This story is part of Image’s October Luxury issue, exploring what luxury really means to artists, designers, aestheticians, architects and more.
A skin, hair or makeup routine is never just a skin, hair or makeup routine. We dived deep into the beauty rituals of artists and aestheticians across L.A., and in turn learned more about their relationships to themselves and the world around them. A beauty ritual is as much personal as it is a portal: to better versions of ourselves, to better versions of the future. Andrea Ãmez, a master aesthetician, model and art historian, has been a steward in the beauty rituals of others for the last nine years — performing the kind of beloved facials that feel artistic, spiritual and holistic. Facials that go more than skin deep. “It’s such a human experience, and that’s what I really loved as a very sensitive, emotional person,†Ãmez says. “I kind of put it together. I was like,’Wait, this is my medium.’ Art and beauty are so connected.†Ãmez just released her Anti Pollutant Masque, created in collaboration with Aliangé Skincare, on amezskin.com this month.
For this artist and DJ, the beauty ritual is best played out in bed.
It’s almost like, when I’m not doing facials, things feel a little bit fuzzier. I don’t know what it is. I think it must be just the power of touch and connection. I feel so excited when I’m working on a face. I care a lot about people’s context and their work and their stress. I think about it all because I think you kind of have to — that is part of my job, and maybe that’s too much. But there’s just so much more to people’s stories and what they’ve gone through with their bodies.
We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but the one thing that really connected my mom and my grandmother was self-care. It’s such a buzzword to use now, but I think self-care for us at the time was just true preservation of what we had — taking care of your body and the things that it provides for you every day. A lot of us can think back to experiences of seeing our grandmothers and mothers or relatives with these cold creams of the ’90s, like Pond’s and Dove. I was always fascinated. I always thought it was special. And then, if we take it back to indigenous roots, if you go to Mayans, we have really amazing abdominal massage practices. There’s so much history. I’ve been on the skincare regimen since I was 6, literally. And my mom was always on it. I call her the original beauty influencer. In Latin culture, you know, we’re a little vain. We love our skin, and we love to look shiny and glowy. I was lucky enough to be raised in a household where I was taught to be proud of where you come from, what you look like, and absolutely the most affordable way of doing that was to take care of yourself in whatever way that meant.
I figured out I’d really like to work with my hands, because I kind of identify as being an artist. Working with faces — there’s nothing more humbling than your first year of doing facials — we can equate that with being the canvas, but it’s living, breathing people and everybody is so different. I call it facial geometry. When you become a facialist, the strength you develop in your hands and your wrists and your fingers, it’s wild — it’s just all this hand choreography. It’s such a human experience, and that’s what I really loved as a very sensitive, emotional person. I kind of put it together. I was like, “Wait, this is my medium.†Art and beauty are so connected.
Facials are — out of life and health — like 2%. It’s the sprinkles on the sundae. It’s movement, your stress, your exercise, having great relationships around, it’s water, it’s how you’re treating your gut that matters. Facials are amazing, if your budget and time allot for it, but it’s not the most important part of the equation. Fundamentally, I think we’re all looking to have longevity and in that longevity, creating habits and rituals that can assist that. Everything else is just extra.
Working with faces — there’s nothing more humbling than your first year of doing facials — we can equate that with being the canvas, but it’s living, breathing people and everybody is so different. I call it facial geometry.
— Andrea Ãmez
I’ve really struggled with creating those rituals for myself, because I’m of service to people, so I get a little lost in the sauce with that because I prioritize them more than I prioritize myself. After nine years of doing facials, I’ve realized that after a long day, I have to take walks, and I neglected that for many years. When I touch people, I do believe that I’m absorbing their energy and their emotions. So at the end of my day, I’m like, “Oh, I gotta shake this s— out,†whether it’s positive or good, it’s just not mine. And I’m not perfect with it, but I’ve been practicing meditation for a really long time. Even just my morning routine and night routine, which is very simple: a cleanser, a serum and a moisturizer and sunscreen — that feels really meditative to me. It calms me, and it makes me feel good, because I know I’m doing a little something for this delicate skin of mine on my face, and it’s going to thank me later. I’m a big researcher. I go deep into certain things. I’m currently really deep into all things lymph and hormones.
What got me into the business of beauty, what I really wanted to do, was make treatments more accessible. And I do think in my career I’ve done that. People need care. My community in L.A. has really pushed me up too. When I got on the scene, my trajectory was that I worked at skincare companies, I did corporate wellness, I mentored under aestheticians who were already established, and then I ended up at this very fast-paced, very successful skin care studio in Beverly Hills.
Being from here, and also being Latin, I was always so passionate about treating Black and brown people. I wanted to be the melanin expert, and I do consider myself that. I think my bedside manner, my compassion and understanding for people is what’s taken me through. The idea behind my studio was that I wanted to be super private, where it’s one-on-one and I can take my sweet damn time, and I do. I wanted a comfy living room where if a couple’s coming, or if they have kids, they can chill. If you have a dog, great, I have a patio, bring them. I have a full kitchen. I want this to basically feel like my second home, and a place where my clients feel really safe. I’m notorious: Sometimes I hold people literally, 2½ hours, three hours, over. But I also think that’s what’s gotten me here: that I can really listen to people and help them, have giggles with them, or have a really emotional session with them. That’s what’s carried me.
Prop styling: Synthea Gonzales
Production: Mere Studios
