Get your skin in shape, literally, with Skin Fitness Specialist Julie Lindh - Yoshiko Roth-Hidalgo

YOSHIKO ROTH-HIDALGO'S FACIAL EXPERIENCE: I am quite the skeptic when it comes to facials, perhaps because of how sensitive my skin is, but when my business partner Metta came to work one day with buttery soft skin and feeling like her face had been “magically lifted a couple of inches”, I was intrigued. Metta had gotten the facial with Julie Lindh, who is considered one of the most sought-after natural facial rejuvenation experts in NYC. Of Indonesian and Swedish descent, Julie prefers to call herself a skin fitness specialist rather than aesthetician, since her specialty is to add a fitness dimension to her clients’ faces.

I met Julie at Yelo Spa in NYC on 57th Street near Columbus Circle where she sees most of her clients. The first thing you notice about her: Killer skin! The second thing: Julie is brutally honest… no euphemisms there. “You have a lot of calluses on your skin,” she remarks after feeling my skin. Excuse me? “I’ve stopped calling it dead skin cells because my clients don’t really understand. When I call it callus, which is what it really is, they think of their feet and really understand how important it is to remove it.” Indeed, the visual of my cracked heels makes me anxious to exfoliate…

“I call myself a skin fitness specialist because I incorporate machines in all my facials and because like a personal fitness trainer, I teach my clients and their skin. I am not about applying a couple of masks, massaging your skin and making you just feel good. My skin fitness approach is about targeting all 3 layers of your face:
1) First: correct imperfections on the surface: acne, discoloration, wrinkles, etc.
2) Second is prevention: repairing your collagen, strengthening your fibroblast.
3) Third is renovation: Perk things up, build muscle, correct the contours of your face. Here is where I use my photon light current machine which helps stimulate the muscles and create the lift. I start with a low current and increase with subsequent sessions, the same way that a personal fitness trainer will get you started on 5 lb dumbbells and increases the weights to keep your muscles challenged and stimulated. When I do repeated treatments on a client, I may even advise her to eat more protein to feed the muscles. It really is a fitness approach.”

About Julie’s candidness: “If you’re afraid to hear the truth, then Julie is not the person for you. But if you’re ready to get inspired by my approach, I will educate you more deeply, teach your body, your skin and most importantly tell you why I do what I do. I asked her what she considered the most common skincare mistake: “Most people just follow the latest trends, focus on quick fixes, get impatient when they don’t see instant results and then overdose on pretty much anything that promises a short cut. I tell my clients ‘Look at yourself in the mirror everyday of your life and ask yourself everyday how do I want to look in 5 years.’” This common mistake does apparently not apply to Asian clients. “Because Asian skin is so sensitive and takes so much longer to heal, Asian women are very risk averse and won’t try as many new things. For example, they will only use Asian skincare lines but don’t realize that there are differences amongst Asian skin types, too, and they don’t really consider how their individual lifestyle and emotional state has an influence as well. Because Asians are so risk averse with their skincare, they need to find the right person they can trust, in order to try a new approach.”

Freshly inspired by Julie’s philosophy, I laid down on the facials table. Due to my pregnancy, Julie was not able to use the micro current machine on me, but instead targeted the bumps and “calluses” on my skin. She resurfaced my skin with crushed diamonds, followed by a milk acid peel which stung quite a bit. “Breathe… be strong.” She ordered. I took a deep breath and tried to recall Metta’s buttery soft skin. She finally relieved the stinging with a neutralizer, continued with extractions and completed the process by lightly scraping over my face with what felt like a smooth blade. It felt strangely therapeutic. “This is one of my most popular resurfacing treatments, called epidermal leveling. Not a lot of spas offer this service because you have to be exceptionally skilled.” Epidermal leveling is a unique and ancient resurfacing method considered a great exfoliating option for sensitive skin as it does not break capillaries or compromise healthy skin tissue. It not only removes dead skin cells, minimizes fine lines, depth of scars and slowly sloughs off discoloration on the skin, but it also removes unwanted facial hair, which results in a much brighter, even complexion. When Julie was done, not only was my skin buttery soft, but my cheek and chin area looked a couple of shades brighter, since all that fine facial hair was gone. “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back soft, not stubbly,” she said, as if she read my mind.

Enjoy a Complimentary Lindh-Juara Mini-Lift Facial @ Yelo NYC (Sept 2009 ONLY.) Based on Julie Lindh’s Skin Fitness method, the anti-aging specialist incorporates JUARA with her secret techniques which deliver immediate results you can see and feel. This mini-lift facial will revive tired skin, detoxify pores and make you look years younger in one session. This special offer is only available for the first 50 people to redeem this offer in September 2009. Reservations required. Call Yelo Spa at 212-245-8235 to make a reservation. For questions about the facial, please visit http://www.jlskinfitness.com/ or contact Julie Lindh at jlskinfitness@gmail.com.
-YOSHIKO ROTH-HIDALGO