FEATURED IN: The Verde Independent
Article by NICHOLAS VALDEZ
May 26, 2026

COTTONWOOD — When trying to boost your health and wellness, diet and exercise may come to mind, but an overlooked facet of your wellbeing rests in your body’s largest organ: your skin.

Master Aesthetician Lynn Swartz says she’s no doctor, but her understanding of skincare and its importance has improved the lives of people throughout the community.

Radiant Renewal Skin Boutique is a local business that specializes in skincare treatments and solutions that Swartz created in 2010.

Some of the services her boutique offers are facials, massages and spa parties; the service that Swartz specializes in is acne treatments. What makes her so special is her ability to relate to her patients so well.

“I had acne until I was 34. I had cystic acne,” Swartz said. “Adults and children don’t know what to do—or they go through the latest trend, but we actually have a deeper understanding of ingredients, skin histology and the treatment of acne.”

Swartz said that because she gets paid to “look and touch people’s faces all day,” she’s able to provide quality advice, service or referrals to patients that may not be seeing results with prescription medications.

Acne can be troublesome for a lot of people, and even more so when your efforts aren’t showing any progress on your face.

“It’s a holistic problem,” Swartz said. “So, we also help educate our clients on diet. Even something as simple as switching from dryer sheets to wool balls [can have a positive effect].”

Because of her efficiency and expertise as a skincare expert, and as a longtime Cottonwood resident, Swartz can pair these traits with her own personal experience to shape her patients’ experience into a positive one.

“I feel like I know what the locals want—how they want to be treated,” she said. “I am that local. I don’t want something haughty. I want something relatable.”

Swartz has been in the Verde Valley since she was 17 years old, and her business has been here for over 16 years.

She’s worked in resort spas in Sedona and understands what the health and wellness scene of Scottsdale looks like. This kind of experience has afforded her the talent to discern health complications that manifest on one’s skin.

For example, Swartz said that glycation around the mouth could sometimes be a sign of pre-diabetes. The inability to process sugars appropriately may sometimes manifest in “peach skin” around the mouth.

“We can sometimes spot things in the face,” she said. “We’re also trained to spot pre-cancerous lesions or actinic keratosis. Even though we can’t diagnose them, we can say, ‘That looks like something you need to go get looked at.’”

According to Swartz, simple check-ups with your aesthetician have saved lives before, or at the very least, it’s educated people on how to improve their health and wellness via skincare.

Though her line of work focuses on bettering the skincare of her clients, her favorite part about her work is the opportunity to educate others about the science behind skincare.

She recounted a story about a time when her friend asked her to attend a VACTE class and teach the students about acne, chemistry, and kinesiology over a brief lesson.

“It made me so happy to see that they had no idea how sunscreen worked, and 30 minutes later they could tell you exactly what an antioxidant did,” Swartz said. “I love helping people learn how to better themselves practically.”

Read this article at The Independent