By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
SkinLocal Pacific Palisades—an “aesthetic clinic for skin care and wellness”—has reopened, serving clients at 15235 Sunset Boulevard.
Owner Leana Loh-Mejia grew up in the South Bay, she explained to the Palisadian-Post. She works for SkinLocal corporate, serving as the CFO of the brand, including its two main med spas in Miami, where she had lived for the past 20-plus years.
About two years ago, Loh-Mejia expanded the brand to the Palisades, after she “stumbled across what was previously Fahi’s.” She took over the business in February 2024, remodeling and rebranding the space to SkinLocal Pacific Palisades.
With her husband and 5-year-old, she traveled back and forth from Miami to the Palisades every three or four weeks throughout 2024, hosting a grand opening for the location in September 2024.
“We were getting it going,” Loh-Mejia described. “It was really starting to amp up.”
The family decided to move to the West Coast full time, along with Loh-Mejia’s parents—signing a contract to sell their house a day or two before the Palisades fire began on January 7. They officially moved to Los Angeles, residing near LMU, on April 4.
“It’s been a very, very uncertain time,” Loh-Mejia said of reopening. “We’ve invested a very, very large amount of time and money into that particular location because I’ve always loved the Palisades … I’ve always just loved the community, the people, the vibe. It was exactly where I wanted the spa to be.”
Loh-Mejia was in Miami when the Palisades fire started.
“You’re seeing it, but you’re like, ‘No way,’” she said of the destruction that occurred. “‘This did not actually happen.’”
On navigating being open since mid-June, Loh-Mejia described being confused: “Like many other business owners that are still standing, we’re confused. We don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what to do.”
She said she has been meeting with other business owners in the area, including Elizabeth Lamont and Denise Mangimelli from BOCA. Loh-Mejia said she does not want to leave the area because she wants to be part of the rebuilding.
“We’re all in this tricky predicament,” she said. “Unless you’re a restaurant and/or an absolute necessity … but none of us are going to give up. I’m not going anywhere unless I literally get pushed out financially.”
She said the clients she has been able to see since reopening have been “so sweet” and that they are “grateful.”
“We’ve seen about six people right since we’ve opened,” Loh-Mejia said. “It was six people a day. Now it’s six people in the last two and a half months, but that’s OK. It’s better than zero. And they just seem to be grateful that we’re there and open.”
While rebuilding efforts are underway across the community, with clients at various stages of reconstruction or moving back, Loh-Mejia emphasized the role that self-care plays.
“It’s so important,” Loh-Mejia said, “and it’s making me think outside the box.”
Some of the offerings that Loh-Mejia is considering bringing to the space include events to bring people together, including sound baths—things that are designed to “help people feel better about what happened.”
“It’s very easy to be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, we have to rebuild again,’” Loh-Mejia said. “But the actual trauma of what happened, it’s in everybody … then there’s the kids, they just dealt with COVID. I mean, it literally brings tears to my eyes because I have a 5-year-old. There’s people that have just been so damaged by these events that are totally ripping them apart. I just feel terrible for the community in many, many ways.”
Some of the treatments currently available on the skin menu include facials, hydrafacials, nano-channeling, micro-needling and more. There is also a brow bar menu, with shaping, tinting and lamination. Face and body waxing services are also available.
“Our focus is on subtle, natural-looking enhancements, utilizing only the safest, scientifically proven products and treatments in the field,” read SkinLocal’s website.
Loh-Mejia had SkinLocal converted into a med spa in December 2024, but plans to add those treatments to the menu, including “injectables and lasers and a bunch of stuff like that,” are currently on hold.
SkinLocal is open by appointment, though Loh-Mejia is at the space on Wednesdays: “I like to be there in case anybody shows up.”
“Yesterday we were there and we saw a group of people walking around, and I just wanted to say, ‘Hi,’” Loh-Mejia said. “It’s weird because I’m not trying to be like, ‘Come here and give me business,’ I just miss humans.”
For more information, including a link to book an appointment, visit skinlocalpacificpalisades.com.
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