What is a holistic esthetician?
Global wellness is now estimated to be a 5 Trillion dollar industry… and growing. Clients are thirsty for discovering, “the why and the how” of their skin in a way that we have never seen before
The Bullet Train Of Holistic Wellness In Skin Care
As consumers shift their awareness in the skin physiology space, they will be looking to us as skincare professionals to make wellness and nutritional recommendations that affect their skin. The bottom line is that the esthetics industry is colliding with holistic wellness and you can either get on this bullet train or get left behind in the dust.
Clients Are Asking Questions
You may have already picked up on this paradigm shift by noticing that clients are asking a lot more about nutrition. “What foods should I avoid if I have acne?” “What is a good brand of probiotics to take for my skin?” etc. It’s time to stop looking like a deer in headlights when these questions come our way. Unfortunately, our esthetics school programs only train on topical therapies and avoid teaching that the skin is our largest organ. Our skin is in fact an elimination organ and immune system in itself. And if you think about it, even DOCTORS are not trained on nutrition… But this does not mean that you need to be a nutritionist or wellness expert to make excellent recommendations for your clients.
Contribution by Diana M Drake
“I began as an esthetician and was inundated with clients who experience acne, eczema and perioral dermatitis. Even with cleaning up their diet and using high quality skincare products, I quickly learned that there was so much more to the skin that I needed to understand. I embarked on becoming a Naturopath in order to better serve my clients and the community. After practicing for several years and specializing in skin conditions, I have created an easy to use system for both consumers and practitioners. Simply follow my baseline 3-step protocol and customize it to your specific needs by stacking additional products to support your imbalances”.
Skin Naturopathics was created by Diana M Drake, Board Certified Naturopath and medical esthetician in collaboration with Master Herbalist Steven Horne. The goal of the line is to balance skin conditions at the root cause, in a holistic and natural manner and there is nothing else like this on the market today. The kits are assembled in an easy to use, step by step process that can be utilized directly by end users, dermatologists, estheticians and wellness professionals. If you are suffering from an inflammatory skin condition and have tried topical solutions or prescription drugs that don’t have lasting effects then this is the system for you!
Can Estheticians Make Supplement Recommendations?
Estheticians are often concerned if making these recommendations is within their scope or if it will jeopardize their licensing. So let’s clear this up first, absolutely anyone can make nutritional and supplement recommendations as long as you are not:
- Claiming that these recommendations will cure or treat a disease.
- Speaking to clients about drug interactions (always refer to their doctor).
- Suggesting that your recommendations take the place of advice from a medical professional.
- Diagnosing (so for example you cannot say to a client “You have eczema” only a licensed doctor can make a diagnosis. But if a client tells you they have it, you can make recommendations based on their diagnosis from a professional.
Becoming a Holistic Esthetician
So how does one move into the role of a holistic esthetician? First – come to the table with a desire to learn about root causes and nutrients that affect the skin. Then, learn about and pick the tools you will need in your arsenal. JUST LIKE when you first learned about what products and types of facial treatments you would use on various skin types! Next, work with a company that is going to train you – not just on their supplements – but on root causes, nutrition, and lifestyle habits in relation to skin conditions.
Take vitamin C for example. Why do we use it on the skin for anti-aging? Because it fights free radical damage that causes signs of aging. Then wouldn’t it also make sense that this beautiful ingredient will also fight free radicals on the inside as well? Which would affect the skin! How about charcoal and clay… why do we use these in masks? To soak up impurities… this is also an ingredient that can be used internally to detox the organs and cells, which could help clear up acne. There are so many beautiful supplement ingredients and formulas; from probiotics to omegas, and herbal blends that can detox the body and even balance hormones safely. Can you imagine what a powerhouse of an esthetician you would become if you understood how food and supplement ingredients affect the skin? And if you knew exactly what foods to increase or avoid if they have acne versus rosacea or eczema?
4 Tips To Becoming A Holistic Esthetician
In order for estheticians to successfully embark on this path, we recommend building a process around these four action items.
1. Get the training.
Find a supplement company that will train you on holistic products and principles in relation to the skin (We love Skin Naturoptahics for this reason).
Enroll in a holistic esthetics course or online nutrition course – make sure it is a course that relates back to the skin.
SculptICE® Body Sculpting + Herbal Ices
Original SculptICE®Full Body & Target Area ICE
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Among other benefits, this product helps individuals presenting early stages of fat accumulation, all the way to extreme cases of obesity, or for those that simply want to reaffirm the skin in specific areas of the body.
In order to purchase our Full Body ICE you have to be a SculptICE Specialist.
2. Update your Intake process.
Your intake should include stress levels, diet, hydration, bowel movements, and how a client’s menstrual cycle is if they’re female.
3. Recommend based on the root causes.
Acne
Caused by: toxic overburden, hormonal imbalance, improper nutrition, gut dysbiosis, and PCOS in women.
An acne client needs to detox, balance hormones, and heal the gut. We like the Skin Naturopathics Breakout System which includes all of these formulas. Or if they have PCOS, helping to balance the testosterone levels with their PCO-Assist Kit is a great choice.
Eczema
Caused by: an overburdened immune system expressing through the skin.
An Eczema client needs to detox and reduce heat/inflammation in the skin as well as combat itching. Herbs that are detoxing, cooling, and anti-histamine are great for this. (We like the XMA Kit from Skin Naturopathics)
Aging/Lines/Wrinkles/Dull Skin
Caused by: Oxidative stress, free radical damage, slow cellular repair, damage to the collagen matrix.
Clients with aging concerns would benefit from anti-oxidants and collagen. The BioAgeReverse Kit from Skin Naturpathics offers these in a trio.
Dermatitis/Rash
Caused by: Fungal infection, inflammation in the body expressing via the skin.
Herbs that are antifungal as well as a diet that starves fungal infections is very important in this case.
4. Understand Diet & Nutrition recommendations and associated ingredients.
Based on what your client needs, what do they need to ADD and what do they need to REMOVE?
Also know the difference between nutrition (food), vitamins, minerals, and herbs.
Nutritional supplements: Vitamins, Minerals, Probiotics – these are things we are supposed to get from food. These are typically used in an ongoing or long-term fashion since we do not get enough of them from our diet.
Herbal Supplements: Herbs are medicinal and balance the body by working on a particular organ or system to create a healing action. These are typically used temporarily / short-term until the body is healed.
