Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Priscilla “Prissy” Phillips. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Priscilla “Prissy”, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name of my company is Ethereal Skin Aesthetics. Before I was in skincare I was just a part-time makeup artist and an optician full-time and my then business name was Glomakeup by Prissy. I would wear my makeup to work as an optician almost everyday in hopes that people would take notice and ask me who did it. One day in particular one of my customers asked and we ended up chatting about how I love makeup and she loved my look. We exchanged Instagram’s and we would like each others posts here and there, I uploaded one picture one day and she commented “Ethereal”. Now I had no idea what that word was let alone what it meant. Of course I went to google (my friends call me the google queen) and searched it up (no shame lol) to find out that it meant “extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for the world.” I was overjoyed and that was the best compliment anyone had ever given me. When I started school I knew that I didn’t want to keep my original name and I wanted to rebrand; I began searching and making notes I had a whole list of potential names on my phone notepad. But Ethereal kept coming back to me I believe God was speaking to me. The meaning of the name is exactly how I want my clients to feel like a delicate beauty inside and out. Thus Ethereal Skin Aesthetics was born.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Priscilla Phillips most people call me Prissy or P. I was born and bred in Houston, Tx. I was a stay at home mom and honestly I got bored I started watching YouTube videos on makeup tutorials and clothing hauls. I would try to recreated the makeup looks and people started to take notice. I would get compliments left and right and my friends and family would tell me that I should try it on other people so I did. I started posting pictures on my Instagram and wearing my makeup more often because practice makes progress. I started having clients and I loved the feeling I would get after a service. My clients where so elated and felt so beautiful but they already where beautiful to me. Over time I decided I wanted to open a makeup suite but upon doing research I found that I needed to have a license (later found out I didn’t). So I attended HCC Southeast campus (they have and amazing program btw.) for esthetics. I felt like this was in God’s plans for me because I fell in love with skincare and helping others reach their skin health goals. The services I provide as of now are facials, waxing and makeup. I plan to add powder brows and green peels in the future. My facial services are geared toward those with hyperpigmentation, acne and aging. However, I accept all skin types. I have some products that are vegan and organic and I use more clinical products as well. My goal is to help my clients have long term results and helping them to understand that they are beautiful inside and out. What sets me apart from others is that I like to solve problems even if I don’t know the answer I will research it myself or ask someone in means of helping my clients. I have many different backgrounds and I feel as though all of them mix together to help me in this business. I believe in God and I know my faith keeps me grounded and I know that the Lord orders my steps when it comes to this business. I treat my clients how I want to be treated and I’m relatable, honest, and friendly. I honestly care about my clients and they are not just a number to me. I am mostly proud that I took a leap of faith this is not easy at all but it’s oh so worth it and I just thank God for the opportunity to do this. For the connections I have made along the way, for the growth over the years, for the knowledge I have now and the knowledge I will gain, I praise God this is truly amazing! My makeup work has been featured in Edith magazine twice that was a big milestone for me to see my name in a magazine is pretty dope. Going to school and finishing, walking across the stage and obtaining my license was a major thing. I had never walked a stage before I was a black teen parent, hard headed and all of the above, Now look at me I beat the odds I even surprise myself. All glory be to God. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. Ethereal Skin Aesthetics is a legacy.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As far as building my audience on social media it took a little while to see what worked for me. I went to The Makeup Show Houston and attended a social media seminar that Danessa Myricks was hosting. She spoke about the ins and outs of marketing on Instagram including reels, lives and using any of there updates such as stickers. I personally use reels because with reels I reach more people outside of my followers I always use hashtags at least 3 and no more than 10 and I have started using a location. I gain more interaction by responding to all of my followers comments and using polls and questions in my story. Another way I have built my social media is by human to human interaction. When I go in the grocery store or the mall or a park I am networking and speaking about my brand. I have even sat outside at a traffic light with a big sign that said follow for M&Ms crazy right but it worked. I have been to networking events, done makeup at fashion shows put myself in front of some pretty big people it gets intimidating but I just had to put myself out there. My advice would be to always bet on yourself no one knows you or your brand better than you and you have to tell people about it. Get people to see your vision and why you are the ‘ish and they should know about you. If it doesn’t go against your personal morals and values do it! Take some social media or marketing classes make sure it’s from reputable source and not just someone charging you a few hundred dollars and they don’t have anything to back themselves up. Use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. More people are on social media than not. But even if your follower count is not as high as you may like don’t fret. Follower count doesn’t necessarily mean more or less clientele. Most of those people are not active or are bots so don’t get too anxious just be yourself and have fun with it. Make sure you have a website or a google listing people can bookmark or subscribe to your mailing list make sure you stay relevant for those who aren’t on social media.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Great question. Yes, I do sell products on my website www.etherealskinaesthetics.com I have cleansers, toners, moisturizers, sunscreens, kits, etc. The ingredients, directions and skin types are also listed I have made it so easy to purchase from the site. The pros of selling online is that I don’t have to keep a big inventory. Clients can order, pay and receive their order within a few days. If a client start to run low then they can reorder online and have it before they run out. The cons would be that some people want something tangible at the time of service. If I don’t have stock at that moment some people may not want to go online and wait for their products. I also have sample products to give clients while they wait for their supply or to try before they open up their product.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etherealskinaesthetics.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/etherealskinaesthetics.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/glomakeupbyprissy

Image Credits
Lenworth Johnson

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