By Caroline Lanni
Four-year resident of Princeton, Theresa Blanchard, 43, created her own skincare business in 2017 called “Paridae Beauty” to help with her own skin needs, and then it quickly expanded to not only help her but others as well.
Blanchard is originally from Florida, lived in many states and most recently lived in South Carolina, and then moved to Princeton. She added that she moved to New England in 2016.
She said that she chose to live in Princeton because her husband is originally from Massachusetts and knew that it was time to move forward to a quieter area.
“We just fell in love with Princeton,” said Blanchard.
Blanchard said when moving to Massachusetts from Charleston, South Carolina the new area had a different climate which really affected her skin.
She then had to change her skincare routine and what came to her mind was shea butter and after researching it and learning about it, her interest in beauty grew.
“However, when I moved from South Carolina in my mind I knew that I would start some type of business, so I created an LLC,” said Blanchard.
Blanchard graduated from Westwood High in Florida and later got her business license.
She added that at first, she was thinking of creating a hospitality business, a bed and breakfast, but chose to tackle the beauty business due to it “landing” in her lap.
She chose to name her business Paridae Beauty because it was named after a group of songbirds and was inspired by nature – the Black-cap Chickadee is our state bird and it just seemed like an appropriate perfect name, Blanchard said.
Currently this is an online business only and they partake in some pop-up shops and will attend some farmers markets as well soon.
Blanchard said that she does make the body products, and the face products are all professional products from Blanchard’s partner who is a professional licensed aesthetician and provided the skincare line.
They sell many products such as lip balm, body scrub, and so many more.
The prices range depending on what you are buying but the lowest item on their website is a nail brush that is three dollars, and the highest priced item is their acne recovery kit for $186.
Blanchard said that she did not always think that she would be in the beauty industry.
She started her career in the real estate business and took what she learned from that previous experience along with her.
In 2008 she moved to working in banking due to the real estate market crashing and her skin went through a lot of phases during this process.
After seeing a dermatologist Blanchard knew that she wanted to be able to help other women with these types of skin issues.
She added once she started to share her beauty products with others it spread the word out everywhere.
Blanchard, while working part-time at the bank, then collaborated with a friend to help design and create the labels for her business, Ariel Allen and worked with a photography company, called MG Professionals for pictures for the website and it all came together.
“I would like to think that the reason that I thought that it was possible [to make your own business] is because of my previous job experiences,” she said.
Blanchard made body butter for her first product to overcome her own dry skin and then the business just kept growing and then she moved onto making the sugar scrub.
“I liked offering [the products] to people and I liked asking them questions about what type of issues they need to overcome,” and that is what brought her to making her own business, she added.
What Blanchard loves the most about her business is the results she hears about her products helping others.
She said that her business is going great since they have started and is selling their products in some salons.
Blanchard said something new they are trying is that last year she decided to become a beekeeper and has two hives currently to gather wax to add to her products, thanks to the help from her bee mentor Gary.
Now they are using beeswax and adding the wax from the bees into the body butter. It has really “changed the product in a great way,” said Blanchard.
The beeswax is now in the body butter, sugar scrub, and the lip balm products.
During COVID-19 there was a great number of spikes in sales for her business, said Blanchard.
Right “after” COVID-19 (so about six months ago) Blanchard left her banking job and decided to go full-time into the beauty business because there was a substantial number of orders online.
In five years, Blanchard hopes to see her products in more spas and hopes to open their own storefront.
Blanchard still sees the dream of having her own bed and breakfast happen, just with a spa attached to it now.
She added that she is looking into becoming more educated in skin care and taking more classes to help her business in the future.
Blanchard said that the local businesses in Princeton have welcomed Paridae into their stores. For example, a local aesthetician Jennifer Cudmore, the store Monties, Thirsty Lab, and Lanfords in Sterling.
“Everywhere is an opportunity,” and it has been a nice transition here in New England, said Blanchard.
Blanchard said that her favorite product is the SPF – “it gives you protection, hydration, and you get coverage.”
Blanchard added that she was very inspired by the nature in Princeton to start this business and make these products.
For the future Blanchard hopes she can give her business to her great nieces one day.
For more information about pricing, shipping, and about the products you can purchase check out Paridae Beauties website at ParidaeBeauty.com.