Today we’d like to introduce you to Racheal Haynes.
Hi Racheal, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My path into holistic wellness wasn’t a straight line—it was built through years of searching for answers.
I began college in Athens, Georgia while still struggling to recover from a head injury I sustained in high school. Around the same time, I was navigating a series of health challenges that followed being prescribed hormonal birth control and antidepressants during my adolescent years. Like many people, I accepted that feeling unwell was simply something I had to live with until I met a physician who encouraged me to look at my health through a more holistic lens, beginning with balancing my hormones.
Watching my body begin to heal changed everything. Under medical supervision, I eventually came off my medications, and what started as a personal healing journey became a lifelong pursuit of understanding the body’s remarkable capacity to restore itself when given the right support.
That curiosity led me to sign up for my first yoga teacher training. Instead of encouragement, I was told I wasn’t cut out for the program. At such a young age, those words deeply affected my confidence. Looking back, I’m grateful they didn’t become the final chapter.
Growing up in the South in 2011, yoga and holistic wellness still felt like an anomaly. Then I visited Colorado for a concert at Red Rocks. Beyond the music, I experienced a culture that embraced mindfulness, community, and alternative approaches to health in a way I had never witnessed before. Something in me immediately recognized that environment as home, and I knew I had to return.
After moving west, life continued to test me in ways that could have easily convinced me to quit. Instead, each setback strengthened my resolve.
Eventually I found Zenver Yoga, led by Ali Bullano and Katy Bauschke. That community became both my safe place and my fuel. Receiving a scholarship made the training financially possible, and I found myself surrounded by trauma-informed teachers who challenged me while holding space for profound personal transformation. It remains one of the most meaningful educational experiences of my life. That training taught me that healing isn’t just physical—it’s emotional, communal, and deeply human. I couldn’t had found a better landing place, with two powerful women whose ideals shaped the way I teach. I will forever be grateful for their training program,.
Years later I enrolled in nursing school, hoping to better understand the science behind healing as I already had a strong academic background in Anatomy and Chemistry. When COVID shifted education almost entirely online, I found myself reflecting on what truly lit me up. That reflection became my pivotal turning point.
I applied to the School of Botanical & Medical Aesthetics. Ironically, my first application was declined because the transition to virtual admissions made it difficult to determine whether I was the right fit. Rather than seeing it as rejection, I continued studying herbalism, formulation, and botanical medicine on my own while patiently waiting for another opportunity.
When I was finally accepted, I knew I had found exactly where I belonged. The school’s philosophy seamlessly aligned with my own—combining evidence-based skincare with botanical wisdom, mentorship, and an understanding that the skin is deeply connected to the health of the whole person. Their mentor-based approach gave me the confidence to begin building not only my skills, but my business.
During school, I founded Auric Skincraft to help offset tuition costs. From the beginning, I wanted the brand to reflect my own standards. I became fascinated by ingredient integrity, advanced delivery systems, and formulations designed to work with the body’s biology rather than against it. I began handcrafting small-batch liposomal botanical products using herbs sourced locally from Little Apothecary in Lafayette, Colorado—a relationship I still maintain today because of their exceptional quality and intentional sourcing.
Colorado’s support for small businesses allowed me to begin creating from home, and with the unwavering encouragement of my best friend, Heather Swaney, a talented massage therapist, those first products found their way into people’s hands. The response was incredibly affirming and showed me there was space for a different kind of skincare—one rooted in education, transparency, and respect for the body’s innate intelligence.
Eventually, I returned to Wilmington, North Carolina to be closer to my family. Starting over in a new city wasn’t easy, but I carried with me everything Colorado had taught me about collaboration, community, and building something with intention. My hope has been to cultivate that same spirit here while continuing to grow Auric Skincraft into a space where clinical aesthetics and holistic wellness can coexist.
Although Wilmington is now home, Colorado will always be woven into my story. Some of the most meaningful relationships and creative collaborations in my life continue to grow from the community that first believed in me.
This summer, I had the opportunity to return to Colorado to collaborate with two incredibly gifted women I met while living there—yoga teacher and music enthusiast Kelly Hinds and licensed massage therapist and sound healing practitioner Cassidy Madden. Together we created a Quantum Yin healing experience for Pretty Lights’ Yahn Dawn Festival in Buena Vista, blending restorative yoga, immersive sound, meditation, and nervous system regulation alongside the mountains that first inspired me to move west all those years ago.
Teaching alongside women I deeply admire is like one of those rare full-circle moments. It reminded me that the seeds we plant through authentic community continue to grow long after we leave a place.
Today, Auric Skincraft has evolved into more than a skincare studio. It has become a reflection of everything I’ve learned along the way—that healing is rarely one-dimensional. Through regenerative esthetics, botanical formulation, yoga, sound, and education, my goal is to help people reconnect with the incredible intelligence of their own bodies. Whether someone walks through my doors for a corrective facial or joins me for a restorative yoga practice, I hope they leave feeling more empowered, more informed, and more connected to themselves (and the earth) than when they arrived.
Looking back, every rejection, every setback, every move across the country, and every unexpected opportunity quietly shaped the work I feel called to do today. Auric Skincraft continues to evolve, but its foundation remains the same: honoring the wisdom of nature, embracing evidence-informed care, and creating spaces where people feel genuinely supported in their own journey toward healing
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
smooth roads don’t build seasoned time travelers. It has been anything but a smooth road. While completing clinic hours in aesthetics school, I experienced nerve damage, and not long afterward, a car accident created another difficult chapter in my health and recovery. Living with pain that isn’t always visible deepened my understanding of the nervous system and changed the way I care for others. It taught me that healing is rarely linear—and that being truly seen and supported can matter just as much as finding the right treatment.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m both licensed beauty professional, RYT 200 yoga instructor, sound healing certified, and creative in my business currently.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I think what surprises people most is how many times I was told “no” before I found the work I was meant to do. And that I am also incredibly shy!
I wasn’t accepted into my first yoga teacher training, and years later I wasn’t accepted into my esthetics program on my first application either. At the time, both experiences felt incredibly discouraging. Looking back, they taught me resilience, humility, and that the right opportunities often require patience.
Many people also don’t know that my journey into holistic skincare began because I was trying to heal myself. After years of struggling with the lingering effects of a head injury and other health challenges, I became fascinated by the body’s innate ability to heal when given the right support. That curiosity eventually grew into studying herbalism, yoga, anatomy, regenerative skincare, and formulation.
Outside of esthetics, I’m probably happiest hiking in the mountains, making herbal preparations in my kitchen, practicing yoga, or immersed in live music. Those experiences have shaped Auric Skincraft just as much as my professional training. My work has never been just about skincare—it’s about creating experiences that help people reconnect with themselves.
Pricing:
- 325$ Pretty Lights Yahn Dawn GA wknd admission in Buena Vista, CO
- Custom apothecary facial on my menu 110$
- Quartz Monthly Facial membership 125$
- Nano Regenerate Facial Infusion $275
Contact Info:
- Website: Booking with me: https://auricskincraft.glossgenius.com/
- Instagram: @auric.skincraft
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuricSkincraft
- Other: Auricskincraft.com to shop my curated collection
