Concept Project — Obsidian Webworks. Maison Aura is a fictional business created to showcase our work.View case studyObsidian Webworks →

Journal · Studio notes — brand content

Journal

Short, occasional notes from the treatment room, written by the people who work in it.

  1. Note 01Why we don’t rush a facialInès Laurent · 4 min read
  2. Note 02Less, applied properlySimone Adair · 3 min read
  3. Note 03Salt air, and what your hair noticesMargot Ferré · 3 min read

Note 01 · 4 min read

Why we don’t rush a facial

Written by Inès Laurent

Hands pressing slowly along a guest’s cheeks during a facial

A facial booked for sixty minutes, at most places, is forty-five on the table and fifteen on everything else: the paperwork, the change, the pitch at the end. We didn’t want to build a studio around that arithmetic.

Skin responds to time in plain, unglamorous ways. Products need minutes to sit, not seconds. Muscles in the jaw take a while to stop bracing. Most people don’t start to breathe properly until the second quarter of an hour.

“The last ten minutes are where the facial actually happens.”

So we book long and we book apart. Your sixty minutes start when you lie down, and there is a quarter-hour gap before the next guest. If that means fewer appointments in a day, it also means none of them are rushed.

From the menu Back to the index

Note 02 · 3 min read

Less, applied properly

Written by Simone Adair

A soft brush laying a thin layer of cream along a cheekbone

People arrive with a bag of half-used bottles and an apology. There’s no need for either. Most routines grow by addition, one product at a time, and rarely shrink.

What we usually suggest is subtraction. A gentle cleanser, something to hold water in, something for the sun. Then wait a month before adding anything back, so you can tell what it’s doing.

“If you can’t tell what a product is doing, it might not be doing much.”

This isn’t a rule, and it isn’t medical advice. It’s simply what we see work, again and again, for skin that’s tired of being managed.

From the menu Back to the index

Note 03 · 3 min read

Salt air, and what your hair notices

Written by Margot Ferré

A stylist drying a short bob by a window

Living two streets from the ocean changes hair. Humidity lifts it, salt dries the ends, and a blowout that holds for days elsewhere can soften by lunch here.

The answer isn’t more product. It’s a cut that respects how your hair falls when it’s left alone, so the humid days look intentional instead of undone.

“Cut for the worst weather. Every other day is a bonus.”

Book a Cut & Style and tell me how you actually wear your hair, not how you wish you did. We’ll build from there.

From the menu Back to the index