I hope this finds everyone well? What a strange September we’ve had, not least with passing of Queen Elizabeth II. I don’t know about you, but I found the news quite shocking. And wow – I felt amazingly proud of Britain as a nation on the day of her state funeral and even before. I still love reading little snippets of news and stories about her as people continue to celebrate her amazing life. She will be sadly missed by us all.
As we move into autumn (seriously where did summer go?), I’d just like to update you on the news and newest addition to Skin Deep Clinic. I am delighted to have now introduced the ZO Skin Health products, available for all patients to buy.
As you know, I am very fussy about any treatments I add to the Skin-Deep Clinic portfolio, it is of utmost most importance to me that any treatment I suggest to you is of the highest quality and ZO is just this. Most of the team here at Skin Deep Clinic have road tested it over several weeks and I even got the younger Hartwig’s involved in trialing it for teenage skin – you will be pleased to know it met their highest of standards!
ZO Skin Health. A New Level in Skin Care
ZO Skin Health is an advanced cosmeceutical skincare range developed by the renowned Dr Zein Obagi. The products work from the inside out, activating and stimulating your skin’s cells to nourish, repair and maintain themselves using the most potent ingredients, high concentrations, pure retinol, advanced peptides & powerful antioxidants.
How ZO Skin Health Works
Dr Obagi’s philosophy is to create & maintain healthy skin for life – for all skin types. His scientific therapeutic formulas are designed for repairing the skin from within. Based on the latest advances in skin therapy technology – biotechnology complexes and plant stem cell components the skincare range can target a multitude of skin concerns.
The products can correct the skin with high concentrations of active ingredients such as pure Retinol, advanced peptides and powerful antioxidants. The formulas promote cellular function whilst restoring and maintaining a more youthful healthy-looking skin.
Is ZO Skin Health Safe?
The ZO range are medical-grade, strong therapeutic and prescription-strength products with extensive scientific research behind them. They are allergy-free and cruelty-free. With the professional advice from your aesthetician, they are very safe and offer outstanding results.
These products should only be bought through approved skin clinics with ZO trained staff. Do not be tempted to buy products over the internet as their authenticity cannot be guaranteed. A thorough consultation will determine what is and isn`t suitable for you to use to get the best results.
The Benefits of ZO Skin Health Products
ZO Skin Health helps address hydration, skin barrier restoration, DNA repair, inflammation and can control pigment.
For patients with anti-ageing needs, ZO has added potent ingredients with higher concentrations than those found in over-the-counter skincare creams to deliver impressive results.
ZO contains some of the most effective anti-ageing ingredient today – is available in a variety of their creams. Retinoids regulate cell metabolism and stimulate the skin cell turn-over with collagen production. This leads to smoother, healthier skin with improved texture and elasticity.
ZO’s advanced formulas can help smooth wrinkles and improve the firmness of the skin.
ZO Skin Health products can be purchased at the Clinic (after a short consultation with one of our ZO trained team). Please do ask when you come in next or contact us. Read more about it here.
If you have any questions about ZO, just give us a shout and we’ll be happy to help. With all best wishes for a happy October and look forward to seeing you soon!
August is a really special month for me as we’re celebrating one whole year in our new, larger premises at Archers Way! I simply can’t believe how quickly the last 12 months have gone. This week we’ve been celebrating with a slice (or two) of cake, but if I’m honest that’s what we do every week! When I moved in last year it was with some natural trepidation at making such a big move, especially as Covid was still hanging around, but I can honestly say it could not have gone better, and so much of that is down to your support and loyalty… so a huge, massive thank you to all my patients, colleagues and friends!
We’ve seen so much change in the last year and it has all been so positive. Here are the last 12 months of Skin Deep Clinic in a nutshell….
NEW TEAM MEMBERS
We are now a team of five ladies, and it is an absolute joy for me to come into work every day with my Archers Way colleagues – we all share a similar sense of humour, a great work ethic and a mutual love of sweet treats. It’s a great combination! So, just to recap for anyone who hasn’t visited for a while this is the Skin Deep Team:
Wendy owner of Skin Deep Clinic. I am a fully qualified nurse prescriber and offer a range of treatments
Mitch is a trained professional counsellor who can help with a variety of emotional issues and runs the Counselling Service at the clinic, she is also our clinic administrator and is usually in reception to meet patients when they arrive
Sally is an excellent and highly qualified physiotherapist. Take a look at her services here
Sophie is our new nurse who has almost completed her training and will be available for appointment from 19 August 2022. Read more about Sophie here.
Lauren is a very talented semi-permanent makeup, brow and lash artist, she is also trained to carry out our HydraFacial treatments. You can book her services here
NEW TREATMENTS AND SERVICES
HydraFacial
In March we introduced HydraFacial to the clinic, and it’s been a massive success. HydraFacial gives you instant and visible results after each treatment. This patented technology follows a six-step treatment process – Detox, Cleanse and Exfoliation, Brightening, Extraction, Hydration and finally Rejuvenation. Dead skin cells and impurities are removed, and the skin is hydrated with antioxidants and peptides.
Counselling
We introduced our Counselling Service to the clinic in September last year. This person-centred counselling is a talking-based form of therapy. At your appointment, you will talk to our trained professional, Mitch Wappner. She will encourage you to share how you feel and the issue/s you wish to overcome.
NEW PRODUCTS
I am delighted to have introduced the ZO Skin Health range of products to the clinic. This really is a game changer for your skin. We are now fully trained in how to advise the best options and I have been using them for over a month to road test and quality check. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Zo Skin Health Products
ZO Skin Health offers cutting-edge products and therapeutic treatments. They also compliment the HydraFacial treatment system too. I’m sure you will love it as much as I do. I have plenty of stock in the clinic so please do take a look when you’re next in.
CLINIC EXPANSION
With the arrival of Sophie, our new nurse we are now able to offer you a lot more appointments, including Fridays and weekends. Sophie’s diary is now available to book.
As part of this expansion, we are still in the throes of building Sophie her new treatment room, so as I type there is a still little building work and disruption in the clinic. But this will be ready by mid-August when Sophie starts running her clinic.
Sophie completed her Profhilo Training in July!
So, what a year it’s been and I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months bring. It has been and continues to be an amazing journey and most of all I couldn’t do it without you, all my patients new and longstanding. I truly value your custom and friendship.
As usual there are plenty of things going on at Skin Deep Clinic, we are as busy as ever and it is so lovely to see patients and catch up. If I could, I would make the appointments longer just for some extra chat! See you soon but in the meantime I hope that you are all enjoying a relaxing summer and taking the opportunity for some holiday time, here or abroad.
June started well with the Queen’s Jubilee, what a treat to have a 4 day weekend and I loved watching all the pomp and ceremony in London from the comfort of my living room (it looked exhausting!)! I don’t know about you, but I love the light evenings at the moments and as we near the summer solstice I’m always extra motivated to make the most of the extra daylight hours. Even leaving work at 8pm feels like an early finish when it’s still daylight. I’m keeping everything crossed for a sunny month!
June also sees me as busy as ever … I’m currently hurtling up the country by train Edinburgh-bound courtesy of HA Derma, the distributor for IBSA who make my favourite products Profhilo, Aliaxin and Viscoderm. I am privileged to be in the company the best aesthetic practitioners for an anatomy and injection masterclass. It genuinely feels that life has really got back to normal post-covid now that I’m actually leaving the clinic to study instead of opening my laptop to join a Zoom event. I haven’t been to Edinburgh for many years and I’m really looking forward to it! I’ve even packed my trainers for a quick trot around Holyrood Park … I’m staying so close it would be rude not to although it doesn’t look flat (unfortunately)!
Onto clinic news … I couldn’t be more excited to welcome a new nurse to Skin Deep Clinic. I was amazed at the volume of applications for the position and narrowing down the applications to decide who to interview was no easier than deciding who to recruit as all I wanted to take all three final candidates!
Sophie Dickens accepted the position and I’m thrilled to say she will be joining me at the end of June to shadow my clinics 2 days per week initially before completing her formal training days in August. You’ll no doubt be meeting her in person later in the year but for a sneaky peek of Sophie take a look at my social media, and thanks to everyone for welcoming her on my announcement post.
Meet Sophie, the new Skin Deep Clinic Nurse
I just want to apologise in advance for planned internal building work in reception at the clinic scheduled to start at the end of June. A new treatment room is being created in the area we currently have separated by the glass dividers. The waiting area will be temporarily moved, and dust dividers fixed in place. Hopefully, the inevitable noise and disruption will be minimal.
This does bring good new though, this new room will be Sophie’s dedicated treatment room, which means we will be able to run clinics at the same time. So, availability of appointments will improve by September at the very latest once both Sophie and I are happy for her to work unsupervised. Having the extra treatment room will mean that I’m on hand during some of her clinics too.
Still on my journey to Scotland! I can almost recite the list of stations on this route now…Wigan…Preston…Carlisle…and we haven’t even reached Wolverhampton yet!
Here’s to a sunny June and I look forward to welcoming you to my new and improved premises and growing team. As always anything you need, or any queries please do just get in touch.
Well … hello May! I don’t know about you, but I love feeling a bit of warmth and basking in some light and sunshine – it just makes me happier! This month’s news is an update from me on Skin Deep Clinic, since I started on this journey, my patients have always been at the heart of what I do, and I wanted to take the opportunity to keep you up to date with my plans.
I firstly want to thank all of you for your loyalty and business, it may sound cliched but there is nothing better than seeing patients return time after time and it is no better endorsement for the clinic. Since we reopened after Lockdown Three, we have found ourselves very busy and have put every effort into managing the clinic diary to take extra care to ensure there is always enough space for existing, loyal patients to book their regular treatments, whilst working with new patients for the first time. In all my years of running Skin Deep Clinic, the demand for new patient consultations has never been so high. This is something for which I am eternally thankful, but it does create demand and bottle neck issues, so we have been limiting how many new patients we see each week to make sure they can start their treatment plan within 2 weeks of consultation.
I find myself currently with a 2 month waitlist for new patient consultations (words I never thought I would be writing and yes, a great problem to have but none the less one that I need to solve to maintain my service levels to all my patients). I’ve taken some time to consider the best course of action and working any more hours is neither a practical or safe option for me or you, and as much as cloning would be a good option, I’m not sure the world is ready for two Wendys! So, after much consideration I have decided it is time to recruit a new practitioner into the clinic, I mentioned the idea in the most recent newsletter that went out and I have been genuinely surprised by the number of applicants.
So, I am officially recruiting and am specifically looking for a registered health care professional to join me. I am well aware that non-health care professionals can offer many of the treatments and services we have at Skin Deep Clinic, but this does not align with my standards or the ethos of clinic, put simply our objective is to offer only the highest standards of service and safety in aesthetics and skin care in the Shrewsbury area and beyond.
Just a couple of examples for context to explain my thinking … anti-wrinkle treatments, as a prime example, involve the use of a prescription only medicine (Botox) and patients looking for this treatment must be assessed face to face by a prescribing health care practitioner. Furthermore, in the (unlikely) event of complications, where further prescription only drugs would need to be administered it is vital to have registered healthcare professional. So, a non-health care professional, regardless of their enthusiasm and ability would not help reduce waiting times significantly.
The rationale behind my plan for recruitment is that having a new registered health care professional in situ will also allow us to increase our opening hours eventually to 6 days per week. This will give you as Skin Deep Clinic patients a much wider choice of appointments including more evening slots, Friday afternoons and Saturdays – all of which I am asked for but unable to fulfil on my own. So, the benefits are huge and as soon as training and independent practice is enabled, we’ll be making these changes.
I hope these May musings clarify my intent for the future, which is first and foremost to be able to service all of you quickly and with the utmost care and safety. If you or anyone you know would like to be considered for our new position, please do drop me a line at the clinic.
The future is bright and busy! Just how I like it!
February seems to have flown by, I can’t believe it’s almost over! As usual it’s been a busy month in the clinic and great to see so many of you, thank you as always for your continued support. As we move into March and closer to Spring (horray!) … I’ve got a spring in my step too with some new product news! I am very fussy about any treatments I add to the Skin Deep Clinic portfolio, it is of utmost most importance to me that any treatment I suggest to you is of the highest quality and does what it ‘says on the tin’ (and a bit more!). HydraFacial has been on my radar for some time, I’ve heard so many good things about it, but I’ve only been able to trial it recently. I really enjoyed this treatment and it gave great results, so I am now delighted to offer it to you at Skin Deep Clinic (coming end of March 2022).
This is a great product to complement my injectable treatments and it is way more involved than a standard facial (and works a lot harder), if you’re not looking for anything too invasive but want a good visible result then give it a try. Lauren, who already works on facial, brow and lip treatments within the clinic, will also be available to offer HydraFacial – so there shouldn’t be a long waiting list.
Please note: HydraFacial treatments will be available from end March 2022
The Basics
HydraFacial is a skin detoxifying and deep cleansing experience which rejuvenates your skin with active botanical ingredients. The treatment reveals glowing, refreshed and radiant skin with immediate results. HydraFacial is a treatment that everyone can enjoy and is suitable for all skin types and concerns.
HydraFacial will give you instant and visible results that you can see and feel after each treatment. This patented technology follows a six-step treatment process – Detox, Cleanse and Exfoliation, Brightening, Extraction, Hydration and finally Rejuvenation. Dead skin cells and impurities are removed and the skin is hydrated with antioxidants and peptides.
A Guest Blog by Mitch Wappner, who runs our in-house counselling service.
For anybody who hasn’t been depressed, it seems like it’s easy to break the cycle of depression. Do this, do that, exercise, talk to someone, blah blah.
The First Step ….
The first step isn’t conversation, especially with those who don’t know. The first step is finding someone to listen.
TimetoTalk Day was celebrated on the 3rd February 2022. This was one day where everyone was encouraged to start a conversation with somebody. This was to try to break down the stigma and raise awareness of mental health
As a person centered counsellor, I cannot impress upon others the importance of talking. Communicating with each other, in my opinion, is the fundamental basis of any relationship. It builds trust and respect and encourages warmth and understanding.
When I was struggling with anxiety and depression, I soon became aware of the enormous amount of advice available. Personally, I found this overwhelming and at times quite scary. All I actually wanted to do was talk to someone who would listen without interrupting with glib words of advice or judgement. I was lucky in that I had friends and family who were willing to let me talk, but eventually I felt as though I was burdening them with my thoughts you could see they were desperate to give me a solution; so I quietened my voice and internalised these thoughts.
My anxiety and depression deepened until I reached out and sought therapy from someone who understands. This was one of the hardest steps I have had to take and yet one of the most rewarding.
During my counselling journey (which is ongoing btw!), I experienced warmth, empathy and compassion. I felt respected and listened to. It was as though the counsellor was walking beside me on my journey, allowing me to make my own decisions whilst having them for support.
Bit by bit, I gained a deeper understanding of who I was, my confidence grew and my anxiety and depression symptoms lessened.
It was thanks to the counselling experience I had encountered that I decided to change the course of my journey, and train to become a counsellor myself.
For me at least, I have found that I don’t need someone to tell me what to do, I don’t need someone to carry me, I just need someone to listen and be there when I need them.
Try it. Take one step.
For more information on how Mitch can help you with the first step take a look at our Counselling page or join Mitch on her Facebook page for regular updates.
