Kyrsta Morehouse started as a makeup artist in Los Angeles. She absolutely loved the 13-plus years she spent doing beauty and special effects makeup. She got tired of the rat race of Los Angeles and wanted to find something more sustainable than the freelance makeup work she was doing previously. A natural transition was esthetics since while she was working as a makeup artist, her passion for skin prep and how the skin reacts grew.
“I love helping other people and I love makeup and people being able to see that transformation when they look in the mirror, but unfortunately, with makeup you wash it off at the end of the day. It’s very temporary. So, I gravitated towards the idea of being able to provide more lasting changes for people,” she said.
Morehouse launched her solo practice Esthetics by Kyrsta in 2025, and she serves as an education specialist for Bioelements. She also launched her own skincare brand, Balanced Barrier Skin Co. Morehouse sees esthetics as health and self-care. She said because the skin is the body’s largest organ, it should be treated much better than it is.
“We often don’t think about our skin or aren’t educated properly and just grab any random products off the shelf at the store. I think I had a real draw to help people,” she said.
Seeing the confidence on someone’s face when they look in the mirror after a skincare treatment is a powerful experience for Morehouse. She said she has become addicted to that experience. She said it fills her heart to hear from clients when she gets messages back with them telling her how good their skin looks and feels.
Balanced Barrier Skin Co
Balanced Barrier Skin Co is a botanical-based vegan and cruelty free skincare line. It was born out of Morehouse’s desire to find a product that felt good and moisturized her dry skin. She began to research ingredients and formulas that supported skin barrier repair. She was really drawn to a whipped butter consistency that mimicked frosting. She started playing with different formulations that she really loved, then she shared it with clients and friends. The first product in the line is Glow Butter, a general skin barrier moisturizer. There are two other products in the line: Stretch Butter, a pregnancy-safe stretch mark and scar butter; and Retin-Alt Complex, a botanical retinol alternative. She is taking her time to research, formulate and test her products before launching them, which means more time in between product releases.
Pro-Aging Facial Treatment Protocol
Morehouse’s pro-aging facial is her answer to an anti-aging facial. Instead of combating aging with stronger actives, she is looking at the body more holistically. She is looking at why a wrinkle is forming, which could be from collagen and elastin loss as people age. She uses treatments and ingredients that target that loss on a deeper level. Her goal is to work with the body rather than fighting against aging. In the pro-aging protocol she addresses sagging skin, fine lines and wrinkles, muscle toning and firming, and getting that collagen and elastin back, as well as combating general aging including UV damage, free radical damage and transepidermal water loss.
The protocol uses skincare ingredients, meta-cupping, microcurrent, a combination of radio frequency and ultrasonic infusion, and finishes with contrast therapy. The meta cupping is going to stretch the skin and warm everything up. The microcurrent stimulates, tightens and forms the skin. The radio frequency and ultrasonic infusion enable deep product penetration. The contrast therapy helps tighten and firms everything.
Morehouse explained that meta cupping is a massage step. She starts with her hand to warm up the skin and activate the lymph nodes in the chest and face. The meta cupping uses a controlled machine with continuous movement across the skin. That dynamic movement creates a negative pressure environment to revitalize the skin from the inside out. She describes it as deep tissue massage for the face that releases tension that aids in better elasticity.
The facial is non-invasive and Morehouse described it as a nice, relaxing facial treatment that gives the benefits of a facelift without surgery. Morehouse recommends that clients receive the pro-aging facial in a series of four to six sessions, every two to four weeks. Then, the client can move into a maintenance stage.
“It is going to be a longer lasting protocol that we’re doing repeatedly, but you will see that instant benefit after your first treatment,” she said. “As soon as the service is over, you look in the mirror and you will start to see that firming you can feel it in the face, you see those fine lines and wrinkles minimized.”
Morehouse said that as a client continues the series of treatments, they will see the results get stronger and last longer. For post treatment and aftercare, she recommends the client use a customized cleanser based on what their skin needs. She also sends the clients home with the Balance Barrier Skin Co Retin-Alt Complex to give them retinol effects without harshness. Then, the client can use a moisturizer, with the goal of continuing the pro-aging process on a cellular level.
Advice for Other Estheticians
Morehouse advises other estheticians who are interested in creating their own skincare line to ensure they understand formulas and percentages, do stability testing, do rigorous testing for product efficacy, as well as pH testing and balancing. She said while the level of testing and research is more advanced, it is necessary to bring people quality products.
“Taking it a step further and making sure that you are holding yourself and your product to the same standards that you would any other product that you would purchase off the shelf is going to be really important, because it needs to be trusted and it needs to be backed by that testing,” she said.
