By Liz Leamy
Evelyn Sprigg, a Greenwich resident with longtime and profound connections to the community, has, in her characteristic style, scored gold with a remarkable skincare line, ‘JustUs,’ based around a stellar collection of clean and natural creams, serums and other products that perform in game-changing fashion, much to the delight of its scores of many delighted users.
Since first launching JustUs back in 2019 with her business partner, Brook Dougherty of Indio, California, who is also author of the memoir, ‘Nothing to Write Home About,’ Sprigg, a Greenwich Country Day and Greenwich High School graduate who holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Tufts University has seen the company grow exponentially as many of its dedicated customers, including Bethenny Frankel of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of New York fame have all raved about the products’ amazing and visible effects.
Notably, the JustUs skincare line has gained such incredible traction and popularity since its launch due to the fact that each product features a myriad of nature-based ingredients consisting of plant and modern active ingredients, most of which have been used by healers around the world for centuries, something Sprigg and Dougherty are adamant about as a means to generate the finest and most gratifying experience for their clients.
“Our products are carefully curated blends of actives from the natural world alongside cutting-edge lab actives,” said Sprigg and Dougherty. “Each ingredient is a powerful instrument on its own. These are products that take on your skin’s toughest challenges-the ravages of stress, hormones, travel and your everyday harsh climate with ancient ingredients that hold the secret to healthy, radiant skin.”
Notably, the JustUs products, created with such natural products as buriti oil, bacuri butter, wheat protein, geranium oil, snow mushrooms, watermelon, spirulina, soy rice and cupuacu butter, among other vital things, are headlined by the company’s best seller, the Fab Four.
These items consist of the ‘Tighten and Glow’ anti-aging peptide-forward mist, ‘Transform’ nourishing serum, ‘Meta’ day and night cream and ‘Condition’ butter and oil balm to help repair and protect one’s skin for a comprehensive skin care experience for day and night.
“We want to help everyone look and feel their best,” said Sprigg. “We weren’t happy with what beauty was selling to us and we knew we could do something better with the purpose and intention of skincare to help your skin retain its natural barriers, as well as help retain its strength and resiliency. It’s all about helping your skin to be as healthy and strong as it can possibly be.”
Sprigg, who also reached stellar heights in the advertising and marketing arenas prior to establishing JustUs with Dougherty said achieving this level with the company has been a fulfilling and also challenging pursuit.
“To be a small business owner, you have to be nimble and thick-skinned and be able to always adapt and pivot,” said Sprigg. “There are hard times and good ones and I love all of it. It’s never about overnight success, as most overnight successes come from work that’s been years in the making and there’s always a history and story to get there.”
Some of the situations Sprigg and Dougherty typically face on any given day include navigating the ever-changing digital media environment, getting that ‘perfect’ shot or dealing with shipping challenges, as the duo is steadfast about always finding solutions while also working with their team of dedicated employees so that all bases are covered.
For Sprigg and Dougherty, it’s all about putting in as much brainpower, time, effort and heart to provide their clients with an optimal experience in regard to anything and everything related to skincare.
“Our biggest spend is our ingredients,” said Sprigg. “All we do all day is think about what the skin needs, what ingredients we can use to help that and how we can blend them in a way that makes the best possible outcome for everyone.”
In regard to looking ahead, Sprigg and Dougherty are excited to keep formulating and offering products to serve as many people as possible in a memorable, effective and dedicated fashion with their skincare line.
“We want to continue selling really good quality products, but we want to scale,” said Sprigg. “So we’re looking to scale, grow, reach more people, get the products into more hands and get bigger but we never want to sacrifice what we put in the products. In terms of the quality, the manufacturers, the teams and the people we work with, we are uncompromising about that.”
In regard to the impact of JustUs upon their clientele, Sprigg credits its role, purpose and effects to much of her experience of having grown up and resided in Greenwich.
“I feel like growing up with my family and in Greenwich gave me the confidence in myself that I can do anything,” said Sprigg, whose mother, Gloria Coe Sprigg, also of Greenwich, is a decorated Kindergarten teacher at Hamilton Avenue Elementary School in town. “To start a business, you have to place a bet on yourself. Everyday in the business, I do something that initially I might not know how to do, but then try to figure out, and I think my background growing up here helped with that. It instilled in me the ability that I might not know everything, but that I can figure anything out with hard work, determination and collaboration.”
Sprigg, who was also a decorated U.S. Figure Skating competitor through the Championship level and is a U.S. Figure Skating Double Gold test medalist, said the work ethic, energy and team dynamic among so many in the Greenwich community, along with those people with whom she worked with in sports growing up has helped her establish a strong foundation for her pursuits so far.
“I learned so much from skating and I think it has influenced so much in how I approach and handle things now,” said Sprigg. “I learned about how to work hard, believe in myself, time manage and figure things out. It was an important and inspirational time that continues to stay with me to this day.”
Ultimately, it is all about discipline, hard work and trust, particularly in terms of collaborating with others that defines the philosophy of JustUs, characteristics that also embody what Sprigg herself, as well as her partner, are all about, something in itself signifies its own victory.
For more information on the JustUs products, please visit the company’s website at www.justusskincare.com
