True Colors

The genesis of DEMIblue Natural Nails was deeply personal — an encounter between Michelle Robinson and her mother, Juliet Robinson, on the stairs of their home. Robinson knew her mother to be “a flamboyant woman who loves her nails and her hair,” but one day she noticed Juliet had stopped wearing her signature bright nail polish. 

When asked about the change, Juliet explained that the chemicals in her polish burned her fingers, which had grown increasingly sensitive in the aftermath of her battle with breast cancer. “It was a lightbulb moment for me,” Robinson recalls. 

This mother-daughter “aha moment” sent her down a rabbit hole of research. She recalls discovering that many standard nail-polish ingredients are known carcinogens, interfere with hormones, or are otherwise damaging to health. She began asking women in her social and professional circles about their nail-care preferences, realizing that awareness of these ingredients was largely unknown. What’s more, the existing natural alternatives didn’t offer a color palate that spoke to her mother’s bubbly personality.

“This wasn’t just about nail polish — it was about identity, confidence, and reclaiming joy after cancer,” she says. “That’s when I knew I had to create a healthier alternative. I felt that God told me to figure it out and formulate my own.”

Joining Hands

Robinson had blazed a trail before. The search for community and a meaningful career drew her to health care as a young mom, starting out as a medical assistant and then managing multiple clinics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Later, it drove her decision to enter the field of education, working alongside a community of women as executive director of academic administration at Vatterott College.

And now, with greater experience in work and life and mindful of leaving a family legacy, divine intervention followed her entrepreneurial leanings at a vendor pop-up event on Cherokee Street. There, she met a woman named Bethany Steevens, owner of a store called Purity Apothecary, and was impressed by her commitment to natural ingredients and processes. 

“The young lady was a chemist; she created her own tinctures — body oils, good-smelling stuff,” Robinson says. “I asked her, have you ever considered doing cosmetics?”

The rest is history. Together, the pair partnered with a U.S.-based cosmetic chemist to create a collection of 10 polishes free of seven well-known chemicals and ingredients, effectively launching DEMIblue. While the nail-care company was inspired by Robinson’s mother, it is named in honor of her granddaughter, Demi. 

The initial polish line highlighted the company’s distinct colors, introducing its signature cerulean blue and two shades inspired by Robinson’s mom, now 14-years cancer free: “Sunny Juliet,” a bright and sparkly yellow, and “Explosion,” a bold orange.

Nailing It: A Team Effort 

As DEMIblue has grown, a group of women continues to drive the brand’s direction. Every year, Robinson gathers 40 to 50 women in a room to select a new collection from 30 to 40 samples. After they choose the colors, they compete to name them. 

“Nail polish is a tool I use to create community,” says Robinson, a native and lifelong resident of St. Louis. “My goal is to marry health care and self-care through our products. I want to give women a space where they can feel confident and love on themselves through healthy, natural nail care.” 

Today, the business boasts a fully vegan, 21-free formulation and has expanded to other products, including press-on nails, nail kits, and natural nail polish for kids. Six years after its founding, the company’s offerings are sold at approximately 140 retail stores across the U.S., including Walmart Marketplace and Fresh Thyme Market alongside local destinations such as African Naturals.

Community engagement — paired with Robinson’s leadership — forms an ongoing throughline in the story of DEMIblue’s growth and success. Game-changing opportunities presented themselves at the outset, beginning when Robinson earned a $1,000 grant in 2019 from the BALSA Foundation — a volunteer-led organization dedicated to entrepreneurial innovation in St. Louis. founded in 2014 as the philanthropic arm of the BALSA Group. 

For Robinson, it helped her develop a fundamental understanding of retail — including manufacturing, inventory management, and the financial requirements of a small business — while also building lasting mentoring relationships.

Bolstered by this investment, DEMIblue quickly became competitive for larger grants with which to scale the enterprise. In 2020, Robinson joined the inaugural cohort of the Anchor Accelerator at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, receiving $50,000 in cash to invest in staff, marketing, and further retail expansion. There, her self-education continued through a structured training program in entrepreneurship, business-plan feedback from industry experts, and additional mentors.

Four years later, she landed a $75,000 Arch Grant, joining a program that has supported nearly 300 bold and innovative St. Louis-based startups since 2012 with generous venture capital and a robust network of expertise.

Robinson keenly appreciates the impact of this support. “Working on the business and not just in the business has been crucial,” she says. “These programs have given me the confidence, strategy, and business acumen to grow DEMIblue from a passion project into a nationally recognized brand.”

Painting A Bright Future

Today, Robinson employs roughly eight part-time employees and contractors and occupies a new brick-and-mortar space in The Grove business district as part of her latest recognition and growth opportunity: being selected as one of three businesses for the inaugural Eric Outlaw Business Center Retail Incubator. The 14-month program is designed to support minority women entrepreneurs in St. Louis with further education, training, and coaching, as well as a temporary retail space. 

Meanwhile, she pays forward her own success by mentoring other small businesses herself through a Facebook group she started in 2023 called STL Business Besties. With over 4,000 members, the group hosts monthly meetups in the form of workshops, networking opportunities, and pop-up events, allowing Robinson to teach others the ins and outs of effective business pitches alongside training sessions in retail readiness, operational savvy, and other topics. 

As Robinson thinks about the future of DEMIblue, she returns to her original goal in launching the business, which was to address a clear, and as yet, unmet need: giving women — and especially those battling or surviving breast cancer — a safe, natural, and boldly bright nail-care option. 

“I’ve spent the last six years educating women and getting the word out about the product,” she says. “The next stage is our nonprofit, DEMIblue Cares. Our mission is to fight cancer one manicure at a time.”

The growing nonprofit entity will expand a variety of self-care initiatives across St. Louis. These include beauty education workshops; self-care programs for girls that promote confidence, creativity, and body positivity through press-on nail-art design; and pop-up community wellness events. Meanwhile, DEMIblue Cares will continue to sponsor an annual October Survivor Giveback Campaign that directs a portion of business proceeds to breast cancer survivors and will share inspiring survivor stories on its “Painted in Strength” platform. 

For Robinson, St. Louis is where it all happens. In addition to her commitment to retail expansion, she remains locally focused, and proudly so. “This city shaped me as a woman, a mother, and an entrepreneur,” she says. “It’s where my roots are, where my family is, and where DEMIblue was born. I’m deeply committed to building a legacy brand right here in my community.”