Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so the saying goes. I wish this was true, but we know it is not. Beauty is what society and industry push it to be. The industry I work in is failing the public as a whole. I admit, we in the skincare world are confusing the masses. 

I have always been a rebel with a cause doing things against the grain for as long as I can remember. 

Years ago, I reached a breaking point after another day filled with nothing but back-to-back waxing appointments thinking there has to be more to my chosen path than hair removal. What I wanted was to help people be comfortable in their own skin and confident in their being. Yes, people loved silky smooth legs, but like them, I preferred to be on the receiving end of such treatments and wanted more in what I gave to the world. 

In pursuit of excellence in skin knowledge – referring to the anatomy and physiology of skin and how to apply cosmetic chemistry to have skin at any age function optimally – I found myself confused about the journey we take our very own clients on. It felt like a never-ending pursuit to get the appointment book as full as possible and clients hopping from treatment-to-treatment. My success really came when I figured out how to empower my clients to accomplish their skin goals mostly by themselves with my assistance to help them over the line. These days, I teach other clinic owners and aestheticians to do the same for their clients. 

So, here is the dirty little secret you need to know, and how it works: 

Seventy percent of the outcome of your skin is in your very own hands. Yes, I have known this for a long time and in fact, the last year validated this, as many people had no choice but to do it using their bathroom mirrors on their own. 

How is the majority of the outcome up to you? The secret is in using the right products for your individual skincare needs on a daily and weekly basis. This gives your skin the right nutritional foundation to allow the cells to function optimally, ultimately repairing skin barrier protection continuously. 

I follow the principles of corneotherapy. This means that my goal is to protect the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, first and foremost.

In reality, we all want that 100% level of skincare, and this is where your aesthetician comes in. Your aesthetician will add that 30% to the 70% you bring.  

Once the skin barrier, and therefore the epidermis, is in good condition, only then will I bring in corrective treatment modalities for my clients. This optimizes the results clients get from these treatments and maintains them. Some of my go-to treatments include collagen induction therapy, LED, microcurrent, and treatments like Intense Pulsed Light. 

My industry peers often have a knee-jerk reaction to this approach because it seems like I am minimizing the appointments I book by setting up my clients to achieve the majority of their skin goals at home. And they are dead wrong. Empowering your clients grows your business, my skincare professional friends!  Our industry has an income ceiling if you, yourself, rely on your ability to do everything for your clients. You only have a limited amount of time a day you can perform services on your clients, and you are doing them a disservice by not recommending what they should be using at home to improve their skin. Let’s be real, we all use something from somewhere, why not set up every client with what they need for their skin based on your professional knowledge and ask them to buy your recommendations from you? It is a win-win. Confident, happy clients with glowing skin who recognize that you, as the professional, get them that extra 30% result – a bit like a personal fitness coach pushing you over the line you can’t cross alone.

And remember, if your client can’t make it in, they are still armed with great tools and information for them to keep their skin healthy until they can see you. Have we not all had to deal with this over the last 12 months? 

So if you are looking for an aesthetician to look after your skin, I suggest you ask yourself 2 key questions. 

  1. Will this aesthetician work to help repair and rebuild your skin at all times? 
  2. Will this aesthetician educate me on my skin’s unique needs so that I can make informed decisions about what products and services I agree to?
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René Serbon is an international skin expert. She started her education focusing on business studies in marketing and then moved to aesthetics. She began studying in New Zealand and completed training in Beauty Therapy, which is called Aesthetics in Canada and the US. She also completed training in Electrolysis through the New Zealand Institute of Electrolysis and Beauty Therapy. Serbon sat for international exams and is a Diplomat of CIBTAC and CIDESCO. She completed post graduate training in Laser, IPL, and the Pastiche Method of Advanced Skin Analysis, for which she was recognized as an honoree as a Pastiche recognized educator. She also serves on the board of education for the International Association For Applied Corneotherapy.