, coppers will evolve to green and golds into browns or orange shades."
