Celebrity Esthetician & Mogul Kimo Bentley Is Changing Lives With Cutting-Edge Skincare Maintenance

Kimo Bentley has spent the past 17 years working alongside world-famous plastic surgeons in New York City to perfect her skills in the most cutting-edge technology in the skin, scalp, and full-body rejuvenation treatments.

Initially going to school for general accounting, Kimo decided to try her hand in the fashion industry. She designed showrooms and was an intern for the Ralph Lauren and Polo Sport company.

Still unable to find her calling so she decided to return to school for Health care services. On this journey, she stumbled upon the cosmetic/esthetic industry after being hired at Bosley Medical Center as a hair transplant technician working on many celebrities who frequented the industry for rejuvenation purposes. At the height of her accomplishments, she decided to go back to school and specialize in Esthetic skincare and spa management where she graduated at the top of her class.

Today she is growing the Kimo Bentley brand and distributing to retail locations across the country. As the business grows the brand philosophy remains the same. To use the healing powers of nature to naturally heal, protect, and cleanse your skin.

Hustle and Soul Magazine got an exclusive interview with Kimo.

Tammy Reese: Please tell us about your products, the Kimo Bentley brand, and how your company came about?

Kimo Bentley: I am a mom of three girls. I’m very proud of my girls. I am also the owner and the founder of the Kimo Bentley brand. The line actually started when my oldest daughter had eczema as a baby. I cleared her skin and she became eczema-free. The line evolved into something amazing. I opted for the natural alternative, as opposed to a prescription product for her. She was very young, and I wasn’t satisfied with the prescription that my doctor handed to me.

I went home and did a lot of research. At the time we had the encyclopedias because the internet was just happening, but it wasn’t that popular yet. So a lot of my information and research was done through books, reading, and various studies. That’s how I formulated my products for my brand. After the first product, which was an oatmeal bar came about I started evolving into cleansers, moisturizers, and toners.

I’m always developing products, at least three or four products I’m rolling out every month. It’s been pretty busy and I’m always getting inspired by something. I’m finding inspiration in my kitchen because that’s where a lot of the ingredients come from. I make products that are safe, happy, and healthy for our skin. It’s all about skin fitness. It’s like when you go to the gym to work on your body. So when we want to work on our skin we like to say skin fitness.

Tammy Reese: When you were in college, what went into your decision to go from accounting into the fashion industry?

Kimo Bentley: I was an intern at Polo Ralph Lauren for a while. That kind of struck a nerve that I like the beauty industry. But I wanted to dive a little bit deeper than clothing. I had acne around that time as well. I was working as a medical assistant for a company, Bosley Medical where I really fell in love with the cosmetic side of beauty. Becoming a licensed esthetician I started understanding the importance of skincare. It’s more than slapping on any old cleanser and toner, especially for us black women.

They always say black don’t crack. I’m about to write a book on how we do crack, but we just crack in different ways. We crack by getting sunspots, we crack with getting age spots, and pigmentation problems, that’s cracking.

I want to bring confidence to women. In the beauty industry, as you know, when you think of beauty or you see it often it’s blond hair, blue eyes, and very fair skin. It’s only very recently that you see the sisters on the cover of Vogue, and on the cover of those other magazines. You’re seeing our faces for the first time and in like forever but I need to see more people that look like me in my industry.

I recently created a network of black estheticians which is going to be a locator for other black estheticians all over the country and eventually I’m going to bring that globally. That’s the vision and that’s where I see my brand and my business going.

I want to get the word out, I want our black girls to walk into a room and be comfortable and confident about their skin. As I mentioned I have 3 girls and they are all different shades. One of them is chocolate, then I have my medium skin daughter and I have one that is fair-skinned. I love the diversity in my family. I know how to treat each of their complexions.

Tammy Reese: Kimo, how has your journey been so far as a black woman who’s an entrepreneur? Has it been hard? Are there any obstacles that you had to go through and overcame?

Kimo Bentley: It’s been hard, I don’t tell people that it’s glamorous all the time. It’s been a lot of work and a lot of disappointment sometimes. But it’s also been fulfilling because you can have like a whole week of disappointments and then that one person that would write me a letter or write me an email and say “you’ve changed my life.”

I know that my black skin matters, and your black skin matters. I am going to treat your black skin the same way that I treat my black skin. We are all different, and we’re all beautiful. I am obsessed with skincare. I love what I do. Skincare is what I do 24-7. I’m am the manufacturer and distributor of the Kimo Bentley skincare line.

Tammy Reese: For a woman that’s afraid to show their facial scars that may be from a domestic violence situation, and they use make-up to cover it up. What would you say to them?

Kimo Bentley: I’m a seasoned aesthetician 21 years this year and I know my stuff. However, there is no knowledge or forum that is talking about certain things. A lot of people are afraid to come in for chemical peels. They’re like, Oh, no, I saw so many horror stories on that. And it’s not for skin of color. I beg to differ because all over my social media and especially all over my Instagram, you will see the most dramatic before and after pictures of all skin types.

Tammy Reese: What would you say to anyone who aspires to be a mompreneur and some advice on how they can balance their mental health, family, and career?

Kimo Bentley: You have to be able to have the strength to take off one hat and put on another. If you try to put all the hats out at one time, you have to designate your time slots.

From eight to four, I’m the boss chick, I’m in the clinic, and I’m working. After four o’clock I come home, I’m the mom, we’re going to do homework, we’re going to cook, we’re going to hear about your day and how many breakouts that you experienced that you want gone by tomorrow morning, for sure. And then later on at night, I’m back to be in that boss making product, shipping out orders, putting the labels on, shipping the products out, handling customer service, and answering emails.

Designate your time slots, and be strict with that. If my cut-off time is 10 pm, that’s my cut-off time for quality time with my significant other. Then I do this all over again. It’s all about time management, taking one hat off, and putting on another while not trying to wear all the hats at the same time because that’s where things get overwhelming. And all of those hats can become very heavy.

Tammy Reese: Any spring recommendations for skincare through your brand and how can we purchase your products?

Kimo Bentley: You can purchase our products through the website, www.kimobentley.com. We have something that’s called a lemonade facial for spring. Then we also have a spring brightening facial, and a strawberry lemonade facial.

These are done with enzymes to keep the skin happy, healthy, and glowing. I’m 43 and I didn’t just wake up like this, it takes hard work to keep dark spots, pigmentation, and acne-prone skin away. It takes a little bit more maintenance. Facials once a month are actually really good for mental health, as well as for skin health, or skin fitness.

Also, us Black woman have to get into the habit of wearing sun protection, SPF 30 or higher is really important. Going into the summer months, some days are super hot. You have to wear it every day, 365 days a year, there’s no date that I don’t wear sunscreen. Today was gloomy. For instance, I still threw that sunscreen on.