Skin Essentials Celebrates 20 Years

Skin Essentials in the upper village is celebrating 20 years in business this month. Owner Julie Phillips, a licensed esthetician, CMA and AICT, worked in the fields of dermatology and plastic surgery before opening her own space in 1998. 

The first two years the business was located on Coast Village Circle, but word of mouth quickly showed the small space wouldn’t suffice for the growing business. Since 2000, Phillips has rented the space next to Pane e Vino, filling the multiple treatment rooms with state-of-the-art equipment and a variety of specialty retail skin care. With pharmaceutical-grade products and proven techniques, Skin Essentials offers results for a wide variety of skin conditions, including anti-aging, acne, rosacea, and others. Phillips, along with esthetician Ann Eccles, offers facials, microdermabrasion, lymphatic treatments, peels, permanent makeup, body exfoliation, waxing, and more. “Everyone wants to look better and more youthful, and we accomplish that here,” she said. 

Skin Essentials offers an array of carefully chosen products, including Innovative Skin Care, Benev, Image, Meg 21, Glo Minerals, Environ, SkinCeuticals, Dermazone, and more. “I spend a lot of time researching products to find out what works, and why,” she explained, adding that learning about new technologies in the skin care field is part of her job. “You can always learn something new,” she said. 

Phillips says her success has come from referrals and a loyal customer base. “I think my background in dermatology is a bonus, and the fact that our facials really make a difference in our clients’ skin,” she said. The majority of her clientele have a facial every four to six weeks and come from all areas of the South Coast. Like many other businesses in Montecito, Phillips said the beginning of this year was a challenge to survive. “We were closed for essentially five weeks,” she said. “Luckily at this point, almost all of my clients have returned since the mudslide, and for that I am so grateful.”

To celebrate the anniversary, Phillips is hosting an open house on Friday, July 27, from 11 am to 3 pm. There will be raffle prizes, gift bags, wine and appetizers, and Skin Essentials will offer a 20-percent discount on all services purchased that day, with the exception of permanent makeup. For more information about all of Skin Essential’s services, call (805) 695-8699, or visit http://skin-essentials.com. Skin Essentials is located at 1482 East Valley Road, Suite 6.