Alumni Spotlight: Chelsea Blackburn Owner of Dew You Skincare & Lore Skincare
Alumni Spotlight on Esthetics grad, Chelsea Blackburn! She is an ambitious individual whose skincare concerns ignited a passion for beauty and motivated her to become a spa owner and founder of her skincare line! Chelsea likens herself to a sponge who wants to soak up as much knowledge and understanding as possible. After experiencing skin care problems at 20, she embarked on a journey to discover the root of the issues and how to prevent and treat them. This led her to enroll at Christine Valmy, where she fell in love with learning about skincare and esthetics. She believes that becoming a student at CV was the best decision she ever made! Afterward, she took her business acumen and the knowledge she acquired at CV and decided to open up her beauty spa, Dew You Skincare, and her skincare line, Lore Skincare! She lives her dream life and believes all the effort and sleepless nights were worth it. Her advice to students about graduating from CV is to never stop learning! There’s always room to learn more about skincare and the Beauty Industry. Keep striving for success, and your dreams will come true one day!
- What specialty(s) did you study during your time at CV? Esthetics.
- What year did you graduate? 2012 in the New York location.
- What are you doing now? I own and operate 3 locations – in Beverly Hills, NYC, and Sacramento. I recently received a diploma in organic skincare formulation and launched my first two skincare products in September 2023. I plan to expand my Beverly Hills location in 2024 and add another Esthetician or 2.
- What was your journey like to get to your current role? I was working in hospitality management when I got my esthetics license. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I decided to start my own business (without prior salon experience eek). I had a lot of experience on the business operations side, so I figured I could take my passion for skincare and people skills and do my own thing. It required much more research – I read many online materials and books and even got certified in facial acupressure. I realized that I wanted to focus solely on providing facials, and my technique has evolved into a primarily massage-focused treatment with gentle resurfacing products (mostly all still CV) and thorough extractions. I am focusing on the skin’s general health by improving circulation, and I have so many people who want this type of treatment. I have utilized social media to get a lot of my clients. I try to record as much content of my treatments as possible (of course, getting consent first). This has proved to be a great way to showcase what I do without someone being referred by a friend. Taking before/after photos is also a great way to see what I am actually doing to their skin.
- What was your favorite part about your time as a CV student? Learning anything and everything skin! I was never drawn to waxing; lashes and brows weren’t a thing when I went to school. But I decided to go to school mainly because of my skin journey. I developed horrible acne for the first time when I was about 20 years old and had no idea how to take care of it. When I went to a derm, she just told me to take medication and use a topical cream but didn’t explain WHY I was having my issue and why these medications were going to help. I wanted to understand precisely why my skin was freaking out and how to properly manage my acne as well as prevent it. So learning about all of this in school was very exciting for me. I also loved that it was a family-owned and women-run business with products that were made in their own lab in small batches. All things I still stand behind. Also, fun fact: I went to school full-time Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm and worked in the evening from Tues-Sat 10 pm-3 am… so I was getting one day off to study and about 4 hours of sleep every night. To this day, I have no idea how I did that and still got A’s! But I know I was so excited to learn and wanted to do a good job—one of my best decisions! I also loved the practical section because when someone was giving me a facial, I could sleep :).
- What is something you learned during your time at CV that has stuck with you today? I can’t remember if an instructor told us this or if it was a video; however, Christine Valmy herself said that people should be getting facials so they don’t have to get a facelift too early in life – and it’s because of the constant lifting from the specific facial technique. I always thought that was funny, but honestly, it is accurate and something I like to pass on to my clients. It’s not as expected, but I still use the cotton technique throughout the whole facial. I think it’s a great way to get more lifting throughout the whole treatment.
- Do you have any advice for someone who is considering a beauty education? Do your research on schools and just start. You can’t do anything without the license; once you’re in school, you’ll usually know what you gravitate towards. Once you have your license, you can continue your education and get certified on specific things. Follow spas and estheticians on Instagram whom you gravitate towards. This will also help you figure out the kind of thing(s) you want to do.
- Do you have any wise words for students who are about to graduate and look for their first professional job in the industry? Be a sponge! If you are reading materials or following accounts online, make sure you are actually retaining the information. The more you know, the more you can share with your future clients. Try to work with as many different people as possible – this way, you familiarize yourself with all the different skin types, ethnicities, and ages. You will be better equipped to feel confident when you get new clients. Continue to ask yourself the “why’s.” Why are you using X product on their skin? Why are you using this technique? Why should they be using X products at home? – you should be able to answer and communicate these answers to your clients. This will create trust and respect between the two of you. Find places you think you’d want to work at and message them on social media, asking if they’re hiring. Even if they’re not, they will keep you in mind when they are.
Our ultimate goal is to provide our students with a strong foundation upon which to grow a flourishing career. Marina Valmy, our leader, calls this a “root system,” and it’s why our success as educators is embodied by the successes of our alumni. To celebrate this, we feature the achievements of our fabulous graduates in our Alumni Spotlight series. Each Spotlight showcases an interview with a Christine Valmy graduate about their educational and professional journeys.
As part of our educational philosophy, we aim to provide thought leadership on topics relevant to industry professionals and those with a passion for beauty. Click here to visit our Educated Insights homepage to learn trends, tutorials, industry news, and tips for at-home care and spa treatments.
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