Beauty Secrets We Learned From Joanna Czech

As far as we know, there's almost no such thing as effortless beauty. From facial treatments that leave your complexion dewy and luminous to the perfect winged eyeliner, experts reveal their most-trusted, insider hacks for CR's series, Beauty Secrets.

Joanna Czech is the not-so-secret weapon behind some of Hollywood’s glowiest faces. Kate Hudson, Mandy Moore, a slew of the Kardashians, and many, many more celebrities enlist Czech to unleash her full arsenal of high-tech treatments, invigorating facial massages, and customized techniques to keep them looking their freshest. With decades of experience, the facialist has earned a reputation for her luxe services and ability to discover the next best thing in skincare.

While the pandemic put a pause to her Dallas and New York City studios’ operations, Czech by no means slowed down. During quarantine, she tapped into the virtual world with video consultations that have taken her to 27 countries and counting. Now, as both studios are reopened and adapting to the new normal, she’s more enthusiastic than ever about supplementing her standout treatments with personalized strategies that clients can practice at home. Here, Czech shares some of these tips with CR, including a trick for DIY cryotherapy and an important reminder when it comes to anti-aging.

What's your skincare mantra?
“My philosophy regarding yourself and your skin is to always respect, support, and protect. Respect yourself, and those around you. Support yourself–that's going to be your healthy, mindful, intuitive lifestyle. And protect–try surrounding yourself with a particular energy or people. And it’s the same with skin. I believe strongly in a personalized skincare routine. Don’t do what your girlfriend does. And I don’t even like sharing [specific routines] because everyone has very different needs.”

Are there universal steps that you recommend?
“Don't bring the streets to your sheets, which means concentrate on your nighttime routine for your face and for your body. What I recommend to clients, especially these days, is to start your nighttime routine at 6 p.m. so you don’t have excuses that you are [too tired]. There are four important, basic steps: cleansing, toning, adequate serums if necessary, and then your moisturizer. Twice a week do a deeper cleanse using a pre-cleanse oil–which will soften any congestion or dehydrated patches–followed by a clay mask on top, without removing the oil. Massaged together with water, the clay mask is going to detach everything that got softened and your face is then ready for toner or your other treatments. I've been doing this for at least 20 years during my professional massages. Then, it’s very important to have a slightly acidic toner. After those two steps, you could apply just a moisturizer because sometimes less is more, or you could choose to use some serums that will address whatever you want to target.”

Do you have any at-home facial tips?
“You can make your own cryotherapy with ice cubes. You can [do a facial massage], and then run an ice cube over your sheet mask. Everything is stimulated [from the massage] and you want to trap it there. That's when you block it with the ice cube. Sometimes when you want to do a little de-puffing treatment you can make your own ice-cubes at home out of dandelion tea, which drains fluids from the tissue.”

What is a common skincare mistake you see people make?
“Among other mistakes women do, forgetting about the neck and décolleté and over-treating their face. [The neck and décolleté] has about 30 to 40 percent reduced thickness of the lipidic layer, in comparison to the face. The jawline creates a perfect borderline because of the amount of sebaceous glands between the face, neck, and décolleté. That's why we don't age so quickly there, but then all of a sudden one morning you wake up and you get a line on your neck. What happened? You forgot to take care of it, and also the lipidic layer reduced. That’s why I say nipples up [for skincare], and when you take care of your body, it’s neck down. This way, the weakest area gets double treatment.”

As fall approaches, how can people adapt their skincare?
“Spring and fall have the mildest temperatures and this is when I would advise customers [to do] a more drastic treatment or a deeper peel, because your body is not fighting cold or heat. It doesn’t need to produce extra energy to [regulate your body temperature]. So this is the time when you can plan a repairing treatment, either post-dehydration after winter or post-hyperpigmentation after summer.”