For a husband-and-wife aesthetician duo in Santa Fe, skin care is a passion.

Jack and Jan Kerr, owners of Seventh Ray Skin Care at 2019 Galisteo St., have been in business in Santa Fe since 1992.

Soothing music plays throughout the lobby of their office, small running-water fountains are set up in each room and birds fly by, stopping for food in feeders set up outside room windows.

"We try to keep a nice, serene, peaceful space for people to enjoy their facials," Jan Kerr said.

All the services offered by the Kerrs are devoted to improving the quality and appearance of the skin, Jan's specialty being peels and Jack's being microdermabrasion. Their most popular service is their signature facial, which costs $90.

"It's always customized because nobody's the same," Jack Kerr said. "We always do something different on each skin depending on what we feel or see."

A facial at Seventh Ray Skin Care takes 1 1/2 to two hours, and the Kerrs only see four facial clients per day, to add to the quality experience, Jan Kerr said.

For Jan Kerr, who became an aesthetician in 1988, skin care has been a lifelong interest. The daughter of a pharmacist, Jan Kerr spent a lot of time in her father's drugstore and managed the cosmetic counter as a teenager.

"The thing that I remember most early in life was sitting in the pharmacy watching my dad," Jan Kerr said. "I would sit and watch him make salves and pills and things, and I think I must have really gotten interested in custom blending and formulating at that time."

The Kerrs use high-grade botanical ingredients to custom formulate cleansers, moisturizers, serums and creams for clients. Jan Kerr also custom blends liquid foundation and mineral makeup, to ensure a client has the right match.

"What we try to do for our clientele is help them come up with a regimen that's proper for their skin," Jan Kerr said. "Sometimes what their needs are may not fit the retail products that we have, and that's where our custom formulation really comes in."

Before becoming a licensed aesthetician, Jack Kerr worked as a master patina artist. His background in bronze helped when purchasing equipment, because he knew a good weld and he often went to skin care conferences with his wife, helping her take notes, and later being a guinea pig for new treatments. Jack decided to make the jump to start treating skin in 1999.

"Having suffered acne as a teenager, I know how self-conscious one feels," Jack Kerr said. "I had sympathy, and I had been learning all this stuff so it seemed like a natural progression.

"And I still get to use my aesthetic eye. I do a lot of eyebrow shaping — it's like sculpting with a live object."

The Kerrs pride themselves on creating quality, lasting relationships with their clients. Every new client is required to fill out a three-page intake form, so the Kerrs can assess the right treatment by taking into account the client's diet, lifestyle, and prior skin treatments. Their clientele ranges from teens to adults in their 80s.

"The skin, being the only organ that really repairs itself, it's never too late or never too early to help it along," Jack Kerr said.

For a full list of services visit www.seventhrayskincare.com or call 982-9865.