This Beauty Biz is Run Out of a Beverly Home

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When we hear about a local product called Lifestinks, we want to know the backstory. So we were riveted by DNA Info's profile of a local business that goes by that very name, and is run out of a Beverly home by sisters.

Since 2007, sisters Mary, Clare, and Annie Duggan have been making natural, organic deodorant out of their shared basement. "Nobody does what we are doing," Mary told DNA Info (you think?)

But don't underestimate this basement business: Lifestinks has some legs. The product is sold in 60 stores nationwide, including some of our favorite shops like Merz Apothecary. And last year, the product was in the gift bag for all participants in the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament.

The powder deodorant was originally created as an antidote to two unhappy circumstances: In 2000, Annie Dugan discovered a gluten allergy that was making her ill. That same year, Mary experienced a traumatic brain injury.

Ready for some better health, Annie headed off to the Optimum Health Institute in Austin, Texas, and came back eager to share tips on the vegan lifestyle that had her feeling better than ever. For her part, Mary worked with a naturopath to develop a deep-tissue massage that unclogs lymph nodes.

For a while, the sisters used their healing knowledge to run a holistic spa, Rose's Cottage, out of their parlor. To promote the spa at a local fair, they sold some of the deodorant they had been making, and it sold out within hours. After that, the Lifestinks line became their focus.

The product is intended as an antidote to other deodorants that can be damaging to lymph nodes (which are clustered under the arms.) It includes baking soda, lavender or tea-tree oil, and comes in a reusable steel decanter. The sisters also have a natural bug repellant called Lifestings.

The products caught the eye of—wait for it—Oprah, who put them on her shortlist of favorite things before her show wrapped. The sisters also almost appeared on "Shark Tank." But if and when they hit it big(ger), they're committed to staying local: "I wouldn't want to leave the South Side of Chicago," Mary told DNA Info.
· 'Lifestinks' Sisters Sell Natural, Organic Deodorant Out of a Beverly Home [DNA Info]
· The Duggan Sisters: Lifestinks [Official Site]