In Rio de Janeiro, where she
was born, Claudia Silva was taught
Brazilian waxing treatments by her
mother at the young age of 10. In
Brazil, long known for its beautiful
women with drop-dead beautiful skin,
shaving is eschewed for waxing. They
even write songs about it. Remember,
"The Girl From Ipanema"?
Skin care is an enormous
cottage industry in Brazil. It didn’t
take long for young Claudia’s adeptness
and attention to detail to catch the eye
of Rio’s best known neighborhood
estheticians. Several ask Claudia to
come and be their assistant. She did
just that and by the age of 15 young
Claudia Silva was a popular and much
sought after esthetician’s assistant.
By age 16, Claudia Silva knew
exactly what she wanted to do with her
life: To give the best skin care and
beauty treatment service found anywhere. Her father told her, “If you
want to be the very best, then go to
school and study your profession.”
She took his advice and in 1994, Claudia
left Rio de Janeiro for the U.S. Once
arriving, she enrolled at the Ivonne
De Dillar Scientific Skin Care Institute
in Vienna, then on to the
International Dermal Institute in
Chantilly, Virginia.
While in school Claudia was
amazed to find that in her newly adopted
state of Virginia, there is no license
required for providing skin care to the
public. [Her black eyes still flash
when you mention the subject].
Claudia did not understand why the state
would require a license for hair and
nail care, but not for something as
important as skin care.
Anyone who knows Claudia Silva
certainly knows that she has a
determined mind of her own. So to show
her respect for her profession and her
care for her future customers, Claudia
went to Maryland to acquire her license
as a Skin Care professional…even though
it was not required for her to work in
Virginia. In her own words Claudia
said, “I believe that my customers
deserve nothing less.”
A position with another skin care
firm brought Claudia to Richmond,
Virginia. It wasn’t long before
customers begin asking that their
treatments be done exclusively by
Claudia. After a very happy marriage
and a name change to Claudia
Silva-Martins, Claudia asked herself the
All-American entrepreneurial question,
“Why don’t I start my own business so
that I can do my work the way it should
be done?" The rest, as they say, is
history.
Claudia opened Clasi Skin Care
Clinic in 1999. Word of her superb
skin care capabilities spread fast. In
only about 24 months, the new business
was running out of treatment rooms and
space. In Spring of 2003, Claudia
decided to move to a larger location and
change the name of the business to
Claudia’s Skin Care. The name change
only made sense, most all of her clients
referred to the business as "Claudia’s"
anyway.