This In-Demand Beauty Service And Retail Destination Is Creating A Luxurious Sanctuary For Middle-Aged Women

New Jersey beauty service provider and boutique Luminous isn’t interested in captivating gen Z by chasing the latest TikTok trend. It focuses on women over the age of 40, and founder Erika Menanteaux believes that focus sets her business apart in a beauty industry that starkly divides women between youthful and mature.

“There’s a big gap between being 40 to 45 and being that 70-year-old silver-haired woman,” she says. “She still wants to know what the new music is. She’s still youthful and energetic, but, in a way, much choosier.”

About 95 beauty services, including brow and waxing services, are performed every week at Luminous’s 600-square-foot space in the upscale suburb Ho-Ho-Kus and appointments are booked up weeks in advance. Popular lash extension, lift and tint services are priced from $160 to $350 per session. Luminous’s retail shelves feature 400 skincare, body care, haircare and wellness stockkeeping units from 55 brands. Among them are Augustinus Bader, Venn, Saint Jane, Joanna Vargas, Moon Juice, Nature Of Things, Dame and Rosebud Woman.

Luminous’s typical customer is a woman who’s comfortable in a luxury department store, yet prefers a smaller retail environment where she can be guided through her shopping journey. She has disposable income and is willing to spend where it counts, but isn’t seeking to hide her age through aesthetic treatments like Botox and fillers.

“She’s not new to beauty. It’s just that no one’s been speaking to her,” says Menanteaux. “She’s building trust in an industry that hasn’t done a great job at keeping the trust of women.”

Menanteaux has been passionate about addressing the underserved demographic of middle-aged women since her early days in beauty. As a twentysomething former English teacher, she pivoted to a career in beauty when she was hired as an aesthetician and makeup artist in a salon. Her services caught on with women 50 years old and above.

“I started to build this clientele that turned into a bit of a cult following,” says Menanteaux. “We were able to differentiate what a woman really wanted versus what they were being sold because I think there’s a big difference there.”

After 10 years of salon life, Menanteaux opened Luminous in 2015 on the second floor of an old building on downtown Ho-Ho-Kus’s Sheridan Avenue. At the time, it was exclusively a service concept specializing in lashes and brows. Retail was introduced to the model two years later as a result of clients persistently asking for product recommendations.

In June 2020, Luminous moved to its present street-level location on Sheridan Avenue. Back then, retail accounted for about 10% of its business. That share is now around 40%, and services account for the balance. Menanteaux says she aims to flip that ratio in the future to make Luminous a retail-driven business that offers “exquisite services.”

She explains, “I don’t think that high-quality lash services are actually scalable, and I don’t want to become a spa either. It’s so nice to tell the stories of these brands. In spa culture, I feel like that’s always what’s missing for me.”

A self-professed beauty “superfan,” Menanteaux scouts innovative emerging beauty brands when she’s looking to fill holes in Luminous’s retail assortment. She emphasizes that bringing them on when they’re new to the market is essential for a small beauty retail business to stand out. Luminous struck partnerships with Saint Jane, Lord Jones, Maude, Rosebud Woman and Vacation before they expanded to bigger retailers.

Menanteaux says, “If you can get in early, there’s nobody at the brand that will say to you, ‘We just secured funding, and we’re going into Sephora, we’re not taking any more wholesale accounts.’” 

Menanteaux gravitates to story-centered brands over trend-centered brands. She’s constantly on the hunt for brands with luxe positioning and products that aren’t overly packed with active ingredients. Clean and organic formulations often take a backseat in the curation process at Luminous. Its customers prioritize efficacy over sustainability and natural ingredients. What’s most important is that the products on its shelves slot seamlessly into customers’ routines. 

Saint Jane, Venn and Augustinus Bader are top-selling brands at Luminous. Customers are snapping up sunscreens and skincare products with retinol. Once a bestseller at Luminous, sales of the silk pillowcase brand Slip Silk are trending down as are brands in categories such as sexual wellness, ingestibles and CBD. CBD was previously a mighty category at Luminous, with sales of Lord Jones’ CBD Gumdrops outpacing its entire skincare assortment in 2020 and 2021.

Luminous formerly carried the makeup brands Kevyn Aucoin and RMS Beauty, but jettisoned makeup in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. That year, its total sales dipped 25%. Luminous currently carries a smattering of color cosmetics like Saint Jane’s Lip Cream and Lip Shine collections and the celebrity makeup artist line Jamie Makeup. It’s planning to officially relaunch the category in the fourth quarter of this year. 

Menanteaux says, “We are looking for makeup that feels fresh and elevated and isn’t afraid to acknowledge how damn beautiful women over 40 are.” 

Luminous’s business has rebounded substantially since 2020. In 2021, its sales increased 60%. Last year, they jumped 18%. Menanteaux, the sole shareholder at Luminous, favors steady growth when it comes to scaling her company.

“We’re doing things the hard way. We’re paying people what they’re supposed to be paid. We’re recommending things that are in alignment with our values. We’re testing every product,” she says. “We’re doing things slowly, and because of that, we’ve got a really beautiful clientele and a healthy, profitable business.”