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Portia Kors: Esthetician, business owner

CDN’s weekly community profile

Portia Kors takes a picture with her daughter, Naomi, with a collection of cottonwood buds they picked.
Portia Kors, esthetician and owner of Skin Rhythm, collects cottonwood buds Jan. 29 with her daughter, Naomi, at Nugent's Corner River Access. The buds are natural preservatives and can be used for skin care. (Trenton Almgren-Davis/Cascadia Daily News)
By Jenelle Baumbach News Intern

Portia Kors (she/hers)

Age: 43

City: Bellingham

Lived here for: For a few years in her childhood, back since 2020

Originally from: California

Notable: Owner of Skin Rhythm, natural skin-care lover, mother

How long have you been making your own skin care products and why did you start? 

I’m an esthetician, so I’ve been doing it for a while. Skin care has always been my jam; it’s been my passion. I started making it about six years ago when I was pregnant with [Naomi]. I made a nice balm; I had like no stretch marks so it really helped. Then I started making skin care three and a half years ago, consistently. I’m taking a formulation skin care class too because I want to stick to organic skin care, which is what I love. 

What does a typical workday look like for you? 

Get up, get [Naomi] ready, come back, formulate, create. I do online schooling for the formulation class, pack orders if I have orders, which is like a couple a week. And I wax at Screamin’ Eve, too, so I kind of juggle all of that. 

What is your favorite part about owning your own business? 

Creating something, being in control of the process, and making a product that actually helps people because it’s all-natural, it’s organic. For some people, if their skin is not good, then they don’t feel good. So healthy skin is what keeps me going. Helping people if they’re cancer patients or they’re moms and they are more aware of what they are putting into their body, and just creating something where they feel safe and they come back. It’s satisfying, I just love doing it and I love natural skin care. 

How do you decide what ingredients to put in your products? 


I kind of let it happen naturally. But because I forage a lot, I have a lot of herbs, so it might come to me, or I’m like, oh, I should try this, try that. So, the goal is to [forage] then use that and incorporate it in different skin care. I don’t know if it’s going to be a balm or salt or facewash. It all depends how the plants talk to me. 

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? 

Hanging out with Naomi, going on walks with her, if there is free time. 

“Faces in the Crowd” is published weekly in print on Wednesdays and online Fridays. Have a suggestion for a “Faces in the Crowd” subject? Email us at newstips@cascadiadaily.com.

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