Ja-Non Barber
Co-owner and spa director of L'essence Day Spa & Salon and Tangerine Salon and Spa.
You’re very likely to meet Ja-Non Barber during your visit to L’essence Day Spa & Salon. She’s a skin care professional trained in all day spa services, from esthetics to massage therapy. She’s the woman with the jet-black hair and graceful smile.
She’s also one of the creators of today’s L’essence Day Spa and a co-founder of Tangerine Salon and Spa.
Ja-Non has studied esthetics, therapeutic massage, body treatments and aromatherapy with masters both here in the U.S. and Europe. And now, in her role as spa director, she trains L’essence spa therapists in all Aveda facials, massage therapies and body treatments.
Whether you’re working directly with Ja-Non or with one of her L’essence spa therapists, you’ll feel her expertise and influence.
Education and Training in Esthetics and Therapies
Ja-Non Barber started her career in the salon industry in 1984 with her graduation from Zenzi’s Beauty in San Francisco, Calif. It was there that she received her basic education in esthetics – skin treatments, European facials, depilatory procedures and makeup artistry using Dr. Eckstein products from Germany.
She returned to Reno to set up her practice of esthetics, using a Hungarian product line, Christine Valmy. She received post-graduate training from the Valmy Corporation in San Francisco, Calif., learning advanced knowledge of skin function and diagnosis of skin conditions and treatments. Meanwhile, Ja-Non was putting her esthetics training to use as the makeup artist for the principles of the Nevada Opera and numerous modeling agencies in Reno.
In 1988, the rise of the day spa revolution enticed Ja-Non back to school, where she trained for, and received, her massage license. She also became a licensed Chiropractic Assistant, with training in modalities such as Hot/Cold Therapies, TENS unit, Ultrasound, X-Ray and, of course, massage.
In 1990, Ja-Non helped open L'essence the Arte of Beauty, a small skin care studio where Decleor and Aveda were the principle treatment lines. She explored aromatherapy for its effectiveness in skin therapy, and received advanced training in Aromatherapy using Decleor Paris products, in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Aromatherapy, Hot Stone Therapy and Eyelash Extensions
During this time, Ja-Non also received training in Clinical Aromatherapy from the CIDESCO school of London, England. Her instructor, Eve Taylor, the schools' founder, provided hands-on-training in treatment and application of pure essences for the treatment of chronic stress and detoxification of the lymphatic system.
Ja-Non brought this new expertise home to Reno, bought L’essence, renamed it L’essence Day Spa and Salon, and began providing facial and body treatments, balneotherapy, hydrotherapy and nail services.
Ja-Non continues to explore and study new treatments; in fact, you can count on her to pursue the latest and the best in esthetics and body treatments for her Reno clientele. For example, she has received intensive training in hot stone massage therapy from Lastone, the pioneer in hot stone therapy.
And in 2007, Ja-Non became a Certified Xtreme Lash™ eyelash extension specialist, only one of two in Reno (L’essence co-owner Linda Davimes being the other). Xtreme Lash was the original company to develop the procedure, and it is still rated Number One in the eyelash extension industry.
What’s next for Ja-Non and her continuing education?
“We will always have new discoveries in the science of skin and body care,” says Ja-Non, “and we’ll be vigilantly transforming those discoveries into something practical and useful for both esthetics and health benefits. You can count on that.”
