I met a friend for a vino on Saturday night, and she had a couple of her girlfriends along. My friend is a supporter, a Woman's Woman. She always introduces me as 'This is my friend Tash, Tash owns a SKIN CLINIC!'
This kicks off a conversation as old as wine itself: how old am I (I'm 41) and what should they be thinking of buying for their skin?
One lady has heard she should use retinol.
Another read it's all just a scam and The Ordinary is just as good as anything else (it's not, but I'm not about to ruin the vibe.)
Another is buying all her skincare from a beauty salon she just started going to last year, and she's not unhappy...but she isn't really sure what it's achieving. She thinks her skin is 'nice...I don't know, it was pretty okay before....I just don't want to get to 50 and regret not looking after it...'
The thing is, it's impossible to give advice on the fly like that. Not with any level of integrity.
Not because I need them on my treatment bed to convince them to spend money with me (they're already offering to buy my drinks, they want the goods).
It's because skin is totally unique, individual, changing every moment of every day, and you deserve better than sound-bytes of bullshit.
I suggest they come see me for Skin Consultation at a later date. Nobody seems to think that's much fun. The chat continues...
One of the girls has been for some kind of skin analysis at a franchise where 'the girl told me I needed botox, a course of laser facials, and a some AHA serum. I left feeling old. The brat!"
Another one spent a year doing naturopathy appointments and a rose quartz roller with a $200 organic cream, but drew the line when she was recommended past life regression to undo energy blocks that were causing her frown lines. I don't blame her.
So I tap into my Consultation Software and show them a client who has given me permission to share her images for marketing. It's a photo of skin taken under an Observ Diagnosis device. They've never seen it.
Everyone leans in and oohs and aahs. But there's too much wine going on for me to start a Ted Talk in the Transport Bar - plus the bands about to start.
So here I am mid-week, writing about why they need a Skin Consultation.
Get ready for the link in the group chat ladies...
The Day of your Skin Consultation
You arrive at the clinic. Ideally you have no makeup on, and you've had none on for the whole day so far. This is because I want to see how much oil you've produced so far. If you can't arrive makeup-free, that's okay. I'll work with what shows up.
Using a piece of diagnostic equipment called an Observ, I take photos of your skin. Oil, water, blood vessels, pigmentation, all show up. You get to see the photos & I can explain what you're looking at.
It's important at this point to say, the point of Skin Consultation is to determine your skin type & any skin conditions. It's quite literally the ONLY way to correctly customise your skincare product routine & treatment routine correctly. If we do just a chat at reception, the best you're going to get is an excellent routine - not a mind-blowing, who-does-your-skin-sis routine.
So here with are with our photos.
I've got questions. Lots, and lots, of questions.
It's going to be about a half hour chat if your skin is generally healthy, longer if you skin condition has deeper triggers, such as with hormone-mediated acne, or inflamed dry conditions.
We aim to
- identify your main skin type from within the only 3 that exist (hint: dry, oily and sensitive is not the 3).
- identify your primary skin condition. This is the one we will treat first.
- identify any secondary & subsequent skin conditions.
- find the cause, trigger, driver of the main conditions.
- determine the best ingredients for your unique skin, and customise a skincare routine to match.
- give you a Skin Treatment plan so you know what you can book.
All of this takes more than a glass of wine (if you drink as fast as my friends, anyway) but it's the most interesting chat you'll ever have.
You stand to save a lot of money on your skincare purchases, have much better skin and see your skin go from 'needing a peel once a month just to feel human' to 'holding it's moisture, firmness, not breaking out and glowing the majority of the time.'
I like to show you the ideal skincare routine to be on 'one day' with your understanding that 'one day' could be a few weeks away, or it could be years.
For today, you'll need a couple of things, and some lifestyle advice (don't worry, you already know I don't ban people from wine).
Are we on a skin fitness bootcamp here, or what?
You know in the 90s, I had to convince people to use skincare and book treatments. It was all about trying to get you to take your skins eroiusly. Those days are over, and if you're here, it's because you know the reputation of this clinic for getting seriously great skin results. Modern clients are here for the journey.
Today we have a different challenge, which is that the product is BETTER.
The skincare stocked in skin clinics has gone from cosmetic, to cosmeceutical, to cosmedical... to truly bio-similar skincare that supersedes all of that, customised for your skin, using compounds you could not possibly get from a pre-mixed bottle because the science simply would not work.
What we use will pull the years of emulsifier build-up, waste and nonsense out of your skin. Your skin will improve, but so will your knowledge of skin, beyond anything you could read in a blog, magazine or hear from a marketing brochure. My goal is that you get the power, while I get the trust, and your skin gets the glow.
You can buy what I recommend now, or take home the plans I write out and think about it.
Starting the skin journey starts with consultation, and continues throughout your life. Sometimes you'll lean in & level up your skin health with more treatment, more serums, more love as you go through a stressful period. Other times you'll pare back and maintain.
Of course your skin will continue to change - it's a living organ after all. It will probably never be perfect. And that's the kind of honesty you should be looking for in a skin therapist, because anything else is not worthy of the group chat.
Click here to book a Skin Consultation
Click here to find out what the changes could look like.
