A SEMO student’s entrepreneurial journey through skincare

Brooklyn Armstead, a senior studying business administration at Southeast Missouri State University, is making a name for herself as a businesswoman.

Armstead created her own skincare line, Purity Skincare. The skincare line launched May 24, 2021. Purity Skincare is a natural brand offering face and body products that are vegan and cruelty-free.

Armstead said during the pandemic, she noticed she was having skin problems of her own. She looked at formulas to fix her own skin problems and decided to put some ingredients together and see what she could do.

“I realized, ‘Hey, these products kind of work.’ So, I built a brand out of it after that,” Armstead said.

Armstead’s dad, Jerry A. Thompson has been able to mentor her, during the creation of her skincare line.

Armstead said Thompson has been an incredible mentor in helping her build her brand. He’s been able to share his wealth of knowledge and experience and also demonstrated how to conduct a business with integrity and professionalism.

“I’ve always encouraged all my kids to figure out how you can bring value, meaning, solving problems, you’re answering questions or you’re meeting needs,” Thompson said.

Erin Fluegge, management professor at SEMO, said she has had the honor of being able to work with Armstead since Fall 2019.

Fluegge said seeing Armstead become increasingly more professional and creative and then to watch her negotiation skills flourish, as well, has been a delight.

“Anybody who gets to be in a class with her or just interact with her, be prepared to be delighted,” Fluegge said. “And the cool thing is, she’s very humble. She’s super successful, and she’d do anything for anybody.”

Armstead said since the products are natural, it costs much less to make, and they can be sold for much less than average brands.

“Our cleanser is only $23. A big, high-end cleanser would be $40 or much more,” Armstead said.

Armstead said the key ingredients in her skincare products are oils, including sweet almond oil, vitamin E, apricot oil, turmeric, lemon and aloe vera.

Armstead describes her brand as personable, luxurious and affordable.

“I believe skincare is a privilege for people, and so the fact that it’s affordable and still a luxury item, I’m really proud of that,” Armstead said.

Being a student as well as a businesswoman has been rewarding for Armstead.

“Other entrepreneurs see what I’ve done with my business and my brand. They want advice on how they can do the same thing, or if I can help them figure out their profit margins. And just being a business student at that and knowing I want to go into business start up and business development, it’s really been quite rewarding,” Armstead said.

Armstead said she’s in a setting where she has people around her who can support her business and people who are motivated by the things she does with her business.

Armstead said the advice she would give to businesswoman is to do your own research, make your brand unique to you, and to find your personal aesthetic.

You can also find Purity Skincare on Facebook at Puruity.sc, Instagram at Purity.sc. and online at puritysc.co.