“For every person, the Tibetan singing bowl tells a different story” ~Angelyn Teo.

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Not words you’d expect from a seasoned beautician who specialises in facials, but for my Zen friend Angelyn Teo, beauty is more than a skin-deep makeover. It’s about “surrender, total release and ensuring your emotional state is as beautified as your physical”.

With cashmere curtains, candles and the waft of essential oil, Angeline’s The Holistic Place is everything you might expect. Except there are no signs or brochures. No website. No social media presence or place to see what services she offers.

After politely asking how the hell anyone runs a business this way, Angeline says she “lives simply” and that her entire business runs by referrals.

Behind the digital times, Angeline confesses she isn’t one for machinery or technology.

Instead, she opted for mastering hand techniques, developing her own signature meditation-meets-cosmetic method, perfected over her long (albeit stealthy) career.

As a single mother with a single passion for learning all there is to know about beauty and healing, there’s a depth to her work that allows her to sustain a business despite the total absence of marketing and collaterals.

“I mean, really, how can you age gracefully when you have stress under your skin?” she implores.

Despite feeling like “just a beautician”, Angeline took on cranial sacral therapy (which works to reduce tension in the jaw, eyes and inflammation around the face) as well as other specialised techniques you would normally associate with sound healing, Reiki and massage.

Through a series of strokes, pokes and the ringing of a Tibetan Singing Bowl, Angeline starts every session with deep relaxation, coaxing you into another world. She uses every sign, every note, to customise her treatment.

“I want people to completely let go while they’re here. I hold a space where people can feel vulnerable and where their body can heal on its own terms” she shares.

It’s a process so unique and delicate, people sometimes find they break into tears from the relief. Pair that with the ultimate facial, and you have yourself a loyal customer base.

Sometimes there’s a magic that transcends business convention, but Angeline’s next step is growing her business beyond a one-woman show.

"I'm not a healer because I love beauty too much. I've been doing beauty for over 22 years. I'm good at it. I know how to treat the skin. I intuitively know what people need and what their skin is ready for. It brings me fulfilment. People tell me I have the qualities of a healer, but I want to bring that to beauty and give people a holistic experience.”

 Visit the The Project Unsung Heroes page to find out more about Amanda's work.