our story
We’re Elizabeth and Maureen, long-time friends from Ottawa, Illinois. In 2011, we both worked in Chicago, started a community garden in Avondale, drank a lot of cheap wine, and tried a bunch of crafts - making soap was one of them! The soap was a hit with our friends and family, and replaced so many plastic bottles in our homes. We got into purging other products in our apartments, realizing how many redundant, unnecessary things we had accummulated. Replacing them with our own formulas for simple, gentle multi-taskers was a fun challenge.
building a brand
As we dove into handmade skincare, our skin was thriving in the absence of all we had purged. Drawing on Maureen’s chemistry background, we tested small batches of face oils, clay masks, and sugar scrubs - all from scratch in Elizabeth’s kitchen (while both working full-time jobs!). We stuck to plant-based edible ingredients from our community garden and local farms, focusing on products that were necessary, sustainable, and gentle. We started selling on Etsy in 2011, and finally made the move to our first brick and mortar shop in 2015.
the Mask Bar is born
Once we had a retail space, we hired estheticians to offer services using our goods - simple facials using our clay masks and face oils. But customers still had questions about how to mix up their masks at home, and these facials always turned into mini-coaching sessions. One day, Elizabeth came in with a wild idea - she turned our two salon chairs to face the wall and hung a mirror in front of each. ‘We need to teach them how to do this themselves,’ she declared. 'People can get good facials anywhere - we can teach them to elevate their daily ritual.' We worked with our estheticians to create a script for this new ‘class,’ working in real facial techniques as well as product information. And the Mask Bar was born!
at home in the West Loop
Over the past ten years, the Mask Bar has gone through many iterations, and is now booked by the table as an interactive, guided skincare experience with table-side service. It's held in our retail space in the West Loop, in the cutest sunny spot above the entrance to Gin Alley. Stop by to browse our shelves, chat about skincare, or book a table at the Mask Bar. We’re so proud of the company we’ve created, and we love sharing our products, knowledge, and community with you!