This summer brought me somewhere I never could have predicted when I first became an esthetician 25 years ago. I had the privilege of joining Borghese on Martha’s Vineyard for a beautiful summer residency at the Faraway Hotel, an experience recently featured by Spa Business in an article about something that has become increasingly important to me, the art of intentional touch.
There was something deeply meaningful about bringing my work into this setting alongside a brand with such a rich spa heritage. Borghese was born from the Italian tradition of beauty as ritual, not something rushed or purely corrective, but something immersive and experiential. That philosophy feels closely aligned with the way my own work has evolved.
After 25 years of working with faces, I’ve learned that some of the most profound changes don’t come from doing more. They come from slowing down. Listening. Allowing the nervous system to soften. And recognizing that the hands themselves can communicate something no machine ever could.
Beauty Beyond the Surface
During my time on Martha’s Vineyard, I worked with editors and guests through treatments that incorporated Borghese’s Energia collection alongside my own approach to facial sculpting and intentional touch. But what stayed with me most wasn’t a particular product or technique. It was the feeling in the room.
When someone finally becomes still, you can often see the face begin to change before you’ve done very much at all. The jaw softens. The brow releases. The breath deepens. This is something I’ve witnessed thousands of times throughout my career. Your nervous system leads. Your face follows. For me, that is where beauty becomes much more interesting.
A Full-Circle Moment
Spending the week on Martha’s Vineyard also gave me an opportunity to reflect on how much this profession has changed, and how much I have changed with it. When I began my career, I was focused on learning every technique I possibly could. Twenty-five years later, I’m increasingly interested in what happens when we remove what is unnecessary. Less noise. Less rushing. Less forcing. More presence. More intuition. More trust in the intelligence of the body.
This shift has changed the way I think about facial sculpting, aging, and even what it means to care for someone’s skin. Softness creates shape. We’re not always forcing lift. Sometimes, we’re creating the conditions that allow the face to release and return to itself.
Where Beauty Meets Stillness
My experience with Borghese this summer reminded me why I fell in love with this work in the first place. Beauty can be luxurious. It can be transformative. But I believe it can also be deeply felt.
There is something powerful about giving another person permission to be completely still while being cared for with intention. That is the direction my work continues to move toward, and perhaps the greatest lesson I’ve taken from 25 years of touching faces. Beauty doesn’t always need to be chased. Sometimes, it simply needs enough stillness to emerge.
Read the Spa Business feature: “The Art of Intentional Touch: Borghese brings its Italian spa heritage to Martha’s Vineyard with partner and esthetician Catherine Ianelli.”
There's more to come. Keep an eye out for a special article featuring my work in O, The Oprah Magazine.