This piece is part of our NASHtoday Q+A series. Do you know someone we should interview? Nominate them here.
Meet Maegan Griffin. 👋 She’s the founder, CEO, and the ultimate girl boss of Nashville-based medical spa Skin Pharm. Maegan founded Skin Pharm in 2017 in an effort to create a clinic vibe and product line she thought was missing as a patient herself. Fast forward, Skin Pharm prides itself on being one of the first woman-founded cosmetic dermatology clinics available to consumers. Its success at the Nashville flagship has launched clinics in Atlanta, Dallas, and Charlotte with others on the horizon. Let’s dive into Maegan’s routines, favorite woman-owned businesses + her skincare tips.
Q: Assuming someone at any age doesn’t really have a skincare routine, but wants to start, what are three tips or products you would suggest?
I like to base it off your main skin concerns because that’s obviously what’s going to give you that boost in confidence. So for some people, it might be that they have diffuse redness, or for others, it might be that they have sun melasma. With that being said, you typically can build a routine with vitamin A aka retinol (which is Skin Pharm’s Night Watch), vitamin C (our Glow Factor Serum), and a high-quality SPF (I love our 100% Mineral Tinted SPF).
Q: What are some of your favorite Nashville female-owned businesses?
I’m currently wearing Consider the Wldflwrs; I love their rings. I’m also wearing my Yearly Co. bangles, which have my children’s names, birth date, and time of birth inside of them + The Spark Collection’s welded jewels. They are in some different cities and we ended up partnering with them at our various clinics. For clothing, I shop at The Perfect Pair, Emerson Grace + H. Audrey often. I also love Hero and Alexis + Bolt is a girlfriend of mine — I could truly keep going. I do also have to shoutout hair. I go to Leah Hoffman, who is an absolute hair goddess, and she just opened Beauty School Salon inside Sylvan Supply in The Nations after relocating from East Nashville.
Q: You’re a huge advocate for health and wellness across the board. What wellness routines do you implement?
I actually just completely redid my routine to try to reach max productivity. The minute I wake up, I try to drink a full 24-ounce Hydro Flask of water. I’ve been getting to my Core Power sculpting or c2 workouts each morning at 6 a.m. so that I can get back to the house before my three kids wake up. From 8-9 a.m., I focus on workday setup. I started using the Full Focus planner, and that helps me stay on track with having three big tasks to complete each day. It’s changed my perspective on what I should be focusing on daily. As far as food goes: When I’m avoiding meal prepping, I turn to Eat Well Nash because I appreciate that the food comes fresh + I love Epice, Rolf & Daughters, and Bourbon Steak.
Q: Skin Pharm places a large pride and focus on a clean beauty skincare line. What should our readers look for label wise when searching for products that would best benefit their needs and health goals?
We’re paraben free, synthetic fragrance free, phthalate free, and sulfate free. While I like for people to focus on what’s not in the product, I’d like for them to focus on what is in the product as well. Some companies will focus on fear mongering, and I like to focus more on educating people on the proper ingredients that they should be using. So that might be SPF, vitamin C, and retinol because those are some of the most studied ingredients. We like to keep the list as short as possible, using impactful ingredients that are clinical. Clean is a hard word because it’s left for everyone to interpret themselves. I have to be proud of our skincare products and I have to trust them because I’m going to use them myself. When we’re developing new products, I test them, our product manager does, and all of our providers do. So, I think that knowing that we’re all vetting it can make you confident in using our line.
Q: What products would you say are worth saving on versus worth splurging on?
Vitamin C is an easily unstable product. Therefore, I think it is worth investing in to make sure that you’re getting a trustworthy, effective formula. I think there are a lot of vitamin C serums out there that have otherwise nice ingredients in them. Maybe there is glycerin in an over the counter product or a luxury product and it goes on nicely and hydrates your skin, but the way that they have packaged it (if it’s not in a dark amber bottle) or if they’re not using the most active form of vitamin C, it’s not going to be active and actually give you the benefits that you’re seeking from vitamin C itself. When you get our vitamin C, the actual active comes as a powder and an ampule. At the time that you take it home, you combine it. That’s when it becomes your serum and it guarantees max efficacy.
Q: How is Skin Pharm getting back specifically to the Nashville community?
In April, we started our Vanity Refresh. Individuals are selected based on nominations. The stories that friends, daughters, and husbands are writing are really heartfelt; It was incredibly hard selecting one, but thankfully, we’re going to continue doing it so we can reach more people. We are giving a custom routine back to these people. For this most recent episode, it was a mom whose son was diagnosed with stage 3 multiple myeloma. She admitted that she’s not really focused on her skincare routine right now. It’s really a lot bigger than just giving skincare to someone. It’s really about her taking a moment to herself and having that ritual of massaging on products. When we gave her the products, we incorporated a candle. She immediately said, ‘Oh my gosh, OK, so I’m going to light this with my chardonnay and I’m going to take a bath.’ So I think it’s a lot bigger than just skincare, which is really how we feel at Skin Pharm in general.
Q: Are there any new skincare products or treatments releasing that you’re looking forward to carrying or practicing?
When it comes to our menu of services, we are constantly on the lookout for new treatments — we’re demoing, vetting, and testing on the backend before we ever release to the public to make sure it is worth your time and money. Right now our menu of services is in a really great spot as it’s not too big or small. As far as the skincare line, we have several products we’re working on the launch of. We have two ingredients we are loving right now. We are all about niacinamide because it works on essentially every skin concern. It works on pores, fine lines, wrinkles, redness, and is an overall age management ingredient. You’re going to find it in a lot of our products. In fact, we just upped it four times in our Youth Serum, which is our number one product along with Clarifying Pads. We’re also really liking PAD, which is an ingredient that works on redness. We’re finding that more and more people coming through our clinics are presenting red, sensitive, inflamed skin — and we’re loving PAD for that.
Q: Does Skin Pharm have anything new in the works that you can speak to or plans for growth in the near future?
In regard to clinics, we have Franklin coming — which should open around late summer or early fall. It’s exciting to see that the demand here at our flagship is so large that we can grow and expand into the Franklin area as well. I think that will also help us reach new people that might not otherwise be making it into the downtown Nashville area. Our growth is all organic. It’s really just kind of what feels right and if we feel pulled in a certain direction. Thankfully, there’s a lot of demand in almost every major city, so if we can continue to grow but keep our soul, I believe we will do so. I absolutely will not grow at a pace to where we jeopardize losing what is special to us, of course.
Q: What are the latest things that you’ve done in Nashville?
I had a friend meet me the other day here at the clinic and we walked over to Belmont. That was really nice and she didn’t realize how close we are to Belmont and the 12 South area. I also stopped at White’s Mercantile because we’re hosting people at our home and they always have cute homegoods, gifts, and a few of our Skin Pharm favorites.
