Meet Amanda Holley | Holistic Esthetician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Holley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor of my success is my passion about treating skin! There is so much noise in the skincare market and I know that it is easy to get overwhelmed. I pride myself on educating my clients on what is necessary for their skin health so they don’t have to sift through the marketing garbage. I am here to guide you through your skincare journey everystep of the way. I want my clients to always feel that they can ask me anything and reach out to me whenever a concern or question pops up! I truly love skincare and skin health, I am consistently staying educated on the newest trends and products so I can always answer questions knowledgeably.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My creative career began as a Makeup Artist in New York City. For 7 years I worked on photoshoots, video sets and advertising campaigns for major American brands. I have always been a creative and was drawn to jobs and roles that were outside the standard. I’m a strong minded individual and knew that whatever career I pursued I needed to pave my own way. Moving to New York at 24 from Wisconsin and choosing a career that had no playbook was a huge risk and I definitely had my panic moments, but I was lucky to find other successful Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists that were willing to show me the way. I apprenticed for years, and worked my way up from living in a living room with a curtain as a wall to my own apartment! My style of makeup was always centered around skin. I was selected for jobs that required a very “no makeup makeup” look, and that is really where my love of skincare over makeup started to grow. The more I understood how to treat skin so makeup looked better, the more I realized that I wanted to TREAT skin instead of just make it look good for one day or one photo. From that realization I transitioned my career to focus more on the one on one client connection and put myself in a treatment room instead of running around the city! Today, my creativity is most ignited while I’m doing facials. Every client is different, every treatment is different. My facials are 100% customized to the clients skins’ needs that day! So I love the challenge of deciding what products and what modalities to use in order to get the best results.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’d start with a yoga class at newly opened Venice Studio Op_en then grab a smoothie at Erewhon. Next we’d walk over to Take Care for a microcurrent facial with me! Post-facials we’d be ready for a beach side lunch at Great White then relax with a book on the beach for a late afternoon rest. We’d stay west side and hit Ospi for an amazing homemade pasta feast. The next day we’d head North and start the day at the Getty Center walking the gardens and checking out some famous art. Then we’d head to Malibu! Malibu is one of my favorite places and I love taking visitors there because it is such a different feel than the rest of LA! We’d have seafood dinner at The Reel Inn then grab a bottle of wine and watch the sunset of the cliffs! The following day we’d do the iconic LA thing- Hike Runyon Canyon then grab lunch at Urth Cafe aftwerwards. Maybe we’d do some shopping on Melrose and find an outfit to wear out later that night. We’d have a patio dinner at Bowery Bungalow and finish the night with cocktails and live music on the rooftop at Bar Lis.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Skills and knowledge take time to gain, so I have made it an effort to put myself in rooms with talented, successful and smart people! I love learning, and the Esthetics industry is constantly changing and evolving as new technology and new research surfaces. I have been lucky to learn so much from the women who run the studios that I work at.

Lacey Wagner, of Oliveaux Skincare in Highland park, taught me how to approach and treat symptomatic skin. Her approach to skin health is focused on treating inflammation through hydrating and calming ingredients, which is so necessary in Los Angeles’ harsh climate. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and has taught me invaluable skills about facial massage which really took my treatments to the next level.

Tess and Sadie Adams, the co-founders of Take Care Body Mind in Venice Beach, have taught me about the powers of microcurrent. They are revolutionizing the market with their technique and providing clients a truely natural alternative to botox and fillers. Take Care is a special place that focuses on not only healing and perfecting the skin, but creating a cohesive mind body experience that leave our clients blissed out and glowing.

Website: https://dashboard.boulevard.io/booking/businesses/5d892f5b-c584-4570-a89e-8f8abaa23b41/widget#/time

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaholley.beauty/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

Image Credits
Kiori Lee