At Roots Parlor, 125 West Girard Avenue, Vanessa Rivera opens the front door with a smile, and the noise of the street begins to fall away. Inside, nothing is clinical—only natural light, walls washed in aloe green and muted coral, palm trees standing in the waiting room like a memory of somewhere tropical, and the Cafecito Rivera plans to offer clients. Before a single treatment begins, the room has already done its quiet work. The treatment room is immaculate, and the walls are covered with artistic tributes to women.

That calm and female-oriented environment is intentional. Rivera, a Philly native who traces her roots to Puerto Rico, opened Roots Parlor in 2022 after a journey that first led her toward nursing and later toward beauty and skin care. Encouraged by her twin sister Veronica to follow what truly called her, Rivera studied to become an esthetician and spent years developing her craft in Rittenhouse, at Mi Cumbia, and in other studios across Philadelphia.

Rivera sees the work as artistic, not merely technical. To her, beauty is holistic and inseparable from a person’s mind, body, and emotional well-being. “We can’t pour from an empty cup,” she says, describing aesthetics not as vanity, but as a form of care many women are taught to postpone or deny themselves. The name Roots Parlor carries that layered meaning: Rivera’s Puerto Rican roots, her creative roots, and the roots of her clients’ hair.

At Roots Parlor, the signature lies as much in how Rivera treats clients as in the services she offers. Her specialties include facials, waxing, acne care, and treatments that address the visible signs of aging. She approaches each client — and each face — with the time needed, never as a time-stamped problem to be rushed through. Where some studios run strictly on the clock, Rivera creates an experience that feels unhurried, attentive, and restorative.

That same philosophy reaches beyond the treatment room. Each quarter, Rivera gathers women inside the parlor for wellness circles that include meditation, yoga, Kundalini practice, and honest reflection. “We ask questions like, what is or isn’t working for me to move forward,” she says. The circles are created in partnership with Jasmine Sierra and Rivera’s sister, a Kundalini teacher.

The goal is for clients to leave Roots with more than glowing skin. Rivera wants them to leave feeling seen, grounded, and cared for.

Sylvia Jimenez knows that feeling well. A client of more than ten years, she says she keeps coming back “because I feel comfortable with Vanessa and because the services are the best I have encountered in the Philadelphia area. People tend to think that downtown, especially the Rittenhouse area, is always the best, but we have our own gem right here on Girard Avenue.”

As Roots Parlor grows, Rivera plans to keep waxing and facial treatments at the center of the business. But her larger vision extends beyond the treatment chair. She wants to expand the wellness side of Roots and reach more women, offering them a safe, welcoming space to care for themselves—body, skin, and spirit.

On Girard Avenue, Rivera has built more than a beauty studio. She has created a place where care slows down, women gather, and the cup begins to fill again.