In 2000, still young in our marriage, my husband and I began a journey to find the perfect city to raise a family. We flew into Seattle, WA, rented a car and started a 17 day road tour around the Pacific Northwest. After visiting several Washington and Idaho cities, we continued east on I-90 and pulled into Missoula, MT.
We found a local restaurant to have dinner and decided to stay overnight. As we walked Missoula’s downtown streets, we could hear the sounds of a live bluegrass band coming from a corner bar. We walked in to find a wall of beer taps. We sat down at the bar and order a couple of beers. Both of us first saw a tap with a pink pig on it. “We will take 2 Pigs Ass Porters, please,” my husband ordered. We took one sip, looked at each other and said…..”This is the coolest place!”
We flew back to Florida the next day, sold everything we owned and set off for our new beginning in Big Sky Country. Neither one of us had a job or a plan. All we knew was that we loved what Missoula’s community had to offer and wanted to be a part of it. We just didn’t know how yet.
In my 20’s and into my 30’s I suffered from adult acne and rosacea. Living most of my life in Florida and spending a lot of my time outdoors, I needed help with my skin. I refused to wear sunscreen because it aggravated my acne and rosacea. My sister, 21 years older, gave me a facial as a present (the first one I have ever had). My aesthetician gave me a California Girl Brush and said “Use this every day, this is your sunscreen that won’t irritate your skin and it will help camouflage your redness.” I agreed, because I was so tired of people asking me, “Are you OK? Are you upset? Are you hot?” My breakouts were driving me crazy!
As soon as I realized the winter I was facing in Montana, I knew I had to find something to do with my time. Having 20 years of sales experience, I picked up the phone and called Diane Ranger, the founder of Colorescience. I told her my story and asked her for a job. Diane laughed when I told her where I lived. Colorescience was just starting and Diane was hoping I was in LA or NY, but agreed to send me a makeup kit to see what I could do.
Not having a lot of capital to work with, I started in Nolita, a small clothing boutique in downtown Missoula. The owner graciously let me sell Colorescience, a brand new mineral makeup line that people hadn’t heard of yet, to her clients. After I began to create a larger following, I moved into a space inside of the historic Hammond Arcade building, which we now refer to as “Baby Skin Chic” and added two employees. Having a larger space was exactly what we needed; however, I still desired a street front location. A few years later, my wish came true. The store in front of us moved locations which offered us the rare opportunity to get street visibility. Our square footage tripled, which meant we needed to find more products.
Since my career with Colorescience required me to travel and meet with Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons, I was given access to the latest and greatest in skin care and was the first to bring it to Missoula before a lot of big cities even knew about it.
In 2007, now having grown to a staff of 8, we made an exciting decision to move our downtown boutique to the Southgate Mall. Although, it was difficult to leave behind so many memories, we were excited to finally start offering facial and waxing services and to take our “skin serious” motto to the next level.
Skin Chic grew out of my passion for what Colorescience did for my skin and self-esteem. I wanted to pass that on to other women. My goal was to create a place where women could receive education in a comfortable environment and without making an appointment. I am proud that I have a confident staff with over 70 years combined experience that is able to consistently offer the best in customer service, makeup and skincare.
Thank you for 10 amazing years. Skin Chic will always be committed to staying abreast of makeup trends and skin care technologies while offering a personal, comfortable experience.
Love,
Cindy Duncan
