about Kim
Kimberly Christen, of Jacksonville’s Luxe Lounge fame, brings 25+ years of beauty knowledge and retail experience to her latest offering. Ten Over Ten by Kim is Jacksonville’s best nail salon, located in Studio 6 of The Lofts San Marco, along with Antoinette, hair stylist.
Kim spent most of her professional career in Washington DC. During a brief one-year ‘retirement,’ she joined her family in Jacksonville, but was compelled to continue with her passion for business and beauty.
1982
Kimberly Christen, having already successfully opened Washington DC’s first video rental store, Washington Video, in 1982, continued opening several more locations. But eventually, she wanted to pursue her real passion — to provide cosmetically starved women and men with hand-picked products not yet available anywhere else.
1986
Frustrated with the DC cosmetic market, tired of endless buying trips elsewhere, and believing others were also in want of a different approach, Kim decided to keep the pace with fashion centers such as Los Angelos, New York and Paris, and create what no one else had in Washington DC — provide customers with exclusive products for hair, skin and body, all available in one location. Combining common sense, natural savvy and a notable tenacity, she took on a 600 sq. ft. space near Dupont Circle and turned it into one of Washington DC’s best kept beauty secrets — EFX.
1995
As sales continued to climb, she sought an opportunity to expand her vision with the 1995 opening of a second location in Georgetown, along with a skin spa tucked in the back. Both stores developed a cult following with a ‘who’s who’ list of celebrity shoppers. EFX also rocketed to international recognition, with featured articles in Vogue, Bazaar, WWD and In Style publications.
2001
After having already retired from Washington Video, Kimberly sold EFX to Blue Mercury in 1999. After a brief one-year retirement, Kim continued her cosmetic crusade on Florida’s First Coast with the advent of her first local beauty shop, Luxe Lounge, opened in 2001.
Luxe Lounge went to great lengths to create an atmosphere buzzing with energy, with the right balance between professional and casual (after all, it the serious business of beauty should still be fun). To that mixture, Kim threw in a heaping dose of what’s hot along with an embrace of everything timeless and truly classic. A sumptuous array of hair care, skin care, makeup and fragrance, in a hip but never-trendy cosmetic emporium, clients were loaded up with samples and loaded down with instructions and tips for maximum results, a valuable source of information for all that was always attitude-free.