We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kirstie Reese a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kirstie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

My Grandma actually came up with the name Sugarface after my aunt Jennifer Erin “Sugar” Reese. I was searching for the perfect business name that was catchy, short and sweet so when she said “Sugarface,” I knew that was perfect. My Aunt, Sugar, passed away from Schleroderma in 2000 so naming my business after her is great way to keep her memory alive and give a deeper meaning to my brand.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles, California. I don’t have many other hobbies because I eat, sleep, breathe skincare! My fiancé and I love animals, traveling and hiking on our days off. We have cats and two dogs- Frenchie and Rottsky (Rottweiler-husky mix).

I’ve been intrigued by anything beauty related my entire life from massages, make up, haircare to facials. I didn’t plan on being a business owner or becoming an esthetician, this career chose me. I worked for a facial plastic surgeon in my early 20’s where the office manager said I should go to school for esthetics, so I did and worked there part time. After graduating, I needed more hands on experience so I worked a few different places for a few years. I was fired from my job for working a botox event with the (original) plastic surgeon and although, I didn’t do anything wrong- it gave me the push I needed to start my own business, Sugarface. I started out doing facials for clients who followed me in my grandmothers living room and then rented a room in the back of a hair salon doing $60 facials. Eventually I became so busy that I hired staff and a part time assistant. The pandemic allowed us to move to Beverly Hills and be in med-spa environment. Post pandemic, we opened a second location which is a store front in Sherman Oaks, California. I had always dreamed of seeing my “Sugarface” logo on a building and I still can’t believe we made it a reality!

As a teenager, I struggled with acne so treating acne is my passion. I love helping clients achieve self confidence through clear skin. What sets me/us apart from other aestheticians is educating clients on their skin and what products will work for their specific issues and why. My clients know that they can trust me and our products to not have any pore clogging (acne causing) ingredients. I get very in-depth with clients about their skin, lifestyle, eating habits, fiber intake, food allergies, vitamins, oral supplements, medications, bowel movements, etc. The skin is the bodies largest organ so it’s usually an indication of something going on inside the body that is causing a skin issue.

We offer a variety of facials from Acne facials, peels, Hydrafacial, Diamond Glow, Vitamin Infusions from Osmosis and DMK enzyme therapy as well as paramedical enzymes for acne scarring and skin revision. I don’t believe one brand has it all but a combination of skin therapies and products works best.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I’ve organically grown our Instagram profile without buying followers or hiring a marketing firm. My advice for anyone trying to build a social media presence is to take pictures and videos of everything. Everything is content!! Customers love to see your face and get to know YOU. They also want to see behind the scenes of what’s going on in your brand because they want to be apart of the process with you. Including your audience will make them feel more connected to you/brand and will bring more loyalty. Post as frequently as you can with valuable information and educating content. Having a “call to action” on your posts will bring more engagement to your profile. For example, I will post on my IG story “ask me a question” and answer them the next day in person. Working with influencers helps build a following as well!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

This is going to sound old school but WORD OF MOUTH REFERRALS. Nothing beats your clients friends/families opinion and referral. I make sure that clients are happy with their services and products by following up with them after the appointment. Yelp, google reviews can be helpful as well. In the beginning we offered referral discounts to the current client/new client on any service.

Contact Info:

• Website: Sugarfaceskincare.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarfaceskincare/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sugarfaceskincare/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sugarface-skincare-beverly-hills