Has a client ever come to you and said, “I had a chemical peel and it didn’t work, my skin still looks awful!”? The worst is when you find out that a chemical peel was literally the only thing they have done for their skin.
Whether it be a chemical peel, a high permeability advanced skincare formulation, micro-current, micro-needling, light therapy, or the many other fantastic age-management treatment options, including traditional ones like massage, cupping or Gua sha, though all highly beneficial, none of them will deliver optimal compounded results singularly.
As the saying goes, “teamwork makes the dream work,” so too, in the case of keeping your skin younger-looking, the holistic approach which includes lifestyle, nutrition, skincare routine, and all the different treatment options and modalities, is your age-defying team at work.
“There is no magic bullet. Humans need to have a healthy lifestyle! They need good nutrition and supplements, good wellness practices, good home care, and multiple types of skincare treatments – there’s no one-and-done treatments! We need to help clients understand that good skin is only a manifestation of an overall healthy lifestyle!” Barry Eichner
Overnight Youthful Skin? No Such Thing!
“What is the holy grail that will make you look younger overnight?” It’s the question I come across all too often in the local and wider-sphere chat groups and communities in the “wild wild west” world of social media. On the journey of defying chronological skin aging, I’ll be the first to candidly proclaim that there is no single answer or solution to this far-from-simple feat. To be clear, there are quick-fix options out there that are less than healthy in supporting skin vitality and overall wellness. Furthermore, such choices do not offer a sustainable solution to correcting wrinkles, besides the fact that they are accompanied by adversities like the risk of severe side-effects, or from certain topicals, once the short-lived effect wears off, the skin appears worse than it did before application. There’s no cutting corners in the game of aging beautifully and gracefully, to be successful in maintaining radiant youthful-looking skin through every stage of life. A holistic approach must be practiced which includes a balanced lifestyle, home skincare rituals, and a consistent professional treatment plan, that’s where we come in, utilizing traditional and advanced modern-day modalities and technologies.
Responsibility of the Esthetician
We’re in a time when we as a society have become conditioned to expect and demand instant gratification. Clients today are heavily influenced by what they hear and see in their social media feeds. Unfortunately, many are chasing either the single thing that will transform their skin, or simply unrealistic results because they are often misguided. What they start to believe they need may be far from what is actually best for their individual skin needs. It is essential that we, the licensed skin specialists, prioritize first learning about our client’s concerns, desires, and expectations, and then kindly educating and managing their expectations.
Proper Intake
It is essential to gather all of the necessary information that will empower you to create an effective short-term plan and a sustainable long-term strategy that will be gratifying for your clients and fulfilling for you.
Consider this introductory intake guide to help you lay a foundation for your relationship and action plan for your clients:
1. What bothers you most about your skin?
2. What type of skin do you think you have?
3. What do you like about your skin?
4. What would you describe as your dream skin?
5. How much sleep do you get a night?
6. How much fluids are you drinking a day, and what are those beverages?
7. How many meals are you having a day, how often, and what’s included in those meals?
8. Are you taking any supplements?
9. Are you on any medications that are affecting your skin?
10. Do you prioritize physical activity in your day, what kind, and for how long?
11. Do you have a skincare routine that you are currently following, what are you doing and what products are you using?
12. Have you noticed changes to your skin during specific times of the month? If so, when and what are those changes?
13. Have you noticed changes to your skin when you feel stressed or overwhelmed? What are those changes?
14. Have you felt like your skin has been changing more rapidly recently? Please explain.
15. Have you ever had a facial, how long ago, how often, and what type of treatments have you had?
16. How often are you willing and able to come in for a professional treatment?
17. How much time are you willing and able to devote daily, morning and evening to your skincare routine?
18. Are you committed to building a partnership in which every six to twelve months we will reassess your skin and the holistic plan of action?
Plan of Action
Based on your client’s responses, you will have better insight into understanding how to guide and support your client. Inspiring your clients to adopt consistent habits, which may require a shift in lifestyle, and sticking with them year after year, would be the ultimate victory, and the real holy grail to aging in reverse. Depending on the primary skin concerns that will be targeted, the plan should include all appropriate modes of treatment, but also be sensitive to the client’s investment budget, which is also important to discuss during intake. Start with the basics, emphasizing the significance of getting a sufficient amount of rest daily, staying hydrated, and protecting the skin from UV exposure by wearing SPF religiously.
Nature Pure Clinical Skincare
Skin Awakening Cannabis Renewal Facial
This facial treatment has Anti-Inflammatory benefits that work to alleviate redness or skin irritation. It contains high doses of antioxidants and omegas to nourish the skin. It offers Instant glow and enhancement of complexion. It provides age prevention and age management to combat wrinkles.
Consider the Role of Hormones
There are a wide range of skin concerns that estheticians tackle, but the most common ones are acne, hyperpigmentation, and wrinkles. A culprit across the board is hormonal fluctuations. To simplify, hyperactive male androgen hormones can lead to acne breakouts. A decline in estrogen hormones, sets in motion an accumulation of inactive estrogen receptors like in the case of menopause, consequently accelerating the skin aging process.
Hormones can also change skin sensitivity levels and how quickly the skin can regenerate or heal. One example is when estrogen hormone fluctuations activate a release of histamines in the body which would set in motion the skin’s natural immune defense response. This would be expressed in the form of inflammation. Similarly, heightened melanin production is another innate defensive response to UV radiation. This process can lead to hyperpigmentation, and especially in inflamed areas of skin, treatment may subsequently be necessary for post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH).
Mixhers – Hormonal Health Support
“We’re obsessed with these drinks! You MUST MUST taste them! So delicious and great for hormonal health support!” Jenni Nagle
Get hormonal health support from Mixhers! Hertime is a nutritional supplement that helps balance hormones as it is taken daily. For women searching for PMS relief, Hertime is the most enjoyable, effective, long-term solution among PMS solutions, because the ingredients nourish the root cause of hormonal imbalance through delicious and high absorption delivery, and eliminate the need for additional PMS aids. No matter the phase of your cycle, Hertime supports your health by keeping your hormones in check.
NATPURE® Soy Beauty® and Soy Doctor®
There are a few recommended remedies that can help support and balance hormones naturally. Phytoestrogens are the secret behind its efficacy. Phytoestrogens can and should be utilized to improve the skin internally and externally. This includes nutrition with special foods and supplements, and topical, and yes I’m referring to skin care.
The most significant source of phytoestrogens is genistein derived from soy isoflavones. In skin care, the purest and highest concentration of genistein available on the market is in the exclusive NATPURE® Soy Beauty® and Soy Doctor® collections. The genistein is extracted through Nature Pure Labs’ patented ingredient technology. It provides a natural and safe alternative for correcting and managing skin health related specifically to menopausal skin changes or hormonal acne.
Genistein safely activates or blocks hormone receptor processes, with it’s remarkable adaptogenic ability based on where there is an imbalance. In the case of acne, it would block overactive androgen activity, hence help combat acne. In maturing skin, genistein works by initiating hormone receptor processes, which slow down over time with the decline of estrogen in the body. Ultimately, genistein awakens estrogen receptors and the domino effect is it reeducates the skin to behave as it did when it was younger. This holistic approach offers solutions without actually introducing real hormones into the body, hence eliminating the worry of potential side effects that would accompany medications. Other great sources include diosgenin derived from wild yams, black cohosh, red clover, and dong quai.
Nutrition
Maintaining a balanced, and I generally recommend a well-practiced, intuitive “ diet” is essential for overall wellness. I say well-practiced because it’s about feeling what your body actually needs and not what our brain may be saying we need which can be clouded by emotions or stress. Balance is the key! Vitamin B is a must, especially for those experiencing ongoing high stress. At a time when it is believed that a significant amount of the population is not getting enough sunlight, a Vitamin D supplement can compensate. There are many other supplements that can individually be supportive to skin and health, and one option to consider that can make life easier is a multi-supplement powder that you add to your beverage offered by Mixhers. They even have a powder containing phytoestrogens catered specifically for menopausal changes.
Sesha Skincare
4 Step Nano Facial
It combines the patented P.E.T Sesha Delivery System with the added infusion of the Nano-Tip MesoBotanica Pen. You will see immediate results after one treatment of SESHA MesoBotanica 4-Step Nano-tip Facial Protocol. We have carefully designed a protocol to ensure the client receives an enhanced version of a traditional facial with faster and better results. You will receive a complete kit that will allow you to perform the treatment on clients. There are professional-only products that you will use in the treatment and infuse with the MesoBotanica Pen.
Multi-Modalities At Work
I believe eighty percent is what clients do on their own, and twenty percent is what we do in the treatment room, and it must work in synergy. Based on the current maintenance level, it may be a good idea to start basic, four basic steps, cleanse, tone, moisturize, and protect. Remember that you want to help your clients build lifelong sustainable habits that they can grow into. Curating and continuously adjusting a home care routine will help keep the skin consistently responding. Technologies like micro-current, which works with the muscles of the face, ultrasound, radio-frequency, light therapy, and micro-needling are all recommended as part of the bigger picture long-term plan, and should all be utilized accordingly in the treatment room. Each modality has it’s own unique powerful action to stimulate collagen production and improve skin elasticity and firmness, while also enhancing the action of all other topical efforts. Traditional modalities like massage, cupping, and Gua sha are important to promote circulation and lymphatic drainage. The different forms of massage also help better oxygenate and nourish all the cells, and eliminate waste and toxins from the skin and body.
Final Thought
The true overnight secret to having healthy younger-looking skin comes down to making a lifelong decision now and staying committed. There is no single thing that is the solution to quickly transform your skin. It takes combined action and efforts of all of the important holistic factors. Being compliant with an appropriate home skincare routine, eating and supplementing well, leading a lifestyle that supports well-being, and having professional modern-day technology and traditional treatments done routinely, all play a role in achieving radiant skin.
Contribution by Barry Eichner + Victoria Tabak
Victoria Tabak is the CEO of NATURE PURE Clinical Skin Care. She is a two-time international award-winning licensed esthetician, a published skin and wellness expert, and a nationally recognized skincare educator. She has more than 20 years of experience in the beauty industry along with a Master’s Degree in Business, minor in chemistry. She has worked with other estheticians, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and cosmetologists to formulate and revolutionize an approach to beauty that people love, alongside her father, a distinguished scientist.
