Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/191415
your niche Red Carpet Estheticians Providing skin care for the rich and famous by Rebecca Jones Donna Scott never planned to develop a clientele that includes Lindsay Lohan and Natalie Cole. And she certainly never expected a reality TV show to film an episode in her spa. It all began about three years ago at her medical esthetics practice, Donna Scott Secret Med Spa, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A new client had a lot of questions, and Scott was able to provide detailed answers. It turned out that client was a panelist for InStyle magazine's Beauty Black Book Award. As a result of her satisfaction with the visit, she nominated Scott for the award—and Scott won. "She told me it could be lifechanging," Scott says. Giving 100 Percent Sure enough, Scott was soon invited to provide facials to celebrities attending the MTV Movie Awards. "From there, it snowballed," she says: invitations to New York Fashion Week and the Celebrity Spa Lounge at the Academy Awards, referrals from Grammy and Oscar nominees, Allure magazine's Best of Beauty Award. Then came the appearance on Mob Wives. Plans are now in the works for a VH1 show—and all because she simply did her best for a client, then kept doing it. "My advice is to give 100 percent every time," Scott says. "Giving 100 percent is what opened these doors." That's the same advice Olga LorencinNorthrup gives those who aspire to her success in attracting Hollywood's elite. "Working with celebrities is based on two factors," says Lorencin-Northrup, whose clientele at Kinara Skin Care Clinic and Spa in West Hollywood includes a long list of the rich and famous. "One is purely geographic: in Los Angeles we have a lot of celebrities. Secondly, you need to be great at your craft. When I started my career, the first 15 years I never had a celebrity client. When it got to be known that I give a great facial, they started coming in." The Value of Referrals " inety-five percent of my N business comes from referrals." Word of mouth even works for estheticians who started out working on famous faces. Michelle Bouse applied for a job as a studio makeup artist right out of esthetics school, landing one on the set of Passions, an NBC soap opera where she worked for more than a year. "If you do a good job, they will refer you to another place," Bouse says. "Ninety-five percent of my business comes from referrals. Then I started doing treatments for studio executives, and they referred actors to me." Today Bouse has a salon in Burbank, California, a stone's throw from the major movie studios. Sometimes, she says, stars walk in simply because she's in a convenient spot—and not recognizing them can be an advantage. "I've had celebrities walk in my door and I didn't know who they were. That's the best. A lot of celebrities don't want the fuss and appreciate being treated like a normal person." —Michelle Bouse "Their Faces Are Their Lives" Working with high-profile clients often demands flexibility and special attention to the client's schedule for filming, public appearances, and social events. "Their faces are their lives," Scott says. "So timing is important if you're using chemicals, doing corrective treatments, or using anything that might cause a reaction." Bouse says she often comes in on her day off to cater to a celebrity client. "They can be demanding, but not necessarily in a bad way," she says. "Their time is very limited." The tradeoff? In other ways, celebrities can be surprisingly easy clients. "It's definitely easier to get them to follow a routine," Lorencin-Northrup says. "Most are very disciplined when it comes to beauty. They eat well and they work out daily, so everything is already in place." Rebecca Jones is a longtime newspaper reporter and freelance writer based in Denver, Colorado. Contact her at killarneyrose@comcast.net. 11