01.20.23
Gemini Beauty was borne from your family’s need for skincare solutions due to their affliction with lupus. Can you explain how the autoimmune disease can affect the skin for those unaware of the correlation?
For a lot of people with lupus, it can show in your skin with the butterfly rash and in various ways depending on the person. For me, it was crucial for me to take care of my skin, so I could manage the repercussions of having borderline lupus and the same went for my older sister.
You founded Gemini Beauty at just 17 years old. When you began research about lupus, its adverse effects on skin, and solutions, what were your findings?
It has a lot to do with genetics, but for me specifically, when I go out into the sun, I have a really bad reaction. When I was 10 or 12 years old, I’d always come back and my skin was feeling really dry and cracked. I never felt comfortable in my own skin. When I was doing research with how lupus can impact your skin, and your overall wellness, it was important for me to do research in my skin care to see how I can potentially help.
At what point in your research did you want to create Gemini Beauty and what’s in a name?
I tried so many brands when I was doing research, it seemed to work for about a week and then my skin would repel it. I talked to dermatologists, and I couldn’t find a solution. I wanted to create a brand for people who wanted healthy-looking skin, and I wanted fruits and vegetables to do it. Gemini Beauty is a reflection of me and my family. I’m a twin, and my sister is a big part of the brand. It’s basically four of us; with Geminis, there are two people in one, and skin care is very two-sided for me. It’s all about finding comfort and confidence in your skin, but also having fun with your skin care and really exploring what you like and what you dislike. Skin care should work for you; you shouldn’t work for your skin care.
Some of the actives, specifically the fruits, are inspired by your ethnic background.
The moisturizers are based on my grandma and my mom and our Ukrainian heritage. My mom loved using fruits and vegetables on her skin when she was younger. Each product is dedicated to a member of my family, so I love using different teas based on my Lebanese heritage. In the moisturizer, there are oranges and coconut, cowberry and sea buckthorn. All these fruits have this theme of providing antioxidant support, which is very important to protect your skin from free radicals. The formulations include cucumbers, a vegetable, and a really great ingredient, and peptides. It really focuses on the idea of healing your skin barrier and making your skin barrier very strong so you can handle the environment around you so your skin looks very dewy and plump.
Run through some products in the line.
The Daily Brightening Moisturizer contains six fruits; lychees and cowberry are the most unique. The All You Need Eye Cream with cucumber extract, which also has peptides in it. It is really great for reducing undereye bags. My sister really struggled with that and she goes through a lot of jars of All You Need Eye Cream. The Daily Glow Serum with hyaluronic acid – that one’s really about giving you a soft, dewy glow. I use it before my products; my mom uses it after her makeup.
Can you discuss expansion plans for the future?
Right now, I’m selling with JC Penney and opening with Thirteen Lune at their flagship store in the beginning of summer. In terms of the future, I’m definitely thinking about it, but I just hope the brand can grow and expand its reach.
For a lot of people with lupus, it can show in your skin with the butterfly rash and in various ways depending on the person. For me, it was crucial for me to take care of my skin, so I could manage the repercussions of having borderline lupus and the same went for my older sister.
You founded Gemini Beauty at just 17 years old. When you began research about lupus, its adverse effects on skin, and solutions, what were your findings?
It has a lot to do with genetics, but for me specifically, when I go out into the sun, I have a really bad reaction. When I was 10 or 12 years old, I’d always come back and my skin was feeling really dry and cracked. I never felt comfortable in my own skin. When I was doing research with how lupus can impact your skin, and your overall wellness, it was important for me to do research in my skin care to see how I can potentially help.
At what point in your research did you want to create Gemini Beauty and what’s in a name?
I tried so many brands when I was doing research, it seemed to work for about a week and then my skin would repel it. I talked to dermatologists, and I couldn’t find a solution. I wanted to create a brand for people who wanted healthy-looking skin, and I wanted fruits and vegetables to do it. Gemini Beauty is a reflection of me and my family. I’m a twin, and my sister is a big part of the brand. It’s basically four of us; with Geminis, there are two people in one, and skin care is very two-sided for me. It’s all about finding comfort and confidence in your skin, but also having fun with your skin care and really exploring what you like and what you dislike. Skin care should work for you; you shouldn’t work for your skin care.
Some of the actives, specifically the fruits, are inspired by your ethnic background.
The moisturizers are based on my grandma and my mom and our Ukrainian heritage. My mom loved using fruits and vegetables on her skin when she was younger. Each product is dedicated to a member of my family, so I love using different teas based on my Lebanese heritage. In the moisturizer, there are oranges and coconut, cowberry and sea buckthorn. All these fruits have this theme of providing antioxidant support, which is very important to protect your skin from free radicals. The formulations include cucumbers, a vegetable, and a really great ingredient, and peptides. It really focuses on the idea of healing your skin barrier and making your skin barrier very strong so you can handle the environment around you so your skin looks very dewy and plump.
Run through some products in the line.
The Daily Brightening Moisturizer contains six fruits; lychees and cowberry are the most unique. The All You Need Eye Cream with cucumber extract, which also has peptides in it. It is really great for reducing undereye bags. My sister really struggled with that and she goes through a lot of jars of All You Need Eye Cream. The Daily Glow Serum with hyaluronic acid – that one’s really about giving you a soft, dewy glow. I use it before my products; my mom uses it after her makeup.
Can you discuss expansion plans for the future?
Right now, I’m selling with JC Penney and opening with Thirteen Lune at their flagship store in the beginning of summer. In terms of the future, I’m definitely thinking about it, but I just hope the brand can grow and expand its reach.