About Lavelle Velez, Aesthetician Specialist
I recall memories of my Grandmother's backyard Garden (*Organic*, of course) - and in it I would spend hours relaxing, respecting, connecting, and admiring the different flowers (& all their parts), vegetables, fruits, herbs, .. and the multitude of life that considered the Garden home (I was especially adoring of the bees and the butterflies). From my Little Girl place of Love and Intuition - I would create various tinctures, poultices, serums, and potpourri, and then integrate them in 'therapy treatments'. I would play a game my Grandmother would call 'Beauty Spa', where, after our evening baths, I would soak her feet in a tub of milk and flower petals, massage her face, neck, hands and feet, and lovingly apply lotion and oils to her and my skin. I remember my discovery of the tweezer at about age 8. I learned how to trim and define brows, and tweeze unruly facial hairs. Around that time I also taught myself how to care for nails, even my Grandmother's (who were brittle and strong, yet had skin which required careful attendance due to her diabetes). The Kitchen and Bathroom served as my Spa & Salon, Laboratory, Consultation Corner - and place of Love. This *ORGANIC GORGEOUSness* and Holistic Health through nature's bounty and lots of care, touch & love lasted with Grandma from my age 5 - 10, when I moved with my Family to San Diego. Del Mar, California is where I really learned about the health and happiness that can come from the Sun, and to a lesser extent the water. At that time, I also realized the importance of movement to keep my body balanced and healthy. Ashland, Oregon is where I studied in my Sophomore year of High School. It was a lovely, earthy, intelligent, progressive, compassionate, and happy little town where I learned to take my pseudo animal & environment mindfulness and develop into a declared Vegetarian, Animal & Environment Activist, Reduce/Reuse/Recycle/Composter, and wanna-be Organic Farmer/Gardner/Forager. It is also where I was exposed to the concept of mindfulness, intentional relaxation (through the use of aromatherapy, candles, meditation, earthing, and being one with Nature). My Family moved back to the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago - and a few years later, I made my Daughter, Damiane. I quickly decided if I was going to be a teenage, single (unmarried) Mama living way below the poverty line, I was going to be the healthiest, most intelligent and well-informed Mother I could be. I ate 'clean': whole, raw or slow cooked, no mammal meat, no animal milk, and organic whenever possible. My Mother helped me to shop at Fresh Fields (before it was Whole Foods), and we worked hard to grow healthy GORGEOUS babies, as well as holistically cure her cancer (which was a success, and at 66 my Mom is still with us today). I read everything: about growing & raising healthy children, vegetarianism, connecting with nature, and maintaining beautiful skin and health while being subject to the changes of hormones during pregnancy and breast-feeding. After high school, and a dozen+ years of college and academic & corporate jobs - I made the decision to change my life, and seek a career 'job' that hopefully would not seem like 'work'. I enrolled and attended Pivot Point International - Chicago for Esthiology, graduating first in my Class and Program, and earning the 'Personality & People Skills Award' (out of 500+ Graduates). I loved the Program, and I loved Skin Care!- but I wanted more knowledge and experience before I actually practiced Skin Therapy. So I enrolled at Tricoci University - Chicago, studying in the Teacher Training Program for Esthetics. I still yearned for education, but of a more holistic nature - so I read often and embarked on various trainings that became available anywhere and everywhere I could find them.
