Friends, we are honored to introduce to you to our dear friend, current Fat Crush, and one of your Fat and the Moon Makers, Victoria Adams. Tori is a Holistic Esthetician based in Nevada City, California with 20 years of experience in Esthetics. After graduating in 2000 in New York City she traveled extensively and later resided in San Francisco for 12 years, where she enrolled in various art, herbalism and nutrition classes, always remaining curious and passionate about skincare and the healing power of plant medicine.
Tori is the originator of the infamous Kosmos Facial— a transcendant facial that uses Fat and the Moon and specialty Kosmos products in combination, and is tailored to the unique needs of each client. The products are chosen and blended by hand according to your skin, and always includes cleansing, masks and river stone massage.
Some of Tori’s other interests include: Interior design and home improvement projects, old places, old things, being submerged in bodies of water, social justice, music and her two dogs — Dovey and Minnow. Tori is also attuned in Reiki 1.
We interviewed Tori on all things skin and self care, her relationship with beauty, her go-to products and more. Read on for that, as well as details on how to book a service with Tori here in Nevada City!
Q&A
What is your interest in skin and self care?
While attending the Aveda Institute I learned so much more than just skin care. The foundation of their program was based in Ayurveda, so we learned a lot about holistic whole-body healing and the connection it has to skin health. It sparked a lifelong interest in nutrition and herbs, as well as my love for skin care and self care. What we eat, put into our bodies, our environments, our thoughts and the products we use topically are all equally important. Our skin can get really wacky from stress so self care IS skin care. With how intense the world is these days it’s become more necessary than ever to take time for ourselves to do things that feel good and bring us pleasure, whatever that may be for you. I really love the ritual of long baths and my skin care routine.
What is your relationship to beauty?
Beauty can mean so many different things to different people. I find beauty in everything from the words we choose and how we articulate them to the jewelry and clothing we adorn ourselves with, how we decorate our homes and personal spaces. I’ve always been drawn to pretty things- textiles, colors, buying flowers for my apartments, art, candles and aesthetics in general, but of course beauty is not just the visual stuff. How we love and treat ourselves and others, the ability and grace it takes to forgive and let go of things that have hurt us, how we move through life and handle difficult situations, self awareness etc… I find beauty in observing the way different people laugh or cry or just be themselves in the moment, there can be so much beauty in the often overlooked in-between moments. I think my close friends are some of the most special people on earth because I get to see them at their rawest and most vulnerable. Vulnerability is really beautiful to me. We need more of that I think. The desire to learn and grow and admit when we’re wrong is beautiful in a person. This is the good stuff for me. And as cliche as this sounds I think it’s really beautiful to try to stay soft in a hard AF world.
How do you use Fat and the Moon and why?
As someone who has been using mostly herbal/botanical products throughout my career I was drawn to Fat and the Moon and Kosmos based on their high quality high potency plant based ingredients. Now that I have spent some time working for FATM making the products I have another level of appreciation for them because I have seen first hand how much integrity and thought goes into each formulation- from the quality of the ingredients to where they are sourced from to how long some of them take to make (all hand made baby) right down to the packaging- which is all Rachels own design and artwork. A lot of the products are really versatile too and can be used for so many different things. *Bonus that I think Rachel is the coolest and I’m proud to work with such an inspiring, talented and visionary person!
What are some of your favorite products?
Just a few of my favorite Fat and the Moon products to use in my facials are the Moon Milk, which I use in my first oil cleanse and the neck and shoulder massage. I almost always use the Mermaid Mask as my hydrating mask. It’s loaded with nourishing and hydrating seaweeds and aloe and it feels so good and silky being painted on with a mask brush, plus it smells incredible. I use the Sage and Rose mist or the Kosmos Queens Floral Water in every facial (and on myself several times a day). I like to use the All Cream in my hand massage and I use plant medicine mists before and after my treatments.