The Love U Collective
The Love U Collective is a self care brand that merges skincare with chakras and aromatherapy. It was founded in 2021 by two sisters, Olivia and Jamie. You can purchase their products online, at The Eco Flamingo, and at various craft fairs around the city.
DePaul Prep Student Ivy Frater sat down with co-founder Jamie Marshall to talk about the business.
What do you do?
We make handmade skincare like sugar scrubs, soaps, body butters, and body oils. Our focus is emotional wellness, so all of our products are chakra themed. We have seven scents across each of our products, and each scent is designed to work with a specific chakra. The idea really is to understand what you need emotionally for that day, then to choose the product and scent that’s going to help you get there.
What inspired you to start your business?
For the longest time, I was climbing the corporate ladder, doing what I thought you were supposed to do as an adult. I was very focused on graduating high school and college, getting a great job, and I did all of those things. I had a really well paying job, I got to travel around the world, but I realized that I wasn’t happy, and that climbing the ladder didn’t bring me the happiness I thought it was supposed to. So I went through a very long, sort of depressed state.
At the same time, my sister had just had my nephew. And you know, when you have a kid, you start to figure out who you are, what you want to do, and what sort of values you want, not just for yourself, but for this little person that you’ve created. And so, for a while, we just complained at each other back and forth. Then the pandemic hit, we had a chance to just sit down and relax, and in that time, I found yoga.
Ultimately, I had this realization that my energy and emotions are my own. I have control over whether I choose to be happy or sad. I started learning how to listen to my thoughts and to pay attention to the things that I was telling myself. Once I started this life and felt so much better, I was like, “Do other people know that you don’t have to be sad all the time?” And that’s really where it all began.
How has your business evolved since it started?
I first started creating skincare products with my grandmother. She has always had little concoctions that she made with body butters and oils. It's something that I've always done, but it hadn't occurred to me to do it for a living. Olivia and I started The Love U Collective by making our own body butters and oils and selling them at craft fairs, and the response we got was overwhelming.
As we grew and listened to our customers, our collection grew, and it got to the point where it was hard to keep inventory. Customers would come and talk to us about what was bothering them, and we especially had a lot of new moms that would chat with us about their struggles. Those chats helped give us the idea to combine chakra and aromatherapy with skincare.
Self care doesn't have to be a whole ritual, It can be a quick breath when you're brushing your teeth, washing your face, or even getting ready for work. We’ve created this product that's natural, that you can feel comfortable putting on your skin. Combined with that aromatherapy aspect, these daily habits can be done as a form of self care. That's what we wanted to do - to make self care accessible, something that can easily fit into your life.
What sets you apart from other skincare brands?
When we talk about self care, people usually think about getting a manicure or a facial, and those things are fantastic. Anything that makes you feel good, feel beautiful, is exactly what self care is. But even deeper than that, my sister and I are very big on emotional regulation, and that’s what sets us apart. It's something that kids are learning in school now, but for us 80s and 90s kids, it was not something that we talked about.
We want you to be able to assess how you're feeling, identify what you need, and then proactively do something to help yourself feel better. For us, that's aromatherapy. It could be meditation for someone else, or all sorts of things, but the idea is to take that step, own it, do it for yourself, and not depend on someone else for your happiness. We can take ownership of how we feel right now, and that is really the core concept behind what we do.
What do you have coming up?
We will be at our new storefront through the end of June. We also recently launched in-store at The Eco Flamingo, Chicago's first zero-waste store. Outside of that, we are looking to grow our workshops this year.
For the past two years, we've been boots to the ground, wanting to get our brand out there, and doing a million markets. Our goal has been to get people to understand who we are, what makes us different, and why we're doing it. Moving forward, I want us to pivot towards community events, yoga and sound bathing…just things that help people realize that there are so many tools available, a lot of times that are free, that can really change the way you perceive the world. When you can change your mindset, when you change the way that you see negative things and instead see them as a positive, it literally changes everything. And that's what we're really looking to spread.
If you would like to learn more about The Love U Collective, visit their website!
