Office Hours: How Neada Deters Brings Polished Simplicity to Her Work, Wellness, and Wardrobe

It’s been seven years since Neada Deters launched her skin-care brand Lesse, and in that time she has learned (or, rather it has become more clear) that you really do need to be resolute in your vision, but flexible in your approach. It’s a business philosophy she lives by: Being very clear in the space she wants to occupy and how she wants people to experience her products, while being open to how said vision comes to life, and maybe taking a slightly different path than anticipated. She appreciates that her journey is in constant evolution.

What also becomes increasingly clear—the more you speak with Deters—are the parallels between the founder and the brand. Her streamlined approach, focus on carefully-chosen ingredients, and thoughtful packaging mirrors how Deters shows up in the world. “Lesse is clinically-advanced active botanical skincare, centered on efficacy, simplicity, and integrity,” she tells me over Zoom from her home office in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. In looking for solutions to heal her own acne, hyperpigmentation, and sensitivity, which she struggled with for more than a decade, she finally decided to create her own line of sustainable and organic cosmetics—leaning upon “incredibly high-quality uncompromising formulas that are grounded in scientific basis and have clear evidence behind them.” The brand’s moniker, she explains, flows from her less-is-more philosophy, “evident in both my lifestyle and my approach to beauty.”

Photo: Courtesy of Fujio Emura

Polished simplicity is the through-line between her life and work, which serves to improve her focus and limit distractions. “I think a uniform in terms of the way that you’re approaching both your style and your beauty is something that really aids in removing the complexity of the everyday,” she continues. “It becomes such a luxury that, having a very clear ritual approach to skin, to makeup, to hair, and then a very uniform approach to style I think just helps to remove any of those distractions.”

And as a founder, CEO, and formulator for Lesse, distractions can be plenty. In working between her home office and WSA (the Water Street Associates building—a members’ club and creative workspace where many of the industry’s creatives gather), she often goes from nonstop meetings, to intense quiet focus time, reviewing packaging and samples, or attending events. Her schedule “is always in flux,” she admits.

Whether it’s her favorite matcha to ground her before a busy day, her three-step makeup routine, or a wardrobe that empowers her, Deters knows what she likes and chooses each item in her personal ecosystem with care. “I really understand, what I want that to feel like in my everyday, but I’m always open to trying new things,” she says. “I’m constantly questioning what’s missing, what could be better, within my ritual to get me to that place where I’m really feeling, you know, like my best self.”