Six Years, A Lot of Skincare & One Very Special Festival
There’s something really special about coming back to a place that has been part of Shia Skin Care’s story for so long.
This year marks six years of bringing Shia to the festival, and looking back at the photos, I can see so much more than changing displays and new products.
I can see a business growing up.
I’ve learned how to turn a patch of grass into a store, how much product is actually enough product, what survives a Midwestern summer, what customers gravitate toward when they’re standing right in front of you and, occasionally, what to do when Mother Nature has completely different plans for your weekend.
So before we head back this year, I thought it would be fun . . to take a little walk through how we got here.
2021 — Beautiful Chaos
I was terrified.
This was one of my first really big post-COVID events, and I had absolutely no idea how much product I needed to make for something this size. I didn’t know if I had enough. I didn’t really know what a booth for Shia was supposed to look like yet.
There were borrowed tables. A borrowed tent. Family members helping. Shirts I’d had made. Products everywhere.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I was also trying to build my brand.
It was chaos.
Beautiful chaos.
We threw it together, showed up and figured It out as we went. And looking back now, I love those pictures because I can see the beginning of something before I knew what it was going to become
2022 — Okay, Now I Have a Plan
Or at least I thought I did.
By year two, I had a vision. We made the setup bigger. We created more space. I understood the festival better and had learned quite a bit from the year before.
But Shia was still young, and so was my idea of what an in-person Shia experience could be.
I was starting to realize that showing up at a festival wasn’t simply about putting products on a table.
There was something much bigger I could create.
2023 — What If We Built a Store in a Park?
This was the year my thinking really shifted.
Instead of asking, How should I set up my booth? I started asking:
How do I create a Shia Skin Care store in the middle of a park?
In the Midwest.
In August.
In the heat.
That change in perspective affected everything—the merchandising, the displays, how people moved through the space, what they could touch and experience, and how I wanted Shia to feel when someone walked into it.
The booth stopped being somewhere we simply sold products.
It started becoming a little Shia world.
2024 — Shia Starts Growing Up
By 2024, things were changing again.
For the first time, I had staff working the festival who weren’t related to me. The branding had evolved. There were new products. The booth was becoming more intentional.
And something else had started happening.
The festival itself was influencing Shia.
Some of the products and ideas you’ll see at the booth today were born from things I noticed, conversations I had with customers, or ideas that hit me literally in the middle of the festival during those earlier years.
That’s one of the things I’ve come to love about doing events in person. You get to watch people experience the brand. Sometimes they show you what Shia should do next before you even realize it yourself.
2025 — We Had a Plan. The Weather Had Another One.
By this point, I really thought I had this thing dialed in.
The booth.
The look.
The merchandising.
The products.
The plan.
And then there was the weather.
Over these last festival weekends, we’ve had extreme heat, early closures, weather notices, a city boil notice and a torrential Midwestern downpour.
At one point, the temperature climbed into the triple digits and the festival shut down early.
Another year, Saturday brought a downpour right in the middle of the day.
You can plan your inventory. You can plan your displays. You can plan your staffing.
Apparently, you cannot negotiate with Missouri in August.
Message received.
And yet, we came back.
2026 — Welcome to the Shia Garden Party
Which brings us to this year.
Do I know what the weather is going to do?
Absolutely not.
But I know what we’re going to do.
We’re going to have a good time.
This year, I’m taking that idea that started a few years ago building a little Shia store in the middle of the festival and pushing it even further.
Think:
Garden party meets skincare shop.
A place to wander into. A place to touch things. Smell things. Try something you’ve never used before. Discover your new favorite. Ask questions. Play. Shop. And maybe stay awhile.
You’ll find longtime Shia favorites alongside some of the products and ideas that have grown directly out of these six years of meeting you in person.
What We’re Bringing
The Lazy Girl Skincare Kit
Our four-piece introduction to making skincare a whole lot easier.
The Reusable Clay Mask Bar
Shop individual minis, discover your favorite or take home the complete six-mask collection.
Luminous Silk Body Oil
Our luxe body oil in a gorgeous new festival-ready size.
Glow + Boost Serums
Including our new 10 mL size for an easier way to discover your favorite.
Face Balm + Lip Balm
And our botanical toner pads:
Hydrating Hibiscus
Luxurious Lavender
Calming Calendula
Plus samples, demonstrations, festival specials and a few surprises we’re saving for the weekend.
Find Shia at the Festival
Friday, August 21 – Sunday, August 23
The Festival of The Little Hills
St. Charles, Missouri
Friday: 4 PM–10 PM
Saturday: 9a-10p
Sunday: 9 AM–4 PM
How to find us:
We are located in the Frontier Park portion of the event across from the draw bridge close o the riverside of the park. If you’ve visited us before, we’re in the same location as the years before.
Save the map. Screenshot it. Send it to your festival buddy.
And then come find us.
Six Years Later…
The booth is prettier.
The displays are better.
I make a lot more product.
I no longer have to borrow the tent.
And I’ve learned enough to know that no matter how carefully I plan this weekend, something unexpected will probably happen.
That’s part of it.
But six years later, one thing hasn’t really changed:
Shia is still made by hand, in small batches, by me.
And there is still something incredibly special about packing it all up, bringing it back to this festival and getting to put it directly into your hands.
If you’ve been coming to see us for years, thank you for growing with me.
If this will be your first time, welcome.
Come find the little skincare store in the park.
We’ll see you there. 
Shia Skin Care
Plant-Based. Clean. Luxurious.