Multicultural Skin Care Expert Eryn Ren?e On Her Journey To Creating a Niche Skin Care Practice

Her epiphany came on the set of a music video when she was about 15 years old.? A model and actress used to being in front of the camera, Eryn Ren?e realized the potential for a career behind the scenes.

?I was sitting in the makeup artist?s chair one day, and all the artists on set were having fun! They were laughing and they were just having a ball,? Eryn Ren?e recalled. ?So I started talking to them and realized that I could be in the beauty business. I could remain?in the entertainment industry, but?be the person behind the scenes, getting people ready for the camera. I didn?t have to be on a diet all the time, and I didn?t have to work out like crazy. I also didn?t have to be so meticulous about the way I?looked; I could focus on other people and their appearance for a change.?

The revelation was liberating. Eryn Ren?e had been struggling with acne, and it was affecting her acting career. ?I would get to the point that if I was breaking out, I wouldn?t want to go on auditions. It was embarrassing. Here I am studying this monologue, this script, spending a lot of time trying to do my best as far as my talent was concerned, but I had this issue with my skin.?

Using makeup to cover up her acne, Eryn Ren?e was already skilled at makeup application, so she began working as a makeup artist and eventually enrolled in Esthetics school where she finally began to understand why skin care professionals, who are predominately white, had never been able to clear up her acne.

?When I went to Esthetics school, the chapter on ethnic skin was probably like five pages out of a 100-page book. Being of African-American and Puerto Rican descent?and identifying myself as a black woman, our [ethnic] skin is completely different from Caucasian skin. And when I say ?our?, I am referring to every?skin type?other than Caucasian skin, because if you have pigmentation, your skin is going to be different from someone who does not have pigmentation. I started to do research and realized a lot of us ethnic people have the same issues – hair underneath the chin, acne, eczema – it?s like a list of things that you typically will have in?your life as a brown person.?

The esthetics, dermatology industry wasn?t focused on skincare for ethnic skin, so Eryn Ren?e created Beauty Loft Spa in Atlanta to serve women and men with ethnic skin like hers. The medical spa not only offers cutting edge skincare therapies, but it also enhances your beauty with makeup, lash extensions, hairstyle recommendations and wardrobe styling.

?My slogan has always been to look like a celebrity. People spend a lot of time and money buying magazines, researching what products celebrities use, what hairstyles they have…so we are going to make you look like a celebrity. I want to help women discover more of their beauty, but I also talk to clients about the importance of really trying to put themselves first because it is very easy to pour yourself into other people and forget the essential things that you need to have as a woman.?

At Beauty Loft Spa, Eryn Ren?e uses the skills she learned while training? under a famous holistic dermatologist. She had access to the best treatments and skin care products, but it?s what he taught her about diet and nutrition that helped her improve her own skin.

?He wrote a book called The Acne Cure.? It wasn?t until I read the book and actually tried to follow some of the nutritional guidelines?he talked about that I started to see a major difference in my skin from the inside out. It?s just like a car, when you put in diesel fuel when you?re supposed to take supreme, the car won?t function properly. And so I started to really take what I ate?more seriously, changing some of the things in my diet and taking certain vitamins to help my skin. I started to see the difference.?

It is this knowledge from her experience that she actively shares with her clients. See a difference in your skin and enhance your overall beauty with these five tips from Eryn Ren?e:

You have to exfoliate in order for your skin to have a glow. You can exfoliate with scrubs or peels.
Use sunscreen and wear a hat when you are in the sun. Try your best not to consistently sit in direct sunlight. This is particularly important for individuals with black skin because the more sun that it gets directly, the?darker the spots look over time.
Know your assets. Whether it is your eyes, your lips, your shape or your hair. Whatever it is about you that makes you stand out and makes you feel good about yourself, try to accentuate it.
Take care of yourself and be confident in who you are and what you stand for because confidence is beautiful. Don?t compare yourself to others and try not to put all your energy and obsessions into your job, children or relationship. Save some lovin’ for yourself.
Eat a clean diet as regularly?as you can. Eating as many green vegetables or vitamin A rich foods?as you can as well as a lot of fish, which is high in Omega 3 contributes to hair growth, nail growth, good skin and helps control your weight.

Image: Courtesy Eryn Ren?e

Rae Oglesby?is a freelance multimedia journalist and the founder + chief storyteller for?Oglesby Communications Consulting. She can be reached at?rae@oglesbyconsulting.com.