Monastery’s botanical skincare is worshipped by many (including Sofia Coppola)

For Athena Hewett, aesthetician and founder of Monastery, her skincare philosophy took shape after years of battling stubborn acne, only to find an unexpected solution during a month-long backpacking trip, when her skin suddenly, and almost completely, cleared up.

‘I remember looking in the mirror and wondering why my skin looked so much better when I had done absolutely nothing to it?’ she recalls. But the moment Hewitt returned to San Francisco, where she and the brand are based, and resumed her old skincare routine, the breakouts returned. Frustrated, she began developing her all-natural formulations, giving rise to Monastery, a brand built on preservation rather than intervention.

Monastery’s botanical skincare has a cult following for its ‘less is more’ approach

Hewett’s first creation, the Rose Cleansing Oil, wasn’t designed to strip the skin but to support its microbiome, allowing it to maintain its natural balance. ‘It was a way to take off sunscreen at the end of the day without doing anything disruptive,’ she explains. It was 2011 at the time, and ‘microbiome’ wasn’t yet a buzzword in skincare. But Hewett instinctively understood that preserving the skin’s bacterial environment was key. ‘Oil molecules are large, so they sit on the surface and dissolve impurities without penetrating or disturbing the skin barrier,’ she says.

Hewett’s expertise, honed over 10 years as an aesthetician at that point, meant she had an immediate test audience: her clients. As the acne specialist at a spa, she began using the oil in treatments and noticed striking results. ‘Nine times out of ten, it worked,’ she says. ‘I had assumed my acne was hormonal, but this made me rethink everything. Maybe it was a topical issue all along.’ Encouraged by her success, she expanded her range, formulating products that complemented the Rose Cleansing Oil rather than competing with it. Her second formulation, the Gold Botanical Serum, was designed to heal pigmentation left behind by acne, packed with vitamins and omegas to nourish and restore.

By the time she officially launched Monastery, Hewett had refined her formulas through years of hands-on experience. At a time when skincare was becoming increasingly complex, her approach was the opposite: fewer products, better results. Monastery’s ‘quiet luxury’ ethos reflects Hewett’s view of skincare as a ritual, a practice, a moment of stillness. The name itself comes from a deeply personal place. ‘My mother was Greek, and as we flipped through old family photo albums, I came across a picture of a monastery near my great-grandmother’s home,’ she explains, ‘The word struck me – it evoked quiet, ritual, self-care. It just made sense.’

Ingredients for Monastery’s products are sourced globally, always with an emphasis on the highest-quality botanicals. ‘In the beginning, I worked with tiny farmers, but as the brand grew, that became unsustainable,’ Hewett says. ‘It’s not unlike winemaking – ingredients change with the seasons, and that affects texture, scent, and feel.’ But staying hands-on remains essential. ‘Our lab is here [in San Francisco], I’m here, and we can experiment freely,’ she says. ‘If I have an idea, I can make it, test it with our aestheticians, and refine it in real time.’

Recently, Monastery’s commitment to ritual-driven skincare found a natural partner in Ara’kai, a Copenhagen-based spa founded by Heydi Vasquez. After 15 years in fashion, Vasquez craved something more meaningful, drawing on her Dominican upbringing to create a space where beauty is seen as a practice of nourishment and balance.

She first discovered Monastery on a trip to New York and was immediately drawn to its purity and sensory approach. ‘From our very first conversation, Athena and I knew we wanted to collaborate – it was just a matter of finding the right way and the right time,’ Vasquez says. The partnership materialised during the most recent Copenhagen Fashion Week in February (2025) with Ara’kai becoming the exclusive European home of the Monastery Super Glow Signature Facial, a treatment that blends lush botanical formulations with sculpting massage techniques for a results-driven yet deeply restorative experience.

Back in the states, Monastery has just teamed up with the spa at New York’s Hotel Chelsea, with Hewitt as its inaugural ‘artist in residence’. This comes off the back of the brand taking care of skin backstage at Khaite’s A/W 2025 show at New York Fashion Week this year. Here, Hewitt and her products were key in creating the runway beauty, which focused on matte, bare-looking skin.

Backstage, she prepped models using a soon-to-launch Monastery product featuring a proprietary ingredient never before used in skincare. ‘It can be used both as a cleanser and a moisturiser,’ Hewett teases. The routine was finished with Monastery’s Aloe serum and the Coppola x Monastery Hideaway Essence – a product Hewitt created in collaboration with director Sofia Coppola, with who she has been working with as a client for just over a year – ensuring a perfectly hydrated, balanced, and shine-free complexion that complemented Diane Kendal’s make-up direction.

One of the most recent additions to its line-up is The Deep Red, an at-home LED deep red light mask, which hit shelves at the end of 2024. But as Monastery and its cult following continue to grow, Hewett remains committed to the philosophy that started it all: simplicity, efficacy, and respect for the skin’s natural balance.

In a world of ever-expanding routines, her vision is welcomed, proving that sometimes, less truly is more.

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