Inspired by her ENT herbalist great-grandmother, Onyedikachi Achilike grew curious about ethnobotany, leading her to study biology. Achilike went on to work in the fashion and venture capital industries, and, after earning both a business degree and an aesthetics license, she gained hands-on skincare experience at Dermalogica SoHo and the Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, later launching a mobile facial bar.
Now, her entrepreneurial journey has expanded with Blue Nomad, a 175-square-foot skin health studio in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood.
Seeing a saturated skincare and wellness market, Achilike felt there was a need for something more personalized. Missing, she found, were venues that offered an accessible yet intimate relationship with a skincare practitioner.
“Wellness marketing, for instance, often caters to a narrow depiction of lifestyles, and there’s room to make it more inclusive,” she says. “The beauty industry talks about diversity from a skin-color standpoint, but it’s deeper than that—it’s different lifestyles and cultures.”
Achilike had no plans to leave her day job leading a tech sales team until she found the petite space in the historic Townsend Building while looking to escape working from home. The design vision hinged on her brand concept. The name Blue Nomad, she notes, is about “the idea of stillness and that we’re all in transit—physically, mentally, spiritually.”
Achilike enlisted Silvana Vergara Tobin, founder of Brooklyn-based Studio Tove, to bring the Flatiron space to life. A Colombian who moved to New York to study at Parsons School of Design, Tobin’s background resonated. “I wanted to put together a diverse team from a lived-experience perspective,” says Achilike, whose customer support team is in South Africa. “We’re building a global brand,” with sights on London, Paris, and beyond.
Tobin and Achilike eschewed wellness-coded materials such as marble for those with “a bit of an attitude,” she says. Cantera tiles and plaster light fixtures with an imperfect, earthy vibe are combined with chic chrome accents. Given the small footprint, most elements were custom built, creating distinct zones for treatment, product display, and an office area. A retro-feeling dividing wall made from reflective, multicolored bricks, meanwhile, evokes a sense of fluidity.
Achilike envisions Blue Nomad evolving with activations, products, and a global community. “Our next location may not be a skin health studio,” she says. “It might be a forest bath in Japan. There’s so much out there in the world.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s February/March 2025 issue.
