SuperNatural Beauty: Boulder Creek's Med Spa
In the middle of the pandemic, while working in a critical care unit, Brandi Phillips started spending 90 minutes at a time floating in warm magnesium-salt water with the light and noise of the outside world shut out.
She says it "felt like a week of vacation in ninety minutes."
For Brandi, who had spent years caring for people during some of the worst moments of their lives, those sessions were part of a decision to begin taking her own care seriously. She also started using red light therapy on her skin. An interest she'd carried for years began to look like something she could build.
In 2020, Brandi started training in aesthetics. First came laser training at Monterey Bay Aesthetics, followed by neurotoxin, dermal fillers and biostimulators. She trained with Dermalogica in microneedling and spent nearly four years working as a mobile injector with Persimmon.
Eventually, she opened SuperNatural Beauty & Aesthetics on Highway 9.
What drew her in, she says, was "knowing firsthand how much real self-care matters during hard times. That's what I want to give our community."
She didn't leave nursing to do it.
Brandi still works full-time at Stanford, completing three 12.5-hour shifts each week in the surgery department. On the days that remain, she sees clients at SuperNatural Beauty. At home, she's raising three children, two of whom play competitive soccer. There are cleats to find, appointments to schedule and dinner to make. She calls cooking her "unofficial third job." Her Bernedoodle is her best buddy.
"Oh my goodness. Life is a whirlwind, but I wouldn't trade it for anything," she says.
The two careers occupy opposite ends of her week, but Brandi doesn't see them as competing lives. After 11 years in critical care, including the pandemic years she says she is "still healing from," the difference between them is part of what she needs.
"The hospital is where I help people survive their hardest moments. Aesthetics is where I get to help people feel good in their own skin, on a good day, by choice. That contrast is what keeps me whole."
Why she brought it home
Brandi and her husband moved to Boulder Creek in 2012 to be near his family, who have lived in the valley for decades. She says the move "has been good for my soul ever since."
Opening the practice here was also practical. Brandi already spent enough of her week commuting. She didn't want every appointment at a med spa to require another trip over the hill or down to Santa Cruz for her or for her clients.
"There's something special about offering self-care within minutes of home instead of making people commute for it."
She had watched Boulder Creek residents support other small businesses and hoped they would see value in what she could offer locally, too.
The name is a bit of wordplay. Separated, "super natural" means very natural to Brandi. Written as SuperNatural, it hints at something a little more playful: beauty outside the ordinary laws of nature.
One client she still thinks about
When asked about a moment that has stayed with her, Brandi doesn't choose a single appointment. She thinks of a woman who came to her with acne scarring from childhood and other changes in her skin after significant weight loss.
They worked together for the better part of a year. What Brandi remembers most is the commitment on both sides: the client kept coming back, and Brandi remained just as committed to building the plan with her.
"It wasn't just about the scars fading; it was healing for her in a much deeper way."
"That's the kind of partnership that reminds me why I do this work."
SuperNatural Beauty is also listed in the Boulder Creek Local Beauty directory.
The Boulder Creek Questions
A perfect day in Boulder Creek: Working in her yard at home. 76 degrees and sunny.
Her favorite hidden gem: Byington winery.
Her advice for a new neighbor: "Start fireproofing your home now and know when to evacuate."
Know a Boulder Creek business we should spotlight, or a neighbor who makes this valley what it is? Tell us. Details change over time; if something here is out of date, let us know.
