Tilted Crown Esthetics opens in Moorcroft

Nickiah (Nicki) Nelson has opened Tilted Crown Esthetics at 616 West Converse, in Moorcroft. She and husband Randy made Moorcroft their home in 2022, when they were both commuting to Cabilo Mine for work.

Nelson, who has two grown children, decided to move from mining to the "girly world" of esthetics,

"I decided I'm going to start something new in life... I came home and decided I was going to school at 43 years old," she says.

Though the training was stressful, because "I didn't know the computer really well... it wasn't part of my wheelhouse... but I'm challenge driven and it's just been a totally different world," the former coal miner hung in there and became an avid advocate for the need of this first level of examination and protection of face and body.

"I used to wash my face with Lava soap, that's how we got the coal dust off... When I was offered the opportunity to go to school and to do this, it was so exciting and the education was beyond what I expected...what peptides are and AHAs, BHAs, chemical peels and how facials work... It's a whole new world," she says.

I don't know if enough women and young girls understand the importance of pampering themselves and selfcare... loving their skin."

She enjoys listening to her clients as the two talk about anything and everything during the quiet sessions.

"The one hour of complete bliss with hot towels, steam and wonderful smells – every woman needs to experience selflove in that way," she says.

"You can change people's lives with touch and feel...changing someone's outlook for that day for that hour or even ten minutes."

Nelson advises young girls and boys to begin a regimen of professional skin care at puberty, "Their skin and hormones change and when they become teenagers... By the time they're 20-22, they start to lose the collagen in their face so that's when it really important to exfoliate and stimulate their skin to regenerate the elasticity and plumpness in the skin."

To older women and men, Nelson suggests coming in to learn about the products and procedures she uses to heal and protect their changing skin.

"Once they've seen [how it's applied], their skin glows and they look different, then they understand," she says.

Education is so important for people to understand the early detection and prevention of certain skin conditions, the esthetician said. "90% of us know that there are dermatologists, but you can prevent 90% of life just by understanding what you put in your body and what you put on your body. How well you do it affects everything about it."

"You can prevent basal cell carcinoma, which is the number one skin cancer. It is the easiest to treat, but if it goes undetected... little dry patches on your skin or a lesion of some sort are usually the first indications should be checked out," she says.

People who understand the health benefits of esthetics are more open to making use of this asset, according to Nelson. While not physicians, she says, "We are trained to see differences in the skin – what it feels and looks like."

"I really like the small knit and "personable" community of Moorcroft, says Nelson, "and if I can inspire little girls to become more secure with themselves and more beautiful so they will continue their education, maybe in healthcare and skin care... to see the rewards of watching somebody blossom and glow."

A picture she saw some years ago of a young child with a crown sitting on a head full of curls at a definite tilt brought to mind the name of her business, according to Nelson, "She was the highest and mightiest little thing ever, the picture spoke of selflove... she was fierce and I thought every woman deserves to have her crown straightened."