SkinSpirit Brings the Best Noninvasive Facial and Body Treatments to San Francisco

For the past 14 years, SkinSpirit has helped women of the Bay Area look younger and feel more confidant. The skincare clinic and spa, from CEO and co-founder Lynn Heublein, specializes in everything from undoing sun damage to hair removal to erasing wrinkles. With four locations in the region and three in Washington state, SkinSpirit has helped countless women be radiant—inside and out. However, until recently, Heublein didn’t have a San Francisco location. Luckily, this week Heublein is officially opening the first SkinSpirit in the city on Sacramento Street. “We’ve always gone for the low hanging fruit in terms of what is going to be the easiest clinic to open,” Heublein explained to Haute Living recently over the phone. “It was easier to build out in the suburbs—our first SkinSpirit was in Palo Alto—but we have built a beautiful clinic and taken the plunge.” Like many SF-based business owners, Heublein says that its taken much longer to secure the permitting in San Francisco than it has in other cities.

The wait was worth it: the Sacramento Street boutique and spa is gorgeous. The front section of the bright and airy space serves as a shop for the lines of skincare products that are used throughout SkinSpirits treatments. The walls are an inviting buttery yellow, shelves and counters are white marble, and the wooden floor is a dark shiny chocolate. Off of the retail space is an intimate and cozy waiting room with red-and-beige-striped curtains for those who prefer privacy, gold and cream damask wallpaper, and smooth wooden tree stumps that serve as individual coffee tables or foot stools. Down a hallway there are a series of eight treatment rooms—the rooms where facials are performed have luxurious heated beds that move to the ideal position for maximum comfort during the treatment. Not sure what sort of SkinSpirit experience is right for you? Book a complimentary consultation to chat with an aesthetic nurse practitioner who will lead you to the best noninvasive, results-driven treatments.

Heublein’s partner in crime is Dr. M. Dean Vistnes, a pioneer of the non-surgical skincare and cosmetics for the face and body. In 2003 when Heublein was taking a year off of a high profile tech job, Dr. Vistnes approached her with the idea of opening a medical cosmetic space that would be more like a spa than a clinic and feature only non-surgical procedures. Dr. Vistnes was ahead of his time as now these sort of medspas are growing in popularity. “There is a ton of research and development going into this category. People are really looking to avoid surgery,” Heublein says. “The biggest trend right now is different fillers and injectables that are focused on every area of the face. There are products specifically for the lips, so we can get more natural looking results with the lips, but not just both lips. There are really specified injectables for the upper lip and the line above the lips. People are really focusing on different areas of the face and using fillers that are made to reverse the signs of aging for that specific part of the face or body.”

Another thing SkinSpirits clients are looking for? Treatments that don’t force them to hide out in their houses, but the opposite: will prepare them for an important night on the town. B12 injections and dermaplaning facials are two effective ways to leave skin glowing immediately. The injection of B12 helps increase metabolism and can fight flus. In the dermaplaning facial, a very fine razor is gently used to remove redness, peach fuzz, and a layer of dead skin that sits on your face. For the best results in a dermplaning facial, request aesthetic medical assistant and clinical aesthetician Shelia Bakhtiari. She triple checks skin to ensure you receive the most thorough and beneficial treatment. Heublein is a fan of Skinbetter Science’s InvisiLift mask—a product that provides a temporary 12-hour facelift. “Skinbetter Science is one of the newest product lines that we have in San Francisco,” she says, “You do it at home. It’s a very cool kit with a face cream and mask that creates an invisible film. I use it when I have a party or meeting where I have to look my best. In my role as the co-founder, people are always checking out my skin, so I use all the tricks I can!” Tricks that, thankfully, she’s finally bringing to San Francisco.