Celebrity Facialist Joanna Czech Shares Her Secrets For Beautiful Skin
With a star-studded clientele that includes Bella Hadid, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston, Christy Turlington Burns, Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet, there’s no denying that Joanna Czech is Hollywood’s go-to facialist. We spoke to Dior Skincare’s newest ambassador about her skincare secrets to get red-carpet-worthy skin at home too.
What are some skincare problems that celebrities deal with and what kind of treatments do they request for?
Celebrities tend to wear more makeup than some of us. Their skin is also subject to a lot of heat, especially under studio lighting—I’ve been called to a movie set to help cure skin with algae masks or with any cooling and hydrating treatments— but otherwise, their needs are the same as ours. Celebrities want to work on their facial contours and to smooth or even out skin texture so that makeup looks perfect when applied and nothing is bumpy. So they would ask for mild exfoliation, lots of massages and some microcurrent for targeted muscle stimulation, or manual massaging to stimulate blood flow for rosy, healthy-looking and oxygenated skin. At the end of the day, they want what every woman wants: Smooth, hydrated skin with nice cheekbones and a beautiful jawline.
What’s the most common skincare misconception that people have?
Many people still view toner as the second step of cleansing as opposed to the first step of treating the skin. It’s very often misunderstood and skipped, but it shouldn’t be that way. I cannot imagine applying a serum without first using a toner. There is no way that the efficacy of your skincare would be the same if you do not apply a toner. A toner will provide proper hydration, balance the pH of skin and sometimes micro-exfoliate.
"Many people still view toner as the second step of cleansing as opposed to the first step of treating the skin."
How do you know if you’re overloading your skin with your skincare routine?
The most obvious signs are redness, dehydrated patches and, sometimes, increased hyperpigmentation. Many of my friends want to use everything they have and it could be like up to 20 products. What I suggest is to have a weekly skincare routine instead of a daily one. When we plan a skincare programme, say, focusing on increasing elasticity, we would use skincare products that address collagen synthesis, and also incorporate some red light therapy or maybe daily massaging to improve skin elasticity.
What’s a quick skincare tip you can share with us?
I wrap my ice cubes with a soft cloth used for cleaning spectacles. It’s quite soft on the skin and ensures that the ice cubes don’t burn your hands when you run them over your eye area. What you want to create is an at-home cryotherapy. I don’t recommend heat in my treatments because it’s a huge factor in causing hyperpigmentation and I’ve had to tell my clients that it’s not just the sun that will cause hyperpigmentation, but also things such as hot yoga, steam rooms and saunas. It’s not just the ageing process, it’s not just genetics. Heat enhances hyperpigmentation.
What made you decide that the Dior Capture Totale range was something you would put your name behind?
Hearing the words “cell energy” was the first thing. I have a science background; when I heard “cell energy”, and that Capture Totale’s four-flower complex re-energises our skin and could slow down the ageing process of the cell—that to me was everything. During my professional treatments, there is a step whereby I use a combination of sound and light, and that’s what stimulates ATP energy (also known as adenosine triphosphate, the energy- carrying molecule found in the cells of all living things), which is responsible for mitosis (the division of cells). So any treatment or product that would stimulate cell energy is fascinating to me. The serum in the range also has an amazing combination of hyaluronic acids and it penetrates the skin more easily than any other serum that I know.
