Some people find esthetics. I needed it.

For years, I lived in my skin like I was something to hide. Consistent breakouts, cystic flares, post inflammatory pigmentation that stayed long after the blemish was gone. I stopped working out because I was afraid of what sweating would do. I stopped going out because I didn't want to be seen. I didn't leave the house without a full face of makeup, not because I loved it, but because I didn't love what was underneath.

But my skin was half part of it. Growing up Filipina American, I spent years believing I wasn't the right kind of beautiful. I didn't have blonde hair or blue eyes. I didn't see anyone who looked like me in the spaces I wanted to belong to. I grew up ashamed of who I was, convinced that beauty was something other people got to have. It took years, real years, to understand that what I was taught to see as a limitation was actually a superpower. Today I am so proud of my heritage I would shout it from every rooftop. And every day I show up as a Filipina American woman building something of her own, I hope I become the example I never had growing up.

Paraluman is a Filipino word. In Tagalog it means muse, a guiding light, a goddess. It was the only name that felt right for this studio because it is exactly what I want every woman who walks through my door to become. Her own muse. Her own source of light. I built this space because I spent too many years looking outside myself for validation & inspiration, & I know I am not the only one. My goal is simple. I want every woman who leaves here to stop seeking her beauty from somewhere else & start recognizing it in herself. I no longer seek validation from anyone other than God & myself. & I hope every woman I work with gets there too.

Before Paraluman, there was a welding torch.

But before Paraluman, before esthetics school, before any of this, I spent five years as a full time ASME TIG welder. It was skilled, demanding work & I was good at it. I loved it, for a while. Until I could feel it was slowly pulling me away from everything I was truly meant for.

The environment was hard on my body, harder on my nervous system, & by the end, I could see it on my skin. Stress, imbalance, & the weight of doing something that didn't light me up had a way of showing up exactly where I least wanted it to. I missed being around women. I missed being in a space where I felt like I was making a real impact. I missed enjoying life itself.

So I did something about it. Two years into welding full time, I enrolled in esthetics school at night. I was donning my gear & welding during the day then studying skin at night, driven by something I couldn't ignore. Before I ever left my welding career, I had already opened Paraluman. Not because it was the practical choice. Because I needed to.

My approach is corrective, skin respecting, & intentionally designed.

I believe you can achieve real, visible results without your experience ever feeling harsh, clinical, or aggressive. Skin responds best when it's supported, not pushed past its limits. I know this not just as a professional but as someone who watched her own skin suffer under chronic stress & nervous system disregulation. That lived experience is woven into everything I do.

Skin health is never just about the surface. It's shaped by fascia, lymphatic flow, muscle tension, & nervous system regulation, all of which play a role in how skin functions & heals. That's why my work is deeply hands on by design. At the same time, I value precision & technology. Microchanneling, LED therapy, spicule treatments, chemical peels, & advanced modalities all have a place in this work when the skin calls for it.

My approach lives at the intersection of eastern philosophy & western science, blending both to support the skin in the most effective & sustainable way possible. By addressing the skin from multiple levels, structural, muscular, & topical, I guide my clients toward their healthiest, most balanced, & most resilient skin. This is high touch skin care that is luxurious, thoughtful, & designed to last.

What I wanted, more than anything, was to help women feel heard, seen, & loved.

Not just cared for in the clinical sense. Truly seen. I built Paraluman because I know what it feels like to be in a room where you don't belong, to pour yourself into something that doesn't pour back, & to wish someone would just meet you where you are. Every woman who walks through my door gets that. A space designed entirely around her. A treatment built for her skin, her goals, & her nervous system. An experience that reminds her what it feels like to be taken care of.

The training behind the touch.

I'm a North Carolina licensed esthetician trained in holistic touch & lymphatic drainage, a certified facial cupping expert under Dr. Sakina Pace, a Circadia chemical peel & aging skin specialist, & oncology-trained. I've been personally mentored by Nevette Ramos. I bring all of that into every single appointment. I am not sharing this to impress you, but because your skin deserves someone who takes this seriously.

If you're ready to stop managing your skin & start transforming it, you're in the right place.

Start your skin journey today & become your own muse.