Meet the Owner: Bella Dermis Skin Care

Since opening last April, Monica Grajales' has been working to rebuild the successful Bella Dermis Skin Care company she left behind when she moved to Tampa from San Francisco a year ago.

Offering a variety of skin care treatments including clinical facials for both the face and back, cellulite treatments as well as skin bleaching the intiment areas of a woman, Bella Dermis has quickly gained some notoriety around Tampa. Grajales has spent the last twenty years offering such services in California, but last year she brought her business to Tampa to be closer to family and has never looked back.

"I'm getting a lot of clients for these services," Grajales said. "It was a bit of a surprise. I do a lot of clinical facials using medical grade products as well, which have a direct effect on the skin. I use electric equipment and nano technology delivering the product directly into the cells."

Bella Dermis Skin Care

5701 North Florida Avenue

(813) 419-7546

Finding work: Upon moving to Tampa, the 44-year old Grajales had to figure out what direction she would go in next. She began looking for a place to practice yoga, a search that brought her to in Seminole Heights where she now works part time helping manage the facility. Her relationship with Jai Dee owner Gwenn Hanner provided her with a new location for her own business at a building Hanner owns just up the street that houses the Global Integrated Health Center.

Her start: "I was always obsessed with makeup and as a kid I had a lot of acne. It got me interested in the skin not just from the standpoint of vanity, but from a health perspective. I went to school to study and become an aesthetician. You can tell a smoker from a non-smoker the moment they lay down on the table, because the skin is a big sign of your health."

The location: "I found out about Seminole Heights when I moved here and I loved it. There is a sense of community here. Gwenn and I were able to team up because she has the building down the street and she is doing a lot of wellness stuff which skin care goes hand in hand with. I've been building relationships in the area and I'm going to join the Business Guild of Seminole Heights."

Clientele: "I get a lot of clients from the adult entertainment industry, but I have nurses and just about anybody really that comes in as well. Brazilian waxing has become so popular, but a side effect of it is that the skin becomes darker so people come to me to have the skin bleached."

The name: Bella Dermis directly translates to beautiful skin from Italian, a language and culture Grajales has studied and loved for years.

The best part: "To my suprise, the intimate skin bleaching has been the most fun part of the business. I just threw it out there to see what kind of reaction I would get and I've been fortunate to have clients coming from all over Tampa. I seem to be one of the only people in Tampa offering these types of things."