Luna Verde Provides Safe, Inclusive Space for Beauty and Wellness

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Luna Verde Beauty & Wellness is a small business collective located at 2658 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View that specializes in hair services, skin care, handmade goods, massage, aromatherapy, reiki, divination and more. They opened this past October and are dedicated to holding a safe, inclusive space for their clients as well as for BIPOC, queer and woman-owned small businesses to flourish.

Mimi Natalia is the owner. A hairstylist with a decade of experience, she launched Luna Verde because there wasn’t anything in Milwaukee quite putting beauty and wellness in tandem with one another in the way that they do. “Some people have never felt really safe walking into your typical salon or spa,” she said. “The concept came together because we wanted to offer wellness in all different ways with people from all different backgrounds and identities, bridging feeling good on the outside with feeling good on the inside. If we wanted to see change, we had to create it ourselves.”

The space’s name, which means “green moon” in Spanish, comes from a profoundly spiritual moment Natalia experienced. She explained, “2021 was one of the toughest times for me and I took time to disappear for a bit and just grieve. One night I had this really wild dream where I woke up and just looked at the sky, and I saw what looked like a green moon and it felt very real. I looked it up and found out that it represents abundance and success and health, and when we were opening the space, I kept circling back to it.”

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Self-care Workshops

Luna Verde’s current team is Mimi Natalia herself, massage therapist Shiloh Adams, esthetician Daya Rodriguez, energy work provider Sevan, hairstylist Tyler Olson and hairstylist Jason Koenig. They hold bimonthly community self-care workshops on weekends and feature shelves of products from local vendors. “Everyone here is very sweet, down-to-earth and honest,” Natalia said. “I want people to know that we come from the community that we serve; I was born and raised in Bay View and I’m very honored to hold space here.”

Opening right before the holidays was exciting for Luna Verde and they’re kicking off 2023 with some neat events coming up as well. There will be a skin alchemy workshop led by Alquimia Holistica at 4 p.m. January 15, a sound bath meditation led by Sevan at 11 a.m. January 22. A breathwork workshop led by Amelia Toporsh is being planned. They are also looking for a few more hairstylists to join their team.

To get in touch, visit their website at lunaverdebeautywellness.com or email them at luna.verde.mke@gmail.com.