Industry Overview
1. Q: The medical aesthetics industry has shifted significantly away from “changing” how we look toward “preserving” how we look. In your experience, how has the demand for “prejuvenation” and natural results changed the way you consult with clients in their 20s versus their 60s?
A: We approach them very differently. For the 20-year-olds, it’s all about looking natural – it’s about skin health. So they wouldn’t really need very many treatments, maybe something for acne, something for hydration. Maybe they have a little bit of irritation, so just babying their skin, taking care of their skin, and using sunscreen.
Then, when you’re talking about your 40s, 50s, 60s, it’s getting into the treatments and the skincare at home. So 40s, it’s about producing more collagen – they don’t have the sag yet; they just have fine lines and wrinkles. So then you have the sunscreen, the retinols. In your 50s, you’re starting to do treatments like the Morpheus that lifts and tightens and helps build more collagen again.
And then in your 60s, you’re focusing on lifting. So again, that’s your in-house treatment. And at home, your retinol, your sunscreen again. Everyone wants to look natural nowadays. No one wants to look fake or different. A lot of people, when they’re getting Botox, don’t even want anyone to know they’re getting Botox. They want to look like themselves, just a little bit more refreshed skin-wise.
And we’re very much on board with that. Even our young 20-year-olds who come in and want really big lips – we kind of talk them out of that. We love giving half syringes here instead of a full syringe because we just want to enhance their beauty, not change their look.
2. Q: With so much skincare advice available on social media (some good, some dangerous), what is the biggest misconception about professional skin treatments that you find yourself constantly having to correct for new clients?
A: A lot of people are scared of retinol and are scared of getting treatment done. They hear chemical peels, and they’re afraid that it’s going to be toxic, acidic, and not good for their skin. If you’ve got the right clinician giving treatment, one who knows what they’re doing, it’s very good for your skin. These are all treatments that need experience to deliver properly.
A lot of people are hesitant to get Botox. They think “toxin” when they hear the word. We give very, very small amounts. It’s been FDA approved, very, very studied, very, very safe. So people need not be worried about that.
With microneedling, people are always scared that it’s going to do damage. The damage is very well controlled. We are doing micro damage, and we know exactly the amount that we need to do for new regeneration, new healing, new collagen and elastin growth.
With chemical peels, people hear the word peel and that the first layer of skin is coming right off, and they feel like a snake losing their skin. Again, it’s very, very controlled damage. No one needs their first layer of skin, really. A peel just helps it slough off so that you have that new baby skin underneath, and that’s what gives you the glow and the healthier skin.
People have heard nightmare stories about the Morpheus8, because in the past, people have been treated with the energy way too high, or the depth has been way too deep, and it’s done damage. It melted the fat on their face, and it changed the shape of their face. So we don’t do that here either. If you’ve got a double chin, we’re gonna go four millimetres, and we’re gonna go high on the energy. But other than that one place on the face, we would never go that high. We’re very conservative at this clinic. We’re very careful. We think that less is more here.
We’d rather you get more treatments and get the same result in the end than just do one big one with a lot of downtime that nobody wants. No one wants downtime. Also, people don’t know that sunscreen is important every single day of the entire year. They question that. It’s something that they think they only need when they go outside in the hot sun. Not true.
Anyone can use retinol if they do it slowly and carefully. A lot of people use retinol twice a week forever. You can build up slowly if you let your skin get used to it. You won’t get that redness, that irritation, that burning, that itching, that flaking if you go slowly and do it right. And that’s about it. Those are the five kinds of areas that we kind of have to correct people on.
3. Q: How do you see the role of technology – specifically ultrasound and radiofrequency – reshaping the industry over the next few years, and why was it important for you to bring these specific advancements to Winnipeg now?
A: Radiofrequency is really, really good for acne scarring. It also lifts and tightens. We have a lot of older clients that come in, and the first thing they point to is their smile lines or just crepiness, or just fine lines, wrinkles. We wanted something that could target all that.
But then we realized that we were missing something, and that was lifting. So people often come in, and they point out laxity in their neck. They point out their brows that are heavy and cause an eyelid to droop. So that’s why we brought in the ultrasound, the Sofwave, because it lifts more.
So, the Morpheus8 tightens and the Sofwave lifts. They both work beautifully together to give us an outstanding result. And that’s what we want for our clients. We want happy clients here, so we chose to buy these two very expensive machines to achieve outstanding outcomes.
About Simply Radiant
4. Q: Simply Radiant Aesthetics operates on the philosophy that clients are “never just a number.” Can you describe the specific atmosphere or culture you’ve cultivated that makes a client feel different here than they would at a high-volume chain clinic?
A: I have been a nurse for 20 years. I worked in a hospital with vulnerable people, and my husband was also a doctor in hospitals. We work with people who are very, very trusting, so when we started this business together, people would come in and understand that I’m a nurse first before I’m a salesperson. I know I’m running a business, but it’s about making clients happy; that’s what’s most important to us, not about selling whatever I can sell.
I’m going to be honest with clients. We are very, very conservative as we’ve mentioned before. Some injectors will just inject, you know, 40, 50, 60 units of Botox in the forehead. That is not necessary; we can usually do it with 30. We’ll give you the lowest amount that we can to do the job.
We’re not here to take advantage. We’re here to have clients come back and establish a rapport.
I like to call my clients my friends in the end. I’ve been invited out for dinner with many of them, which is awesome, and we enjoy it. When they walk through the clinic door, it just makes it a happy, wonderful atmosphere. My estheticians are the same way, and I would never hire anyone here that isn’t open, completely honest, truthful. I don’t want to sell you a service. I want to sell you an endpoint. And that’s what it’s all about for us.
5. Q: Since many of your clients are skincare-interested but often unsure which treatment is right for them, how do you structure your consultations to ensure they feel educated and empowered, rather than “sold to” or pressured?
A: First, we talk about what their main concern is. They’ll tell me their concern, and then we go forward with a little bit of education. We give them their options. The options will also include different price ranges for different options. I’ll give you an example: If someone came in with acne scarring, we have three different treatments for acne scarring. We have one called microneedling. That’s a $300 treatment, but it’s quite gentle, and you need more treatments to get you to that end point that you would want.
Then we have something called the Viva, which is radio frequency. And that does skin resurfacing, it’s $350. So I’ll tell them about that. The downtime is a little bit longer.
And thirdly, we have something called the Morpheus, which is radiofrequency and microneedling together in a combination. It’s quite painful, so we’ll let them know that. And it’s also quite expensive – $800, but there’s barely any downtime with that at all. So they have something to think about there. There are three different options, three different price ranges, and different downtimes. We’ll also offer them different options with skincare.
We carry three different skincare lines here. We have a line called AlumierMD, which is our least expensive line. Then we have SkinCeuticals and Skinbetter Science. All very, very good lines. They will all match what you need, but they work differently, and people will kind of decide what they can afford and will pinpoint what is best for them. We do not pressure them at all. I just give them their options. Often, I’ll say, “Go home, think about it. Don’t even make a decision today.” And often they will book that same day. Sometimes, they leave and call me back later, and some don’t follow up at all. It’s totally up to them. Consultations are just that – they’re just talking.
Injectables (Botox & Fillers)
6. Q: Many new clients fear looking “frozen” or “overfilled.” What is your specific injection philosophy or technique that allows you to smooth wrinkles while maintaining the natural emotional expression of the face?
A: It’s so important for someone to still look at themselves and not look frozen or overfilled or overdone. No one wants to be overfilled and look fake. So yes, honestly, when we get a new client in, we’re so conservative that we’ve actually had clients come back, and I had to give them a little bit more because we didn’t give them quite enough the first time. I would much rather have them come back and give them a little more than give them too much the first time, because you can’t undo that.
Skin Rejuvenation (Microneedling & Chemical Peels)
7. Q: In a harsh climate like ours in Winnipeg, clients often struggle with dullness and texture. Why do you often recommend mechanical stimulation like microneedling over topical facials alone when trying to achieve long-term collagen induction and barrier repair?
One is much more long-lasting than the other, so a facial is great, but it’s just going to make you glow for a week and then be gone, whereas if you’re getting microneedling treatments, most of our clients say after a month, they still have the glow that they love.
We microneedle here with something called VAMP. So that’s your vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and your polydeoxyribonucleotides (PDRN), and that gives you an extra glow. So that’s going to be even more long-lasting. So yes, topical facials aren’t going to make your collagen grow, whereas microneedling will.
You can grow collagen, and then if you get a microneedling treatment about three or four times a year, you will have that long-lasting glow and collagen growth constantly.
8. Q: Morpheus8 is a powerhouse for your clients in their 50s. How does combining microneedling with Radio Frequency (RF) change the skin’s texture differently than standard microneedling?
A: Microneedling is a little bit of what I call a gentle treatment. It just uses the needles, whereas combining microneedling with radiofrequency – the radiofrequency applies heat, so that heat, along with the needles, does more damage, and if you get more damage, you get more healing – you get more collagen and elastin.
So it’s just more of what I’ll call “a punch to the dermis,” the second layer of skin where the collagen and elastin grow. And that’s where the healing starts. And that’s where you’re going to grow more collagen than you would with just microneedling alone.
