 Nina Curtis, esthetician, skin care innovator, lecturer and educator and businesswoman. By Ryan Gierach. |
While merely walking into the lush tropical garden environment of The Nile Institute ‘A Source Vital’ on WeHo’s posh Nemo St. cools and refreshes, walking out after a treatment by famed “esthetician’s, esthetician” Nina Curtis is more akin to floating.
Widely-known around the global lecture circuit for her innovative approach to individual wellness, beauty and personal care – she carries the moniker “The Skin Care Coach” - Ms. Curtis founded the Nile Institute 11 years ago in Beverly Hills, but “began looking on Nemo in West Hollywood four years ago,” she told WeHoNews.com.
“I love the city and its feeling of community; I really wanted to belong to this community. I was lucky and glad to find this place,” she said.
The move to WeHo finally took place in early 2006 when she snagged a private home sitting amidst eateries, gyms and other estheticians on the block and remodeled it to make it a functional spa. Its coolth matches the surprisingly soothing and relaxing treatment she offers.
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 Ms. Curtis demonstrating the LED machines’ use. By Ryan Gierach. |
Incorporating elements of a revolutionary second-generation LED (light emitting diode) photomodulation machine (the first generation of which was designed for doctors’ offices; the Nile Institute has the first such for-esthetician-use machine in Southern California), color and aroma therapy, acupressure, reiki and skin treatments, Nina’s half hour treatment can take the edges off the most trying days and turn frowns to blissful smiles.
Most impressive is the LED treatment, which, as Nina explains, “exfoliates while stimulating collagen production and actually has an anti-inflammatory element to it, so rather than inflaming the skin, the treatment soothes it.” After a trial treatment, we can vouch for that; never had our skin felt smoother or more vital, and beyond a delightful tingle while under a mask, we felt none of the irritation one sometimes is left with as a memory of the facial.
 Nina's garden complete with Egyptian glyph, papyrus and a splashing fountain. By Ryan Gierach. |
“For my first facial in cosmetology school, to be given an idea of what I would be doing to others once I graduated, I was sent to a Czech woman who squeezed and scraped my face,” she said. “It hurt so much and I cried on my way home because I didn’t want to do that to people, I didn’t want to hurt people.”
That principle has guided her ever since; she has developed innovative techniques for making skin healthier with roots in making the whole person healthier; rewarding the body with proper hydration, diet, exersise and non-violent skin treatments.
Showing off the transformation wrought on the house that turned it into a salon space with several comfortable treatment rooms, ample office space, gracious parlor and capacious garden event space, Ms. Curtis explained that she had long sought a salon space that would not only enable her wholistic approach to health, wellness and beauty to blossom, but ever the MBA (Pepperdine), also offer additional ways to serve her clientele.
“I wanted a garden space to have water playing in the Isis fountain so that we could hold small gatherings and events here. We have room for weddings, special occasions and small parties,” she said. “It gives me a place for my Egyptian garden and papyrus, a place to try things out and move them and try new plantings.”
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Enjoying a “Taste of the Nile” could involve one of Nina’s “Customized Face & Body Care Treatments,” familiarization with the Biologique Recherche line or having her assist in selecting the best Organic Skin Care Products for your skin’s type and color. Or it might be a visit in which you select your perfect makeup from Ms. Curtis’s special color-customizable line.
Or it may be just a quick light therapy session to refresh your face and a seat by the fountain in the aftermath. Whatever your choice, you’ll feel renewed within and without and feel like you’re walking on clouds.
The Nile Institute is at 9053 Nemo St. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Doheny. For more information call 310.275.Nile (6453).