hold a date

skin first

by Ana Ruiz · Austin

Makeup that looks like your skin,
on its best day.

  • dew
  • the kit
  • by hand

Bride $450 · trial $150Hold a date

A bride-to-be with bare, glowing skin and soft brown lips on a cream backdrop

I was an esthetician for nine years before I ever picked up a foundation brush. So I still start where makeup ends up: your skin.

bridal

  • the brideThe morning of: twenty minutes of skin, then the makeup. Lashes if you want them, and the balm goes home with you.$450
  • the trialNinety minutes at the studio, six weeks before. One look, adjusted until it feels like you.$150
  • the partyBridesmaids, mothers, anyone in the chair. The same quiet skin, a little faster.$175 each
  • the skin monthThree facials at the studio in the four weeks before the wedding, so there is less to cover.$240

editorial

  • editorial dayUp to eight hours on set, skin and makeup, as many looks as the day holds.$1,400
  • half dayUp to four hours, two looks.$800

Lashes are included for the bride. Airbrush is not something I do.

Ana warming a sheer cream between her fingertips over a travertine table

the weeks before

  1. six weeks beforethe trial

    At the studio, in the window light. We find the look and write it down.

  2. four weeks beforethe skin month

    Three facials, a week apart. Nothing new on your skin after the last one.

  3. the morningtwenty minutes of skin

    Cleanse, a warm towel, my own cream, then makeup in fifteen minutes. You will think it is not enough. It is.

  4. the nightone balm

    In your pocket, for after the kiss and after the cake.

what’s in my kit

(not much)

  1. a cream I mix myself
  2. two foundations, used as one
  3. a cream blush in three shades
  4. a clear brow gel
  5. a balm
  6. a hand towel, warmed in a thermos
  7. my fingers
Three unlabeled frosted jars and a small brush on a travertine slab in morning light

work

  • bare skin, a sheer veil, wimberley, may

    wimberley, maybare skin, a sheer veil

  • cream blush, pressed in by hand, dripping springs, april

    dripping springs, aprilcream blush, pressed in by hand

  • editorial, freckles left alone, east austin, february

    east austin, februaryeditorial, freckles left alone

  • editorial, just the skin, south congress, october

    south congress, octobereditorial, just the skin

  • the mother of the bride, driftwood, september

    driftwood, septemberthe mother of the bride

  • golden hour, still glowing, johnson city, march

    johnson city, marchgolden hour, still glowing

  • dew, hyde park, june

    hyde park, junedew

  • balm, nothing else, the studio, a tuesday

    the studio, a tuesdaybalm, nothing else

Ana Ruiz, in a linen shirt, in her studio in East Austin
ana, in the studio

ana

I grew up in San Antonio, in my abuela’s kitchen, where the aloe came from the backyard and nobody wore foundation to church. I trained as an esthetician in Austin and spent nine years in a dermatology clinic, mostly with skin that people had been told to cover.

In 2019 a bride named Lucía came in three weeks before her wedding with a stress breakout and a makeup artist who had told her, “we’ll just cover it.” We treated her skin for three weeks instead. On the morning I did her makeup with almost nothing: my cream, a balm, a little blush warmed on my fingers. Her photographer asked who had done her makeup. I opened Skin First that summer.

I still believe what I learned that morning. I would rather spend twenty minutes on your skin and five on makeup than the other way around.

Ana

  • 9years as a licensed esthetician
  • 280brides since 2019
  • 1quiet room in East Austin

kind words

  • “I looked like me, just rested. My grandmother said I looked like I had slept for a week.”

    Lucía · wimberley

  • “Ana fixed my skin before she touched my face. Six weeks later I barely needed makeup.”

    Grace · dripping springs

  • “On set she asked for twenty minutes for skin and gave us back an hour in retouching.”

    Noor · photographer, austin

where

Trials and the skin month happen in a white room in East Austin with one chair and one big window. On the day, I come to you: a ranch in Driftwood, a limestone house in Wimberley, your apartment on the east side.

No travel fee within 25 miles of the studio. Beyond, $1 a mile.

The studio: a white room with one chair by a tall window and a small oak table
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Austin and the Hill Country Free within 25 miles of East Austin: Dripping Springs, Driftwood, Wimberley. Then $1 a mile. Open the map

questions

Will it look like enough in photos?

Yes. Skin that is well prepared photographs better than skin that is covered, and I build the look for the camera at the trial. Your photographer will see the trial photos too, if you like.

I have breakouts, or rosacea. Is skin-first right for me?

It was made for you. I was a licensed esthetician for nine years. We start with the skin month, and on the morning I cover only what needs covering.

Do you do hair?

No, only skin and makeup. I work beside two hair stylists I love and am happy to introduce you.

Where do you travel?

Within 25 miles of the studio there is no travel fee: Austin, Dripping Springs, Driftwood, Wimberley. Further into the Hill Country it is $1 a mile.

How do I hold my date?

Pick it below and pay $150. It comes off your total, and the rest is due on the day.

hold a date

$150 holds it and comes off your total. Saturdays in spring and fall go first. Ana texts you within the day.

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