Anaka Soma was born twice.
The first time, as a beauty school graduation project — a mock spa created by a young woman with a dream she refused to put down, no matter what her body was telling her. She took two names she loved more than anything — her own, and her daughter's — and braided them into one. Anaka — a name meaning sweet-faced, carrying the meaning favored grace. Her daughter was her biggest supporter through every step of school — cheering her on while her name was being woven into the very thing being built. She graduated. And then she actually built it.
The second time, she added Soma — the body, the somatic — because after nearly 13 years in this work, she knew the story had always been bigger than skin. She rebuilt her LLC, reclaimed her vision, and started again on entirely her own terms.
I am Kayla — known as Kay Michelle in the artistry world — a licensed holistic esthetician, a makeup artist, and a student of the skin not only by training but by lived necessity. At 23, while other young women were just beginning, I was handed a complex chronic illness diagnosis and told to adjust my expectations. I enrolled in esthetics school instead. I have been licensed for nearly 13 years. My body became my most profound classroom — teaching me things about skin, inflammation, the nervous system, and the connection between how we feel and how we heal that no curriculum could have given me.
Living inside a body that required my full attention taught me that skin is not vanity — it is communication. It is our largest organ, and it carries everything: inflammation, grief, stress, joy, the memory of trauma, and the evidence of healing. When we treat it with true intention, something shifts. I have felt that shift in my own body. I have had the sacred privilege of witnessing it in the clients who trust me with theirs.
Skin is our largest organ. How we treat it — and how we treat ourselves — matters deeply. True care always begins beneath the surface.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest — an outdoor girl, through and through. Fishing, camping, growing food from seed, cooking from the earth. That relationship with the natural and elemental runs through everything I do here. The products I choose, the rituals I build, the pace I hold — all of it is rooted in something slower, more intentional, and more attuned to what the body is actually asking for.
I am a woman made of many threads — some handed to me, and some I found later in life. Faith in Jesus grounds everything I do. A deep love for slow food, gathering, and the unhurried pace of life has always resonated with my soul. And an English grandmother who taught me that tea is how you welcome people properly. All of it woven into everything I create here.
The professional line I work with most closely — Comfort Zone — was chosen deliberately. Their philosophy speaks the same language mine does: skincare as a nervous system conversation, ritual as regulation, the skin and the soma as inseparable. That alignment is not incidental. It is the whole point.
My faith is not separate from my work. It is the ground it stands on. I offer prayer before treatments for any client who wishes it — quietly, without pressure, and with complete respect for wherever you are. This is a space where you are seen wholly: skin, body, and spirit. Whatever brought you here — you are welcome. And you are in the right place.
