This is Venus of the Mind
ISO: Beauty, Culture, and Magic of the Everyday
This is Venus of the Mind
Beauty. Culture. Magic.
Welcome
Read Time: 7 mins
Dear Aesthete,
What a time to be alive.
We’re living in some wild plotline where a massive technocratic push towards generative ai is part of a larger global pattern that devalues human labor. All while simultaneously seeking to extract as much as possible from humans. Extraction of our time, our attention, our energy, our communities, our natural resources, our bodies, and our spirit.
As a licensed and practicing facialist with over twelve years of industry experience, I’m proud to be working in beauty as a site of quiet yet determined resistance to this patterning. My approach to labor is rooted in what Silvia Federici termed as “re-enchanting the world.” This newsletter is an expression of that approach; my creative response to Silvia’s call and to similar directives from other intellectual foremothers.
So many amazing opportunities for creative inquiry and collaboration have opened up as I’ve continued to write here. One such collaboration was with product designer and artist Idris Agüero who created the branded digital “bookends” now seen at the beginning and conclusion of every newsletter. Idris was a pleasure to work with, attentive, professional, and kind. I approached them with a specific vision and it was translated seamlessly.
In addition to debuting this new visual element, I’m excited to lay out exactly what to expect from this publication moving forward.
Let’s dig in.
At Ivana Martínez Studio
My facial studio in Northern Virginia is now accepting new clients in 2026. If you, a loved one, or trusted contacts are within range of the Old Town Alexandria, VA/Washington D.C. area and would like to work with a facialist who approaches skin not as an object to be fixed but as a living environment meant to be nurtured — let’s collaborate together.
I give notice of direct bookings exclusively via the waitlist as a way to protect time, resources, and only work with values aligned clients.
Join/Share the Waitlist
For All Subscribers
One - two dedicated newsletters per month. Delivered Sundays at 8am EST.
The monthly missive. A letter weaving interconnected themes across industries, schools of thought, and various forms of cultural production. The thematic possibilities here are expansive, landing somewhere between the particular and the cosmic.
Fourth Sundays
The dispatch. A space to address questions from readers. Also spotlights any other musing that comes to mind related to all things beauty and beyond. Anything goes! A box of chocolates, if you will.
Fifth Sundays. 2026 there are five Sundays in March, May, August, November.
For Paid Subscribers
Two - three dedicated newsletters per month. Delivered Sundays at 8am EST.
The collective tarot read. A private monthly pull and interpretation exclusive to the collective energy of fellow aesthetes reading Venus of the Mind.
First Sundays
The culture digest. A grouping of interdisciplinary curations that are off the beaten digital path.
Second Sundays
Beauty in the World. This is an audio interview series spotlighting culture workers, wellness workers, beauty practitioners, and other conscious creatives across different forms of labor. Each guest will be highlighted for their focus on leaving the world better (more beautiful) than they found it.
Nine episodes this year, April through December. Third Sundays.
Every January, April, July, and October fellow lovers of beauty, culture, and magic gather online to chat about our shared reading from the previous quarter. So far, for January 2026 we read Arabelle Sicardi’s The House of Beauty: Lessons from the Image Industry. We were lucky to be joined by the author live in conversation.
Our book club is currently reading Chloé Cooper Jones’ Easy Beauty: a Memoir. Later, we’ll read through Alicia Kennedy’s On Eating: The Making and Unmaking of My Appetites. We’ll then wrap up the year with Fariha Róisín’s Who is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind.
A directory featuring where to go for acupuncture (and adjacent TCM modalities), baths, facials, fragrance, full-body treatments, hair (cuts for all textures, color, silk presses, extensions etc.) injectables, mani-pedis, massage, and specialty boutique shopping. The directory is a living list. New locations are added as they’re experienced, provided that the experience was top tier.
At the moment, starting out with the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area, there’s locations as far east as Italy and then out further to Pakistan. As west as Montana and then southwest to Texas. As north as Massachusetts, then down to North Carolina, and as south as Puerto Rico.
Recommended Product Index, inspired by Glycerin is THAT GIRL
Every week I see, touch, analyze, and care for diverse skin types, tones, and conditions. While I prefer to do this before recommending products, I understand that not everyone can go see a trusted facialist regularly. Sometimes, you just need a reliably accessible source that’s not an ai hallucination, a tweenfluencer shilling the latest branded promo, or a maha pipeline app spreading misinformation about time tested and well vetted ingredients. This index offers that professional access to paid subscribers.
The fast-skincare production cycle (à la fast-fashion) has gotten out of hand and I will not be participating in it. This resource is not about featuring the latest, shiniest, newest product drop. Overtime I will add reviewed products to the index as I invest my own funds to research, test, and observe how a product works in realtime over a minimum of three full skin cycles. If I wouldn’t repurchase it myself or use it in my practice then it will not be listed.
Every newsletter and audio interview catalogued for easy enjoyment at your own pace. Never worry about looking through an inbox for a missed delivery.
Good News
I’m excited to share that I’ve partnered with Bookshop.org via their affiliate program. As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, purchasing from them is one of my favorite ways to circumvent the matrix of the Bezoverse. If none of my preferred local booksellers are carrying what I’m looking for, I’ll purchase directly from Bookshop.org and designate a particular local store to receive a portion of my book purchase.
When you purchase a book recommended through Venus of the Mind, a portion of your purchase will go to this newsletter via commission. Meaning you get to support two small businesses in one go! 1) Your local bookstore of choice. 2) Venus of the Mind, a publication from Ivana Martínez Studio — my esthetic practice where science, soul, and beauty intersect.
A Moment for Venus of the Mind-Core
Top left. My view (unedited!) walking up to la Chiesa di San Pietro in Porto Venere, Italy. This church was built atop a pagan temple believed to have once belonged to the cult of Venus (Venere). It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. The energy inside this church/temple is unmatched.
Bottom left. My view of a September 2025 exhibit at Chiostro del Bramante in Rome. The color palette is everything and I’m forever stoked that I caught the breeze flowing through the curtain. Classic quotidian magic on display. Again, unedited!
Special appearance. My spiritual totem, the pomegranate.
Top center. Audre Lorde being iconic.
Top right. Internet meme giving strong Hermit from the tarot vibes — or, how it feels to ideate, research, write, and edit this newsletter.
Bottom right. The Black Iris (1926) by Georgia O’Keefe. My beloved stationary set (purchased ages ago from the Phillips Collection gift shop) includes several cards with this print. For the above collage, I didn’t like any of the options coming up online so I just snapped a picture of one stationary print with the right lighting to get the crispness I wanted, then zoomed in just a tad for added detailing.
Center. Sailor Moon doing her thing — or, how it feels to hit publish and send this newsletter to you.
Thank you for being here. Keep glowing like only you can do.
