Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Timus-Jenkins.
Hi Crystal, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story with Glow in Peace Skincare really started long before there was ever a business, a website, labels, or even a name for it.
I’m a mom of five, and two of my children have dealt with eczema, with my son having severe eczema since he was an infant. Like any mom, I just wanted to find something that would give my babies some relief. I found myself paying closer attention to ingredients and learning more about what I was actually putting on their skin. Eventually, instead of continuing to search for the perfect product, I started learning how to create my own.
What started as a mother trying to help her children slowly grew into something much bigger.
I began researching ingredients, experimenting with formulations, and learning how different butters, oils, and botanicals worked with the skin. I didn’t want to just mix things together because they sounded good. I wanted to understand why I was using an ingredient and what purpose it served. That mindset is still a huge part of how I formulate today. I always say I don’t create something just to throw a price tag on it. If I’m going to put my name and Glow in Peace on something, I want there to be thought, love, and intention behind it.
But somewhere along this journey, I realized that my purpose was even bigger than skincare.
Glow in Peace has always been about how I want people to feel.
I genuinely love bringing joy to other people. I love making someone laugh, making someone smile, showing someone love, encouraging them, or simply giving them a bright spot in their day. I believe growth brings us together, and I’ve always felt that if I can change this world in whatever little way I’m able to, even if it’s one smile at a time, then I’m doing something meaningful with the time and gifts I’ve been given.
I know at the end of the day someone could look at Glow in Peace and say, “It’s just skincare.” And technically, yes, I make skincare and body care products. But to me, it has never been just skincare.
That’s what Glow in Peace means to me. When someone sees those words, receives one of my packages, interacts with me or my community, or uses something I created, I want them to experience a little piece of PEACE. I want them to feel the love behind it. Maybe the crazy product name makes them laugh. Maybe opening their package after a horrible week gives them something to smile about. Maybe a scent takes them back to a happy childhood memory. Maybe something I share encourages them on a day when they needed it. Those moments matter to me just as much as the product inside the jar.
The world can be heavy. People are carrying things we know absolutely nothing about. I may not be able to fix everything happening around me, but I can control what I put into the world. So I choose to put some love, laughter, kindness, creativity, and peace into it whenever I can. That is my purpose, and Glow in Peace became one of the ways I get to live out that purpose.
From there, the business grew piece by piece. And when I say piece by piece, I mean literally. 😂 I built my website. I created my labels. I worked on my branding. I formulated my products. I photographed them. I packed orders. I learned the business side. I made mistakes, changed things, improved things, and kept going. There wasn’t some huge team behind the scenes building this for me. I had to become a student of every part of my business.
Somewhere along the way, I also realized that I didn’t want Glow in Peace to look or feel like every other skincare company. I’m naturally a bubbly, creative person with a little spice and spunk, and eventually I stopped trying to separate that part of myself from the business. That’s when Glow in Peace really started developing its own personality.
I love taking something as simple as body care and turning it into an experience. Our scents can be inspired by desserts, childhood memories, music, random conversations, or something that simply makes me laugh. I’ll give a product a crazy name, build an entire story around it, and then make my customers part of the fun. But underneath all of that creativity is still the same intention: make something with love that might bring somebody a little joy.
One of the biggest parts of my journey has also been learning how to build this while having a life outside of entrepreneurship. I’m a wife, a mother of five, and I also have a full-time career. I completed my degree in cybersecurity while building my business and raising my family. There have been plenty of nights when I’ve gotten off work and switched hats to become “Crystal the business owner” — making products, pouring oils, answering customers, working on labels, or sitting with my notebook making sure orders are accounted for.
My family has been right there with me too. Whether someone is helping prepare boxes, packing, or making those shipping drop-offs, Glow in Peace has truly become a family business. And one of the things that means the most to me is knowing that my children have had a front-row seat to all of it.
I wanted them to see that you don’t have to wait for someone else to hand you a blueprint. Sometimes you have to learn, create, fail, adjust, get back up, and become the blueprint yourself. I knew my children were watching me, so I wanted to make sure I gave them something worth watching.
It hasn’t always been easy, and I definitely didn’t get here overnight. There have been setbacks, learning curves, long nights, launches that stressed me completely out 😂, and plenty of moments when I had to figure things out as I went. But every stage taught me something, and every stage helped me grow.
Today, when I look at Glow in Peace Skincare, I see so much more than products sitting on a shelf. I see something I built from the ground up with my own hands. I see my family. I see growth. I see creativity. I see a community of customers who have watched this brand grow, laughed with me, encouraged me, given me feedback, participated in my crazy ideas, and trusted me enough to put the products I create on their skin.
Most of all, I see purpose.
I’m still building. I’m still learning. I’m still creating. I’m still growing. And I hope I never reach a point where I think I’ve “arrived,” because there is always more love to give and more good to put into the world.
Glow in Peace may have started with a mom trying to help her babies’ skin, but today it represents something much bigger to me.
If something I create can make you feel good, make you laugh, make you smile, remind you to take a moment for yourself, or simply bring you a little peace in the middle of everything life throws at us, then Glow in Peace is doing exactly what I created it to do.
Because at the end of the day, I’m just trying to leave this world a little brighter than I found it — one product, one person, one smile, and one little piece of peace at a time.
THAT is Glow in Peace. ❤️
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth? Absolutely not. 😂 But I’ve learned that a smooth road probably wouldn’t have grown me into the woman or business owner I am today.
One of my biggest struggles has simply been learning how to carry all the different parts of my life at once. I’m a wife, a mother of five, I have a full-time career, and I’m an entrepreneur. I also completed my degree in cybersecurity while raising my family and building Glow in Peace. There have been seasons where I’ve gone from working my full-time job, straight into being Mom, and then stayed up late into the night making products, answering emails, working on my website, creating labels, packing orders, or preparing for a launch.
When you build something from the ground up, especially without a huge team behind you, there is no manual telling you exactly what to do. I had to learn formulation, branding, packaging, inventory, customer service, shipping, marketing, photography, website management, pricing, and all the little things people never see when they look at the finished product. Some lessons came from research, and some came from making a mistake and saying, “Welp, we won’t be doing THAT again.”
There have also been the normal growing pains of a handmade business. Supplier delays can throw off an entire launch. Packaging can suddenly become unavailable. Something you’ve planned for months can change at the last minute. As the business grows, you also have to figure out how to increase production without sacrificing the quality and personal touch that helped people fall in love with your brand in the first place. That balance has challenged me tremendously.
But some of my hardest seasons haven’t actually been business-related at all. They’ve been life-related.
I’ve had to learn that entrepreneurship doesn’t stop life from happening. There have been times when my family needed me, times of loss and grief, health challenges, and moments when life was simply life-ing; yet I still had a business depending on me and customers trusting me. I’ve had to learn when to push through, but I’ve also had to learn that strength isn’t always about pushing. Sometimes strength is knowing when you need to slow down, regroup, pray, lean on the people who love you, and give yourself room to be human.
I think one of the hardest lessons for me has been accepting that I cannot be everything to everybody all the time. When you care deeply about what you create and the people who support you, you can put enormous pressure on yourself. I want every launch to be right. I want every customer to be happy. I want every order out. I want to be present for my children, my husband and my family. I want to excel in my career. And somewhere in all of that, I still have to remember that Crystal needs Crystal too.
There have definitely been moments when I questioned myself. There have been moments when I was exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated, or wondering how in the world I was going to get everything done. But I’ve also learned that those moments don’t mean I’m failing. They mean I’m growing.
And growth can be uncomfortable.
I’ve learned to adjust. I’ve learned to communicate. I’ve learned to give myself grace. I’ve learned that every problem doesn’t require panic — sometimes it just requires a new plan. Most importantly, I’ve learned to trust God more throughout the process. There have been times when I couldn’t see how everything was going to come together, but somehow the lesson, the provision, or the next step showed up when I needed it.
In a strange way, I think the difficult road has made the name Glow in Peace mean even more to me.
Peace isn’t having a life where nothing goes wrong. Peace is being able to find your center even when everything around you isn’t going according to plan. That’s something I’m still learning personally, and it’s something I hope my brand reminds other people to do too.
So no, it hasn’t been a smooth road. Not even close. But I wouldn’t erase the hard parts because they helped build my resilience, strengthened my faith, humbled me, made me a better business owner, and reminded me why I started in the first place.
I’m proud of the business I’ve built, but I’m even more proud of the woman I’ve had to become while building it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Glow in Peace Skincare is a handmade skincare and body care brand, but I always say that what I create goes far beyond what’s inside the jar. I specialize in creating products that combine intentional skincare with creativity, nostalgia, fragrance, self-care, and an experience that simply makes people feel good.
Everything I create is handmade from scratch. I don’t purchase premade lotion or body butter bases and simply add fragrance to them. I formulate my products myself, and I’m very intentional about the ingredients I choose and why they’re there. Because this journey originally began with my children’s eczema, caring about what goes onto the skin has always been at the foundation of Glow in Peace.
My product line has grown tremendously over the years. I create everything from body creams, whipped Glow Frostings and emulsified Glow Soufflés to body oils, scrubs, whipped soaps, perfumes, body and hair mists, dusting powders, laundry products, men’s grooming and body care, and products for children. But no matter what I’m creating, I want it to feel special. I don’t believe in creating something just so I can put another product on my website and attach a price tag to it.
I think one of the things Glow in Peace has become known for is turning body care into an experience.
I am extremely creative when it comes to fragrance and storytelling. I can smell something and immediately see an entire world around it. A fragrance might remind me of sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen, something from the ’80s or ’90s, a dessert, a song, a family memory, or something completely ridiculous that made me laugh. From there, I might create the scent, name it, design the artwork, build a collection around it, and give the entire thing its own personality.
My customers never quite know what I’m going to come up with next, and I love that.
But behind the fun names, dessert-inspired scents, nostalgic collections and colorful branding is someone who takes the actual formulation very seriously. I want the experience to be fun, but I want the product to be GOOD. I research my ingredients. I test my formulations. I reformulate when I believe something can be better. I’m constantly learning. Even when customers already love something, I’ll still be behind the scenes asking myself, “Okay Crystal, but how can we make this even better?”
That combination is probably what sets Glow in Peace apart the most. I don’t believe I have to choose between effective body care and an imaginative brand experience. I can give you both.
I’m also very hands-on with my customers and community. They aren’t just numbers on an order sheet to me. We laugh together. We have polls. They help me choose things. They watch products being created. They see the behind-the-scenes moments when everything goes perfectly and sometimes when it absolutely does not. I communicate with them, listen to their feedback, celebrate with them, and allow them to be part of the journey.
I’ve always wanted Glow in Peace to feel like a community before it feels like a transaction.
And underneath everything is the purpose we talked about earlier: joy, love, and peace. I can create the most beautiful product in the world, but if I lose the heart behind why I’m doing this, then I’ve lost what makes Glow in Peace Glow in Peace. I want someone to open their package and smile before they even use what’s inside. I want them to laugh at a product name. I want a scent to take them back to a beautiful memory. I want someone who has spent their entire day taking care of everybody else to finally take five minutes and care for themselves.
What I’m most proud of isn’t one product, one launch, or even a sales number. I’m most proud that I built something that has an identity and a heart.
I’m proud that people can see something I’ve created without my name attached to it and sometimes say, “That looks like Crystal,” or “That’s definitely Glow in Peace.” To me, that means I didn’t just build a business. I built a brand.
I’m proud that my children get to watch me create it. I’m proud that something that started because I wanted to help my babies has grown into something other families enjoy. I’m proud of the community that has formed around it. And I’m proud that through all of the growth, I’ve stayed hands-on and continued pushing myself to learn instead of becoming comfortable with “good enough.”
There will always be other skincare companies, other body butters, other perfumes, and even other brands creating dessert-inspired products. I’m not interested in competing to be somebody else’s version of great.
I believe what makes Glow in Peace special is the part that can’t be duplicated: the heart, the story, the creativity, the community, and the purpose behind it.
I truly believe we all have something that God placed inside of us that we’re supposed to give to the world. Glow in Peace is one of the things He placed inside of me. Someone can recreate a scent profile. Someone can make a similar product. Someone can even be inspired by an idea. But they can’t duplicate the experiences, memories, love, personality, and purpose that caused me to create it.
That’s my blueprint, and I’m proud to walk in it.
At the end of the day, yes, I make skincare. But what I really hope I’m creating is an experience that reminds people to slow down, take care of themselves, laugh a little, love a little harder, and find a little peace along the way.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I’m a born-and-raised Washington, DC girl, so one of the things I’ve always loved most about Maryland is that I never really had to leave home behind. Being so close to DC means a lot to me because that’s where my roots are, where so many of my memories were made, and a huge part of what shaped who I am today.
Maryland gave me the opportunity to have a little more space and a different pace while still being close enough to DC that home is never far away. I can cross over into the city, be around the places and people that are familiar to me, and still come back to Maryland. I really feel like I get a little bit of both worlds.
I also love the diversity of this area. You can meet people from so many different cultures and backgrounds, and there’s always something new to experience. For someone creative like me, I think being surrounded by so many different people, stories, foods, styles, and experiences naturally gives you inspiration.
As far as what I like least? Do I have to say the traffic? Because Maryland and DC-area traffic will definitely make you put that “Glow in Peace” philosophy to the TEST!
On a more serious note, I think the thing that can sometimes be bittersweet is watching how much the entire area has changed over the years. When you’re born and raised here, you remember certain places, neighborhoods, businesses, and little pieces of the culture that aren’t necessarily there anymore. Growth is good and change is inevitable, but there are definitely moments when I miss some of the familiarity of the area I grew up knowing.
Overall, though, Maryland still feels connected to home for me. DC made me, and Maryland gave me room to continue growing without having to go too far from my roots. I think that’s what I appreciate most.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.glowinpeaceskincare.com
- Instagram: Glowinpeace_Skincare
- Facebook: Glow in Peace Skin Care
