Hidden Gems: Meet Luci Suiter & Lexi Carlson of by lex & lu

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Luci Suiter & Lexi Carlson.

Hi Luci & Lexi, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We’re Luci and Lexi, co-owners of tinted. airbrush tanning and linked. permanent jewelry, by lex & lu. We opened by lex & lu to help others feel beautiful, and allow them to express themselves. We value the importance of self-care and want to share that with the world.

Being both new to our areas, we met on an app called Bumble BFF in October of 2021. Whilst getting to know each other, we established very early on that we would both like to be business owners. We had prior experience with spray tanning and thought it would be so cool to help others feel beautiful, while also educating people on the damages of UV tanning.

Our mission is to not only prove to people that spray tans don’t have to be orange, splotchy, or scary, but to teach people that protecting your skin doesn’t have to be by not tanning at all. Exactly one year after we met, we launched Tinted. by lex & lu. We started out in a garage and quickly grew. By the month of February, we were able to obtain a storefront and have been there ever since.

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?
Opening your own business is never easy. We quickly learned there is no ‘step by step’ guide on how to open your own business at 22. It was honestly really enjoyable for us to figure out everything and learn how to do it on our own. From opening an LLC through the SOS to building a website from scratch, we truly did it all. It was a very humbling, yet empowering feeling to have accomplished this on our own.

Although it was really stressful going through it, we’ve had the pleasure of helping a few other young businesswomen learn these steps. In the beginning, we had a hard time deciding on what we wanted our brand to embody. We initially thought it’d be fitting to match the brand to the service.

Typically, tanning salons tend to have darker atmospheres, and brown/dark color palettes to fit with the concept of spray tanning. As we built the business up, we began to get a better idea of what our goals were for the feel of the brand. We wanted to be different and fit our personal style rather than just fitting the norm. With a lot of brainstorming, yes’s and no’s, and a whole lot of editing, we ultimately built our brand into a bubbly, feel-good brand through font, style, and colors.

In just five days, we transformed our entire studio into a bright, positive atmosphere for our clients. We knew this was exactly what we had hoped for when our clients started grinning from ear to ear when they walked through our doors. Our hardest struggle was learning how to represent the meaning of our brand, but now that we have, we must strive to learn more every day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
​Tinted. by lex & lu is our spray tanning business located in Erie, Colorado. we strive to give our clients a tan that accentuates their natural beauty. Spray tanning, if done correctly, is not known to have any harmful effects on your skin like UV tanning does. We wanted to break the trend of UV tanning, given its long-term consequences.

Being tan is a huge confidence booster for us, and we wanted to share that feeling with others, the healthy way! We also offer mobile tans in and around Denver. We offer 4 different types of spray tans in light, medium, or dark:

-The tinted.: standard custom airbrush tan.
-The shimmer.: this includes, shimmer drops and shimmer drying powder.
-The delicacy.: this includes, skin tightening drops and anti-aging drops.
-The wellness.: this includes, skin tightening drops, anti-aging drops, and CBD drops.

Each add-on can be individually added on as well. In the studio, we sell mineral sunscreen, tinted mineral face sunscreen, and hemp nation tan extender lotion. We always recommend our clients read the ‘what to expect’ and ‘aftercare’ pages on our website, before their tan. www.bylexandlu.com/whattoexpect and www.bylexandlu.com/aftercare
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Linked. by lex & lu is our permanent jewelry business. We offer permanent jewelry at our studio in Erie and also service public and private events. Permanent jewelry is a great way to express yourself without having to take your jewelry off and on. We love our chains because they’re dainty, and can be meaningful for couples, siblings, friends, and family. You can customize your stack to express your style!

All of our jewelry is either 925 sterling silver, gold-filled, or rose gold-filled. Gold-filled and 925 sterling silver jewelry, if taken care of, should last a lifetime. Gold-plated and gold-filled jewelry are often confused, gold filled jewelry has 3x the amount of gold and therefore doesn’t tarnish, but at a less expensive rate than solid gold.

We offer online booking at www.bylexandlu.com. Just click “get tinted.” or “get linked.” on our home page. We also design our own merch, hoodies, and crewnecks. These can be customized and purchased at www.bylexandlu.com/shop

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
If you have a dream and want to open a business, it is achievable! Opening a business always felt like JUST a dream to us, until we took the leap and just did it. We are so grateful for our entire support system, our families, friends, and our clients. We hope that our story inspires others who dream of being business owners, to take that same leap that we did. It truly has been such an amazing experience and we feel so blessed every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bylexandlu.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bylexandlu
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bylexandlu

Image Credits
McKenzie Coyle Photography