Current Vine

By Denise Tong

At her small salon in midtown Manhattan, esthetician Joanna Vargas and her select team nourish and rejuvenate clients’ skin in a tranquil, comfortable environment. Built on the idea of marrying technology to nature, Joanna Vargas Skin Care is dedicated to offering safe and effective ways to improve the condition of people’s skin without resorting to invasive procedures like plastic surgery.

While the company is primarily known for its anti-aging treatments, just about anyone can benefit from its services. The salon’s clients—which include celebrities and supermodels—can choose from various facial and full-body procedures.

The salon’s signature treatment is the Triple Crown Facial, a three-step procedure: mild exfoliation, a micro-current to stimulate collagen and elastin in the facial muscles, and a vitamin-infused oxygen treatment to provide the skin with nutrients. After new clients have had half of their faces worked on with the micro-current, they are given a mirror so they can see the instant, visible improvement.

Vargas continually researches skincare procedures and personal care products in order to offer the best and most advanced treatments to her clients. Her Web site also contains a store where people can purchase what she has determined to be the best natural products on the market. The site also contains several articles she has written on her research findings, discussing topics such as cellulite and LED (light emitting diode) therapy.

In addition to her salon in Manhattan, she flies to Los Angeles about once a month to tend to her West Coast clients out of a space in the world-famous Chateau Marmont.

Her hard work has paid off; her treatments have been featured in numerous publications such as Allure, French Vogue, and Time Out New York.

Pleasant and soft-spoken, Vargas met with CurrentVine.com to discuss natural ingredients and her relationship with her clients.

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CV: When did your interest in skincare and beauty begin?

JV: I was in a photographer in college, so I got hyper-focused on people’s faces and bodies. When I moved to New York, I didn’t really like doing photography in the fashion industry, but I really enjoyed working with people. I thought I was going to end up doing makeup, but I liked doing skincare more; it’s very personal. I get to be a part of creating someone’s image, but it’s behind the scenes, which I like better. So I ended up being a part of the fashion industry anyway—a lot of my clients are in fashion or are actors, so I got be a part of [the industry] without having to be in it, so to speak.

CV: What motivated you to start your own salon?

JV: I wanted to be able to create a whole atmosphere and take care of clients in a certain way. You can’t do whatever you want when you work for somebody; you work for their vision, and I had developed my own.

The beauty industry is also forever changing, and I’m young and want to be a part of all the changing things. Sometimes when you work in other places, you end up doing the same things over and over. But my place is all about what’s new out there, and I’m constantly researching different lines and techniques, so [the services are] always fresh. I think my clients come here because they know they’re getting the best of what’s out there.

CV: Were you interested in natural or organic products when you were growing up?

JV: My mother was very into that when I was little; I was the kid who wasn’t allowed to have candy or sugar cereal. But I got into that personally when I became a mother myself. When I was pregnant, I was very aware of what I was putting in to my body. There are a lot of toxic chemicals in beauty and personal care products. I wanted to buy products for my son that were safe.

CV: Nowadays, a lot of people are trying to find those kinds of products but they don’t know what to look for. Your Web articles might help them.

JV: Yes, I think people come to me because they’re looking for some solutions. If someone comes to me with acne, they may never have figured out how to take care of their skin properly so they don’t break out as much. So educating people is part of what I do. When people come to me about anti-aging stuff, they have to realize that facials aren’t magic. We have to work together. They have things to do at home to maintain their skin and then I do my part when they come in for treatments.

CV: Are there any common beauty myths that your clients come to you with?

JV: People who think that lines like Neutrogena and Clinique are safer or better than other lines just because of their image. I find that any product that contains chemicals tends to be difficult for most people to handle and it doesn’t make their skin look good. So one thing that I point out to people is that if you don’t see that your skin is better, the product is probably not doing what it should be doing.

CV: What do you consider the most common way that people mistreat their skin?

JV: I think people still don’t use enough sunscreen. I also think they use [products with] too many acids, like glucolic acids—they tend to dry out the surface of the skin and suffocate it. We live in such a polluted environment; the better way of exfoliating and keeping the skin bright and fresh is to use an enzymatic exfoliant. I sell a pear and poppyseed scrub that’s organic, smells amazing, and really cleans the skin without damaging it or creating some other effect you don’t want.

CV: What’s the most popular treatment that you offer?

JV: Right now, the two hot treatments are the Triple Crown Facial and the MultiVitaLight treatment, which is a multi-layer facial of vitmain masks, followed by an LED treatment that repairs damange to the tissue and makles you look years younger. It’s really amazing.

CV: Since summer’s around the corner, let’s talk about your sunless tan Golden Glow treatment. Some people are afraid to get a treatment like that because they don’t want to turn out orange.

JV: A good sunless tan only turns your skin a few tones darker than your skin color. It’s not like I take a Magic Marker and color you the same color as everyone else; it comes out differently on everybody and you’ll turn out the color that you would if you were exposed to a little sun. It’s nice for when you first hit the beach.

CV: What’s next for you?

JV: Right now I’m only open one night, so I’m planning on extending my hours to be open every night until 8 or 9 and opening seven days a week. That’s what New Yorkers want from me. It’s not unusual for people to come in at 8 p.m.; I also have clients come in at 7 in the morning. That’s New York. Probably by the time the next Fashion Week hits, we’ll have permanent extended hours.

As far as products and treatments, I always keep my eyes open. I actually only just got the LED treatment two months ago, and it’s the most amazing addition to my menu that I’ve had. It’s given my clients an amazing result.

CV: What do you like most about what you do?

JV: By far, getting to meet new people that I wouldn’t normally be able to meet and being able to connect to them and to give them personal attention. Most of my clients are very close friends of mine now. And generally, it’s great to be able to help people with a problem they’re having with their skin or bodies.