Jane May Graves of Luxe Beauty: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

An Interview With Jilea Hemmings

Provide personalized customer service. Many customers feel very distant from the natural human customer service company once offered with many AI online chat and phone systems. We are different at Luxe Beauty and a live person answers the telephone; we have no frustrating AI chat on our website. Our customers appreciate getting their product questions answered by an expert. We want to be supportive and available for our customers. Luxe Beauty is about educating customers, and we love doing that.

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jane May Graves.

Jane May Graves is the founder of Luxe Beauty, a skincare brand she created when her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and she couldn’t find natural, healthy, and effective products that met her health standards. With a passion for healthy living, Jane put her degree in chemistry to good use to create a unique brand that awakens your skin’s natural radiance without using toxic or ineffective ingredients that could be harmful to our health.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

While getting my degree in biology and chemistry, I worked in a microbiology lab. I became a published researcher in the journal of Microbiologist Methods. The research article was about bacteria swarming and the surfactant tween 80. When I graduated from college, I took my MCAT and I was going to medical school. However, my path changed when my Mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and the doctors said she only had a few more months to live at best. I headed home to be with my mother and help to save her life. My life took a new direction when I became obsessed with finding natural ways to heal her cancer.

I started learning about the importance of avoiding products that contain toxins to reduce the bodies’ toxic load so it can heal. A book called Skin Deep; The Ugly side of the beauty industry opened my eyes to the widespread use of toxic ingredients in skincare products. For the first time in my life, I started reading and researching the ingredients in skincare products.

I was shocked to see that many products contained toxic and unhealthy ingredients, especially since our skin is our largest organ. It takes approximately 30 seconds for a chemical on the skin to enter the bloodstream. I couldn’t believe that so many common products contained unhealthy ingredients such as petrolatum, mineral oil, polyethylene glycol, phthalates, silicones, parabens, and synthetic fragrances, which can be up to 220 chemicals to make one fragrance.

I became frustrated and disappointed with the organic and natural skincare options because so many contained fillers like glycerin, alcohol, cheap oils, fruit juices, and beeswax. The beneficial and effective ingredients are often found at the bottom of the ingredients list, meaning their concentration was deficient.

My frustrations turned to inspiration when I realized a void in the skincare market of products that met my health standards and desires. I created Luxe Beauty to fill that void. Luxe Beauty is where purity meets luxury. I use high concentrations of effective and pure ingredients and eco-friendly glass bottles.

I am grateful my Mom survived stage 4 cancer and thankful her cancer journey inspired me to create a new kind of skincare that I get to share with the world.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

By far, the most interesting is traveling the world to source the highest quality, most authentic, and rarest ingredients. Anyone that knows me personally knows I am a very picky and selective person. I know what I want, and I will not stop until I find it.

For my Rose Quartz Toner product, I wanted to find the highest quality rose water. Most rose water on the market is not authentic and is often synthetically made in a lab. Visiting the oldest Rose Farm in Bulgaria, established in 1809 to source certified organic rose water, was truly enriching and memorable to see the century-old manufacturing techniques combined with modern technology.

My exploration for the finest and richest ingredients took me to Costa Rica to find unique mineral-rich clay and partner with local farmers to find organic pineapple and papaya for fruit enzymes for a facial detox cleanser. Most recently, I found a special ingredient for a new antioxidant serum in Israel. I have been waiting for three years for this rare and special ingredient to become available.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

The very sought-after hand model Adel Uddo, who holds the Chanel №5 bottle in advertisements and is often the hand model for Katy Perry, mentioned in Vogue and the NY times that Luxe lotion is her go-to moisturizer for keeping her hands in beautiful condition.

An important lesson is patience, realizing that everything will happen at the right time.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I am forever grateful for Kimberly Albright from Whole Foods Market Corporate. She was very supportive of my brand and helped launch my products into Whole Foods Market.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

With a growing number of people with chemical sensitivities, auto-immune issues, and cancer, health-conscious formulas matter more than ever. Innovative formulas centered around the highest quality ingredients that are results-driven are paramount. The days of compromising with chemical-filled formulas for results are numbered. For so long, the idea was we have to use chemicals because they work and provide results; however, with innovative green chemistry and talented formulators, we can provide healthy products that are results-driven. It warms my heart how often I hear from customers who are happy with their skincare results after using Luxe Beauty products.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

1) The increased demand for healthier, non-toxic products.

2) The increased demand for eco-friendly packaging.

3) Consumers have better access to learn about ingredients thanks to apps like Think Dirty and ewg.org

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

1) Reduction in the use of plastic bottles. Our world is inundated with plastic bottles. Plastic is a concern for environmental reasons and health reasons due to the chemicals leaching into products. All my skincare is bottled in glass.

2) Elimination of petroleum-based ingredients. Petrolatum, Isobutene, and mineral oil are widely used in the beauty industry. These ingredients are sourced from crude oil, the same oil you put into your car or truck engine. They can potentially be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. Petroleum-based oils tend to block the skin’s ability to breathe.

Petroleum can also leach the skin’s natural oils. Petroleum is a very cheap filler ingredient, compared to natural plant oils, and is commonly used in skin creams and lotions. I refuse to use ingredients sourced from petroleum.

3) Reduction in the use of beeswax. Bees make beeswax to build their hive, which is their home. Bees must fly the equivalent of six times around the earth to gather enough pollen to create a single pound of beeswax. Beeswax is also a secondary food source for bees and is vital for the survival of the colony. Taking the bees comb wax (their home) is considered cruel. PETA will not certify a product “Cruelty-Free” that uses beeswax for this reason. We need bees to pollinate most of our food crops, and there is no need to exploit and harm bees by taking their wax to make products. Unfortunately, at factory bee farms and large bee farms, it is not unusual for farmers to cut off the queen bee’s wings so that she cannot leave the colony. Beeswax has become an acceptable and widespread ingredient in many natural and clean beauty products, especially lip balm, lipstick, and creams. Beeswax is often used as a natural alternative to petroleum-based products. All Luxe Beauty products are beeswax-free. We donate 5% of our profits to tree-planting and bee-friendly programs in Costa Rica.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

Focus on what you admire about yourself. Train your mind to put your attention on the features you like and love about your beauty. Studies have shown that people who are unhappy with their appearance focus on their perceived flaws when looking in the mirror. However, when you focus on something that pleases you, your brain’s reward system is activated, lifting your mood. Energy flows where attention goes. Feeling positive about one’s appearance helps one feel beautiful.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

1) Be unique and authentic. Rather than recreate the wheel. I develop my own formulas for products I wish existed.

2) Quality Control. Our products are tested for years before they reach the market and are dermatologist tested. Luxe Beauty products are made in the USA. Every batch is 3rd party laboratory tested for safety and stability.

3) Provide personalized customer service. Many customers feel very distant from the natural human customer service company once offered with many AI online chat and phone systems. We are different at Luxe Beauty and a live person answers the telephone; we have no frustrating AI chat on our website. Our customers appreciate getting their product questions answered by an expert. We want to be supportive and available for our customers. Luxe Beauty is about educating customers, and we love doing that.

4) Don’t follow trends. You have to be ahead of the trends. Trends come and go. Spend lots of time in research in development.

5) Create strong, knowledgeable, and support teams. Create solid teams in every aspect of your business.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

While in high school, I was blessed to attend a leadership conference that was so inspiring and uplifting. I would love to create a movement that provides young people access to leadership conferences to help build confidence, ignite the child’s passions and dreams, and celebrates each individual’s uniqueness and gifts.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in your way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.” Wayne Dyer

When I follow my passion and intuition, I am always guided in the direction for my highest good. We all have an inner guidance system that we must learn to listen to for inner happiness and success.

How can our readers follow you online?

@janemaygraves

@luxebeauty

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.