Ongoing professional development through training and conferences is vital in the cosmetic field. These opportunities allow injectors to observe and learn from expert-led sessions, fostering a collaborative environment for sharing knowledge. One fascinating topic I encountered at a conference presented by Mike Clague, was his study of the off- label use of Botox to prevent scar formation after surgery. Surgical sutures are typically the go-to option for closing incisions or lacerations. However, it’s well-known that tension and movement around the edges of a scar can lead to suboptimal healing.
HOW DOES BOTOX WORK FOR SCAR REDUCTION? Research indicates that Botox injections can help reduce both the bumpiness and width of scars. Tension on a wound contributes to scars becoming thicker and wider, and one major source of this tension is movement. For instance, a scrape on your knee is more likely to result in a prominent scar because the skin is in constant motion during the healing process. By using Botox to relax the muscles beneath a healing incision, we can decrease movement and tension on the scar.
Botox and other neuromodulators temporarily limit muscle movement to prevent wrinkle formation, and this principle also applies to healing wounds. Reducing tension and movement around a scar can lessen the forces that exacerbate scarring. While Botox won’t completely halt muscle activity at the scar site, they can help minimise stress and promote proper healing of the scar.
LIMITATIONS Botox is particularly effective on specific types of recent scars, like those from skin cancer removal, facial surgery and reconstructive surgery, but timing is crucial. The treatment is most effective when administered early in the healing process—ideally before a scar forms—ideally treatment should be undertaken within the first few months when the wound is still undergoing initial healing and is particularly sensitive to tension and movement. This approach helps ensure that the resulting scar heals thinner and flatter. In some instances, Botox may not suffice for significant scar improvement, and additional treatments might be necessary. Some may need to opt for a combination of Botox, skin needling or lasers to achieve the best results for their skin. The Face Place has had great success in treating scars with Skin Pen, RF Needling and laser.
If you’d like to learn more about the treatments available for scarring, we’d be more than happy to give you additional information and help you determine the right option for you.
Marilou Bobis, Senior Advanced Cosmedicine Nurse
Botox®, Prescription Medicine Botox® treatments work by relaxing facial muscles that cause wrinkles and lines when you smile or frown. Botox® is a prescription medicine containing 100 units of Botulinum Toxin Type A. Botox® has risks and benefits. Ask your doctor if Botox is right for you. All medicines, medical devices and treatments carry risks and benefits. Individual results will vary. Botox® is not a funded medicine. For product information check with your Cosmetic Nurse or Doctor. For further information visit https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/ProductDetail.asp?ID=1753 Supplier Allergan Aesthetics, an Abbvie company, Auckland The Face Place.
As a Nurse Educator at The Face Place, I have had the privilege of guiding many aspiring injectors as they embark on their journey into the dynamic and rewarding world of aesthetics. I know firsthand how intimidating those first steps can feel, I was once in your shoes, unsure of where to start but eager to make a difference in my clients’ lives. That’s why I’m so passionate about our Foundation Neuromodulators and Foundation Dermal Fillers courses. They’re designed to equip you with the confidence, knowledge, and skills to set you on the path to success.
One of the first lessons I teach our students is that theory is the foundation of safe and effective practice. Understanding facial anatomy, the science behind neuromodulators and dermal fillers, and evidence-based protocols is absolutely critical. At The Face Place, we don’t rush through this process. Our comprehensive courses ensure you’re armed with the theoretical knowledge needed to approach every treatment with precision and confidence. Confidence didn’t come overnight; it was built step by step. Safety is at the heart of everything we do because it’s what builds trust and ensures your long-term success in this industry.
What makes The Face Place unique is our gold-standard training protocols, which I had the privilege of experiencing as a student myself 10 years ago. Our hands-on approach, combined with tailored mentorship, ensures that every student feels supported throughout their learning journey. When I reflect on my own training, it’s clear that the values and skills I gained here have been the bedrock and guiding principle of my career. Even a decade later, I’m still inspired by the commitment to excellence that defines our clinic and training programs.
The cosmetic industry is constantly evolving, and our courses prepare you not just for the treatments of today but for the innovations of tomorrow. As educators, we instil a mindset of lifelong learning in all our students, encouraging them to stay curious and adaptable. This is one of the most thrilling aspects of the aesthetic field, there’s always more to learn, and each new skill adds to the transformative impact you can have on your clients.
If you’re ready to take the leap into the cosmetic industry, The Face Place is here to support you every step of the way. Our Foundation Neuromodulators and Foundation Dermal Fillers courses are carefully designed to provide you with everything you need to start your career with confidence. You’ll leave not just with practical skills but with the reassurance that your part of a community that values growth, safety, and excellence. Join us and discover what makes The Face Place the gold standard in cosmetic education. Let’s shape the future of aesthetics together.
At The Face Place we are dedicated to the consultation process
At the Face Place we pride ourselves on a thorough consultation process to ensure we understand your needs and that you are well educated in the process of both home care and ‘in clinic’ treatments. Education empowers our clients so they are aware of why they need to use certain products and what their recommended treatments will do for them.
Our process involves:
Health, and lifestyle screening
Education
Diagnostic skin analysis
Home care and treatment plan recommendation
Analysing the skin using our Observ machine
It’s important we understand your history in terms of lifestyle and health, as these factors will influence your skin condition: it doesn’t start and finish with in clinic treatments, we may need to make some suggestions that influence your dietary, environmental or health habits. This may mean referring you to another practitioner that is an expert in their field.
Hence, the initial part of the consultation involves screening these factors. Some medications can also make you more prone to sun damage and pigmentation. How much time you spend outside can impact the home care and types of treatment you may be recommended. Your genetics will also determine how predisposed to sun damage you might be, or the type of pigmentation produced, so we will ask about your ancestry.
Discussing your objectives and setting realistic goals will help us tailor your treatment plan. It is important to think in the long term, not short: Quick fixes can result in short term results or purely an aesthetic effect. It is possible to reverse some damage in the skin, but if it’s years of damage, it’s likely you require a progressive, multi-faceted arsenal with a skin care base of topical retinoids, antioxidants and peptides. Many medical grade treatments take the approach of stimulating collagen and elastin, which again takes a few weeks to kick start and can continue for 24 months.
We believe educating you well about the products you are using at home and the treatments you are about to embark on is an essential part of your commitment to your skin journey. Knowing why you do something is far more engaging than just robotically doing what you’ve been told.
The suggestions we make for home care are often evolving as your skin health increases, or to accommodate seasonal or hormonal changes. Having said that, your skin will always need a Vitamin A-product, antioxidants and sunscreens – we will guide you on what formulation of these is most appropriate for you at the time. Your skin physiology and environment fundamentally won’t change so these ingredients are just a necessary part of skin cell metabolism and protection. Your skin naturally produces many of these vitamins but with sun exposure and ageing, Vitamins ingested and processed through the body cannot keep the skin sustained to remain healthy.
We use a device called Observ to view your skin in more detail; this device takes photos using different lighting effects to highlight various structures in the skin. It will also show underlying sun damage that is not yet obvious at the surface. It can measure the barrier function, which should be a healthy cocktail of lipids, fats, ceramides and oils secreted in the skin, but this is often out of balance, leaving the skin dry, sensitive and impaired and affecting the internal skin health. It can also highlight bacterial imbalance which can increase redness and sensitivity in the area. Our approach is to improve the health of the skin and stimulate repair through various treatment options that suit your skin condition, time and budget.
It’s important you start your skin care journey well informed of the process and clear about realistic outcome’s. We look forward to seeing you for your 1 hour skin consultation at The Face Place.
Happy New Year! Although the phrase is getting a little old now that we are halfway through January, with many people just starting to dribble on back to work from summer holidays it really does feel like we are starting the year anew.
I hope you are returning from holidays well rested and ready for a great year ahead. With all the glorious sunshine we’ve been getting, we thought we’d do a quick reminder on the benefits of the Heliocare sunscreens over standard sunscreen, namely the Fernblock™️ technology which has enzymes that help repair the damage to the DNA done by the sun, alongside antioxidants to mop up any roving free radicals. If you haven’t tried these sunscreens, ask your therapist our front desk team next time you are in, to play with the testers and explore what’s right for you. I love the tinted sunscreen, it’s a great colour and coverage, and means I don’t need to wear makeup.
From the first days of opening The Face Place back in 2001 (yes we are a quarter century old next year!) what set us apart was our focus on comprehensive, tailored consultation processes. From day 1 we have always offered a 1hour initial consultation, whether on the medical or skin side of the clinic, to enable us to dive deeply into what’s going to suit you best. In the last 5-10 years we have started to see the industry focus more on the consultation process, but even now, many are only 15-45 minutes, and only just scratch the surface, let alone leave time for education about the different options and have the appropriate informed consent. Our skin team share what happens in the skin consult, and why it’s important, in this month’s skin blog. Not sure about you, but I’m pretty tired of the ‘new year, new you’ slogan that gets bandied around every new year! I stopped doing New Year’s Resolutions or goal setting about five years ago and instead set an intention for the year, which feels a lot less rigid than trying to attain a specific goal (does anyone remember SMART goals?
My intention for this year is purely personal – permanently cancer free, healthy, happy and in the best shape of my life by the end of the year.
I’m currently halfway through my chemo treatment, with my final chemo infusion due on 10 February, and I’ll then progress to radiotherapy in March. I’m not going to lie, the first week after chemo is tough with fatigue, nausea and gut symptoms due to the chemo killing the gut lining (it targets rapidly dividing cells to try and kill the cancer cells, which means it also knocks out normal cells that divide rapidly, like the gut cells and hair follicles).
I’ve managed to hold onto about half my hair so far thanks to doing the cold cap – a freezing cold cap I wear before, during and after each chemo session to reduce blood flow to the hair follicles, with the aim of reducing the amount of chemo the hair follicles are exposed to. Most of the hair usually falls out in the third week after chemo, so it’s still coming for me for this second chemo round. Last round I had one day where I washed my hair (they recommend only washing it once a week) and about half my hair fell out in the one day! It was pretty confronting, but luckily I have over thirty – yes 30 – cheap wigs now that I can play with and cover up my thin, greasy, unwashed hair! It’s fun having a new hairstyle or colour every day, and not having to wash, brush or style my hair! I’m totally rating wig life and will probably continue wearing wigs long after my natural hair has replenished 😹
On 28 January it will have been 5 years since I was first diagnosed with breast cancer. With at least 6 surgeries over the last 5 years, I have a LOT of scars, which I proudly bear as a survivor – my mum calls it my ‘scar-chitecture’ 😹😻
I do a lot to prevent the scarring from looking unsightly, such as taping the scars for the first 3-6 months to stop any pressure on the scar pulling it apart, and using Environ ACE body oil on the scars once they are healed. We also have a comprehensive arsenal of treatments to treat all different forms of scarring, both new and mature. Some of these include skin needling, RF needling, filler, IPL and some treatments that we are not allowed to discuss due to medical council advertising guidelines. Some exciting new treatments we have been trialling on scars have been Botox, insulin and Exosomes, and Marilou writes a great report on the use of Botox for scarring in this month’s medical blog.
I know a lot of people are happy to see the end of 2024 and have described it as a ‘roller coaster’ of a year! Here’s hoping that 2025 provides a much smoother path 😹 (thanks to Botox, fillers and skin care – excuse the terrible pun) and that the year brings you everything you desire.
We look forward to working with you even more closely in the coming year! Thank you so much for all your love and support,
Here we are exploring an area that is commonly overlooked in facial aesthetics, but they’re actually vital areas when it comes to achieving a youthful and refreshed look.
Temple filler plays an essential role in creating a harmonious, balanced facial appearance, especially as we age. Over time, the temples naturally lose volume, which can lead to a hollowed, concave appearance that affects the overall structure of the face.
Anatomy and Aging of the Temples
The temples are bordered by the brow bone, zygomatic arch, and the forehead. Underlying this region are structures such as the temporalis muscle, the temporal fat pad, and the superficial temporal artery, amongst other structures. With age, there’s a reduction in the fat and soft tissue in the temple region, which is due to the loss of both deep and superficial fat pads. This leads to visible hollowing, and often, a noticeable concavity of the temples. Additionally, the bone itself undergoes resorption with age, which exaggerates the effect.
The resulting volume loss affects more than just the temples. It can create an imbalance by making the upper part of the face appear narrower, which in turn can make the mid-face and lower face seem broader. This imbalance disrupts facial harmony and can contribute to an older appearance. Hollow temples can also make the brows appear more droopy and the eyelid area more shadowed, adding to a tired look.
Benefits of Temple Filler
1. Restoring Volume and Fullness: Temple filler can effectively replace lost volume, making the temples look fuller and more youthful. By addressing this hollowed area, fillers can restore a soft, convex contour that creates a balanced facial shape.
2. Supporting the Eyebrows: Volume loss in the temples also contributes to a deflated brow and can cause the brows to sag over time. Temple filler provides underlying support to the outer brows, giving them a gentle lift. This can help open up the eye area, making the face look more alert and refreshed.
3. Enhancing Overall Facial Harmony: Since the temples play a key role in framing the face, restoring volume here creates a more balanced transition between the forehead, brow, and cheek areas. This helps achieve a well-rounded, harmonious appearance.
4. Contributing to a Youthful Look: The subtle lift and restored fullness from temple filler can have a significant impact on the overall youthfulness of the face. By smoothing out hollowed temples, fillers create a softer look that’s associated with a younger face shape.
What to expect after temple treatments?
1. Immediate Fullness: The temples will appear fuller right away, though some mild swelling or redness is common and should subside within a few days.
2. Minor Tenderness or Bruising: Due to the vascular nature of the temple area, some patients may experience slight bruising or tenderness. These effects are generally mild and temporary, usually resolving within a week.
3. Gradual Enhancement Over Time: While initial results are visible instantly, dermal fillers often settle and integrate into the surrounding tissue over the first two weeks, giving a natural, balanced look as they do. In more severe tissue loss we may need more than 1 session for more optimal results.
4. Long-Lasting Results: Temple fillers can last anywhere from 9 to 18 months, depending on the product used and the individual’s metabolic rate. This long duration makes them a popular choice for maintaining facial harmony with minimal upkeep.
5. Little to No Downtime: Most patients can return to their normal activities immediately after treatment, although they should avoid intense exercise, alcohol, and excessive sun exposure for the first 24 hours to reduce swelling and promote optimal healing.
Medical Device. Class III
Dermal filler is a classed a Medical Device, Class III is intended for the treatment of restoring lost volume to the face. All medicines, medical devices and treatments carry risks and benefits. Individual results will vary. Speak to one of our qualified Cosmedicine Nurses or Doctors to see what might be right for you and to explain the possible side effects.
Toka Puia AT Carpark is the closest under-cover option at 15 Northcroft Street. Pay by Plate at the pay machine or via the AT Parking app ($2.50 per hour on weekdays / free weekend parking for a limited time only).
Other options…
Northcroft Street Parking (pay by meter) – One hour – $1.50 – Two hours – $3 – Hours thereafter – $3 per hour
Wilson Parking – 11 Northcorft Street (pay by plate machine or Parkmate app) – Casual – from $3 per hour – Earlybird (Mon-Fri) – from $14 valid for 12 hours – Night (Mon-Fri from 4 pm) – $4 flat rate valid until 8 am – Weekend (Sat-Sun) – $4 flat rate, valid for 12 hours from time of purchase
Anzac Street Carpark (pay by plate machine or via the AT app) – First 2 hours – $1.50 per hour – Hours thereafter – $3 per hour – Monday – Saturday (6 pm – 8 am) – No Charge – Sunday and Public Holidays – No Charge – Motorcycle and Mobility parking P180 – No Charge
Britomart Carparking
Currently, Britomart Carpark is offering 2 hours free parking* with a receipt of $50 or more from a Britomart store (such as The Face Place).
Britomart Carpark Valet Parking $20* for two hours (includes parking charges) $5 each additional half-hour to a daily maximum of $45 (to midnight). Available from 10am-8pm.
The Central Valet drop-off point is located on the corner of Gore and Tyler Streets, opposite Takutai Square. Drive in via the entrance on Gore Street, where you’ll be greeted by a friendly valet concierge. Leave your engine running, take your ticket and your car will be parked for you. Retrieve your car by taking your valet ticket to Britomart Car Park Reception on the corner of Britomart Place and Scene Lane.
Train An excellent alternative with Britomart Train Station being a short walk to us, plus, public transport is 50% off until 30th June 2023.
