What 5 Circle does not claim: “for all skin types”
Your skin is unique. It deserves better than a mass-produced formula designed to treat everyone the same.
5 Circle Skin Care was created around a different idea: specific products for specific skin goals.
Every product has a job. Every formula is developed with a clear purpose. And when these products are used together. they create a focused routine designed around what your skin actually needs, not everything skin care can possibly do.
We don't treat skin as one big problem. We identify what needs attention and build the routine around it.
Denise is a licensed esthetician with 15+ years of experience. Each 5 Circle product is developed and tested in her Westlake treatment room, on real people, for the skin issues they come to her to address.
Who created 5 Circle Skin Care? 5 Circle Skin Care was created in 2017 by Denise Bell, a licensed esthetician in West Lake Hills, Austin, Texas. After years of treating clients in her own studio, she built a line that deletes the products she considers unnecessary, like toners and eye creams, and delivers results with the fewest bottles possible. Every product targets a specific skin concern, not "all skin types."
How 5 Circle started
It all started in the treatment room
In 2012 I went to Beauty School (shout out to Baldwin Beauty School in Austin, Texas) and that same year after I graduated, rented a small office in Westlake. During that time I became a mad scientist in my treatment room, creating protocols for clients, researching products and ingredients. I would stay so late at the office sometimes I watched the sun rise through my window. On those mornings, I would try to leave before anyone saw me. I was sure people would think I was on drugs or worse as I did my walk of shame to my car in yesterday's clothes.
It was hard for me to stop until I felt I knew enough to be a good aesthetician. When I needed help I called my aesthetician instructor (still good friends and grateful for her to this day) Chelsea and she would help me make sense of whatever question I had. I really care about my clients. It was almost an obsession.
The problem I kept running into
I was in the treatment room every day and was looking for ways to help my clients even more. When you're an aesthetician, home care is something that gets overlooked sometimes. Clients don't always want to take the time to do a 12 step routine, don't know when to push their skin and when to treat it gently.
I would go over the professional products that I used and sold in my spa, but they were complicated. They were created for aestheticians. They had 10 cleansers, 25 serums and even more moisturizers and specialty products. I understood how it could be overwhelming for people, even with me telling them exactly what to use.
My clients changed everything for me
One day a client came in for her monthly facial. She was a busy CEO who ran companies and was on a plane as much as she was in her office. I asked her as I always do before I get started, "How's your skin?"
I don't know. You tell me.Her answer. That was the moment I understood the problem I needed to solve.
Five steps instead of twelve, formulated for a condition instead of "all skin types," and still made in the same Westlake studio. Products ship nationwide.
It was then that I realized that people who were not estheticians needed a way to know what to use and how to use it. They did not want to research a bunch of skin care lines to find their hero products. They wanted to know just what they needed, how to use it, and for the process to be as uncomplicated as possible. And so I discovered the problem to solve.
Fast forward to today. Each product has been developed with my busy mom, CEO, and everything-in-between clients in mind. The system I developed deletes skin care products that are unnecessary and delivers the best results because every product used is created for specific skin concerns.
What will your 5 be?
5 steps: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, SPF, and retinol. Which 5 products depends on your skin's condition, concern and type. Our philosophy is simple: your skin deserves products created for what it actually needs Find Your 5 is how we put that philosophy into practice.
“When I became an Esthetician 15 years ago…”
From 1000s of products to just 5. Denise walks the path from the treatment room to the product line: what she saw working on real clients, why the professional lines she stocked were too complicated for people to actually follow at home, and how that led her to cut the routine down to five steps matched to a skin condition, concern and type rather than a skin type only.
Most brands tell you what they added. Here is what we removed.
A 12 step routine is not a flex. Every extra bottle is another step somebody skips at 11pm.
- Toner
- Eye cream
- Separate night cream
- Neck Cream
What is left: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, SPF, and retinol at night. 5 steps. 5 minutes. That is the whole routine.
Condition, not skin type
You can't get to a destination if you don't know where you're going. So I ask my clients and customers to determine their skin care goals. It may be acne, hyperpigmentation and sun damage, loss of firmness, lines and wrinkles, redness or rosacea. With 5 Circle there is a product to improve your skin condition, but first we have to determine what that is. There is not a single product that can address hyperpigmentation AND fine lines and wrinkles as well as a product designed to target just hyperpigmentation. To give customers the best results, a formula has to go all in on that concern.
Acne and congestion
Clearing breakouts and keeping pores clean without stripping the barrier.
Hyperpigmentation and sun damage
Fading what Texas sun leaves behind, and preventing more of it.
Loss of firmness and lines
Supporting collagen with actives that are actually tolerable long term.
Redness and rosacea
Calming reactive skin instead of pushing it harder.
Underneath most of these is the same thing: a barrier that stopped doing its job. That is usually where I start, and it is why ceramides matter more than another serum.
I've most likely seen your skin in the treatment room, where I've performed thousands of hours of facials. I know I can help people achieve the best skin of their lives. It's my mission and I'm grateful that you're here so I can show you how healthy your skin can be.
The 5 Circle team
The people behind 5 Circle.
5 Circle at a glance
- Founder
- Denise Bell, licensed esthetician
- Experience
- 15+ years, trained at Baldwin Beauty School in Austin
- Studio opened
- 2012, West Lake Hills, Austin
- Product line launched
- 2017
- Location
- 1011 Westlake Drive, Austin, TX 78746
- Booking
- By appointment only. Call or text 512-784-3044
- The system
- Five steps: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, SPF, retinol at night
- Not sold
- Toner, eye cream, essence, separate night cream
- Formulated for
- A specific skin condition, not "all skin types"
- Shipping
- Nationwide. Virtual consultations available
Frequently asked questions
Who is Denise Bell?
Denise Bell is a licensed esthetician with 15+ years of experience and the founder of 5 Circle Skin Care. She trained at Baldwin Beauty School in Austin, opened her own studio in Westlake in 2012, and launched the 5 Circle product line in 2017. She sees clients at her studio in West Lake Hills, Austin.
Why doesn't 5 Circle sell toner or eye cream?
Both were deliberately left out. Denise cut the products she considers unnecessary so the routine delivers results with the fewest bottles possible. The system is five steps: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, SPF, and retinol at night.
What does "condition, not skin type" mean?
Your skin type is genetic and can't be changed. Your skin's current condition, such as acne, hyperpigmentation, loss of firmness, or rosacea, can be treated. 5 Circle products are formulated for specific conditions rather than making a broad "all skin types" claim.
What is Find Your 5?
Find Your 5 is the process of matching you to the five products that fit your skin's condition: cleanser, serum, moisturizer, SPF, and retinol. The five steps stay the same for everyone. Which products fill them does not.
Who will I see if I book an appointment?
Denise. She is the only esthetician at 5 Circle, so you are never handed to whoever is available that day.
What makes 5 Circle different from other skincare brands?
Two things. Every product was developed and tested by Denise Bell, a licensed esthetician with 15+ years of experience, on real clients in her own treatment room before it went on a shelf. And every product is matched to a specific skin condition rather than carrying an "all skin types" claim.
Is 5 Circle Skin Care a spa or a product line?
Both. Denise sees clients for facials and treatments at the studio in West Lake Hills, Austin, and the product line grew out of what she saw working in that treatment room. The studio is by appointment only.
Does 5 Circle ship nationwide?
Yes. Products ship anywhere in the United States. If you are not in Austin, virtual consultations are available so Denise can match you to the right five products for your skin's condition.
Where is 5 Circle Skin Care located?
The studio is at 1011 Westlake Drive in West Lake Hills, Austin, Texas. Products ship nationwide, and virtual consultations are available if you're not local. More about the Austin studio.
Condition, not skin type
Find your 5
Shop the lineup, or talk to Denise about what your skin actually needs.
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