Meet Sara Turbeville of SKIN Santa Monica (and The Skincare Bar)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Turbeville.

Hi Sara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I became an esthetician after realizing that both the environment and the work of being a television news editor were fundamentally wrong for me. I dreaded going to work, and a few years after college I had the very adult realization that work takes up an enormous part of your life. I knew I needed to find something I genuinely loved, something meaningful to me, not something I was simply gritting my teeth trying to make it through.
That realization led me to aesthetics, and I’ve never looked back. Early in my career, I spent years working alongside prominent television dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons in Nashville, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica. It gave me an incredible clinical foundation and exposed me to a very high level of skincare and cosmetic medicine, and I’m genuinely grateful for that. But it also showed me what I didn’t want. In busy medical settings, treatments could start to feel like factory facials: rushed, impersonal, and too constrained by time to give each client the kind of thoughtful, individualized care they deserved.
That’s a big part of why I founded SKIN Santa Monica in 2008, which, timing-wise, was not exactly a genius move. But I knew I wanted to create the opposite kind of experience: more time, more customization, and enough breathing room for each appointment to feel thoughtful, unhurried, and highly personalized.
Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to build a wonderful clientele here in Los Angeles. That has included some very recognizable faces, along with many of the thoughtful, discerning people around them. What matters to me is helping people see a real difference in their skin so they can think less about their appearance and more about their actual lives.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges was that I knew how to treat skin, but I had never been taught how to run a business. When you’re a solo business owner, you’re not just doing the work itself. You’re also the scheduler, problem-solver, marketer, bookkeeper, customer service department, and the person lying awake at 2 a.m. thinking about all of it.
A big part of the challenge was that I was never trying to build a fast, high-volume business. I consciously chose not to chase the more conventional path of hiring a larger team and scaling for the sake of scale. That model works for many people, but it was never what I wanted. I loved the work itself too much to slowly turn into someone managing the work instead of doing it. What mattered more to me was protecting the one-on-one connection, the integrity of the work itself, and the kind of individualized experience that drew me to this profession in the first place. Building a business around depth rather than volume has absolutely been harder, but it’s also what gave the business its soul.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
What sets me apart is that I don’t see skin as something to treat generically; I see it as something to read. Every face gives clues, and part of my work is figuring out what is actually there, not just what a client has been told, sold, or assumed about their skin. Skin gives clues, but so do people. Paying attention to both is part of the work.
For me, skincare is part art form, part detective work, and part strategy. I’m looking at what the skin is doing, what may be driving it, what it needs that day, and what will make sense longer-term, both in the treatment room and at home. I’m not interested in one-size-fits-all treatments or routines built on guesswork.
I’m also a minimalist when it comes to skincare. The beauty industry thrives on confusion because confusion sells, and a lot of routines are just random ingredients piled on top of each other. I’m much more interested in editing, refining, and customizing. I want people using fewer things, but better things, in the right combination and at the right strengths. If I’m recommending or formulating something, I want every ingredient to earn its place. That same philosophy also led me to create The Skincare Bar, where the real luxury is precision: skincare formulated for the individual, not the market. I’m also not interested in pushing products. If something will genuinely help someone’s skin, I’ll recommend it. If it’s all hype, I’ll say that too.
I’m very results-first. I want treatments to feel elevated, but I care most about making a real difference in someone’s skin.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are two ways I typically work with first-time clients: a full consultation-and-treatment experience for people who want the deep dive, and a more focused option for those who want a customized facial with a concise consultation. In the fuller session, we go through everything—your products, your ingredients, what’s helping, what may be working against you—and build a strategy that actually makes sense for your skin, both in the treatment room and at home.
Every treatment is a collaboration, because skin is never just skin. In the more in-depth consultation, I’m often mapping out a fuller plan: not just what should happen with me, but what may make sense at home and, when appropriate, with dermatologists, laser specialists, or other trusted providers. I’m best suited to people who want a smarter, more individualized approach to their skin and are tired of guessing, overbuying, and hoping for the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.skinsantamonica.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skinsantamonica/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/skin-santa-monica
• Google reviews: https://g.page/r/CeztjvRp23ltEAE/review
• Other: https://www.theskincarebar.com (located inside the treatment office of SKIN Santa Monica)