We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shannon Curtis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shannon below.

Shannon , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

As a holistic aesthetician it’s important for me to communicate in a way that you can feel beyond words. My mission is to bring nature as close as possible to your heart. mind, and soul. Your skin is an outward reflection of what is going on in your external and internal world. My goal is to turn the light on for you to listen to your own signals, and be your own healer. I love creating my own recipes for each treatment truly customizing each experience to the individual. It is your quintessential holistic facial experience. Nothing is more important to me that guiding clients back to themselves with plant magic and touch.

Shannon , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Name name is Shannon, I’ve been a aesthetician for nearly 20 years, and started studying herbalism about 10 years ago. It was the infusion of the two practices that bloomed into Noel Herbals. It was all divine timing, and I have my mom to thank for finding my physical space in the newspaper 8 1/2 years ago.

I wanted to learn more about skin in my early twenties because I was noticing my own interruptions as I like to call them. Skin is a mirror to how we are feeling on the inside & the outside. I loved immersing myself in aesthetics school, and learning as much as I could about the layers of the skin, the different muscles we have, and identifying certain conditions. It was in school that I learned how important ingredients were, and had an inner knowing that anything with the word ‘fragrance’ on the label was something to stay clear of.

Studying plant medicine was really the turning point not only in my career, but my life. The plants are teachers in so many ways, and it was then that I started making my own masks, infused oils, tinctures, cleansing rinses, etc. I think this is what makes me stand out in my field. When the skincare industry was at a turning point for medical aesthetics, that’s when I wanted to retreat and nourish the art of just using my hands. In my opinion there is nothing more powerful than the art of touch, and when woven in with raw plant ingredients, it’s pure magic.

I keep educating myself on the deep practices of holistic skincare, including an ancient technique called face mapping which connects certain points in the face to different locations in the body. It’s fascinating how our bodies are really set up to be their own healers.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started slow & steady like most do when approaching social media channels. I decided to be the voice of my brand, and speak as if I was writing in a journal that I’d like to revisit years from now. I love capturing beautiful imagery, and engaging with my creative side in this way. It’s something that makes me feel joy being able to share the beauty captured in my practice.

Sharing, engaging, connecting is a tool that supports my business greatly.

Navigating social media now is a bit different, as it seems a bit more complex these days than it did 9 years ago when you could just post a pretty picture and write a caption. It helps if you look at social media as a tool for you to use for your business, instead of a daunting task on your to-do list. Switching the perspective around on how you approach it makes all the difference.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I started creating my own products for the treatment room and found such great results I wanted to be able to offer clients something to use at home in between visits. That’s when I started creating my retail line with the most popular products being Golden Love Face Oil, Hushabye Mountain, Tranquil Tides Honey Mask, and Garden Party Hydrosol.

In the beginning I had a partner who lived in Vermont that would make the products in her studio, now they are made right in Somerville at my studio. It has been a bit of a transition balancing both making products and treating clients. Switching hats is not always easy.

There has been trial and error mostly with the labels, and making sure everything matches up to the brand and where it’s going. This is a creative process, and I think it has been finding its way. The products themselves however, are consistent and beautiful.

I do hope to scale soon, and make this more of a steady revenue stream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noelherbals.com
• Instagram: noelherbals
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noelherbals/

Image Credits

Emily Frost