Monique’s Skin Care Center a fixture in Poway

By Emily Sorensen

Looking to improve your skin? Monique’s Skin Care Center is here for you.

Monique’s Skin Care Center, at 14849 Pomerado Road in Poway, has been helping the community with skin care for 22 years. Owned and operated by Monique Najafi, the center focuses on body, face, makeup and waxing.

“I’ve always focused on skin care,” said Najafi. “I was drawn to skin care because of my love of health. When you’re healthy, it shows in your skin.”

Najafi has 37 years of experience in the skin care field. Born in Iran, she trained in Paris, where she owned a salon before moving to Poway for her husband’s job. Najafi is also unique in her field in that she graduated from nursing school and worked as a nurse for two years, something she says has helped shape her ability to care for her clients.

“I decided to help people in a different environment,” said Najafi. Though she’s helping people in her business and not in a doctor’s office, the attitude towards caring remains the same, said Najafi. “The love of caring is required as a nurse, and it’s helped me with my clients, as well as the knowledge I gained through nursing,” said Najafi.

Having her business focus only on skin care has also allowed Najafi to be able to ensure her clients are provided the highest quality services from the best trained staff. “I train all my employees from scratch,” said Najafi. “They must assist me for months, before I allow them to take on clients on their own.” Najafi also brings in skin care instructors from around the world to her center in order to continue her and her employees’ education. She also travels to one or two beauty forums a year to meet with industry experts and continue her own education.

Najafi said personal attention to customers is important to her and her employees. “Someone who comes to [Monique’s Skin Care Center] will get personal attention from Monique, with all my experience and knowledge. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my work, and I care about my customers. When they get my touch, they’re done, they want to come back.”

Najafi said her center has both male and female customers, and even has a special package for Father’s Day available. “We get a lot of businessmen,” said Najafi.

Najafi also said it was important for her to give back to the community. “I donate to schools, to churches, to community events,” said Najafi, who often donates gift certificates and spa packages to fundraisers. “I’m proud to say they’ve made so much money auctioning my gift certificates.”

Serving the community for over two decades has allowed Najafi to see multiple generations come into her skincare center. “I’m seeing three, sometimes four generations [of customers] who still come to see me,” said Najafi. “I appreciate all of them, all my customers who came during bad times. I’m going to continue serving my loyal customers as long as I can, as long as my beauty and health last.”

Monique’s Skin Care Center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For more information on the services Monique’s Skin Care Center offers, call 858-486-9703 or visit

www.moniqueskincarecenter.com

.