Katja Kokko
Katja Kokko is a holistic beauty therapist with two-decade long career in genuine beauty and overall well-being. She is known as one of the most sought-after pioneers in the Finnish natural cosmetics scene.
Katja Kokko is a holistic beauty therapist with over two-decade long career in genuine beauty and overall well-being. She is known as one of the most sought-after pioneers in the Finnish natural cosmetics scene.
Katja is a trained beauty therapist, makeup artist, organic cosmetic formulator, yoga teacher and author with broad expertise in skincare. She is also trained in facial gua sha, facial acupuncture, connective tissue manipulation, The Vodder Technique Manual Lymph Drainage, facial reflexology and Reiki. She has written two books about skincare (Genuine Beauty, 2014 and Kuulaan kaunis, 2019), founded one of Finland’s leading houses of organic cosmetics and worked internationally with a massive amount of skincare brands. Katja trains beauty professionals actively. She is currently studying Traditional Chinese Medicine and will graduate as a licensed acupuncturist from The Academy of Chinese Medicine in Finland in 2023. Katja is also a co-founder of her other skincare brand Djusie.
Katja’s website is found here.
For Katja, the face and eyes have always been like a mirror that reflects the well-being and balance of the body, mind and soul. Yin Your Skin was born from that idea. Yin Your Skin concept merges yin yoga, meditation and holistic skincare methods. The concept was born in 2017 after Katja had done years of enquiry in her own body about the astounding effects of yin yoga which run deep through the body to our face and our largest organ – the skin.
The facial gua sha became part of the concept in 2018 when Katja searched for techniques which targeted deeper layers beneath the skin and its systems. Katja was drawn to facial gua sha as a pure practice free from products. In the beginning Yin Your Skin consisted of hands-on workshops, but after receiving many requests for an online version for those unable to attend workshops, Yin Your Skin was finally launched as an online wellness experience enriched by a visually breathtaking journey to Nordic nature and its own signature soundscape composed and produced by Finnish pop artist IRENE.
Yin Your Skin gua sha tools and skincare products complete the concept and reinforce its mission – to teach effective self-care methods that anyone can use to support well-being in daily life.
Katja has been trained to facial gua sha by Cecily Braden from the US, who has been training up beauty professionals in holistic skincare methods from 1994. She then continued her studies in connective tissue manipulation training by Anne Bramham, who has been an educator in the spa industry for more than 40 years. Anne’s training opened up completely new techniques also for facial gua sha and her teachings touched deeply Katja’s heart. She has deep gratitude for all the teachers who have influenced her work and she is using the knowledge to help her clients with honor to her teachers. In January 2020 Katja began studies in Chinese Medicine at the Academy of Chinese Medicine in Finland in order to further deepen her education and skills in holistic wellbeing and skincare. She will graduate as a licensed acupuncturist in 2023.
- Member of the Association of Finnish Beauty Therapists
- Member of The Association of Finnish Non-fiction Writers
- Licensed Beauty Therapist, 1999-2002, Jyväskylä Institute of Social and Health Care
- Make-Up Artist, 2003, International Make-Up Center
- Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, 2014-2016, Magnus Appelberg
- Organic Cosmetic Formulator, Advanced Diploma in Organic Cosmetic Science, 2016, Formula Botanica
- Organic Cosmetic Formulator, Certificate in Organic Anti-Aging Skincare, 2018, Formula Botanica
- Facial Reflexology, Dien Chan Zone® Operator, 2018, International Academy of Italian Facial Reflexology
- Reiki I, 2018, Jutta Ruonansuu
- Facial Gua Sha, Gua Sha Fusion, 2018, Cecily Braden, CJB Beauty Secrets
- Gua Sha, The Level 1 Foundational Program, 2019, Clive Witham
- Connective Tissue Manipulation, 2019, Anne Bramham, ASTECC
- Gua Sha, Gua Sha Certificate Level 2, 2020, Clive Witham
- Spa Wellness Coaching, Leah Carver, ASTECC
- Yoga Anatomy, 20 h, 2020, Yoganatomy, Davil Keil
- Ashtanga Yoga Teacher (Yoga Chikitsa), RYS200, 2019-2020, John Scott Yoga, Sandra Howling
- Mei Rong – Cosmetic Treatment Techniques (Facial acupuncture), Janyary 2022-June 2022, Finnish Academy of Chinese Medicine
- The Vodder Technique Manual Lymph Drainage, Basic & Advanced Neck & Face Program, 40 hour, 2022, ASTECC, Ashley Jo Press
Current education:
- Acupuncturist, 2020-, Finnish Academy of Chinese Medicine
- Ashtanga Yoga Teacher (Nadi Shodhana), RYS500, 2021-, John Scott Yoga, Sandra Howling
- Human Biology, 25 ECTS credits, 2022-, University of Eastern Finland, Open University
- Aidosti kaunis, 2015, Cozy Publishing (this book, “Genuine Beauty”, has also English version as an e-book, available here.)
- Kuulaan kaunis, 2019, Gummerus
