Miami’s Sought-After Skin Savant Amy Peterson Launches Power-Packed Brand Lenox And Sixteenth

For Miami glitterati, Amy Peterson has become a skincare hero.

In her 5,000-square-foot, 13-room namesake aesthetics office in the heart of South Beach, there are 16 machines to plump, freeze, burn and smooth the skin, from the cryogen and radio frequency contraption X-Therma to the pulsed-wave microneedling system Sylfirm X, in tailored $400 to over $3,000 treatments that promise filter-free confidence. Even the office’s signature treatment, the 60-minute Magic Hour, doesn’t skimp on high-tech might.

“I never believed a regular facial was OK. I don’t believe in steam. When you lay someone on a bed with a mask on for 25 minutes, they can do that at home. They’re coming to me and they’re paying money for something more,” says Peterson. “So, we pair a lot of facial devices, not necessarily lasers, to create our Magic Hour, where your tissue is constantly being manipulated.”

Now, Peterson is spreading her power-packed philosophy beyond the treatment room with Lenox and Sixteenth, a new skincare brand bottling her skincare heroism in two hero products, $249 The Preservationist Vitamin C Cream-Serum and $219 The Laser Serum Triple Acid Gentle Resurfacing Complex. It joins a growing group of brands—Viktor Michael, Peachy, Skinpharm and Facile are others—springing from aesthetics practices booming across the country.

“We’re a fast-paced society. People are busy. If you value your time—time is our most valuable commodity—then what you want is effective, great products that you can’t live without, and that’s what I tried to build,” says Peterson. “It’s as simple as that, and I think it’s going to take a lot of hard work on my part to put that message out there, but I’m willing to do it.”

With The Preservationist Vitamin C Cream-Serum, Peterson’s message is vitamin C doesn’t have to be irritating to deliver a glow. Its formula pairs two stable forms of vitamin C—tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate and ascorbyl glucoside—with squalane, ceramides, niacinamide, exosomes and more. In a 28-day consumer perception study with 36 women aged 29 to 65 years old describing themselves as having sensitive skin, 82% participants reported their skin felt nourished, and 76% reported their skin looked healthy and discoloration was reduced.

The Laser Serum offers an alternative to retinol with three acids (lactic, mandelic and glycolic) combined with ingredients such as aloe vera, yeast and prickly pear extract to counteract redness and dryness. In a consumer perception study with similar subjects as the study on The Preservationist, 90% of participants reported their skin appeared even, less dull and had improved luminosity, tone and texture.

While The Laser Serum is inspired by in-office laser treatments, Peterson says, “I don’t think anything is going to replace in-office treatments, and I would never put myself out of business and say that it is what I think.” She adds, “You don’t go to a personal trainer, get the body of your dreams in three months and then expect it [forever], but, in aesthetics, people do expect that. They expect one treatment to last them forever…You’re going to see a great result from this in about 56 days with continuous care. My most successful patients are maintenance patients and that doesn’t mean they’re coming in here every four weeks. That means that they’re doing the right home care.”

“The biggest thing is simplification. A lot of brands aren’t that simple.”

Peterson handled Lenox and Sixteenth’s design herself. She’s a big fan of brown—a prominent bronze staircase in her house epitomizes her fondness for it—and opted for the color for Lenox and Sixteenth’s bottles because it isn’t ubiquitous in skincare. Peterson chose magnetic caps for the bottles to rectify her penchant for losing skincare caps.

Peterson’s aesthetics career is the fortunate outcome of an unfortunate event. When she was an 18-year-old student at Towson University, she was hit by a drunk driver as she was crossing the street. The accident left her with 40 inches of scars traversing her body. As she grappled with her scars, Peterson became fascinated with the skin. After Towson, she enrolled in Von Lee International School of Aesthetics to become an aesthetician.

Her first stop as an aesthetician was at Egrari Plastic Surgery Center in Seattle, where she was director of the laser and skincare division. Later, she became an educator for Merz Aesthics and Solta Medical. Five years ago, following a relocation to Miami for her doctor husband’s job, she opened her aesthetics office at the intersection of Lenox Avenue and 16th Street, hence the name of her brand.

Education remains a cornerstone of the office, a training center for fat-restoring injectable Renova, and will be a huge part of Lenox and Sixteenth. The brand plans on producing video content showcasing Peterson’s skin knowledge and placing its products in aesthetics destinations prizing education and expertise. Along with aesthetics destinations, Peterson hopes to disperse Lenox and Sixteenth to makeup artists who can demonstrate how its products set the stage for great skin to apply makeup on.

Having evaluated brands to carry at her office, which has seen its revenues climb annually and stocks (Plated) Skin Science, Elastin, Reflekt, ZO Skin Health, Bioderma and Biologique Recherche, she understands what it takes to sell products to aesthetics clients. “The biggest thing is simplification. A lot of brands aren’t that simple,” she says. “It’s really confusing, and you lose the consumer.”

Peterson has poured a six-figure sum into bringing self-funded Lenox and Sixteenth to market. A moisturizer slated for the end of the year is up next for its assortment. Although retail is on the roadmap, Peterson’s not in a hurry. “It has to feel right to me. I think too many people go against authenticity. I’m just not going to do that,” she says. “So, it has to feel like an authentic partnership, and it’s the right move. I don’t think rushing it to get to an exit is really smart.”