The Skin Shop
FULL START-UP SUPPORT: BRAND DEVELOPMENT, WEBSITE BUILD, PACKAGING & PRINT MATERIALS, PHOTOSHOOT DIRECTION, SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT, INFLUENCER PROGRAM, EMAIL MARKETING, CUSTOM QUIZ & LAUNCH STRATEGY.
how we worked together
Brand Development
Website Build
Packaging & Print Materials
Photoshoot Direction
Social Media Content
Influencer Program
Email Marketing
Custom Quiz Build
Soft Launch Strategy & Support
THE SKIN SHOP
The Skin Shop is a modern skincare retailer created to bridge a gap in the industry: clinical-grade expertise delivered with editorial-level style. Founded by Registered Nurse and skin expert Sara Shepley, The Skin Shop was built to help people cut through the noise of an oversaturated beauty market and get access to high-performance products they can trust.
Where most beauty retailers rely on trends, hype, or overwhelming product walls, The Skin Shop is intentionally curated. Every product is selected through a clinical lens and backed by years of hands-on experience treating real skin concerns. The brand’s mission is simple: make professional-grade skincare accessible, understandable, and beautifully presented.
The Skin Shop is an extension of The Skin Clinic — a respected medical aesthetics practice in Chatham-Kent — and was designed to bring that same level of integrity into the digital retail space. From a clean, editorial visual identity to a thoughtfully structured online store, the brand offers an experience that is equal parts clinical clarity and cultural cool.
For clients, it means fewer guesses, better skin decisions, and a place they can trust for products that actually work.
The starting point
When we began working together, The Skin Clinic had already established itself as a trusted, respected leader in medical aesthetics — known for honest education, high standards, and real results. Sara had built a reputation rooted in integrity and clinical expertise, and she wanted to extend that same level of care beyond her clinic walls and into a national online retail experience.
The Skin Shop, at that point, was a vision with incredible potential — but a vision without form. There was no brand identity, no website, no packaging, no email infrastructure, no content direction, and no operational systems to support an online skincare retail business. We were starting from a completely blank slate.
On the creative side, early branding explorations had begun with several designers, but nothing had fully captured the elevated minimalism Sara envisioned. There were promising elements, but the pieces weren’t aligning into a cohesive, confident brand system. The brand needed clarity, refinement, and a stronger creative direction to bring the vision into focus.
Operationally and visually, everything was untouched. Strategically, Sara knew where she wanted to go.
My job was to build the path — thoughtfully, intentionally, and from the ground up.
the goal
The goal of this project was to transform a vision into a fully realized brand and digital experience — one that felt elevated, editorial, and rooted in clinical expertise. Sara wanted The Skin Shop to become more than an online store; she wanted it to be a trusted destination for high-quality, professionally curated skincare across Canada.
To do that, we needed to build an entire ecosystem from the ground up.
Creatively, the goal was to establish a brand identity that felt clean, quiet, and confident — a visual language that communicated expertise without being clinical, and beauty without being trendy. The brand needed to feel like The Skin Clinic’s DNA, but stand confidently on its own with a modern, editorial edge.
Strategically, the goal was to design an e-commerce experience that was seamless, intuitive, and aligned with Sara’s standards of care. Every touchpoint — from packaging to email to influencer content — needed to feel intentional and cohesive.
Operationally, the goal was to build a scalable, functional backend capable of supporting a national skincare retailer: products, fulfilment flows, email automations, loyalty programs, a skin quiz, subscriptions, and an influencer program.
Ultimately, the goal was simple: To create a brand and online experience that reflects Sara’s expertise, honours her commitment to quality, and builds a foundation for long-term growth.
The Branding
The brand development for The Skin Shop was a thoughtful, year-long evolution that demonstrates a fundamental truth about branding: it is not about choosing a logo, it is about uncovering the identity that holds everything together.
When Sara shared her vision, she was clear about what she wanted the brand to feel like. Clean. Minimal. Editorial. Confident. A visual identity that reflected her clinical expertise while still feeling modern and stylish. We began exploring ideas with several designers and produced different concepts with icons that were well designed on their own. But something was missing. The ideas looked good, but they did not feel like The Skin Shop.
Every time we tried to build a full brand system around those concepts using imagery, layout styles, colours, and typography, the pieces did not come together. There was no moment of clarity. Instead of settling for something that was fine, we kept moving. We refined, reworked, and explored new directions because the brand deserved more than a compromise.
The breakthrough came when we partnered with designer Jess Voorhees.
Jess presented a mood board and creative direction that immediately aligned with Sara’s vision: clean, confident, high contrast, lots of white space, and an editorial edge. It captured everything Sara had been trying to express, and it finally gave the branding the clarity it needed. Through this direction, it became obvious that The Skin Shop did not need an icon at all.
The final logo is a bold, minimal wordmark. It is simple, striking, and confident. When paired with the full visual system, including the modern neutral palette of Slate, Ivory, Charcoal, and Clay, the strong Archivo Black headings, fully justified Be Vietnam Pro body copy, ample white space, and high contrast compositions, the brand came together exactly as it was meant to.
The Skin Shop’s identity is a reminder that a brand is much more than a logo. It is the composition, the tone, the typography, the space, the restraint, and the feeling of quiet confidence. In this case, the simplicity of the wordmark became the anchor of an elevated, timeless, and editorial brand system.
The Website
The website became the heartbeat of this entire start-up. It was also the part of the project that came with the most pressure, because we knew Shopify was the right choice from a long-term e-commerce perspective, but we also knew Shopify was never designed to deliver a fully custom, editorial, high-contrast brand like The Skin Shop out of the box.
Shopify is powerful, stable, and built for growth, but it is also a platform that leans toward plug and play. Themes offer a starting point, but when you are building a brand that relies on precision, white space, custom layouts, and elevated styling, you cannot simply drop content into pre-made blocks and call it a day. To bring The Skin Shop to life, the website had to look nothing like a Shopify website.
Achieving that required heavy customization. I sourced a theme that had a few of the structural elements and layout styles we were looking for, which gave us about 50 percent of the foundation. The remaining half involved extensive coding, detailed styling, and unlocking a new level of technical skill to push the platform far beyond its typical constraints. Every detail, from spacing to typography to button states to filtering logic, was adjusted to align with the brand standards.
Site organization was also a critical part of this build. I worked closely with Sara and her team to structure tags, collections, and product groupings in a way that would make shopping feel intuitive and easy. We wanted clients to find the right products within seconds, with logic that reflected how a professional would guide them in a clinic setting.
The functionality was equally complex. We installed and customized eleven Shopify apps to support the full ecosystem. This included branded invoices, rewards and loyalty, smart search and filtering, subscription functionality, a personalized skin quiz, product reviews, influencer tracking, and more. Most of these apps also required custom styling and integration work to ensure they felt seamless and on brand.
Email was another essential part of the website strategy. We integrated Klaviyo throughout the site to support both list growth and automated customer experience. This included:
• Newsletter sign-up
• Automated quiz results emails
• Abandoned cart flows
• Product review requests
• Post-purchase education
• Branded email templates and segmentation logic
Every touchpoint was designed to feel like an extension of the brand, not an afterthought.
This website is the most detailed, technical, and involved build I have ever completed, and it is one I am incredibly proud of. It is custom, elevated, and fully aligned with the brand vision. Most importantly, it sets The Skin Shop up with the digital foundation it needs to grow.
Finally, the website needed the right imagery to bring the brand to life. That takes us into the next section.
The Photoshoot
From the beginning, we knew the visuals for The Skin Shop could not be ordinary. We wanted images that were unmistakably unique, not something that could be pulled from a stock library or used by any other beauty brand. The aesthetic was clear. Raw. Edgy. Gritty. Editorial. Lots of depth and shadow. Lots of natural light.
A look that felt high-end and expressive and completely aligned with the brand’s identity.
To achieve that, we created a detailed shot list and pulled inspiration that matched the exact mood we were building. Then enter Jennifer Galea.
Jennifer is equal parts talent and stunning beauty (seriously, I snapped some pictures of her after the shoot at the are insane) and she understood the vision immediately. She brought the editorial energy to life and elevated it in ways that went beyond what we had imagined. She is a complete professional, but also incredibly relaxed and grounded, which made the entire shoot feel effortless for everyone involved.
Our models, Danni, Carly, and Irah, were the perfect trio. They brought fierce energy when we needed it, softness when the moment called for it, and a level of versatility that made the images feel truly elevated. They were also totally game for anything. Shooting in the the CK Creative Co. parking lot to get the perfect sun. Being misted with my reptile sprayer for atmosphere. Getting covered in bubbles made from an improvised mix of bubble bath and glycerin. Whatever it took to get the shot, they were in.
The final images still give me goosebumps. They are that good. Unique, expressive, and completely aligned with the brand. This shoot proved what is possible when the right vision, the right talent, and the right team come together. The photos became one of the strongest storytelling elements of the entire brand and gave the website its final, elevated finish.
The Packaging
The packaging for The Skin Shop needed to do more than protect products during shipping. It needed to create a moment. Something that built brand equity, sparked excitement, and made customers instantly recognize that their happy mail had arrived. Every element had to feel cohesive with the brand and deliver the same elevated, editorial experience that defines the website and visuals.
I developed a packaging suite that included branded mailers, custom stickers, branded packing tape, and a set of eye catching postcards with clever messaging. These pieces were designed not only to look beautiful, but to feel intentional and aligned with the identity of The Skin Shop. Clean. Minimal. Confident. Distinct.
Finding the right materials was its own adventure. I spent an unreasonable amount of time searching for the perfect shipping boxes that looked high-end without costing five dollars a unit. Spoiler alert: I found them. From sourcing to prototyping to final approval, every piece was chosen with purpose.
Once the materials were selected, I designed the branding for each component and coordinated with suppliers to ensure colour accuracy, print quality, and production timelines. The goal was to make sure Sara had a packaging system that was both functional and beautiful and that elevated the customer experience from the moment the order arrived on their doorstep.
The end result is a packaging suite that amplifies the brand at every touchpoint and gives customers an experience that feels special, consistent, and unmistakably The Skin Shop.
Click to watch the reel that showcases the packaging in action. ->
The Skin Quiz
A key part of The Skin Shop’s digital experience was creating a customized skin quiz that functioned like a mini consultation. Sara’s philosophy has always been education first and product recommendations second, and we wanted the quiz to reflect that. It needed to feel professional and thoughtful, not gimmicky or generic.
The goal was simple. Help customers understand their skin, guide them toward the right products, and make the shopping experience more personal and more confident.
We designed the quiz to match the editorial, minimal aesthetic of the brand. Clean layouts. Strong typography. Ample white space. No clutter. No cheesy graphics. Just clear questions that walked users through their skin type, concerns, sensitivity level, current routine, and goals.
The back-end logic was equally important. We developed a structured results system so that recommendations were not random pairings, but curated product sets that aligned with how Sara would advise someone in person. Every result was tied to tags and product attributes, which helped maintain accuracy as the catalog grows.
Once the quiz was complete, we integrated the results directly into Klaviyo. This allowed us to trigger personalized follow-up emails with the customer’s recommendations, reinforce education, and support customers who needed more time before purchasing. It also helped with long-term segmentation, allowing The Skin Shop to market in a more thoughtful and relevant way.
The final quiz adds value for both the customer and the business. It supports more confident purchases, reduces overwhelm, builds trust, and increases conversions through personalization. Most importantly, it reflects the brand’s philosophy: skincare should be curated, intentional, and rooted in expertise.
Influencer Program
To support the launch of The Skin Shop and build early visibility in a meaningful way, I created a full influencer program from scratch. This included developing the structure of the program, outlining expectations, and drafting clear collaboration agreements so creators understood the brand standards, posting guidelines, and deliverables.
We launched an application process and also proactively reached out to influencers who aligned with the aesthetic, values, and audience we wanted to attract. Once we confirmed our roster, I managed all communication and coordinated product selections with Sara and her team based on each creator’s skin type, content style, and audience needs. Every package included a branded letter to elevate the experience and ensure consistency.
To measure activity, I created custom discount codes for every influencer. This gave us a clear way to track engagement, conversions, and the overall performance of the program. I also set up organized Google folders and a simple approval workflow so creators could submit content, receive feedback, and stay aligned with the brand.
The final program was professional, organized, and high touch. It generated high quality content, built anticipation for the launch, and created strong relationships with creators who genuinely connected with The Skin Shop.
Social Media Content
The social strategy for The Skin Shop needed to strike a balance between education, aesthetic appeal, and personality. The brand is high-end and editorial, but also has a slightly cheeky, confident tone that keeps it from feeling too serious. My goal was to bring that blend to life on Instagram and create a feed that felt polished, intentional, and unmistakably The Skin Shop.
The first step was developing a cohesive visual style. I created the Instagram aesthetic, built a template system, and even developed a custom GPT trained on the brand voice so we could generate captions that were consistent, educational, and lightly sassy. This allowed us to maintain a strong, recognizable tone across all content.
Next, I planned out the initial teaser content to lay the foundation for the brand story. I created a batch of posts designed to build intrigue, establish the aesthetic, and warm up the audience ahead of the official soft launch. These pieces hinted at what was coming without giving everything away.
For the soft launch, I created content specifically aligned with the early access Black Friday sale, ensuring that the visuals, messaging, and timing felt intentional and cohesive across all platforms.
Every piece of content was built around the same principles. Informative but not overwhelming. High-end but not pretentious. Editorial with a touch of personality. The kind of content that feels beautiful in the feed and genuinely helpful to the customer.
The Soft Launch
The soft launch exceeded expectations, especially considering that no paid advertising was used and the audience was built entirely through organic content and existing relationships. In the first week alone, The Skin Shop saw steady traffic, strong customer engagement, and a conversion rate that outperformed standard e-commerce benchmarks.
During the week following the soft launch, the website received nearly 400 sessions with a conversion rate of 4 percent. For context, most new e-commerce stores convert between 1 and 2 percent, and even established brands typically fall within the 2 to 3 percent range. Achieving 4 percent in the first week, driven solely by organic traffic, is a clear indication of trust, clarity, and alignment between the brand and the customer experience.
These results directly reflect Sara’s decision to invest in launching The Skin Shop at a high standard. She understood the value of entering the market with a polished, professional brand and a seamless digital experience. Because of this, she achieved an impressive soft launch outcome without any additional financial investment beyond the foundational work. The early performance validated the strategy, confirmed the strength of the brand, and set the tone for long-term growth.
The Feedback
I hired Elizabeth to help me launch my new business, I needed someone who not only understood my vision but also held the same high standards. Running a busy business six days a week while raising kids meant I didn’t have the capacity to execute everything on my own, especially at the level I expect. As a perfectionist, finding someone I could fully trust felt impossible until I met Elizabeth.
We first met over three years ago when I invested in social media marketing, and since then we’ve worked on many projects together that have elevated my brand and expanded my reach. She has built her own businesses from the ground up, has her MBA, and understands every facet of a start up in a way that is rare and incredibly valuable. Elizabeth helped refine my branding, strengthened my marketing strategy and enhanced how I educate and engage with clients. She also completely overhauled The Skin Clinic website, making it more educational, aligned and reflective of the standard I set.
When I decided to launch The Skin Shop, I knew immediately that Elizabeth was the person I could trust to bring it to life. This was not a small project. She spent countless hours ensuring every detail was executed exactly the way I envisioned. Anything I wanted for this site, she made it happen. Launching a new brand and building a full e-commerce platform is a massive undertaking, but the final result is so much more than just a website because of her. She helped me create a brand and client experience that is engaging, thoughtful and aligned with my values.
Her attention to detail is unmatched. She keeps everything organized, thinks through every possible scenario and ensures nothing is overlooked from systems and workflow to brand consistency and the full client journey. She has treated my brand as if it were her own and that level of care shows in every single piece of work.
On a personal level, Elizabeth is kind, caring and incredibly down to earth. She is genuinely invested, easy to work with and is someone I can rely on completely. I would recommend her to absolutely anyone. Her expertise, her work ethic and her heart have been instrumental in bringing The Skin Shop to life.
Working with her has been one of the best decisions I’ve made for my business and I’m beyond grateful for the impact she’s had. Elizabeth is one of a kind and Chatham-Kent is lucky to have her.
SARA SHEPLEY, THE SKIN CLINIC & THE SKIN SHOP
Final Thoughts
This project was more than a website build or a brand launch. It was a journey and a partnership built on trust, clarity, and a shared commitment to doing things the right way. Building an effective e-commerce platform from the ground up is a significant undertaking. It requires strategy, creativity, technical depth, and an understanding that success does not come from cutting corners.
Sara understood that from the beginning. She knew that in order for The Skin Shop to succeed, it could not be a side project or something pieced together on nights and weekends. It needed the right partner, the right strategy, and the right investment to give her business a true head start in the industry. She made intentional choices to launch with excellence, and the results speak for themselves.
It has been an honour to work alongside her, to fully immerse myself in her vision, and to build something we are both incredibly proud of. The Skin Shop is thoughtful, elevated, and rooted in expertise, and it has been a privilege to help bring it to life. I am grateful for the opportunity, and I am so excited for everything that comes next for this brand and for the community it will serve.
Have questions?
If you have questions or you’re interested in learning more about how we can work together, feel free to contact me.
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