The Spark of Biodegradable Glitter with Taylor McPherson of The Sustainable Sparkle Bar
Julia Chebotar 00:04
Spice up your life with me: Health Chef Julia, as I set out on the journey of What Is Healthy. In each episode, we’ll explore the different meanings of healthy. For some healthy means indulging in something decadent and delicious. For others. It’s a mental health day and a good workout. There’s more to health than just food. It’s about living well enjoying your life and having fun having you heard redheads do it best. Come with me, and we’ll find out just what healthy is. Welcome to a new podcast episode of What Is Healthy? A podcast where we share every hack to get healthier, and a more sustainable lifestyle. I’m Chef Julia and today I’ll be talking to Taylor McPherson. It’s so great to have you on. Thank you so much for being on today’s podcast.
Taylor McPherson 00:46
Thanks for having me. I’m excited.
Julia Chebotar 00:47
We met at a Six Degrees event. Emily put us together. But I was just like, so intrigued with what you do for work and like your business. And I loved it that I really wanted to have you on.
Taylor McPherson 00:58
Yeah. And I was super intrigued by you as well. Like, being chopped. I’m like, I’m so impressed.
Julia Chebotar 01:04
And then we both at the same sparkling water.
Taylor McPherson 01:07
I know, right?
Julia Chebotar 01:08
Because it was like, wasn’t it? It was like a dry January are dry.
01:13
Yeah, well, I think right then we were in February. But we were talking about doing a dry month, which I stayed dry for like almost 90 days. Wow. Yeah. I’m only just easing back into drinking now. And I drink like every other week tops like
Julia Chebotar 01:26
I learn a new phrase this week. California sober.
Taylor McPherson 01:29
Yeah, that’s me all the time.
Julia Chebotar 01:33
Me too. But like I didn’t realize that it was a coin when
Taylor McPherson 01:37
I moved here and I was doing dry January. And I think I was calling it sober January because on the east coast. I was always pulling it over January. And people were like, but are you doing other thing? And I was like, yeah, and they’re like, No, no, it’s not. I can’t say so Virginia. Like Okay,
Julia Chebotar 01:56
do you mind telling the audience about yourself and about sparco bar and all of the things?
02:02
Yes. So my name is Taylor MacPherson. I am also known as the sparkle queen. I’m originally from New Jersey and I now live in West Hollywood, California. I have a biodegradable glitter business. So I do glitter body art at music festivals, events, launch parties. And then I also sell biodegradable glitter on my website which is sustainable sparkle bar.com. So I am a glitter artists. I create living art at events, which is great for like branding and putting your logo on people and turning it into like a wearable advertisement that’s also sparkly.
Julia Chebotar 02:40
How is it biodegradable? Like, what does it consist of that like it just like, basically falls apart in water or what?
02:47
So it is plant based? It’s made from the cellulose of eucalyptus trees. So it is made to disintegrate and water over time. That’s amazing.
Julia Chebotar 02:58
Did you have you noticed like a decline or an increase in business woman I’m sure in the beginning of the pandemic but like people are still wanting to do events and still wanting to have parties like on a smaller scale. But like have you been able to make this a full time career shift in glitter bar or sparkle bar?
03:18
Yes, I’ve been doing sparkle bar for about four years and in 2019 right before the pandemic I had my most successful year I booked a festival deal with Malibu rum or they bought me out for seven festivals and travel and you know, booked me and my team all across the country we went to music festivals like stagecoach, and tortosa down in Miami, Florida, or I’m sorry, Fort Lauderdale. And it was really really great. Throughout the pandemic I’ve been able to transition to more of an online focus and really beef up my social media and build up my online store so I have been able to sort of sustain the sustainable sparkle bar through
Julia Chebotar 03:56
sparkle bar like why glitter
03:59
I have always loved glitter I have always been the sparkle Queen like even before I turned it into a business I just used it like people be like oh wow you’re so glittery and I would just be like yeah, I love to be sparkly and now I can say I love to be sparkly and I can make you sparkly to
Julia Chebotar 04:15
be vaccinated to the pandemic to be over it I just want to go to hazard yes like covered in your glitter.
04:20
Yes, I got an X maybe. Once you once you have your vaccine you’re like okay, this is over this mask like I’m not wearing like no, like okay, I know.
Julia Chebotar 04:31
Why do you think people are so attracted to glitter? Because it sparkles right?
04:35
Like when you see it and it reflects light, it makes you smile and because glitter is associated with so many happy feelings and memories like from your childhood, whether it’s opening presents, whether it’s Christmas, you know, Christmas decorations are always glittery. You know birthday presents and things like that. It’s just always associated with like fun and good feelings confetti. And, you know, showing, like sparkly balloons that I have those like mylar balloons, like it’s always, you know, in connection with something that makes you happy. It’s so true.
Julia Chebotar 05:10
But then again, if you’re like, I love the idea of glitter, but I cannot fathom that it’s gonna be fucking all over.
05:17
That’s so funny. I’ve always said like, this is also before I started the sparkle bar, but I’m like, I’m the girl that did every craft project growing up and just never cleaned up the glitter. So like, that’s never been an issue for me. Because I would be like making the posters and then you shake the glitter out, and it’s everywhere. And I’d be like, okay, like, I guess I’m just gonna walk around and let it like tread all through the house. It’s fine. And that just be over there. Because I’m like, it’s not dirt.
Julia Chebotar 05:41
You know? Exactly. And it’s like, it’s like, you’re walking in like sunshine, right? It’s like Happy,
Taylor McPherson 05:47
Happy glitter everywhere you walk zactly. And then you look down you see a sparkly, like, former roommate of mine sent me a glitter bomb for my birthday once. And I opened it in a house and she was like, nice enough to let me just let the glitter like in that corner of the house the whole time. And like, never asked me to clean it up. And she was like, like, that was like my birthday present for the year.Â
Julia Chebotar 06:05
Like what made you want to find a sustainable and figure out this
06:10
being educated about microplastics. So I didn’t know like when I first started my business for the first six months, I was not biodegradable just because I was on aware that glitter was so bad for the environment. But then you know, when you start something like that, you start to get educated really quick. from all different sources, just from you know it coming up on social media, people were sending me articles about how bad glitter was for the environment. And I was like, Okay, well, there’s got to be some sort of alternative, right? Like, there’s no way I’m just going to not ever use glitter again, because it’s bad for the environment. So let me do some research and try to find out what the alternative is. And I discovered biodegradable glitter and you know, the few companies that are making it around the world. overseas, they’re pretty much all biodegradable, they don’t really use regular glitter anymore. So that’s where, you know, my manufaktur regular glitter is made of like plastic and aluminum. So it never breaks down to anything smaller, like, you know, bottles and things like that we can recycle because we can melt them down. But when it’s a tiny little, you know, yes, spec, you can’t do anything with it.
Julia Chebotar 07:08
So how long does it take for it to biodegrade in liquid.
07:12
So it says up to 28 days, I personally have been doing an experiment. And it’s been about four months. So it’s not that fast. You know, like when you when you the packaging, whatever it says about 20 days, I’m actually doing an experiment in freshwater in my apartment. And it’s been about four months. And I had it in a jar that had flowers in it. And so there was a couple of leaves like left in the bottom of the jar. And what the biodegradable glitter is doing is it’s attaching itself to the plants that are already in there. And it’s like slowly going away. It’s really interesting.
Julia Chebotar 07:46
Or like a need or a want to be more environmentally cautious and environmentally friendly. Like Is that why you were likeÂ
Taylor McPherson 07:54
To the point where I even like, I stopped eating meat once. I mean, I stopped eating meat for like health reasons. And then once I became educated about how bad factory farming is for the environment, I was like, Oh my god, I really don’t want to eat me anymore. And I was like, and I feel better. So like, absolutely, you know, we only have one planet. And as much as they say like in our lifetime, we might not actually see how bad it could get. I mean, the people who come behind us,
Julia Chebotar 08:17
right are gonna be our children. So you
08:21
can do small things like I stopped. I mean, I’d barely drive my car anymore. And that’s just, that’s not really for the environment, because I hate driving.
Julia Chebotar 08:29
I love living in New York, I can hop on a city bike and go anywhere. Well, perfect transition, though, because I was gonna ask you like, what is healthy for you? So I started this podcast because we are just constantly bombarded with so much content from all different aspects that like you really need to form your own opinions and what’s better for your body and what like healthy is for you because like, I don’t know, every time I go on Instagram, I feel like this is healthy. This is not bad. This is bad. Now this is healthy. And I think it’s all like bio individuality where like you have to listen to your body and know what works for you. So what is healthy for you?
09:05
Right now if I had to label it, I’m a I’m a non dairy pescatarian right? If we had to, like label how we’re eating, I did an experiment at the beginning of 2020 on top of my dry January because it was then the fourth year I was doing dry January and I was like okay, I need to challenge myself and do something else. I was like let me stop eating meat for 30 days. In that 30 days. I noticed that the first thing was like okay, I don’t miss eating meat. Like I didn’t know I wasn’t greeting.
Julia Chebotar 09:32
Well, they say it’s 28 days to build a habit and it’s 28 days changer.
09:38
Oh, wow. That’s interesting. Yeah, so I wasn’t missing it. And then another crazy thing I noticed is that my period was five days late. Five days late and I wasn’t active or anything like you know what I mean? And I was like, Okay, well there’s no other reason why my period really like what is going on. And then when it actually came I had no symptoms. I had no cramping. I had no Anything and it was just like, super light. And I was like, wow. And like that was the biggest difference for me when I was like, Okay, I stopped eating me like chicken and beef and stuff. I had already stopped eating beef probably three months prior, but I cut out like chicken or anything extra, and all and like I was somebody who always suffered really, really, really badly with all types of menstrual everything. And once that went away, I was like, Okay, this is definitely healthier for my specific body, because I’m noticing the difference. And no one else that I talked to had that reaction to not eating me. I was the only one. So I was like, wow, okay, I really had to take that into consideration. And it just made me Never Yeah, it made me never want to go back to it. And then like, I’ve been back and forth with dairy for the same reasons. You know, like I was I was really good about it. I had cut it out for the first three months of last year and then the pandemic happened and I was in New Jersey. So you eat pizza and cream cheese bagels, like, you know, you live in New York. So that’s what you eat. And so I did that. And then like my next cycle came and I was in such pain and I was like, Oh my god, it was definitely from all the dairy that I like went od on. But it’s so hard. That’s such a hard habit to kick. I’ve kicked it again right now.
Julia Chebotar 11:08
So I think dairy is supposedly supposed to trigger things in your brain to to make you like Craven. But it’s so true. Like I tried to cut out dairy myself and I’m just like, I’m very, very like health conscious and health focus. But if there is a night where I have over, drank or partaking in something else, my like, go to his most relatives, and it’s like the nastiest mozzarella sticks of all time. There’s so good.
11:36
They’re so good. My weakness is a charcuterie board. Like Don’t Don’t be don’t have me at a party with a really good charcuterie board. I will still pick up the prosciutto I haven’t eaten regular me but like I will still judo. Me too.
Julia Chebotar 11:50
It’s there. It looks good. You can’t help and it’s like, okay, it’s not like you did every day. It’s fine. But then the next two days you feel like crap. Okay, so I always ask this question. If it’s your last day on earth, and you can eat whatever you want. What would it be appetizer entree dessert. Whoo, that
12:09
is a good question. I can eat whatever I want. I want a big cheeseburger, and I might go back to beef realistically, like it’s my last day ever and I’m not gonna suffer the consequences. I’m like maybe I would want beef. I don’t know. I haven’t. So long, right? But I was like, I probably want to be gold cheeseburger with like bacon and beef and avocado. Lots of cheese. fries with cheese. There’s this place in Jersey called windmill. And they may be best cheese fries ever because they have like a cheese sauce. That doesn’t taste like fake cheese sauce. It actually tastes like real cheese.
Julia Chebotar 12:41
So it’s not like with
12:42
Yes, so it’s not like she’s with it’s like actual like it tastes like
Julia Chebotar 12:45
melted cheddar. It’s so good. East Coast thing to understand what she’s rising pizza fries are like no one on the West Coast has ever heard of that or eaten it like Gods restaurants or like anywhere and I’m like, Can I get pizza fries? And they’re like, what a pizza fries and
13:01
fries. Like you have all the stuff in your kitchen. You could make it
Julia Chebotar 13:04
but then just like looked at me like i’d 17 heads and I’m like, Oh, you didn’t grow up in the northeast. Okay.
13:09
That’s a diner staple. Oh my god talking about end of the night. What are you eating? That was always my go to is I want pizza fries at the diner.
Julia Chebotar 13:16
But also another thing that people don’t have on the west coast is like everything bagels.
13:21
Oh my god Really? Okay, so I just don’t buy bagels like i’ve i’ve just removed myself like I don’t even look for them anymore out here because like it’s just not worth it.
Julia Chebotar 13:30
I have them they definitely have them but I’ve noticed that like New York
13:33
where everything is every day, people all they know out here is like the Trader Joe’s I think they make like an everything bagel seasoning or something.
Julia Chebotar 13:40
Yes, yes, yes. Which is good,
13:42
like good on avocado toast. And then for dessert, it would definitely be like a piece of cheesecake and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. See, like all these things that have dairy in it. Like I love it so much. But it just like doesn’t make me feel good all the
Julia Chebotar 13:55
time. I also stopped red meat and chicken and I do fish but I don’t like putting labels on it. Like I don’t like telling people I’m pescetarian or I’m this or that because I have to try food every day at a client’s home. Like before I feed them feed it to them. So like I end up ingesting more things that I don’t want to because I have to try it. But it’s still in like such small doses that like I’m okay with it.
14:17
only reason I am is because other people want you to label it. Right. So it’s like you go out to dinner with people or like someone’s making you dinner and they’re like, well, I’m with you eat and they’re like, so are you a vegan? I’m like, well, not yet. And I’m like, but you know what I mean? It’s just like, they want to put you into a box. Exactly. Um, so I did see that you guys were on push. Yes. So the sparkle bar was featured on preusse late last summer so maybe at the end of August beginning of September. I was lucky enough to sparkle one of their employees or like somebody who works on their blog. Her name is Michelle and I sparkled her at employees only which Oh, do you know employees only in New York City?Â
Julia Chebotar 14:55
Hey, Anna Laurie said
14:56
yes. So they have an LA location as well and they were one of the first restaurants to be able to integrate an outdoor Oasis type space with a pandemic. And they called it the summer social club. And so when they opened, they had me they’re doing sparkle bar for the opening. And it was really nice.
Julia Chebotar 15:12
What actually happens when someone like goes to sparkle? Like what what does it consist of? Like, where’s all the glitter? Where do you put it?
15:18
Yes. So, because of the pandemic, another pit, like pivot that I did is instead of focusing on people’s faces, like I normally did, I started focusing on their body, it’s just a little bit less, you know, like, contact next to their mouth and everything. So for her, I was doing tattoos, I got really cool. Like, I got the LA logo like the LA Dodgers logo, turned into a bodyguard. sensel I had one that looks like the Hollywood sign turned into a body or utensil, I got employees, he employees only eo logo and turn that into a stencil. And I think I had lips too. So I put like an LA tattoo and like a lips that looked like a kiss on her on as body art. And she really loved it and just like love the experience, and they were doing features on a black owned businesses. So they feature me which is great.
Julia Chebotar 16:04
That’s amazing. Congratulations.
16:06
Thank you. And that same day that like a story went live like Kim, Courtney and Chloe were all in a photo shoot. I was like, I wonder they’re like, are you like me article would be so cool.
Julia Chebotar 16:17
I feel like they’re like that love hate relationship. Like, I love them. But I love to hate like, I love to hate them. And I love to watch them and I just love them and like, I feel like, like they’ve been with us now for like 20 years. I like I don’t know what else to do or not.
Taylor McPherson 16:32
But like at least, like at least 15 like a while a while. Yeah,
Julia Chebotar 16:36
I think like I was in high school when the first season came out.
16:39
I mean, I’m committed to loving them. I never really had a part where I was like, yeah, you know, sometimes they do things that are crazy, but like that’s why you love them. Yes. And it’s like you can’t beat them join them like they are setting the fashion trends or setting the makeup and beauty trends or setting the hair trends for like entire country slash the world, right? Like everybody wants what they’re doing.
Julia Chebotar 16:59
Absolutely. Even like cuisine and diet like Courtney and unposed and Travis Barker being vegan and then like Kylie went vegan for a little bit came went vegan for a little bit like I think they definitely influenced people in all sorts of things.
17:13
You’re so right especially in Chloe has her like her dose like collagen line. That’s how she is and all those powdered collagen so they’re really bordered into Yeah, they’re
Julia Chebotar 17:23
they’re everywhere. And I love it and I love that they are trying to like push a more sustainable approach and push a more like holistic view sometimes they’re not like terrible.
Taylor McPherson 17:35
Yeah, and they’re you know, they’re giving back and they’re doing what they have to do and like Kylie Cosmetics, like she’s not fully clean beauty because I’m sure if they were like that clean of a brand that would be shouting it from the rooftops, but she’s not, you know, fast, fast fashion and comparison, you know, like trying to kill the planet and whatnot. So,
Julia Chebotar 17:52
exactly. So besides being on polish, would you say that was like the biggest accomplishment so far for sparkle bars?
17:58
There have been like one of vanderpump rules a couple of times. Oh my God tell me that was a pretty great accomplishment. And that is something that I really worked at, you know, like being on push kind of happened serendipitously. Like I was just at the right place in the right time to meet the woman who worked at Booz but getting on Bravo TV. Like I pitched the owners of serve restaurant. I sent them information about me. I talked to them for three months, got them to hire me to do pride. They hired me I came in, they had me there to shoot and film and like I got Mike that I got to meet all the girls and got posted on their social media. And that was like literally like me pounding the pavement working. We’re getting it. Yeah, so like, that was like a lot more rewarding.
Julia Chebotar 18:41
That’s so inspirational. I love that you did that. I love that you actually like contacted them directly and like
18:47
put in the work and was not taking no for an answer. Like I said, I literally talked to them for three months. And it was so funny because this was right before I moved to LA and the same pitch that I sent them I sent to some bars in Jersey on the beach, and they basically ignored my emails. But sir said yes. Love it. Who’s the worst is the best. They are all exactly as they are pictured. Really? Absolutely. So they talk about all they got a bad edit URL. They’re not really like that, for my experience being around them. They’re the way that they are on the show. Okay,
Julia Chebotar 19:19
I love it. I actually like vanderpump is one of my like guiltiest pleasures, but like, they all kind of like did some like weird stuff last season and most of them got kicked off for like, being racist.
19:31
I don’t know if your shows ever gonna come back for one because like her, I mean, Star itself is just now reopening. Right and like, because we have I think we have 50% indoor capacity restaurants here in California.
Julia Chebotar 19:42
So it is totally Yeah.
19:44
So like when the cameras were actually there, they take up a whole section of the restaurant, right? So like they can’t have the capacity of people dining for them making money and the TV show cameras and the production crew and all the people running around like They just can’t
Julia Chebotar 20:00
think they’re now having a Tomcat show.
20:03
Thank God I have been saying that since like before that will happen. I was like can we please get a tom tom spin off like I would love just I mean, Katie is my favorite. Like, I want to watch Tom and Katie and Tom and Ariana like that’s it like I don’t care about
Julia Chebotar 20:16
me too. But also vanderpump now has a spin off show on Bravo where she like has people come to her house for dinner.
20:24
Good for her. I didn’t know that. Yeah, cuz she left the housewives good. He she was one of the best ones on the on Beverly Hills. And so for them to give her her own show. She’s like, I can’t she’s like I’ve already been carrying like three of my own shows and my three my own restaurant. I was like, I don’t need the rest of them.
Julia Chebotar 20:38
I love this. So it was so tell people where they can find you where they can see more about you and hire you either.
20:46
Okay, so you can find me at sustainable sparkle bar on Instagram sustainable sparkle bar calm and then also you can find me at Tay Tay fears on tik tok. I have about 40,000 tik tok followers as of right now and I am in a totally separate niche than like glitter and makeup. I am a dating and relationship coach. So that is a bit of a
Julia Chebotar 21:07
Wait that was a little spin right there that I didn’t know.
21:10
I know, I decided to like fix myself because I was having really bad dating patterns. And like, you know, just like not fit. Like I just didn’t know what I was doing. I was just dating without intention kind of just dating to pass by time. And I had to like get off the hamster wheel of like doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. So I just took myself completely out of the dating game, I started to become really educated. I learned about attachment styles. I’ve been reading every book, I can get my hands on that.
Julia Chebotar 21:37
Are you secure? attacks?
Taylor McPherson 21:40
Yes, no, I’m here. So I was when I went into this. I was very much anxious fearful. And I just took another attachment style quiz yesterday. And I’m like 67% secure attachment style now because I’ve, I’ve created awareness, I’ve identified my relationship patterns. And I figured out how to not do those things. Again, I need to learn from you.
Julia Chebotar 22:01
I want to go on your Tic Tac
22:04
Toe I’m learning is like a lot of people need the help. And it’s so crazy how like, all of my mentors talk about it. They’re like people take mentors for getting a job. Like you go to a recruiter or like you know, you do all these other things. But people don’t always think to do it for you, your love life. But it’s like why wouldn’t you treat your love life just as important as your job because it ultimately leads to like your life partner, and then maybe you’re having children, like that’s an extremely important part of your life. That’s a
Julia Chebotar 22:28
very important part of your life. Absolutely.
22:31
Yeah. So it’s like invest in that. Absolutely.
Julia Chebotar 22:35
Okay, amazing. So that’s all for today’s podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for being on like this was an I really, really appreciate it. And remember you guys can follow me on Instagram at Hello chef Julia and subscribe to this podcast.
