JOANNA CZECH: THE DEFINITIVE ORIGIN STORY
The real deal….
How else would you describe an A-list esthetician who’s been famous for decades, with clients ranging from Anna Wintour and still-gorgeous 90s supermodels to newly minted Hollywood royalty like Sydney Sweeney and Hailey Bieber?
You don’t get to that level – and stay there – without bringing something truly unique and game-changing to the party.
Ask Joanna what sets her apart in the professional skincare arena and she quickly points to the extensive training she received in her native Poland. Compared to the U.S., where, depending on the state, estheticians can obtain a license after as few as 600 training hours, Poland’s standards are considerably more rigorous and scientific.
In fact, Joanna received significantly more training – literally years longer than her American counterparts. And perhaps even more importantly, that education encompassed the entire body, not just the face. This 360-degree focus informs Joanna’s holistic approach to beauty, yet another facet that sets her apart in the highly competitive esthetics industry.
Although she’s had an unparalleled career as an esthetician, Joanna freely admits that becoming a facialist wasn’t her initial goal. Originally, she’d hoped to become a physician until physics threw a roadblock in her path.
“Always what I was interested in was the human body, and health, and taking care of yourself,” she says. “I was planning to be a doctor.”
Joanna’s Plan B, esthetician school in Bialystok in the northeast of Poland, proved extraordinarily fruitful. There, over the course of all those hours of study and hands-on training, she learned to care for clients from literally head to toe. Anatomy, physiology – even the pathology of the human nail plate – were part of Joanna’s beauty school curriculum. “I loved every single minute of it,” she says, “because it brought me to where it brought me.”
Where it brought Joanna was to New York City at the age of 25. By that point, she’d already opened a studio in Poland with help from her parents and run it successfully for a few years. But after a client’s daughter urged her to bring her special skillset to the States, Joanna planted roots in Manhattan.
While she currently owns Joanna Czech Studios in Dallas, New York and Beverly Hills, NYC is definitely where Joanna’s star began to rise.
In the mid-90s, to score a free membership to the hottest gym in town – Reebok Sports Club – Joanna took a position as a nail tech at the in-house salon, Paul Labrecque. There, all that time studying nail plate pathology in esthetician school came in mighty handy, as Joanna quickly established herself as the go-to manicurist.
Before long, Vogue came knocking, booking Joanna as the on-set nail tech for photo shoots. Fun fact: Joanna’s very first editorial credit was a Vogue cover shoot for a mani / pedi she did on 90s supermodel Trish Goff.
As Joanna’s reputation for knockout nails started to expand, more and more clients were eager to entrust her with their skin. “They said, ‘If you do facials like you do pedicures, I’ll try a facial, too,” she recalls.
Wildly industrious and known for routinely clocking 18-hour days, Joanna pioneered many of the techniques that have since become TikTok famous as The Next Big Thing. Among them? Deep tissue facial massage and the use of ultrasound and LED light for the stimulation of ATP energy in skin cells.
Despite Joanna’s love for New York City and deep roots there, Dallas was actually the city she selected for her first Studio, which she opened in 2015. The New York City Studio, located in SoHo not far from some of Joanna’s favorite shopping haunts, followed in 2018. And in early 2024, Joanna opened an LA Studio at L’Ermitage Beverly Hills Hotel. The five-star property, featuring several private entrances, is the ideal spot for Joanna to tend to her movie star clients and high-powered Hollywood business execs in relative seclusion.
Today, as an avid traveler and true citizen of the world, Joanna gets ample opportunity to practice the four languages she speaks: Polish, Russian, Italian and English. The consummate frequent flyer, she rotates among her Studios, caring for the complexions of her A-list regulars and prepping superstars like Jennifer Aniston, Kim Kardashian and Bella Hadid for red carpet events like the Oscars and the Met Gala.
All those air miles prompted Joanna to develop a stripped-down, hyper-effective skincare line targeted to the seven essentials she feels are non-negotiable. Dubbed “The Kit” and launched in 2021, it includes everything Joanna feels is integral to great skin: The Toner, The C+ Serum, The Soothing Serum, The Cream, The Balm, The Cleansing Wipes and The Face Mask.
The big idea behind The Kit? Keeping skin healthy and glowing no matter what climate or condition Joanna’s clients find themselves in. As yet another point of distinction for Joanna, she believes our skin routines require seasonal tweaking.
Creating the product line was the perfect opportunity for Joanna to tap her inner Science Nerd, as she sent the samples back to the lab more than 30 times until they met her exact specifications.
“I drove everyone crazy,” she recalls of her product-creation journey. “’It had to be as close to perfect as possible, because ‘good enough’ is not in my vocabulary.”
Joanna Czech Skincare
The Kit
Joanna Czech Skincare
The Cream
Joanna Czech Skincare
The Balm
Joanna Czech Skincare
The Cleansing Wipes
