I consider myself an esteemed cosmetic practitioner because I captured the nation’s attention in 2019 with my courageous fight for equality, ignited by the wrongful termination and tragic loss of my late husband due to his sexual orientation. My unwavering dedication led to a groundbreaking ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, affirming the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals against unjust dismissal based on sexual orientation.  

Fast forward a few years and my commitment to dismantling societal barriers and empowering men remains resolute. Once again, I have captured national headlines, shedding light on the booming market of penile filler, exposing dubious practices, and introducing safe solutions that are emerging in the field of dermatology.  

This mission holds profound personal significance to me because I have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of flawed procedures. Thus, in 2021, I introduced a pioneering, nonsurgical girth-enhancement method acclaimed for its safety and reliability. By utilizing FDA-approved hyaluronic acid fillers that are naturally compatible with the body, the treatment distinguishes itself by enhancing the penis’s existing anatomical features while preserving functionality. It stands as the first of its kind to mandate in-person training for all providers and implement a comprehensive post-care program, ensuring positive post-procedure outcomes.

The procedure involves skillful injection of fillers into specific areas, augmenting girth while respecting the penis’s natural contours. Characterized by its noninvasive nature, this enhancement method minimizes risks and reduces recovery time, resulting in a notable and transformative enhancement that harmonizes seamlessly with both form and function. 

In contrast, experimental treatments like free fat grafting, silicone injections, and PMMA injections have left many patients grappling with serious complications. Even prominent urologists and men’s health providers have been known to administer non-FDA approved products unbeknownst to their patients, leading to avoidable complications. 

My unwavering commitment to quality has made the difference, as board-certified providers nationwide, including dermatologists, have embraced my vision. The treatment’s reach has expanded to clinics across 16 locations, spanning the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. 

As the demand for penile-girth enhancement continues to surge, it becomes imperative for patients and providers alike to comprehend the nuances of a relatively new, unregulated, and sometimes secretive market. With more dermatologists and certified practitioners adopting proper protocols, the horror stories of subpar procedures and the associated stigma will hopefully become relics of the past. 

William Moore is the founder of the Dallas-based biohacking clinic, AdvancedYOU and the visionary behind PhalloFILL, the leading network for nonsurgical penile girth enhancement. After launching in 2021, PhalloFILL now spans 17 U.S. markets, Mexico City, and Montreal. Beyond the clinics, Moore is the president of the Texas Med Spa Association, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare equality. With an MBA and an M.S. in health and human performance, he draws on two decades of experience to guide patients to optimal health, enhanced appearance, and heightened self-esteem.

According to the 2022 Medical Spa State of the Industry Report Executive Summary, there has been a significant increase in men seeking aesthetics procedures in recent years. While men are becoming more conscious of their appearance, the demand for preventive and rejuvenating treatments among male spa clients has been driven mainly by their desire to look refreshed, more youthful, and less tired. The popularity of social media, image-conscious society and culture, the Zoom boom, and the importance of personal branding have contributed to this trend as well and made it essential for men to invest in their outer appearance.

Men are becoming more comfortable with the idea of practicing self-care and perfecting personal grooming habits. They want to look and feel their best and are turning to skin care professionals for solutions to their skin concerns.

At this point, we are entering 2024. My question to you is, how do you think it will go? Have you made any resolutions? Do you have a plan in place to stick to them? Are you heading in the direction of growth and success?

I hope you are. I truly do. But if you are not, it is time to redirect. I am one for saying that every day is a new day. There is never any sense in looking back because yesterday cannot be changed, but tomorrow surely can. Set your sights on something that inspires and excites you, like a new product line, a new piece of equipment, or a new paint color on your treatment room wall. The objective is to grab the reigns and control the direction of your career. You, and only you can make things happen. To sit back and wait for someone or something to alter your pathway is simply a waste of time that only leads to incredible disappointment.

Fortunately, AIA and DERMASCOPE is here for a little support (actually a lot of support). The pages of this magazine and the content of the DERMASCOPE website are a powerhouse of tools to help every skin care professional flourish and grow. Decide what tickles your fancy and pop that word or phrase in the search line. You will be provided with source material that is sure to give guidance, answer questions, and sort out comparisons that can sometimes be paralyzing and prevent forward motion. The bottom line is that it is January. The year has begun. Tomorrow is a new day. Let it be a new beginning.

I would have to say I am growing beautifully yet uncomfortably in the beauty, health, and wellness industry. My goal is to positively influence and educate millions of people all over the world about self-care one person at a time. I am currently a licensed aesthetician and massage therapist, therefore I am very familiar with taking care of the body internally and externally. I am the owner and founder of Beautified Bodies, LLC, a company that offers skin care and body work.  

My reason for choosing this career path is a part of my dream of wanting to help people become better versions of themselves inside and out. If we choose to cater to our bodies early, there is a higher chance of our bodies properly functioning and looking better than ever before. Longevity is the goal. I will be visiting new cities and states soon with high hopes to make my business global.   

I completed my aesthetics program in August 2022 and became licensed in October 2022. Since then, I have gained a loyal clientele and have become popular in my city. I have even started hosting spa parties! My spa parties consist of express 30 minutes facials and massage for 10 people or more. During my spa parties, I educate clients on how to properly care for their skin, I also go into depth about aging prevention, product recommendations, and the importance of knowing about ingredients used on the body when it comes to products. 

Being a part of the industry is very fulfilling for me. There are so many business ventures and opportunities that will effortlessly encourage growth and a more satisfying lifestyle that I would like to share with my community. I would love to be able to connect with other business professionals like me and take everything I have thoughtfully planned to the next level in this industry with hopes of bettering the world. Won’t you join me? 

Skin is home to a unique bacterial environment of microbes. It is imperative to understand this system since the body is continually challenged by toxins, viruses, and bacterial overgrowth. Considering the growing consumer and professional interest in peptides, this article will dive into the nature and processes of antimicrobial peptides.

PEPTIDE PARTY

Peptides are essential cell messengers with various functions that support healthy cell activity. Certain peptides can help with the restoration and repair of skin remodeling following injury or during inflammation.1 A peptide is composed of two or more amino acids, the building blocks of protein, that are linked naturally during metabolism. 

Susan Wade joined Viktoria De’Ann in 2015 as the director of education and sales after working in the health and education industry for over 30 years. She holds a master’s degree in higher education, is a licensed aesthetician, and is currently completing her license in functional medicine. Wade taught kinesiology courses for 12 years at Boise State University, along with owning and operating a sports training business and working closely with physicians, physical therapists, faculty members, and athletes. Her passion lies in learning about the complexities of physiology, nutrition, and cellular functions coupled with peptide science, and she enjoys sharing her knowledge in a simple and applicable format.

Many of us have joyful and fun-loving memories of our childhood – playing in the sand at the beach, swimming the days of summer away, scoring goals on a soccer team, or jumping off the swing set in the backyard on a sunny afternoon. More likely than not, these glorious days of outdoor play and activity resulted in a sunburn or two, or ten. 

While most sunburns heal in a few days and are viewed as no more than painful inconveniences, having five or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma, the most dangerous and deadly of skin cancers. This article will review the three types of skin cancer and how the early detection of skin abnormalities can save lives. 

THE RUNDOWN

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer and by definition, the least dangerous. This type of cancer develops in the basal cells of the epidermis and its main cause is exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun or tanning beds. 

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma grows in the flat cells of the surface of the epidermis. Its main cause also comes from ultraviolet radiation from the sun or tanning beds. 

Kathleen Nordby has a bachelor’s in journalism from CSU Chico and wrote professionally for about five years. She spent 20 years raising three beautiful girls and teaching music and theatre at elementary, junior high, and high school levels. She became a California licensed aesthetician 15 years ago and worked in high end spas as well as owning her business. In 2017, she moved to Oregon and became certified in advanced aesthetics and oncology aesthetics. She worked in a medical spa, where she loved performing laser treatments and microneedling. In 2020, she began educating in a premiere aesthetics school in Oregon and has built a small cancer survivor clientele. She is passionate about skin and truly loves the honor and privilege of teaching the future of the industry.

Cannabis, weed, ganja, marijuana, pot, bud – the plant goes by many names. William Shakespeare had it right when Juliet said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” For the sake of professionalism and out of respect for a plant that has been used medicinally by humans for millennia, we are only going to refer to it as cannabis. For thousands of years, humans have cultivated cannabis all over the world, from the Himalayas to South America. It has only been within the last 40 to 50 years that we have taken a heavy scientific interest in the plant, even though it was named by the scientific community all the way back in 1753.

The hope is that cannabis, CBD, and all the extracts related to it will continue to change the aesthetics industry for the better. Along with that change, we are compelled as experts to advocate, educate, and promote best practices with any ingredient, and cannabis is no different. 

Antonia Schreiber is a New York State licensed massage therapist, cosmetologist specializing in aesthetics science, and electrologist. With over 16 years of experience in the industry, Schreiber’s work has brought her everywhere from the classroom to her certified green spa, The Windham Spa, to the U.S. Olympic Training Center and beyond.  Outside of the treatment room, she is a writer, speaker, and consultant with the New York State Department of Education, leading education firms and industry magazines. Her current passion projects include treatment research, development for burn patients, and assisting in the development of the United Statess Paralympic Bobsled and Skeleton Team. 

Waxing is not always thought to be a popular spa service. It isn’t as glamourous as other services, such as facials or massages, yet it can prove to be a very profitable addition to your service menu and a great way to grow your overall business. Not only does waxing bring in a loyal client consistently every four to six weeks, but it also provides the opportunity to upsell through retail and other spa offerings. Below are three steps that can help grow spa sales through waxing. 

CONFIDENT WAXOLOGY 

Even if your team is already incredibly skilled and competent, they may not all be confident in their waxing skills and may require more training. In general, waxing is not a primary subject of focus at most aesthetics and beauty colleges and, as a result, specific wax training can be minimal. Skin care professionals end up graduating and having little experience in waxing, so they may not feel comfortable promoting this service. Staff training for all services is an integral part of the business operations and should not be overlooked, but it is especially important for waxing, as the training provided at schools is often basic. The time and money spent invested into education and training in the wax room will pay off as your team builds confidence and begins to feel assured when marketing their waxing services. Overall, sales will naturally increase as a direct result of new clients coming in for a wax and as current clients begin requesting more areas to be waxed. 

A great place to start when looking for training courses is your current wax brand as they typically provide training and support. Wax brands often offer both virtual or in-person trainings and your individual budget and preference can help decide which is best. Not only is training for current team members important to help improve and freshen their skills, but it is also essential for new team members to ensure consistency and quality in the wax room.

Lindsay Miller is the president of LYCON Wax North America. Having first discovered LYCON wax in the United Kingdom 10 years ago, she has dedicated her time to growing the brand across North America, including introducing LYCON to Canada. Training and product quality are extremely important to Miller, and she prides herself on building a strong team around her that can offer the best customer experience possible. LYCON continues to be a market leader in hair removal wax and is used in top spas and salons around the world. 

As the new year begins, skin care professionals have immense opportunities to honestly reflect on business wins, client wins, and best practices from the previous year. The other side of that same coin is to also be brutally honest, while maintaining levels of optimism for continual growth for the year ahead.

How did your client growth strategies turn out last year? Was client diversification and inclusion a part of your growth strategies for the entire year? Have you asked yourself why?

Everyone loves a fresh start, clean slate, or new chapter, and January has a way of bringing that to top of our minds like no other month can. No doubt, you had some indisputable wins, along with some legitimate areas for growth. 

MELANIN MATTERS

Although no one is asking you to whip out your 2024 resolution journal, you are invited to journey alongside “The Melanin Diaries” for the next 12 issues to explore how to deliver genuinely inclusive business and skin health practices where clients with melanin-rich skin are truly cared for. 

C.R. Cooper is a connective, knowledgeable, and compassionate educator who has been a skin enthusiast for over 24 years. As the education manager and master educator for a renowned global institute of learning in the skin health industry, Cooper values organizational and individual industry standards, professional and personal brand integrity, but most importantly the inherent worth in every skin professional.

Supporting existing clientele while attracting new devotees is the name of the game when it comes to maximum business engagement. In order to successfully run an aesthetics business, it is imperative to understand everything from what is ahead in the skin care world to making a business a safe place for all, while staying within the scope of the aesthetician practice. 

TIME FOR A TIME-OUT

Suggesting products and at home treatments to clients is a common part of the standard treatment plan for skin care professionals. It is normally recommended that clients use products for a period of one to three months to gauge their effectiveness. However, over time, skin care routines can become less effective as skin adapts to products and builds up a tolerance to certain ingredients, leading to diminishing results. 

If clients report that they are no longer seeing the desired outcome from their at homecare products, or that they have noticed negative or unwanted changes in their skin, such as issues with their tone, or texture, redness, dry patches, breakouts, or irritation, it is time to re-evaluate their products and make some changes. 

Lila Castellanos has focused her energies into the beauty industry for the past 19 years, specializing in skin rejuvenation. As a licensed aesthetician, she has lent her expertise to several different environments including working as a paramedical aesthetician in the medical spa field as well as in both day spa and mobile spa business models. It was through these varied experiences, along with the interactions with her loyal clientele, that she honed her passion for improving and maintaining the health and integrity of her clients’ skin. Castellanos thrives on being able to use her extensive knowledge to customize each treatment to help her clients achieve the results they are searching for. Her adaptability and versatility are equally impressive in providing antiaging facials, treating acne, and minimizing the appearance of scarring or when addressing skin conditions that arise as a result of hormonal changes.