We were lucky to catch up with Brigitte Tolson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brigitte, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

I spent years intimidated by the idea of having my own practice and skin care company, despite being booked up all the time and having positive articles in the media about my work. It felt stable to be attached to a business, and I’m very social enjoyed having colleagues, but I realized that creating my own practice meant full creative control over what products I used and offered clients, the look of my space, the quality of my devices, and so many other things that appealed to me. I am fortunate I have many long-term friendships with other female entrepreneurs who encouraged me, like Elle Marie who I founded Los Angeles Facials with, who is the first Black spa owner in the South Bay. One of the best pieces of advice when I was struggling to leave a spa I loved, was from my friend and colleague Lucy Yeh, who is a Certified Coach, was simply to “always bet on yourself”, and it’s been advice that pays off 100% of the time to this day. My advice to anyone starting their own skin care practice, is to be patient with yourself and never make a decision out of fear or pressure. Don’t be afraid to ask successful business owners in your field for help or advice, I love helping new estheticians get started because I benefited so much from the people that were willing to guide and help me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I became an esthetician in 2002, and graduated from the (at the time) only accredited school in California, The International School of Beauty in Palm Desert. I was fortunate to have learned chemical peels and microneedling before they were common at this advanced school. I missed my home town of Los Angeles, and I wanted to focus on acne and challenging skin conditions, so I moved back and have been working on the West side ever since. I became a surgical technician in 2006 so I could assist in cosmetic surgery, and deepen my understanding of medical esthetics.

In the early 2010’s, my health took an unexpected turn and I had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s that impacts the thyroid, and I could barely get out of bed and felt like I was walking around in a hazy dream of my life. When medication made my symptoms worse, despite my blood panels looking fine, I was finally treated by an acupuncturist and Ayurvedic doctor, and my health continues to be better now than it was in my 20’s. This lead me to pursue becoming an herbalist myself, specifically to help skin issues for my clients caused by hormones and diet.

As a result, I am now incredibly fortunate to have a private practice that focusses on medical grade treatments and peels, while incorporating Ayurvedic formulas and custom blends with fresh healing herbs and the effects of diet, nutrients, and lifestyle on the skin as well.

I love helping people understand their skin as a system, an organ, and empower them to understand how products and treatments work. I am truly grateful that I have a practice that attracts a wonderful, diverse array of clients who I genuinely look forward to seeing and helping.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met Elle Marie when I moved back to Los Angeles, and we were the two young estheticians at Aqua Day Spa in Santa Monica. We shared an immediate bond and passion for traveling, and our first trip was to London and Madrid. She became friends with my family in London and has become family over the years. We shared a mutual interest in creating our own businesses in the skin and beauty world, and during a time when information on starting a facial practice was scarce and the internet was much smaller, we shared our resources and findings with each other. We established losangelesfacias.com to be a place estheticians can find proper information on advancing their own work, but also so clients could find the right skin professional for themselves.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Absolutely. I am so fortunate within my first two weeks of doing facials, I knew working directly with clients and creating products was my calling. I have actually had many other interests and careers (I sang opera until I was 18, I was a theatre makeup artist in high school, I was a case manager for homeless youth, and I was even a deep house music DJ), but nothing gave me as much joy as learning more about skin health.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brigittetolson.net
• Instagram: @brigittetolson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brigittetolsonskincareandesthetics
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brigitte-tolson-skincare-and-esthetics-los-angeles
• Other: greenchemistryinc.com
  losangelesfacials.com

Image Credits

Courtney Dailey
Elm Diaz
Haldane Morris
Claire Morgan