Courtesy Angela Lutz
From the moment you step into Angela Lutz’s serene studio, Angela Lutz Aesthetics, you can feel your stress start to fade away. While the soft lighting, soothing music, and scents of lemon and sage (courtesy of a gently flickering candle) add to the ambiance, it’s the bubbly brunette aesthetician who truly puts you at ease. While she certainly has the styling chops to sculpt your eyebrows into the boldly artistic brows that are oh-so-popular on Instagram, she prefers to take the time to listen to her clients, to get to know them and their daily routines to create custom consultations and treatments for each individual. In fact, many of her clients have been with her for years. “I just love taking care of others and making them feel better about themselves,” says Lutz. “I feel blessed to be able to walk through those doors every single day and never feel like it’s an inconvenience, to never feel like I don’t want to go to work.”
Courtesy Angela Lutz
While Lutz got her start in the beauty industry by working for larger corporations, she decided to take a leap of faith in 2014 and launch her own private business. The same year, the budding entrepreneur co-created the cruelty-free product line Arch Addicts with two fellow industry professionals. Within one year, her passion and desire to do more had taken her five-figure business to six figures, and she opened a brick-and-mortar location in 2016.
Just last year, Lutz bought out her co-owners’ shares of Arch Addicts and purchased the company. She currently offers traditional brow shaping services including waxing, tinting, and blading as well as acne consultations and treatments and skin experiences at her studio in Eden Prairie. In fact, we recently had the chance to visit her (and try out a wonderful brow experience ourselves!). Check out our Q&A with her below.
What made you interested in the beauty industry?
I had terrible acne growing up. My parents did the best they could and sent me to a dermatologist, and at that time, their best recommendation was to go tanning! I was covering my face with so much makeup, it looked terrible. I was embarrassed. I dealt with it for many years and ended up going on Accutane. After they prescribed another round, I decided the side effects were too horrible. So, I went to school to find out how to take care of my skin myself. I realized I loved the beauty industry and loved making people feel amazing about themselves, and the career grew from there.
What is the best lesson you’ve learned as an entrepreneur?
That I don’t have to be everything to everyone. When I started out, I thought I had to be awesome at every service on every menu. It’s just not possible. People excel in certain areas, and those are the ones they should focus on.
What are some of your own personal favorite skincare products?
I love sheet masks; those are great for people to take home and use. Vitamin C serums are amazing, and everyone should be using them! My tried-and-true product line is Phytomer, and their Vie collection has products made with a Botox-like peptide. It’s perfect to apply to your skin every day. It’s not going to give you the results of Botox, of course, but it definitely helps give you bright, healthy, and glowing skin.
Do you have a signature experience you recommend to newbies?
Our Lux Restoration Experience. It’s a skin treatment where you get a great physical exfoliation with dermaplaning and an anti-aging mask that’s mixed right before it goes onto the skin. You get a massage as well, and most clients are dozing off by the time I’m done cleansing their skin.
When it comes to everyday brow care, what are your top tips?
Toss your tweezers and let me help you! So many people over-tweeze, and soon you’re left with no brows at all. I also like to recommend leaving your brows alone for the most part—you can use a pencil to shape them, but don’t be afraid of natural brows. … They will always be in style. You don’t want to fill them in to the point where your eyebrows enter the room before you do. That perfect “Instagram brow” is not for everyone!
Favorite Arch Addicts product?
Archoholic – Malt. That was our first product, our baby, and it’s just a great universal shade.
What’s next for Angela Lutz Aesthetics and Arch Addicts?
We have quite a few things in the works right now, from new Arch Addicts products I’m hoping to launch by the end of the year to some collaborations with different companies. I can’t give specifics on those yet, but I’m also hoping to incorporate a new service with Angela Lutz Aesthetics—something along the lines of anti-aging, and maybe something with LED therapy. It’s exciting!
