Karen Behnke, Entrepreneur, Organic Beauty Pioneer, Environmental Business Leader.

Karen Behnke has done it again and with the best clinical results. A trailblazing entrepreneur and female founder, Beauty Crush brings all her interests and passions together. Recognized by Elle, Forbes, and Cosmopolitan as the “OG of the Clean Beauty Movement", Karen helped pioneer the organic skincare and eco-conscious beauty sector long before it became mainstream.

She is best known as the Founder and former CEO of Juice Beauty, the beauty brand she launched in 2005 and ran through 2023.

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BeautyCrush elevates skincare technology yet stays true to Karen's values of environmentalism and sustainability along with the use of cutting edge biotech combined with organic ingredients.

Karen is known for forging high-profile celebrity partnerships, from partnering with Gwyneth Paltrow to launch Goop Beauty to collaborating with Kate Hudson on successful beauty ventures. Her entrepreneurial journey began earlier, in the 1980-90's, she founded and sold one of the nation’s first corporate wellness companies to PacifiCare / United Healthcare. She later served as Entrepreneur in Residence for private equity firms, sourcing and evaluating beauty, wellness, and fitness brands.

Awards & Recognition: Karen was twice named Goldman Sachs’ Most Innovative Entrepreneurs, received the Environmental Working Group’s Top Leadership recognition for Clean Beauty & Sustainability, was honored as Glamour’s “Top Eco-Leader,” and has twice been named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.

Her passion for sustainability, wellness, and green innovation stems from early life experiences: growing up in Michigan near the site of the nation’s largest PBB chemical spill, surviving a rare childhood blood disorder, and later, seeking safe, non-toxic beauty solutions during her pregnancies in her 40s.

Under Karen Behnke's leadership, her previous skincare company, became a nationwide leading prestige skincare brand at ULTA Beauty for nearly two decades, earned hundreds of awards from Vogue, Allure, Oprah, WWD and more, and she developed four groundbreaking scientific patents. Karen spearheaded organic product formulations, clinical trials, sustainable supply chain innovations, and influencer-driven beauty collaborations.

Karen lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, cardiologist-turned-vineyard manager and Chief Science Advisor, Howard Luria, M.D., where they raised their children. Their engineer daughter Rachel, is the Chief Technology Advisor to BeautyCrush. Active and former triathletes, they spend much of their time at their certified organic beauty vineyard and olive grove in Sonoma County, California, focused on BeautyCrush Skincare that integrates regenerative biotech, sustainability, clean crushing and organic vineyard luxury. They are examples of living their belief that healthy, sustainable living can power vibrant lives and world-changing businesses.