Cosmetic injections such as botox and fillers have been gaining popularity for women and men for years now, and The Beach Beauty Bar owner, Stacey Zielinski, thought her salon would benefit from offering this service in Martensville. Registered nurse Nicole Touet has been a longtime friend of Zielinski and when she approached Touet about training to offer this in her salon, she immediately became excited about the idea.
Touet has been a nurse for the past eight years starting in General Medicine at RUH. About four years ago she moved to the neonatal intensive care unit at The Jim Pattison’s Children’s hospital in Saskatoon. She now resides in Martensville with her fiancé.
When asked why she wanted to offer this service she stated, “All my friends get Botox done and I was among very few that didn’t. I knew a lot about it through my friends. You have to be a registered nurse to do injections, and after researching and learning more about it I felt this would be something great. Stacey and I get along so well and I wanted to be a part of her team here at the Beach,” said Touet.
Another reason Touet wanted to provide this to clients is to challenge the stigma surrounding the industry of cosmetic injectables. Touet explained, “I want to empower women and to make them feel beautiful in their own skin. Botox and fillers are for women (and men) of ALL ages to encourage them to feel courageous, comfortable and confident. I feel so incredibly lucky that Stacey asked me and that it just worked out so well for me to be working here.”
Practicing under the Medical Directive of Doctor Van Der Merwe, Nicole was given reading material, a textbook, and had to do three weeks of online modules followed by quizzes after every module. She then had a written exam, followed by a practicum in Regina at the School of Natural Medical Aesthetics. She had six weeks to complete the training, but was eager to complete it all in three weeks. “The practicum is like hair school at Marvel where people would come into the school, usually about 16 a day, and they would do Fillers and Botox all day. It is a very busy clinic and the instructor is there watching you and answers any questions you have.”
The products used at the Beach Beauty Bar are Juvederm for fillers and Allergan for Botox. These products work together but offer different things. Botox essentially works on smaller finer wrinkles, such as forehead and crow’s feet, and filler is to replace volume in the face. Filler is common for cheeks, chin, jaw, larger wrinkles or deeper folds, such as nasolabial folds around the mouth. Touet stated that it can really benefit under the eyes as well.
Botox is an active ingredient that will decrease movement in muscles that cause wrinkles, whereas fillers don’t have that active ingredient and it doesn’t change the way muscles are working. “It’s just replacing volume in your face or plumping areas in your face such as lips, or going underneath folds around the mouth and nose and decreasing the look of the deeper wrinkles. These products work together in that for example – smokers lines around lips – you can do both. Botox is going to relax muscles so wrinkles will decrease but if you have a lot of fine lines you can add filler as well – it’s an art actually.”
Botox typically will last four – six months but every person is different. Fillers can last up to a year or longer. Lip procedures don’t tend to last as long because of how often we use our mouth.
The cost for Botox is $10 unit. Depending on what you are looking for, 25 – 45 units is common for most people. Filler syringes range from $600 – $800 and the products vary for certain areas with each product varying in price.
If anyone has tried Botox and Filler in the past, you may be familiar with Brilliant Distinctions awards. This program benefits you by earning points towards Allergan and Juvederm products. If you have these awards you can carry them over and continue them at The Beach Beauty Bar, which goes toward future procedures and products including Latisse, which helps the growth and care of eyelashes. You can also earn points towards product and tanning at The Beach, and every Sunday in November you can TRIPLE your points at the salon.
A procedure that is gaining popularity is the ‘Lip Flip.’ It is an affordable procedure especially if you are new to trying Botox. “A lot of people want their lips to look a little bit fuller, but either want a gradual look, or not yet ready to have filler, so this is a great place to start. It is a 15 minute procedure – two Botox injections on the upper lip, one syringe and very low maintenance. The Beach Beauty Bar is offering this service for $80 and it lasts usually up to six months!”
As of now, there are no set hours being offered at the salon but Touet is very flexible and available on short notice. “Being a nurse I have a crazy schedule, but it works out to the benefit of the salon for the fact that I can come in almost any time on the days I’m not working, Sundays included. Even if I work a night shift, I can come in around 4pm for a few hours to accommodate clients.” You can either call the salon or Nicole will offer her cell phone number and you can text her personally to arrange an appointment. “Whatever works best for you, we will make it work,” she stated.
“I am just so excited for the opportunity to work at the Beach Beauty Bar with Stacey, and Martensville is such an incredible community. I am having so much fun meeting so many new people who are coming through the doors here and everyone who leaves here is happy and excited and it’s just such a positive experience. I just encourage everyone to come and experience what we are doing here.”