Bre Morris’ passion for skin care started in high school when she struggled with acne. She always went to dermatologists who prescribed different skincare products, which would leave her skin too dry. She would use makeup to hide the acne, but it only left her skin looking cakey.
Near her mother’s workplace, a natural cosmetics store, Skin Chio, introduced Morris to natural skincare products. Skeptical at first, she tried them—and within two weeks, her skin transformed.
“I was so beyond happy about it,” Morris said. “I finally felt confident going to school and facing the day.”
Morris’ early struggles with acne fueled a lifelong passion for skincare, eventually leading her to create Alchemy, a facial bar dedicated to natural cosmetic treatments. What started as a high school fascination with organic skincare evolved into a business built on holistic beauty, community and unwavering commitment to natural products. Morris turned Alchemy into a brand that not only helps clients achieve healthier skin but also creates a welcoming space where they feel valued.
Inspired by her own transformation, Morris became obsessed with natural skincare and makeup. Recognizing her passion, the owner of Skin Chio hired her, and she quickly built a following—convincing classmates to let her do their makeup and selling them the same products.
After high school, Morris considered attending esthetician school in Los Angeles, but the owners of Skin Chio persuaded her to help open a second location in Colorado. Without hesitation, she packed a U-Haul and moved to the Highlands, where she managed the store’s expansion.
While there, she met her best friend Sally Mina, who had previously worked as a makeup artist on a film in Dublin. Morris hired Mina and together they worked at Skin Chio in Colorado.
After a year, Skin Chio closed, allowing both girls to move to Hollywood to attend a makeup artistry school that specializes in film and fashion cosmetics.
While in school, Morris and Mina continued to use natural cosmetic products. After graduation, they moved back to Colorado and started their own makeup brand, Alchemy.
To fund Alchemy, Mina and Morris juggled side jobs. Morris worked at Snooze, a chain breakfast joint, while Mina nannied.
“We always told each other, until this isn’t fun anymore, let’s keep doing it,” Morris said.
When Colorado law required a licensed esthetician to charge for makeup services, Morris saw it as her chance to pursue her dream.
“I fell in love with learning about the skin and understanding what products were best,” she said.
For the next eight months, Mina continued nannying while Morris attended esthetician school, ran Alchemy and worked shifts at Snooze to build clientele.
After receiving her degree as an esthetician, Morris worked at a small spa in Boulder to gain hands-on experience. Soon, she and Mina rented a bedroom in a Victorian home downtown, ready to take the next step with their business.
The two put two spa beds in the middle of the room and invited clients they had gained over the years from doing makeup to try their new concept. Their clients were excited about this new venture, and quickly word spread about the new facial bar.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and after a few months, they were able to rent more rooms in the home. However, the partnership between Morris and Mina came to an end. Mina, although an avid makeup lover, didn’t have the same passion for skincare as Morris did. Mina’s passions lied in art and her family. Morris bought Mina out of her portion of the company and continued to grow Alchemy’s name in the skincare world.
Morris kept to her roots of using organic cosmetics. In recent years, Alchemy has added medical services such as micro needling, neurotoxins and Botox to its organic facial services.
The community that Alchemy built over the years continued to grow, and people would drive from across Colorado just to come to Alchemy’s Boulder location. In 2017 Alchemy opened its Highlands location in Denver and in August 2020, Alchemy’s third location opened its doors in Hale Denver. In 2021, Morris received a random cold call from a broker in Dallas, asking if she would expand to Dallas. With one phone call, the Dallas broker convinced Morris on a Dallas expansion for Alchemy.
“I fell in love with the Lower Greenville neighborhood because it reminds me so much of our Highlands’ location. It’s just quirky, has great restaurants, and just a fun atmosphere to be in,” Morris said. “We found the little pink house on Bell Avenue right by La La Land and the amazing witchcraft store, and we felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to start the brand in a state like Texas.”
The little pink house sits alone at the corner of Bell Avenue in Lower Greenville, where houses have been transformed into storefront shops. The light pink color of the house shines bright against the other houses with their dark and dreary colors. With bright accents of white trim and gold railings, Alchemy’s Dallas location beckons to passersby. The house looks like a one-story version of the house from the Disney movie Up. The front door has a large window within, large windows on the outside, and a front porch that feels homey.
A faint, cold, refreshing wind rushes across the driveway leading to the entrance. The words “Alchemy” are displayed across the front in large gold letters. On the windows are written the words, facials, skincare, makeup, and lashes.
Just inside Alchemy’s glass door, Myleigh Kukauy mans the front desk. The second the front door opens, strong scents of vanilla, violet and herbal aromas hit the nose.
The lobby is minimalistic with subtle pink accents. On each wall, shelves are filled with different skincare products, makeup brands and at-home facial kits.
Kukauy’s warm smile makes her approachable, a skill that she uses every day as the first impression of Alchemy. Kukauy has worked at Alchemy for eight months, helping Morris, her aunt, grow the business in Dallas.
“She has a passion for making people feel good about themselves, and that’s what Alchemy does,” Kukauy said.
On the other side of the front desk, two doors lead to the open facial room concept. Four facial beds sit in the middle of the room as one of Alchemy’s alchemists, the name used for Alchemy’s estheticians, starts one of the provided services.
“The services in an open room concept end up being a beautiful thing for people to experience together,” Morris said.
The Alchemy experience is something like no other. When customers walk in, they immediately feel welcomed, relaxed and fully attended to.
With each treatment, customers get a skin consultation with an alchemist before each service to better understand the customer’s skin. Once the service begins, the alchemist focuses on the treatment, not wasting time to clean as they go.
“We really want to focus on nurturing both your skin and spirit as part of that alchemy energy, elevating how you feel into something better,” Morris said.
Building that connection with customers and letting them know they are a part of the Alchemy family is important to the brand mission that Alchemy aspires to.
“When customers go in, it’s like we’re taking them in and creating a community that is like a family. We really want them to feel like they’re part of the Alchemy family,” Morris said.
Betsy Whitcomb is the general manager of Alchemy’s Lower Greenville location. Similarly to Morris, Whitcomb wants customers to feel like they have become part of the Alchemy family by the end of their facial service.
“I hope they feel relaxed,” Whitcomb said. “I hope they feel welcomed, like they were treated like they’re part of the Alchemy family. I hope they want to come back.”
Just as Morris wants everyone who walks into Alchemy to be a part of the Alchemy family, she wouldn’t be where she is without the support of her family. Morris’ sister has been a big help to her, helping her run day-to-day operations and even introducing Morris to Whitcomb when Alchemy expanded to Dallas.
Alchemy’s journey is far from done. Morris hopes to open a location in Austin with the same values of quality of service and family values as she has instilled into all her Alchemy locations.
As she continues to grow Alchemy, Morris says she will continue to grow her passion until she no longer loves it.
“Until it’s not feeling like I want to wake up every day and put my energy into it, I’ll consider not doing it any longer. But I still love it like it was the first day I started,” Morris said.
