Beauty Made Simple

Story by: Samantha Chery

Nyimah Boles Robinson sees 2020 as a good year for Good Skin. Robinson, 35, launched Good Skin, a homegrown black skin care line, in September of 2018. With the collection of products now in a few stores across Florida, the businesswoman hopes to expand the brand to Washington and New York by the end of 2020.

“I always wanted something that was naturally based that I could use but wouldn’t harm my skin,” she said. Based in Gainesville, she set out to address skin problems specific to women of color. Five years and dozens of trial formulas later, she accomplished her goal by creating rejuvenating concoctions that heal skin and leave a lasting glow, she said. To craft the products, such as antioxidant gel cleanser and bioactive facial oil, she infused her 16 years of experience from different sectors of the

beauty industry.

She began her career as a seasonal associate for Bath & Body Works, but her passion for natural beauty products blossomed from working as a store manager for The Body Shop

The brand’s founder, Anita Roddick, inspired Robinson to use simple and straightforward substances in the

“ I always wanted something that was naturally based that wouldn’t harm my skin “

making of Good Skin.

“I became an ingredient-phobe and an ingredient whore,” she said. “I can tell what an ingredient is because I learned her bible for ingredients.” In addition to retail, she also worked in supply chain management and trained beauty advisers across Florida to experience the full scope of beauty sales.

While Robinson may seem to have the setup for a picture-perfect business, her life leading up to Good Skin was riddled with bumps and bruises.

As a former sharecropper’s daughter, she grew up poor in Harlem during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. The apartment her family lived in was across from a five-story crack house, and the playground adjacent to the building was littered with cocaine vials,

she said.

As a result of sexual abuse she said she endured as a child, she dealt with low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts in her adolescent years.

Much more recently, after she stopped working for other beauty brands in 2018, her monthly income dipped below the federal poverty level, and she had to rely on savings, her work at Robinson Financial Group and strict budgeting to stay afloat, she said. But in the midst of her struggles, she found therapy in journaling and saying positive affirmations, which later led her to write self-published books, “Prettiest of Them All” and “Real Beauty in the Raw.”

She wanted to empower other women to make real change in their lives, so she started motivational speaking at churches and community events catered for young women.

In April 2019, she shared advice with members of A Few Good Thoughts, a local women’s ministry.

“Nyimah came and talked

about being a woman of faith in entrepreneurship,” said Petra Pindar, founder of A Few Good Thoughts. “That was good for those who wanted to start businesses or who are in business and trying to find the balance between their faith and their work and how to make that effective.” Pindar has been able to appreciate the businesswoman’s transparency. “As someone who’s always giving advice, I don’t necessarily have a ton

“ There are many days that I’ve cried, but they’ve been tears of joy “

her latest book, “Gleam,” and continue her search for new stores to stock with Good Skin.

For now, her bathroom mirror at home is covered in Post-it notes with positive affirmations, and she keeps a card on her dashboard with her top five goals.

She said, “There are many days that I’ve cried, but they’ve been tears of joy because I see how far I’ve come mentally and emotionally.”

of people that I can just call up and be like, ‘Hey, I need your help. I need your perspective,’ and she’s just immediately like, ‘I’m available,’” Pindar said.

Although Robinson has slowed down as she prepares to give birth in January, she hopes to get back to business soon afterward. In 2020, she will release