Chris Salgardo is back in the driver’s seat.
The industry veteran, whose résumé spans Chanel, Bobbi Brown and nearly two decades leading Kiehl’s, feels that his latest venture — a grooming brand called Atwater — is ready for its next growth phase.
“I took this move where I could have coasted, retired and downsize,” Salgardo said. “I’ve done exactly the opposite, I’ve pursued every dream, and a big one was skin care.”
As a result, Atwater started with the skeleton of a grooming routine, from cleansers to SPF and beard products. Prices across the assortment range from $12 to $65. “I started as a makeup artist. I’m used to working in stores, I love customers, I love helping them feel better. When I talk to men today, I find they struggle with the same things,” said Salgardo. “I have a vision coming through of what can really serve the modern man.”
Grooming is a notoriously tricky category. Although adoption rates have risen, many of the products are purchased by women on male consumers’ behalves, and many men buy gender-agnostic products and brands, making it a difficult one to track.
“There’s a lot of great products everywhere, but they sit in different places and in different price points. I felt like having a bespoke solution for men to dive into things that are going to be really right for his skin type. I play in the prestige world, which allows a little bit more room for real connection. But I wanted to make it entry-level pricing because even the fanciest guys are going to have a threshold of what they’re really going to spend,” Salgardo said.
Skin care accounts for 88 percent of Atwater’s sales. Now, he’s bullish on other categories. Salgardo is kicking off 2026 with a robust pipeline of products, starting with a hair styling treatment and a cleansing gel before branching into sexual wellness with a personal lubricant, and makeup with a bronzing powder.
“I’m strategic about what I use, I’m strategic about how I work and I’m strategic about my life,” Salgardo said. It seems to be paying off, with last year’s SPF launch becoming the brand’s top seller. “Our beard oil is crushing it,” he said. “We have two more products based off of that product’s success too.”
He also thinks there’s misconception around the grooming landscape. “People think you have to keep it simple,” he said in a nod to the multifunctional ingredient lists on his products. “We don’t have to keep it simple, we just have to make sure you’re using targeted products when you need them. And they’re never going to be one-size-fits-all. If you need something for dry hair, or if your skin is starting to lose volume, for example.
“When I look at product development, I look at my gaps, and that’s one of the reasons we did a cleansing gel,” he said.
It’s a switch of gears for Salgardo, although it’s one he’s handling deftly. “Even at L’Oréal, where you have access to all the data you can, you can actually have analysis paralysis if you’re not careful,” he said. “All of this has to ladder up to a philosophy, and I want to be the ultimate grooming solution for men. That means from the top of the head to the toes, and off the bat, that gives the brand a lot of categories to play in.”
