Stephanie Cantor
Having lived it major cities like LA and New York (even internationally in France), Steph Cantor calls Portland, Oregon home. Comfortable with new beginnings, redirection, and following her path, she sunset her sales career to start her healing practice as a somatic facialist.
Learning about buccal facials felt like a pivotal breadcrumb in the journey that led her to opening up her own studio and practice (The Blue Room Spa), and surprisingly introduced her to clientele that were more interested in healing than aesthetic treatments alone.
Read more about her why, and what helped make her passion a reality in business form, and if you’re in Portland on Saturday, January 11, join us for Gather + Grow: Somatic Facials 101 at Femme Rising for some in person time and learning with Stephanie.
Photography by Celeste Noche
Somatic Facials 101 with Stephanie Cantor
Date: Saturday, January 11
Admission: $40
Where are you from? And where are you now?
Grew up between California and Texas. As an adult, LA, NYC, Brooklyn, France, and now in Portland, Oregon.Can you tell us a little bit about your career path up to this point?
The first 20 years of my career, I worked in Sales & Strategy for Lifestyle and Apparel brands. After COVID, I found it difficult to access the part of myself that could wake up everyday to do that. Consuming for the sake of consumption had lost all appeal to me, and I couldn’t dismiss the negative impacts it has had on us and our environment. I’m a very spiritual person, and started to feel this little “calling” to become a Healer, but thought “what business do I have being a Healer?... and what does that even mean?...” But I took this message to heart and went really deep inside myself, soul searching, asking, listening, and shedding old ideas about myself, about who I am in the world, who I need to be for others to accept me. You know, like really big, deep stuff! It was NOT a comfortable process! But when I finally came out the other side, I had found courage enough to begin again – to be a Beginner. Bravery enough to take one clumsy, blind step forward at a time… and that’s how I became a Somatic Facialist.
When did you even hear about buccal facials? What was it like when you get your first treatment?
It’s funny how the Universe aligns things for us when we are in alignment with our Higher Selves. I was mid-program, working away toward my new career, when a friend (who didn’t know I was in the process of becoming a facialist) asked if I knew where she could get a Buccal facial in Portland. I’d not heard of it before, but as soon as I started to research the modality I felt something like a bolt of electricity shoot thru me. A pivotal breadcrumb on my trail.
I flew down to Los Angeles ASAP to have a buccal treatment (from the woman I then went on to train under), and it was quite literally life changing. I’m a Seeker. I’m curious and open to all types of body and energy work. If someone tells me to try something, I try it! I love the Act of Discovery – learning and sharing. All to say, I’ve had a LOT of wonderful, meaningful, beneficial body treatments and experiences. But this was different – I’d never had an energetic + physical release like it before. It wasn’t a release like the relief of “letting something go”... it was an entirely new form of release for me in the form of “opening something up” – becoming conscious of an expansiveness inside my face. I walked out of that treatment disorientingly conscious. Discovering what to do with the new consciousness became my singular career purpose.
When did you think that it would be something you’d want to pursue as the next thing in your career? Any scary points during that contemplation? Any exhilarating points?
During my schooling and training I had some broad ideas about why I wanted to practice facial skincare, though I didn’t know what form it would take. Humbly, I just wanted to help women create healthier, positive relationships with themselves via facial care. And when I had that first buccal facial experience, I knew my true calling was to radicalize the applications of holistic skincare, and discover the unknown possibilities for the future of Aesthetics and the Beauty Industry as a whole… and disrupt the industry as we know it today.
The Beauty Industry preys on our womanly fears of being unlovable… too old, too blemished, too unattractive, no longer relevant, only seen for our flaws and “problem skin” issues… It’s incredibly sad that we have allowed ourselves to be treated without Grace, Compassion, Tenderness… our culture is hyperfocused on Aging as a pathology, something to battle against at all costs.
To Age is a gift! Each day we wake up is a blessing. Each night we make it back into our beds safely is a miracle. Nothing is guaranteed. So let’s age with Elegance and Reverence. We’re not on a powerless trajectory into inevitable decrepit hideousness, no longer worthy of respect, love, admiration… Client after client, I’m proving with my facial massage techniques and manual manipulation of soft tissues, performed with Love, that the trajectory of our aging, aching faces - inside and out - is literally within our own hands. And that both exhilarates and scares me every day. That’s how I know I’m on the right path.
It is very intimate! How would you describe what you do to people who haven’t ever experienced it?
Gosh, it’s so hard to describe! I like to joke that I’m going to put my hands in your mouth and you’ll see God! Laughter helps break down the barriers around intimacy. You’re going to feel a huge improvement immediately. You’re going to see a huge improvement immediately. It’s very exciting! And while yes, it is an intimate experience, a Somatic Facial seeks to (re)connect our inner-self to our outer-self, releasing traumatic energies that have become stuck in the body. My presence as the practitioner is forgotten rather quickly once a session begins because it’s an intensely personal and rich internal journey for the client.
How do you make people feel safe and seen? Felt and cared for?
I ask a lot of questions before we get started. Things like “Tell me how you’re feeling in your body today”... “What feels most valuable for us to focus on?”... Each and every treatment is customized to a client’s needs on that day. There is a wide range of emotional experiences possible, which I outline beforehand. Some clients feel a swell of unhealed emotions and memories. Some weep, some laugh, some fall asleep. There’s no wrong or right way to experience this, and most clients end up surprising themselves in one way or another, which I love. I’ve seen everything on that table, and I hold sacred space for all of it. 
What do you hope for anyone that sees you or experiences your special kind of magic and care?
What I offer above all is empowerment and hope. My treatments work, period. They’re all natural, highly effective, deliver extensive benefits on multiple levels, and the results are immediate. After the treatment, I give my clients homework – tools with which they can maintain the results themselves from home. I put them in charge of their healing, with me as their passenger. My ultimate goal is that together, we make such meaningful improvement and change that eventually they won’t “need” me anymore. But I’ll always be here for them, always on their side.
Can you tell us any tips or good questions to ask ourselves to help be more kind and generous to ourselves? Our bodies? Our pain points? How can we be more attuned to our bodies and listen to ourselves with more care?
Wow, those are excellent questions! Part of my life’s journey took me through years of debilitating chronic pain, uncontrolled auto-immune conditions, and gaslighting by the western medical care system. Long story short, I was living in a prolonged state of Fight or Flight, believing my ability to thrive in those chaotic, high-stress conditions was a strength and virtue. But I was wrong and my body shut down as a result.
Pain is our body’s loving attempt to protect us, but our culture forces us to disassociate from our body’s needs in order to “survive”. There’s this tiny, quiet, powerful seed of rebellion inside my clients that starts the seachange leading them to me. There’s a moment in their health journey when they simply say “No” to the shoulder shrugs of medical practitioners resigned to do nothing about their pain. In an act of desperation and defiance, they look for something different and find their way to me. In just one treatment, I give them what no one else would: Relief and Hope.
Stepping into this work requires that we invite ourselves back into our bodies, feeling our way into the spaces we’ve worked very hard to disassociate from. That is a brave thing to do! It takes great courage to swim against the current, and choose to feel things that were too difficult to feel when we thought we were alone. But when they come to me they’re no longer alone – I’m “in it” with them, 100%. The changes they go on to make in their lives are remarkable! And often, this is the catalyst. The power of “No” is nothing short of revolutionary, and listening to our internal voice is the greatest act of self-love I can think of. 
Are you surprised about anything in your business? Or the reason why clients keep coming back to you?
Mostly I’m surprised that I set out to do this really abstract, absurdly lofty pursuit, and it worked! I’m doing it!! In the beginning I was anticipating a surge of interest as the trend driven side of Buccal and Sculptural Somatic modalities grew in popularity, but overwhelmingly my clients come to me for relief and healing. The cosmetic benefits are just a bonus for them. And once I’m in that room, the synergy between the cosmetic and therapeutic aspects is so powerful and undeniable that I’m never not surprised. My business surprises me daily! How do you take care of yourself? How do you rest and recharge as you care for others?
I think about my internal wellness like a bank account – when the funds are depleted, we’re in trouble! I replenish my funds by sleeping well, long showers, stretching, and drinking tons of water. Spiritually, I take time to ground and reconnect with my Higher Self between clients and throughout the day, which helps me stay clear and energized. And emotionally, excessive cuddles with my kids and dogs makes most things in the world right again!“Stepping into this work requires that we invite ourselves back into our bodies, feeling our way into the spaces we’ve worked very hard to disassociate from. That is a brave thing to do!”
— Stephanie Cantor
Do you think it’s okay to try?
There’s a nuanced yet important difference between “doing” and “trying”. “Trying” is an invitation to fail first, while “doing” feels definitive to me – a practice, a hobby, an interest that becomes part of one’s identity. I strongly believe that curiosity keeps us young, and receiving permission to show up clunkily allows us to explore curiosities freely, like children. When we’re little, we can paint without becoming painters, sing without becoming singers… As adults we don’t think that way anymore. We think we have to be good at something to rationalize doing it. But “trying” is such a magical way of connecting again to self and others, totally free of the outcome. As people come to our 101 workshop with you, what do you hope that they leave with?
I hope each guest leaves with a new way of thinking about the relationship between themselves and their faces. I hope we all walk away with new sparks of curiosity, and I hope we follow where it leads us. I hope we start a Revolution. 