PART 2: What You Need to Know About Botox and Fillers Before Advising Your Clients

We may not agree with all choices women make regarding how they look. However, life is a buffet of options from which we get to choose whatever we want. There is no need to be offended by the options we do not choose.

Advanced Training for Estheticians

The information in this series will be presented to you in several parts. My goal here is to rally Estheticians who are interested in offering non-invasive esthetics services to existing clients and potential new clients. If you are not yet trained in the many non-invasive esthetics services available to Estheticians, please check with your licensing board to confirm what Estheticians can legally offer in your state. Once you know the esthetician scope of practice in your state, then get trained and certified, and market yourself as the expert you will then be! 

Equally as important (I would argue, more important) is learning to develop the art of understanding your clients’ external needs as well as their internal needs. This is how we gain clients' trust and then can serve them at a much higher level, as you grow your esthetics career beyond facials.**

What to Consider Before Getting Botox or Fillers

One of the things I am seeing a lot lately are young women (in their early 20s) using Botox regularly, likely with no thought as to the repercussions of muscle atrophy which will happen when a muscle is unused for a long period of time.

Another question I would have is what other effect these products might have on the body beyond the intended result? As Estheticians, we are aware that we might use a particular peel on 100 clients, and 99 of them will go as intended and expected. However, there could be that one client who has an unexpected result, such as redness, rash, itching, or worse. Fortunately, all relatively easy to reverse topically.

But what if it's happening inside the body? You will notice in the research below that some fillers are not absorbed by the body. So where do these ingredients go inside the body? Foreign matter living inside our body can’t be good in the long run. And if something does happen years later, odds are that the client won't trace it back to the injectable which they believed was safe. 

I am also hearing stories of women going in for “Botox” without even knowing which form of the botulinum toxin they are receiving. These products are not interchangeable. And it’s extremely important to have someone who understands the anatomy of the face do the injecting because they will know where important structures are located.

These Are Not the Same Thing — Know What You're Being Offered

Most people use the word "Botox" as a catch-all, but that's a bit like calling every painkiller "Tylenol."

Botox is just one brand of botulinum toxin. Other common FDA-approved brands include Dysport®, Xeomin®, and Jeuveau®. Each has different formulations, different dosing, and they are not interchangeable — a unit of Dysport is not the same as a unit of Botox. Although these formulations have a similar mode of action, they differ in their characteristics, and their dosing is not interchangeable. PubMed Central

Then there are dermal fillers — a completely different category of product. Unlike Botox, which affects muscle movement by targeting muscle relaxants, fillers work by plumping up the skin. Types include Hyaluronic Acid (HA) fillers like Juvederm and Restylane; Calcium Hydroxylapatite (CaHA) fillers like Radiesse, which stimulate collagen production; Poly-L-lactic acid fillers like Sculptra; and permanent fillers such as silicone injections, which come with higher risks. AAFE

Some filler substances are temporary and break down naturally in the body over time, while others last longer. A more permanent filler called Bellafill is made of plastic beads that are not absorbed by the body. GoodRx

Here's why this matters: you need to know exactly what is being injected into your body, by whom, and whether it can be reversed if something goes wrong. HA fillers can often be dissolved using hyaluronidase. There are no reversal options for poly-L-lactic or permanent fillers.

** More detail can be found in my book The Heart of Esthetics

NEXT BLOG (#3) - What Happens to Your Muscles Over Time — The Atrophy Question

Go to previous Blog #1