OLE
HENRIKSEN
Internationally
Acclaimed Skincare Guru
by Lawrence Ferber
You could say that Ole Henriksen’s
story is one of “breakout” success. The Denmark-born
skincare guru achieved his first fame treating Hollywood
residents’ cystic acne with miraculous results,
leading to an A-list roster of celebrity clients including
Barbra Streisand, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Mark Wahlberg,
Charlize Theron, Elton John, David Bowie, and Kylie
Minogue. Today, his West Hollywood spa receives glowing
reviews whenever and wherever it’s written up,
and in Denmark he’s a bona fide celebrity with
highly-rated TV shows and bestselling books to his credit.
Yet there’s plenty to Henriksen’s
story below the surface, not all of it pretty, and he
refuses to mask these blotches. Openness and truth are
his philosophical tenets: indeed, several of his most
popular products’ names incorporate the word “Truth,”
including a lightly citrus-scented, liquid collagen
booster called Truth Serum and African Red Tea-infused
Express The Truth Wrinkle Resistant Cream. During a
2007 interview with Sweden’s Salonk magazine, he
casually discussed, and in the process de facto outed,
Ricky Martin, “He is a bit more open about it these
days than he used to be. It’s difficult for artists—women
as well as men—who need to sell lots of records,
to be open about their sexuality. I don’t know
if he has a [boyfriend]. At least I haven’t seen
him.”
That aside, probing Henriksen for any
dish and dirt on his roster of celebrity clients is
largely met with straightforward praise, how un-diva
like they are when in his presence. He can count on
one finger how many celebs have proven to be difficult
(keep reading to find out who). Regardless, all clients
of Henriksen should expect the same treatment and personal
touch as habitual red carpet walkers.
“I have made myself available as
an expert to anyone who has knocked on my door,”
he nodded. “I love what I do. People like the fact
the business has maintained that personalized touch
and you can do that on a global level. I respond to
every inquiry on an individual basis, and I am never
too tired. I am grateful.”
Well, then, how about a few skin do’s
and don’ts? He obliges. “Don’t eat excessive
amounts of sugar, any kind. It will elevate your blood
sugar level, it will give you rashy skin, it will break
you out. It will take the soluble collagen and make
it insoluble and cause premature wrinkling. It is toxic
on all levels and should be enjoyed in moderation. Massive
amounts of sugar on a daily basis is really bad.”
Warm and outgoing, Henriksen (his first
name is pronounced oo-lah) first discussed his life
and career with Passport at the Sundance Film Festival,
where he introduced and promoted goodies like the insanely
popular Three Little Wonders kit (Truth Serum, Sheer
Transformation Renewing Crème, and Invigorating
Night Gel Firming Treatment), and later by telephone
from his Beverly Hills area home.
 Henriksen’s
story begins in 1951 in the small village of Nibe, Denmark
(“the sticks,” he quips), where he was raised
as the eldest of three siblings. His father worked at
a local factory and money was tight, so imagination
and dreams of becoming an aerialist served as entertainment.
“It was a matter of you creating your own fabulous
world,” he recalls. “But the best thing about
growing up in a village from the 1400s out in no man’s
land was the fact I was able to connect with nature.
To this day I climb ropes and trees.”
The teenage Henriksen came to grips
with his attraction to other boys early but kept it
hush-hush until he could, at age eighteen, move to Copenhagen.
There he had his first sexual and romantic experiences
and dabbled in numerous fields and vocations as varied
as government health care, modeling, ballroom dancing,
and creating collages of fashion images. Then life,
and a man named Harvey, took Henriksen to New York,
and soon thereafter, Jakarta, Indonesia.
While Henriksen very much agreed with
Indonesia, his skin didn’t—he developed painful
cystic acne. Luckily, his friend Lagita, an experienced
aesthetician, successfully treated his condition. Impressed,
Henriksen pursued his own skincare education in London.
“I really felt I had found my vocation,” he
says. “And I loved the fact that I got to work
intimately with people and give of myself. It’s
about providing the next treatments, giving people a
comfort zone and self-esteem.”
Eventually, Henriksen took what he learned
to San Francisco, where he worked at a Chinatown-area
beauty salon. After racking up experience, expertise
in treating cystic acne, as well as literally cooking
up his own formulations in his kitchen, he moved to
Los Angeles and opened a small salon, Ole Henriksen
of Denmark, on Beverly Hills’ North Camden Drive.
The year was 1975: he was just 24-years-old.
Continued
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