This summer, as beauty industry M&A activity finally reaccelerated—with billion-ish dollar deals for Touchland, Rhode, and Medik8—one name kept coming up in my conversations with investors and dealmakers: Alicia Sontag, the co-founder of Prelude Growth Partners. A former exec at Lauder and Johnson & Johnson, Sontag has racked up one of the best records among early-stage investors in the space. Prelude’s exits include Sol de Janeiro, Naturium, Phlur—one of Sephora’s fastest-growing fragrance brands—and Summer Fridays, which sold a majority stake to TSG Consumer last year at a rumored $700 million valuation. The fund’s portfolio also includes Tower 28, Westman Atelier, and OneSkin, among others.