We can all benefit from having a mentor, and Spirit Demerson, the owner of the eponymous online green beauty boutique, SpiritBeautyLounge.com, has been that for me over the past few years. She always has her finger on the pulse of what’s about to explode onto the green beauty scene, and she possesses the most broad mental database of all things green beauty product-related.(sometimes the extent of her knowledge and memory freaks me out!) Also of great importance: I genuinely love, and use, the products she stocks, and I think her customer service is top notch.
She’s the biggest game in town (and the country) as far as online green beauty shops go, and you can see from her website that she has a very high level of aesthetic integrity. What you can’t see from her site, however, is what I’ll be sharing with you below: the inside scoop on Spirit Demerson. We had a lot of fun during the little photo shoot in her home that you’ll see below, and then Spirit answered my questions that are geared to let you in on what this trendsetter/tastemaker is thinking, wearing, eating, drinking, putting in her home, and doing in her spare time. Plus, she shares how she got involved in this industry in the first place, and what she thinks makes Spirit Beauty Lounge the very best place to shop.
Katey: What about who you are and what you’ve done in life prepared you to create Spirit Beauty Lounge?
Spirit: I have a funny background in all of the things I do everyday; design, beauty, retail, business and technology…I follow my passion, which has led me all over the place. I would go to art school, then take business classes, manage a beauty supply store, then go away to Spain on a modeling contract, go to cosmetology school, then fashion school, then take programming and networking classes…in no particular order. I’m a fiend for information. When it comes to things I’m interested in, I can be an obsessive researcher. Since I have so many loves, I wasn’t sure what career path I could stick to – until something formed that called on many of my passions at once, especially green beauty and business.
Katey: What questions do your customers reach out to you to ask?
Spirit: I hear from a lot of women when they’ve reached the end of their rope – they either want to get off of the chemicals they’re dependent on (steroid creams, accutane, benzoyl peroxides…), but fear a catastrophic withdrawal, or they’ve been trying natural line after line, product after product, and aren’t getting any results. That’s where we come in! Offering a holistic, comprehensive analysis of your whole beauty routine, and finding alternative green beauty upgrades and solutions is my specialty.
It’s also funny sometimes to hear the way we women describe ourselves. We all, including myself, can really over-dramatize our conditions. I’ve seen women with enviable beautiful skin, describe it as dull, aging, hyper-pigmented, sensitive, scarred, congested, enlarged pores, roseacea…I think partly because we now are so educated about beauty and have this dermatologists vocabulary to describe things, we “see” more issues than we ever did before.
Katey: What does a day in your life look like?
Spirit: My office is a couple blocks from my home but I prefer to work from home as much as possible. I’m more productive in complete quiet, with candles or incense, my two computers, and my iPhone (this is New York quiet) I start with a morning routine that probably includes some 20 odd products or so (I’m a junkie!) and have a cold-brewed coffee and green juice before starting on emails, reviewing inventory, meeting with vendors, and then meeting up the “The Girls” (the office staff) to go over customer or order issues of the day. I’ll have 2 or 3 more green juices throughout the day, and try to get my sig. other to take me somewhere amazing for dinner, before curling up into bed with my cat, Fatty.
Katey: When do you feel your most beautiful?
Spirit: Superficially – that moment before I leave the house, all dolled up, head full of possibilities and ready to conquer! Spiritually, when I’m hosting a guest in my home or a dinner party – the lighting, candles, music, food, decor, the conversation is stimulating, everyone is gently intoxicated….bringing souls together in calm, sparkling interaction…creating symbiotic, harmonic beauty – that’s magic.
Katey: What do you do when you’re feeling unattractive and down in the dumps?
Spirit: My blessing and curse is that I’m an obsessive researcher. When I’m really low, you may catch me spending hours on dermatology and plastic surgery websites, planning out my Frankenstein transformation. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned there are two healthier, more productive ways to fight that: 1. Exercise and 2. Put on heels and a bold lipstick!
Katey: What do you indulge in that is so not what people think of as ‘green living’?
Spirit: My guiltiest sin is fashion! I generally eat, buy and consume all organic and non-toxic but I have a weakness for beautiful non-eco clothes and shoes. My best effort is to only buy what I love, and will wear for many years (reducing consumption of ‘disposable’ clothing), to only buy natural fibers (admittedly many are worse than synthetic environmentally), and to observe the 1 in 1 out (to my sister as handmedowns) rule so I keep the collection small. But still, I’m the first to admit that what I spend on wardrobe could be put to better use. Usually I’m a ‘Miranda’ but in that way, I’m a Carrie Bradshaw.
Katey: What are you excited about that’s in the works for SBL?
Spirit: Kjaer Weis’ new foundation and May Lindstrom’s new face balm are rocking my world right now. They both did something that really hasn’t been done. With the new foundation, it’s none of the shiny, heaviness of an oil-based foundation, but with all of the velvety coverage of one. It applies like a thin veil yet still has significant coverage. When I use it, I almost scratch my head like ‘how did that happen?” The May Lindstrom balm is filled with all these amazing, precious, rare active ingredients that aren’t just anti-inflammatory and hydrating, but actually encourage the skins own natural UV resistance and stress resistance – which means its a godsend for the type of skin that tends to react to EVERYthing.
We’re doing an exclusive launch soon of a line that has a crazy cult following they built entirely on their own, and sort of under the press’s radar. Our “early adopter” clients have already been begging us to carry it for a year now so I’m expecting a lot of excitement! Keep your eyes peeled!
Katey: What’s in your beauty bag right now?
Spirit: My ‘5 Minute Face’ is RMS Beauty Un Cover Up, Kjaer Weis Eyeshadow & Blush, and W3LL People Lip Shine. People always ask me what I’m wearing when I have it on, which is unusual for makeup. I kind of love that.
Katey: Why green beauty? (interpret this however you like)
Spirit: Because we’re worth it. Truly, it’s deciding to treasure your health, wellness, longevity and radiance, and a way of telling ‘Big Beauty’ to back off. They hide the truth. They rape the planet. We deserve better…no, we deserve The Best. Keats wrote: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Katey: 5 things that your fans don’t know about you.
Spirit: I love watching Nancy Grace, Lifetime Movies, and eating waffles & sausage in bed on Sunday.
I still listen to and consider myself punk rock.
I’ve had 7 piercings and two tattoos.
Beauty is only my 4th or 5th passion/obsession, under art, design, food & beverage, fashion and technology.
I’m incapable of doing my own hair or nails & have to have them done every week.
Katey: What about a brick and mortar store?
Spirit: I would absolutely love to go brick & mortar here in my favorite city [NYC]! It would take some help but I think that would be amazing. The name Spirit Beauty Lounge was actually the name of the project I wrote the business plan for in the first place – which was a modern organic luxury spa boutique with a lounge vibe. That plan grew into something else so rapidly, there really wasn’t a chance to come up with a name. It became a virtual beauty lounge. I have made plans to still get the brick & mortar concept going, but the site’s growth keeps me really busy!
Thank you, Spirit, for sharing so much with us. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next. xoxo
