A
passion for health, healing, and the human body led Carolyn Ash to a
career as an aesthetician and a renowned skin care specialist—but her unique understanding of skin and the body can be traced to her years as a ballet dancer.
A dancer since the age of four, Ash studied on a Ford Foundation scholarship at Balanchine’s School of American Ballet
(SAB) in New York City before injuries forced her to give up dancing.
Yet it is her experience as a dancer that is what she attributes to her
unique insight about the connection between mind, body, and spirit.
“Ballet dancing really puts you in-tune with your body like nothing else can,” says Ash. “Through dancing I learned to appreciate the key role that diet and exercise play in determining how we look and feel.”
At age 23, Ash decided to follow her avid interest in health and healing and moved to Dallas to attend skin care school. In 1986, when the Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas decided to open a spa, Ash was hired as a facialist and massage therapist.
While at the world famous Spa at the Crescent, her talent as an aesthetician quickly became recognized. In 1986 and ’87 she received the distinction of “Best Facial in Dallas” by D Magazine and “Best Facial” by W Magazine.
Celebrities such as Kim Alexis, musician Lisa Loeb, and journalist
Robin Leach also discovered Ash’s talents as a skin care expert and many
celebrities have continued to seek her advice over the years.
In 1990, Carolyn left Dallas to live in Los Angeles, working for yet another renowned spa at The Biltmore Hotel in Beverly Hills, as well as Dr. Harold Murad’s A Sense of Self Day Spa in Brentwood, California (no longer in business under this name).
After two years in L.A., Ash returned to The Spa at the Crescent to share her new knowledge with her Dallas clientele. Then in 1994, she fulfilled her long-time dream of opening her own skin care center, Carolyn Ash Skin Care, which was located in the prestigious Highland Park neighborhood in Dallas.
In 2002 Carolyn moved to Chicago and opened a successful storefront
salon on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. Then in 2007 she moved to the
state she grew up in, Colorado, where she currently has a salon in the
wonderful front range town of Boulder. Since opening her salons, she has
built a clientele that includes people from all over the country. Based
on her experience with literally thousands of clients, she was inspired
to write about how to have and maintain healthy skin.
(I closed my Boulder salon after 10 years in Colorado in 2017 and retired from my 33 year skin care career May 2018)
“I wrote Timeless Skin and Skin Care A to Z because I believe people want to be told the truth,” says Ash. “I wanted to dispel the myths and falsehoods floating around about skin care and instead offer sound advice to help people maintain healthy skin...for a lifetime. It all comes down to following a simple skin care routine, protecting your skin from sun exposure, and finding ways to balance the stress in your life.”
“We are all concerned about aging. But aging
is a natural process—one that we should embrace not run from.
Accepting this inevitable process, acknowledging your inner beauty, and
realizing that The Fountain of Youth is found within, is what aging gracefully is all about.”
For more information, see:
 |
| Me, age 12 |
“Ballet dancing really puts you in-tune with your body like nothing else can,” says Ash. “Through dancing I learned to appreciate the key role that diet and exercise play in determining how we look and feel.”
At age 23, Ash decided to follow her avid interest in health and healing and moved to Dallas to attend skin care school. In 1986, when the Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas decided to open a spa, Ash was hired as a facialist and massage therapist.
While at the world famous Spa at the Crescent, her talent as an aesthetician quickly became recognized. In 1986 and ’87 she received the distinction of “Best Facial in Dallas” by D Magazine and “Best Facial” by W Magazine.
Celebrities such as Kim Alexis, musician Lisa Loeb, and journalist
Robin Leach also discovered Ash’s talents as a skin care expert and many
celebrities have continued to seek her advice over the years.In 1990, Carolyn left Dallas to live in Los Angeles, working for yet another renowned spa at The Biltmore Hotel in Beverly Hills, as well as Dr. Harold Murad’s A Sense of Self Day Spa in Brentwood, California (no longer in business under this name).
After two years in L.A., Ash returned to The Spa at the Crescent to share her new knowledge with her Dallas clientele. Then in 1994, she fulfilled her long-time dream of opening her own skin care center, Carolyn Ash Skin Care, which was located in the prestigious Highland Park neighborhood in Dallas.
In 2002 Carolyn moved to Chicago and opened a successful storefront
salon on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. Then in 2007 she moved to the
state she grew up in, Colorado, where she currently has a salon in the
wonderful front range town of Boulder. Since opening her salons, she has
built a clientele that includes people from all over the country. Based
on her experience with literally thousands of clients, she was inspired
to write about how to have and maintain healthy skin.(I closed my Boulder salon after 10 years in Colorado in 2017 and retired from my 33 year skin care career May 2018)
“I wrote Timeless Skin and Skin Care A to Z because I believe people want to be told the truth,” says Ash. “I wanted to dispel the myths and falsehoods floating around about skin care and instead offer sound advice to help people maintain healthy skin...for a lifetime. It all comes down to following a simple skin care routine, protecting your skin from sun exposure, and finding ways to balance the stress in your life.”
“We are all concerned about aging. But aging
is a natural process—one that we should embrace not run from.
Accepting this inevitable process, acknowledging your inner beauty, and
realizing that The Fountain of Youth is found within, is what aging gracefully is all about.”For more information, see:
- About Carolyn Ash—skin care expert
- To age or not to age: Is that the question?
- Aging, “Anti-Aging” and Beauty: Notes to My Readers
