Ferndale spa owner turns therapy into her own beauty business

FERNDALE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Following a traumatic experience, one local woman turned her therapy into a thriving business in Ferndale in her very own beauty lab.

Deirdra Dennis calls her studio nablabz -- nab stands for nails, art, beauty. It's where she creates color not just for nails but for lips. She's shelves full of pigments, so many colors and combinations.

"I love, like love, love, love (how) if any of my girlfriends call, they'll be like, Deirdra what are you doing, you in the lab? I'm like, yeah I'm in the lab," she said.

Each creation is one of a kind.

"Some people ask, well who's your chemist? I'm kind of like my own chemist myself," she said.

But this chemistry experiment -- creating her own cosmetics -- didn't come easily. It was born out of a traumatic experience for Dierdra while working at MAC cosmetics for 11 years and managing several stores. She was working at Eastland Mall back in 2010 when there were gunshots. She was right inside the mall, hearing the gunfire and trying to run for cover, as a man was shot multiple times and murdered right outside.

"It took me overboard. I said I can't do this, so I went ahead and I went on disability for a while because I just couldn't deal with the stress," she said.

And creating things was her therapy. She took some time off, went back to school, got her esthetician license and started mixing. She opened Spa Whisper and nablabz in Ferndale at 9 Mile and Woodward a few years ago. In the last three years, she says it has really taken off.

She's armed with dozens of cosmetic pigments combined with all-natural ingredients like passionfruit, pomegranate oil, shea butter, Vitamin E, castor oil, and peppermint.

"I like peppermint because it keeps the breath fresh," Deirdra said.

She says it plumps the lips, too.

One local woman turned therapy she used to overcome a traumatic experience into a full-blown business, creating beauty and art for Ferndale customers in a lab of her own.

"I like to create things that are different that you can't just go anywhere and get," she said.

Deirdra says you can come on your own or book a gloss girl party, bring some wine, some food and name your own lip color. There is no shortage of colors and no shortage of names. For example, Shawn called her lipgloss Prince because it's purple.

Click here to visit her Instagram and click here to visit her Facebook page.