So, You Want to be a Facialist?
How to Craft an Esthetics Career Minus the Burnout
Venus of the Mind is a weekly publication about beauty, culture, and magic of the everyday. New to Venus? Start here.
Dispatch, March 2026
How to Craft an Esthetics Career Minus the Burnout
Read Time: 5 mins
Good News
This publication now has a fresh domain!
She’s an official place in the online space.
If you happen to notice any broken links while exploring the archives please let me know, I’ll update accordingly: ivanainthestudio@gmail.com
GLOBAL BEAUTY DIRECTORY UPDATE
Dr. Dana Leigh Lyons, DTCM is now offering remote diet and lifestyle consultations grounded in Yang Sheng Fa (the TCM art of nourishing life). She has been a licensed Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine since 2012. Her work helps people reconnect with simple whole foods and sustainable habits rooted in Chinese Medicine and ancestral eating—supporting shifts that help you crave what truly nourishes you.
She also has an amazing journey that took her from the U.S. to Canada, and now to Mae Rim, Thailand!
Head on over to the global beauty directory for her contact information located under Nutritional & Lifestyle Guidance. You’ll also find a special perk available to Venus of the Mind paid subscribers.
BOOKISH BEAUTIES
Towards the end of April, our online book club for paid subscribers will gather to explore Chloé Cooper Jones’ book Easy Beauty. Don’t forget to grab your copy. Specific date/time is forthcoming.
GRATITUDE
Thank you for the comments and direct messages regarding last Sunday’s monthly missive. It was my favorite newsletter to write so far and felt very aligned for Spring Equinox.
Tangentially, last Tuesday I reread “In the Paint” by Sasha Bonét. Writing for the Dec’25/Jan’26 print issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Bonet observes that “Painting provides us with a sense of belonging: a reminder that everything that makes us feel like islands in our suffering has been felt by another. That we are in fact more alike than we are different.” Yes.
So, You Want to be a Facialist?
Greetings Gorgeous,
For today’s dispatch, I am sharing advice as it relates to embodying Emperor energy within the esthetic trade, a vocation that requires grounded self-direction and initiative with vision. While born out of my particular experiences working at the intersection of beauty and wellness, such an approach also has broad application in other spaces beyond esthetics and bodywork
I am often asked how I do what I do and am also asked for advice on how to generate professional longevity in an industry with a high-turnover rate due in-part to burnout from the high-touch nature of this work. Here’s a fascinating review from Science Direct about burnout in the beauty industry on the trade-worker end.
Now that I’m locked-into full-time focus with my esthetic practice while studying for a new professional credential, and writing this paid newsletter for weekly publication — I’ve gotten questions around how I manage between these three jobs. I manage by studying (and trying to embody) the archetype of The Emperor.
We are currently moving through Aries season, the cardinal fire sign that kickstarts a new zodiacal year. In tarot, the Emperor archetype is linked to Aires. Numbered as the fourth leading personality within tarot’s major arcana, I associate this figure with channeled inner fire, precision of service, and self-possession.
Instead of binary thinking around “soft” skills v. “hard” skills — which often carry gendered expectations — I like to think about workplace skills as belonging to four categtegories: technical, tangible, intangible, and integrative. Channelled inner fire (think hearth or your spirit’s inner light), precision of service, and self-possession are all integrative skills. While they can’t be listed on a resume and often come from lived experience beyond professional history, these skills are paramount to success in creating a positive client experience while inside the facial treatment.
What do these integrative skills look like in practice? More on that below.
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How to Show Up: The Foundational Energetics of Esthetic Work
Trade School ✅
Apprenticeship Hours ✅
State Board Exams ✅
Licensed ✅
Hired & Onboarded ✅
Alone in the treatment room…now what?
Before checking-in with your first client, remember that you are a skincare specialist who is there to serve — not toil. There is a difference. Work in the spirit of service is enacted with skilled agency, discernment, and positive self-regard. Work in the spirit of toil is done aimlessly, with porous boundaries, and low self-regard.
I mean serve as in what Merriam-Webster defines as: to be worthy of reliance or trust; to furnish or supply with something needed or desired; to answer the needs of; to contribute or conduce; to provide services that benefit or help.
I also mean serve as in, serving face and moving with grace. If your skin isn’t giving “they know what they’re doing” who will take your recommendations? If your hands aren’t giving “safe and considerate” who will let you touch their face again? Whether you’re clocked-in at the treatment room or clocked-out for drinks with your esthie bestie, life is a ballroom and we are all here to SERVE.
Speaking of life, outside of this trade you need to cultivate an existence that you are proud of. Pride in who you are beyond the treatment room is the key to being rooted and confident inside the treatment room.
If you care for yourself, this job will reward you.
If you forget yourself, this job will deplete you.
Move accordingly.
Related Reading
Got questions for the second dispatch out in May?
Email: ivanainthestudio@gmail.com
See ya next Sunday Newsletter Hotties! Our collective tarot card for April is up next.
Thank you for being here. I love writing to you.
Stay hydrated, be present, and glow like only you can do.
Thank you so much for mentioning and including me, Ivana!
And oof - I’m about half-way through Easy Beauty and it’s one of those books that will be seared into my memory. Such a phenomenal, unforgettable read.
I love how you describe the foundational energetics of esthetic work - very resonant with TCM practice.