Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
A COUPLE OF years ago, Leah Guerrero was in a Mexico City mercado when a vendor asked why she was buying so many clays and powders. When she told him it was for her skincare concoctions he said, “Eres una brujita” (“You’re a witch”), and something clicked. “A whole self-empowerment thing happened,” Guerrero says. “I was like, Yeah, I am. This is me now.” Guerrero had been an esthetician since she was 18, immersing herself in holistic skincare traditions after realizing how many harmful ingredients are in commercial beauty products. She was in Mexico soaking up the market culture while dealing with her Saturn return and she went home to L.A. with a purpose, where she met her now-girlfriend and business partner Yomahra Aquino, and launched Brujita Skincare.
Guerrero, who personally answers all of Brujita’s DMs and comments, signs off her messages with “much light,” but she embraces the dark, too. Brujita’s branding (Aquino does all the design) was inspired by Twin Peaks’ title sequence, a photo of Marilyn Manson sits on the altar in the downtown L.A. space where Guerrero makes her small-batch products, and the special beet-heavy Halloween collection dropping October 1 is called Redrum, an homage to The Shining. The scent of jasmine, rose, or palo santo might hang in the air, depending on what item she’s brewing up; her Crema, a super hydrating moisturizer made with beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil is a best seller. Big jars of powders fill the shelves, including cacao, black volcanic clay, and tepezcohuite (a South Mexican botanical), which make up her Conviction Facial Mask, good for treating breakouts and acne scars. She talks about the science behind her powdered ingredients (their pH levels are much closer to our skin’s natural pH than European clays, which can be drying af) as much as she talks about their energy. It’s all part of what makes her collections (available at brujitaskincare.com) sell out almost as soon as they drop. “I’m not looking to be in Target or anything like that. I feel like the magic of Brujita would be lost, it would just become a machine,” Guererro says. “I want to be the community bruja.”
Brujita Skincare Super Food DIY Facial Mask
Brujita’s ingredients are mainly sourced from mercados in Mexico, but you probably have some of Guerrero’s favorites in your kitchen right now. “Honey is packed with mineral content and rich in glycolic acids, which have exfoliating properties,” she says. “Cacao powder and maca root powders are a super team of antioxidants and vitamin C, revealing a bright, supple complexion.” This simple mask is the perfect way to soak up some self-care, which Guerrero says is where the real healing of her skincare products begins.
1 Tbsp. cacao powder
1/2 Tbsp. maca root powder
2 Tbsp. raw honey (soft)
Mix powders and honey until you have a smooth paste. Rub Super Food Mask onto face and neck area. Wear for 15-20 minutes then wash thoroughly. Follow with your favorite moisturizer.
By Lisa Butterworth
Photographed by Shanna Fisher
header: Yomahra (left) and Leah (right) of Brujita Skincare
This article originally appeared in the September/October 2019 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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