How Queen City Skincare Was Born: From burnout to body butter — the unexpected journey that led us here.

Before Queen City Skincare existed — before the kits, before the body butters, before Regina — I wasn’t really into skincare. In fact, I wasn’t really into self-care at all. Like a lot of people, I treated it like an afterthought. Something for other people, people with more time, more money, more energy. I washed my face with whatever was in the shower, and that was about it.

But stress has a way of catching up with you. Life got heavy, fast — burnout, low self-worth, that feeling of being stuck in your own skin, both literally and emotionally. At some point, I realized I needed to do something. So I booked a spa appointment.

That first visit changed everything. Not because of the products or the treatment itself, but because of the way it felt to be cared for. To be still. To let someone treat my skin with intention and knowledge. I started asking questions — lots of them. Estheticians became my therapists, in a way. They explained what my skin needed, but they also helped me understand that caring for it wasn’t superficial. It was powerful.

I started experimenting at home. Just a cleanser and moisturizer at first. Then serums. Then sheet masks. Before I knew it, I had a multi-step nighttime ritual — not because I wanted perfect skin, but because it felt good. It made me feel like someone worth taking care of.

That was the spark. The idea that skincare could be more than just vanity — that it could be grounding, healing, even joyful. But we also saw how intimidating and expensive it could be. So we started curating products we actually loved. We sourced K-Beauty favorites, affordable dupes, and spa-night staples that felt indulgent without being out of reach. We built kits that recreated that same spa feeling — not as a luxury, but as a little act of self-respect you could do in your bathroom mirror.

And somewhere in all of this, Regina was born. We imagined her as the embodiment of everything we were trying to say: strong, soft, regal in her own way. A crowned buffalo — because we’re rooted in Buffalo, NY, and because that mix of toughness and tenderness is exactly what skincare (and life) asks of us. Regina isn’t just a logo — she’s a reminder. That you’re allowed to take up space. That self-care isn’t silly. That you deserve softness, even on your hardest days.

Queen City Skincare wasn’t built in a boardroom. It was built during long nights of self-reflection, after chaotic workdays, in small moments of care that added up to something bigger. And now it’s a brand — one built for people like us: people who didn’t grow up with spa days, who are still figuring it out, who just want to feel a little better in their own skin.

This is how we started. From nothing fancy. From overwhelm. From a need for softness. From real life.

And it’s only just the beginning.