SkinBar

Aromatherapy can be used to soothe nerves and focus the mind, but for SkinBar's Lynda Dheming Moore, it sparked her entrepreneurial spirit. While working at an essential-oil company, Lynda discovered the benefits of plant extracts on the skin. This experience inspired her to enroll in aesthetics training and cosmetic chemistry classes at UCLA. This was in 1995, when Dr. Howard Murad was developing his holistic approach to skincare in nearby El Segundo, so she sought training from him after completing her coursework. She opened SkinBar nearly a decade later, after learning high-tech techniques at The International Dermal Institute and deepening her knowledge of skincare products at Dermalogica.

SkinBar stays true to its name, focusing exclusively on ways to smooth and refresh the saran wrap covering our faces and bodies. Facials reflect Lynda's diverse training, with involved rejuvenation methods involving gentle electrical impulses, salves enriched with goji berries to heal dryness, or retinoids to even out blotchy pigmentation. She still relies on Murad and Dermalogica tonics during treatments, but her library of products now includes bottles from Jan Marini and Obagi as well as cosmetics from Jane Iredale. Bluewick candles infuse the studio with relaxing aromas, and their scents seep into private chambers where massages ease pregnancy or melt knots with warm basalt stones. Waxing reveals radiant skin from under a wilderness of hair, and makeovers can accent facial architecture with pigment and eyelash extensions.