Obituary: Sydell L. Miller, Matrix Essentials maven and former Palm Beacher, dies at 86

Sydell L. Miller, who co-founded the Matrix Essentials hair-and-beauty empire in Ohio and for many years owned an ocean-to-lake estate in Palm Beach, died at her Cleveland home Feb. 25. She was 86.

Funeral services were held for the noted philanthropist in Cleveland on Feb. 29.

Her primary home for the last few years was a double-penthouse encompassing an entire floor at The Bristol condominium tower in downtown West Palm Beach. She sold her custom-built Palm Beach mansion, known as La Reverie, on South Ocean Boulevard in 2019.

Mrs. Miller established Matrix Essentials — the brand of professional hair-care products — with her late husband, Arnold, in 1980, a dozen years before he died. The company became the largest manufacturer of professional hair and beauty products in the country.

The Millers were married 34 years. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Miller became president and CEO of Matrix Essentials and more than doubled its sales before selling the business to Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1994. Matrix today is a division of L’Oreal USA.

Mrs. Miller remained chairman of the board until her retirement in 1996. She later served the same role at Aquage, a professional hair-care line founded by her brother, Dennis Lubin.

“She was an incredible woman and visionary,” said Palm Beach architect Jeffery Smith, who designed Mrs. Miller’s oceanfront home and worked on the plans for her penthouse at The Bristol.

He added: “I thought she was such a warm, caring person. She was like everyone's grandmother.”

'Beauty does not stop at the hairline'

Mrs. Miller was born on Aug. 10, 1937, in Cleveland, the daughter of Evelyne and Jack H. Lubin. She and her husband were married in 1958. They met when she was a customer at his Cleveland hair salon.

She put her creativity and business acumen to work in the salon, introducing accessories to the reception area and opening an apparel boutique above the business, according to a prepared obituary.

Other business ventures followed, including Ardell, which the Millers founded in 1970. They invented what was billed as the world’s first ready-to-apply eyelash, followed by other products, “single-handedly creating the modern-day eyelash industry,” the obituary said. Later they created Hennalucent, an innovative natural henna hair product, and eventually expanded into shampoos and conditioners.

The Matrix Essentials line, which was only sold to beauty distributors for salons and their clients, was later complemented by products marketed under the Vavoom and System Biolage brands. Headquartered in Solon, Ohio, Matrix products were distributed through a national network of hairdressers and educators.

“Beauty does not stop at the hairline,” Mrs. Miller once said about her efforts to expand into skin-care, cosmetics, body-care and sun-care products.

“She developed ‘Total Image Consulting,’ a philosophy that revolutionized the industry by creating the concept of the day spa, encouraging local salons to include additional beauty services,” the obituary said.

In 2008, Mrs. Miller was honored as a “Woman of Distinction” in the annual ceremony sponsored by Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach.

Mrs. Miller's philanthropic causes were wide-ranging

Mrs. Miller’s philanthropy included support for health care, women’s mentorship programs, the arts and Jewish-focused charities in America and Israel.

In Cleveland in 2005, she and her children established the Cleveland Clinic’s Sydell & Arnold Miller Family Pavilion, home to the Sydell & Arnold Miller Heart and Vascular Institute. She was a member of the medical center’s board of trustees and served on its Florida Leadership Council. She also took an active role in the initiative that brought a satellite of the Cleveland Clinic to West Palm Beach.

In 2011, she was honored at the Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Ball with the inaugural Sydell Miller Award for her service.

In Palm Beach County, her board service included work with the American Cancer Society of Palm Beach, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, the Norton Museum of Art and the Palm Beach Civic Association. She once served as chairwoman of the Palm Beach Heart Ball benefiting the American Heart Association.

In Ohio, she supported the Park Synagogue East Campus in Pepper Park and the Gathering Place East Campus in Beachwood. She also established the Sydell & Arnold Miller Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Hawken School, a Cleveland day school.

Among her professional honors, Mrs. Miller was the first non-hairdresser elected to the National Cosmetology Association’s Hall of Fame. Working Women Magazine once named her among its list of the “Top 50 Women Business Owners in America.” She also earned the Beauty Changes Lives Foundation Legacy Award for funding scholarships for cosmetology students.

An accomplished hostess, she often entertained and hosted charitable events in Palm Beach at her art-filled, French-style mansion on her ocean-to-lake estate at 1415 S. Ocean Blvd. The house was completed in 2001 with an exterior clad in stone and a series of Roman arches that define ground-floor window and loggia openings.

She sold the mansion for a recorded $105 million in December 2019 for what was then likely a record-setting price for a residence in Florida. In early 2021, she sold the estate’s lakefront parcel for a recorded $42 million — about the same amount she paid for her two apartments at The Bristol, which she then combined.

Business success aside, Mrs. Miller was devoted to her family. Especially in her later years, she embraced the “duties of family matriarch,” the obituary said.

Also in her later years, she enjoyed a deep love for and companionship with the late Philip Zieky, who died in 2013. She established a grandmotherly relationship with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, according to the obituary.

Mrs. Miller is survived by her children, Lauren Spilman (Steve), Stacie Halpern (Jeff), and her brother, Dennis Lubin (Barbara). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Alana and Max Spilman, Lindsey and Austin Halpern, Jarrod (Ana) and Evan Lubin, as well as her great-grandchildren, Alejandra, Victoria, and Valentina.

Services were held at Park Synagogue East in Cleveland, with interment at Mount Olive Cemetery in Solon. Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel handled the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish to donate in Mrs. Miller’s memory can do so to the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; or the Park Synagogue Arnold & Sydell Miller Family Campus.

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This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.

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Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or tweet @PBDN_Hofheinz.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: With Palm Beach ties, Matrix beauty maven Sydell L. Miller dies at 86