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Visiting the CCR Expo? Come and see Mr Richards discuss the Aurora Lift

Cosmetic Courses at the CCR-EXPO

 

One of the highlights of the aesthetic industry calendar, the CCR Expo, is fast approaching. It takes place this year on 8th-9th October at London Olympia – and we’re delighted to say we’re exhibiting. 

Whatever stage you’re at in your aesthetic career, the CCR Expo (Clinical Cosmetic and Reconstructive Expo) is sure to have something of interest for you.

If you’ve been before, you’ll know it’s one of the most respected events of its kind in the industry, comprising two days of surgical and non-surgical conferences, workshops, Continuing Professional Development content and live demonstrations – with the vast majority being free to attend as well as CPD accredited.

If you’ve never been to the CCR Expo, or are new to the industry, we’d really recommend a visit. You’ll access valuable information and resources that will enhance your knowledge, sharpen your skills and help develop your career.

What can you expect at the CCR Expo?

This year, for the first time, the CCR Expo programme includes a useful new educational stream specifically for those who are planning on making the move into aesthetics.

“Getting Started in Aesthetics” runs on both the Thursday and Friday, and aims to guide you through the whole process of making the transition to facial aesthetics.

The masterclass will cover both how and why to make the move into aesthetics, as well as filling you in on the specific regulations and legal complications you need to be aware of.

But there’s plenty that will be of interest if you’re already established in the industry too.

A varied programme of free lectures, seminars, meetings and demos includes a Surgical & Non-Surgical Workshop, Non-Surgical Conference and an Allergan Injectables Masterclass.

Additional paid-for events include the BAAPS Annual Scientific Meeting and the Journal of Aesthetic Nursing Conference, as well as the application-only British Cosmetic Dermatology Group Expert Session.

Meet Cosmetic Courses at the CCR Expo

If you do decide to come along, be sure to swing by our stand and say hello. You’ll find us in the BAAPS area on Stand G50.

Cosmetic Courses: Photo showing aesthetic trainer Dr Olha Vorodukhina

Our Medical Director Mr Adrian Richards and our trainer, qualified dentist Dr Olha Vorodukhina (pictured), will both be there, and will be happy to help if you’d like any advice on training courses, treatment techniques or the practicalities of getting started in aesthetics and setting up your business.

Adrian will also be talking about his ‘Aurora Lift’ on both days. You can catch him on Thursday 8th at 12.40pm and again on Friday 9th at 2.30pm.

The Aurora Lift is the Botulinum toxin and filler technique we use in our advanced facial rejuvenation training at Cosmetic Courses, as well as with patients at our sister company Aurora Skin Clinics.

It’s based on the concept of an A-frame, and involves treating the ageing face by injecting Botox and facial fillers at strategic points on an imaginary ‘A’.

Treating several areas along this ‘A’ – the Glabella, Cheeks, Nasolabial Folds, Marionette Lines and Pre Jowl Salcus – allows us to more effectively counter the downward migration of facial volume to restore the youthful ‘inverted triangle’. (Find out more about the Aurora Lift.)

If you know the basic Botox and filler techniques but are interested in learning more advanced applications, Adrian’s talk will be well worth a visit. So we hope to see lots of you there!

If you’d like to come along to the CCR Expo, registration is still open and you can book. For more information on the Aurora Lift or Cosmetic Courses’ programme of aesthetic training courses, please feel free to contact the team on 01844 318745 or email [email protected].

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See our latest articles in Aesthetics Journal

Our Clinical Director Adrian Richards recently joined the editorial board of Aesthetics Journal, the specialist monthly publication for medical aesthetics professionals.

As part of his work with the magazine, he’ll regularly be contributing expert articles on a variety of subjects. If you don’t subscribe to the magazine, or didn’t catch the latest couple of issues, you can read Adrian’s latest contributions here.

In this article, Adrian offers advice on the most appropriate treatments for each area of the face, based on what your patients are looking to achieve. He covers each area of the face in turn, from the forehead down to the neck, giving his thoughts on whether surgical or non-surgical treatments would produce the best aesthetic results. Click on the link above to read the full article.

Adrian wrote this article in collaboration with Cosmetic Courses trainer and Aurora Skin Clinics Clinical Lead Mel Recchia. They discuss two recent cases treated at Aurora. Both female patients had received dermal fillers to the upper face region at other clinics, and experienced significant late-onset peri-orbital swelling some time afterwards. Both were successfully treated with Hyaluronidase. The article looks at both the causes of Hyaluronic Acid dermal filler associated peri-orbital swelling, and its management. Click on the link above to read the full article.

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Are you a medical professional considering a move into the aesthetics industry? Or do you already have an aesthetic practice and would like to broaden your repertoire of treatments?

Cosmetic Courses offer a wide range of medical aesthetic training courses to help equip you with all the skills you need to build a successful aesthetic business. As the industry develops and new treatments become available, we are regularly adding new training courses to our programme.

Our newly launched Cosmetic Courses website includes plenty of support to help you carve out your new career, from podcasts and videos to downloadable materials and a jobs board.

For more information on any of our aesthetic training courses, our trainers or our training venues, please contact the team on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

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Preparing for the Keogh Review’s outcomes

If you currently offer injectable treatments and other non-invasive cosmetic procedures, either privately or through a clinic, it’s likely you will be impacted at some stage by the Keogh Review – whose research into possible regulations for the aesthetic medical industry may help form government legislature.

Calls have been made from medical professionals and bodies for some time over the need for more regulation within the industry. This includes focusing on who is qualified to perform non-invasive procedures. Currently any clinic can offer injectable treatments; this may change following the release of the review’s findings, which is expected to happen this month.

Many practitioners already undergo training to qualify them to administer treatment, however for any who haven’t it is wise to undertake training as soon as possible, to ensure you will be able to continue to practice.

It’s possible that the review will suggest that only medical professionals (which will include doctors, dentists and nurses) will be able to offer these procedures, however ensuring you are qualified to carry them out may count if you are outside of these professions.

If you are a doctor, nurse or dentist and do currently carry out non-invasive procedures it is important to keep up to date with training as it’s likely that this will be required.

Although the review will make recommendations to government there will be no obligation to make them mandatory. If the proposals are passed through law, this will likely take several months.

Cosmetic Courses offer Botox and other aesthetic training courses from centres in Buckinghamshire and Manchester. For information on any of our courses, call us on 01844 390110 or email [email protected].

 

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Benefits of working for yourself in the aesthetics industry

There are many personal and career orientated benefits to working for yourself within the aesthetics industry. Many delegates express that they feel working for themselves has many benefits and can work hand in hand with the aesthetic industry or even around their current medical career.

One main benefit of being self-employed in the aesthetics industry is that your working hours are more suitable as you can set them yourself while adapting them to fit your lifestyle. It gives you the flexibility to work when it is appropriate for you.

An additional benefit of working for yourself is that you can offer a higher level of care that matches what you feel you should offer to your clients. This allows you time to connect with your clients and a greater focus on meeting their needs. You can also have more involvement with the treatments chosen and control over the amount of time spent writing up notes and administering the procedure.

Time is always critical for our delegates, not only for the time with clients but also for the time spent away from work in their personal lives. Being self-employed in this industry allows the individual to have more control over their personal time and other commitments. Many of our delegates have mentioned that these combined factors have given them a better lifestyle.

Although there are many benefits to working for yourself within the aesthetic industry there are also a few drawbacks. If you are self-employed, there is no guaranteed income per month as it depends on how much work you have. You will also not be entitled to sick or holiday pay, which does need to be taken into consideration.

However some feel that this can be outweighed by benefits of working for yourself in the aesthetic industry. Not only will you have more control over working hours and the conditions you work under but you can also decide how much money you want to make.

If you have great skills, excellent patient care and are driven to succeed then a self-employed career in aesthetics could give you the quality of life you are looking for.

If you are interested in a career in the aesthetics industry, find out more about our aesthetic training courses by contacting us on 0845 230 4110 or emailing [email protected].

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Cosmetic Courses & Competency Certification

As the medical aesthetic industry comes under scrutiny, Cosmetic Courses supports calls for higher competency levels.

Botox and Dermal Filler Providers Under Fire

Not only the Surgical sector of the cosmetic treatment industry has come under scrutiny recently following the PIP breast implants fiasco. The Non-Surgical cosmetic injectables market is now also being heavily criticized for lack of regulation and the ease with which products / procedures can launch or professionals can become qualified.

The UK has been described as “an open goal when it comes to cosmetic injections”, with companies starting up and disappearing at the first sign of trouble and a “terrible…lack of training” (Dr. Mike Comins, president of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors).

Dr. Comins has particularly stressed the importance of competence and for “only medical doctors, their assistants or supervised nurses [to] be allowed to carry out injections of Botox and fillers”.

Cosmetic Courses support Competency & Training for Medical Professionals

These are views which leading UK medical aesthetic training provider, Cosmetic Courses, has long upheld. Even before the PIP scandal hit the media, we were championing rigorous standards within cosmetic injectables training and had a strict policy of only accepting currently qualified medical professionals onto our courses.

Test the Water: then Commit to Competency

We understand that branching into a career in medical aesthetics can be a big commitment, so we do believe that delegates should be given opportunity for ‘taster’ training sessions where they do not have to invest so much money or long-term career aspirations up-front: some people do literally start aesthetic injecting and decide then and there it’s not for them.

Bespoke 1-1 for Competency Certification
But, if a delegate does then decide that they want to pursue a career in cosmetic injectables, we strongly encourage all training with Cosmetic Courses to continue to Bespoke 1-1 level which is the stage where you can be certified in competency. This is in line with the recommendation by the BACD and Mike Comins.

Training DOESN’T end with Competency
Furthermore, Cosmetic Courses always say that your training is a journey. Even having received Competency Certification, many delegates do decide to continue to Advanced Level and we positively encourage this. As Dr. Comins continues: BACD members ‘also have to attend a certain number of conferences and training sessions to maintain their membership’. Our own Cosmetic Courses trainers frequently do this, attending regular events, training sessions and conferences to keep up-to-date with all the latest products and techniques.

Keeping up-to-date is vital in this fast paced industry. This is why Cosmetic Courses believe that Competency Certification and Refresher Training go hand-in-hand. Although many delegates may have already been competency certified, this may have been years ago any they might not have done anything with it ever since. In that time, techniques and products will have moved on. The best practitioners keep up to date with regular training and activity: and Cosmetic Courses encourage all our delegates to be the best.

Our Commitment to You
As Cosmetic Courses’ manager recognized, we do not only expect our delegates to be the best they can be but we also expect the same from ourselves. As part of this ‘we are offering more courses and expanding our packages on an ongoing basis to ensure not just that you keep up but that we keep up’.

Cosmetic Courses also offer a support program so that all delegates are never essentially ‘alone’ after graduating from Cosmetic Courses. Despite being certified competent, if you ever need support or advice after having trained with Cosmetic Courses there is ongoing mentor support via telephone or email.

In all these ways we hope to be able to help do our part to regulate the standards within the industry.

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All I want for Christmas is…Botox?

Christmas Botox is First on the Wishlist for 2011

According to the ABC, Botox is one of the cosmetic procedures right at the top of many women’s wishlists this Christmas. It certainly makes a change from underwear that doesn’t quite fit and endless cookery books. So whats the craze with Christmas Botox?

For those of us in the medical aesthetics industry, this is good news. It means that at that time of year when women draw up their fantasy list of “must have” items, your trade commodity is right up there with coveted perfumes and indulgent chocolates.

Why Do So Many Women Want Botox?

But what is the psychology behind the Botox boom?

One recurring theory is that the gloomy economic climate is causing a growing taste for wrinkle-reducing treatments. It may sound odd at first that, as the purse strings tighten, splashing out on beauty procedures becomes a must. But the logic is actually sound: more financial stress causes more wrinkles and signs of aging and a stronger need to do something about this. Perhaps also, with all the gloom and doom in the rest of the world, ladies are feeling they owe it to themselves to at least take care of the one thing they have complete control over: their appearance.

Whilst other areas of cosmetic surgery have had to up the marketing to drive in customers throughout the recession, the non-surgical industry is booming. This looks set to continue in 2012.

So, whether you are an excited lady waiting by the Christmas Tree tomorrow to see if your wrinkle-reducing treatment voucher is waiting in that shiny envelope; or a highly skilled medical professional thinking about diverting your career into medical aesthetics with a Botox training course next year: have a fantastic Christmas and an even better 2012!

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Botox Training Marketing | What to do after your course

How To Market Your New Medical Aesthetics Business | Botox Training Marketing

After you complete your botox training or dermal filler course, you will naturally be raring to go and get started with setting up your own medical aesthetics business. However, one of the main hurdles to jump over in making a success of your medical aesthetic business is the way in which you market yourself. In this Blog, Cosmetic Courses share some Tips for Botox Training Marketing:

1. Print Advertising

Most new aesthetic practitioners initially start with print advertising (local newspapers, fliers, maybe even cheaper local glossy magazines). Whilst this approach may work for some people, it is quite an outdated method of medical aesthetics marketing and can prove very expensive if not approached smartly and monitored carefully. Traditional print advertising essentially falls into ‘local’ and ‘nationwide’ audiences but the average start-up business will be aiming at the local publications to begin with. Even here, where the advertising costs are cheaper, our advice is that there is always room for negotiation: do not take the advertising cost quoted in the publication or by the sales rep. as gospel – be prepared to haggle, stand your ground and you will find that you can get a real bargain (especially just before print closes). Research your desired client’s demographic very carefully and make sure that the publications you are advertising in really are aimed at them or the response could be poor / made up of timewasters. Always ask the readership of the publication to see how many people it actually goes out to (some which seem like a great offer actually have a tiny readership so your chances of getting much work from them are slim). And check out the legal implications before handing out fliers – at local events, for example, you may need to get permission from your local authority (and are very unlikely to be able to specifically advertise medical aesthetic treatments, so be careful not to violate any trading standards!)

2. Online Advertising

Much more of-the-moment and with (potentially) the ability to reach a far bigger audience at once, online advertising for medical aesthetics has become increasingly popular with aesthetic practitioners. You can set up a free medical aesthetics website relatively easily these days if you are fairly tech-savvy, or for a small price if you need to get help. However: please do be warned that this is just the start of the process. There are hundreds upon hundreds of websites out there advertising medical aesthetic services…the challenge is to get yours indexed and found by anyone searching on the big search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.) This is a process known as SEO and involves clever use of keywords (the most commonly used words related to your industry that potential customers are searching at any given time), regularly creating and updating content (information, photos, blogs, maybe videos and social media usage linked to your site can really help you get increased rank and visibility quicker too). If all this sounds like complete gobbledygook to you then chances are that you may have a bit of learning to do before you embrace this form of marketing, or you might need to employ someone to help. This is, of course, a Catch 22 as you need to be earning before you can start employing! Do not be put off, though – there are abundant sources of helpful information about SEO and optimizing your site for the search engines…particularly good ones are SEOmoz and Mashable. If you just want to advertise without getting too involved with any of that nitty-gritty stuff, online sites like Gumtree provide quick and easy access to large numbers of potential clients and have options ranging from completely free – approximately £49 per week depending upon your region and the level of visibility that you want for your advert.

3. Word of Mouth

It may be horribly boring, but building up a great reputation via word-of-mouth really is a great way to build yourself a client base. The trouble is that it’s a slower approach than most medical aesthetics practitioners like. Start off with friends, family…anybody who would like botox and dermal filler treatments from you. Encourage them to spread the word. Perhaps offer a ‘refer a friend’ scheme where for each entirely new client who refers a friend, they get a small discount off their next treatment. If you have Social Media pages like Facebook and LinkedIn, encourage clients to leave reviews / endorsements. Try to form a link with an established business, perhaps, like a hair salon or existing medical aesthetics clinic (at least initially). Even if you ideally hope to be independent or freelance, this could be a good stepping stone to get reviews, spread the word about your new talents, link-build and hopefully create a client base. Whilst we never advocate stealing clients from another business (this is simply dishonest and poor practice), the networking that you do whilst working alongside others can help you greatly when you branch off alone.

Final Words of Wisdom for Botox Training Marketing

  • Whatever your method of marketing, always remember to ask “Where did you find us / hear about us?” It is vital that you do this consistently or your marketing efforts are wasted because you have no idea what is bringing clients in and what is not, so you could be spending money on completely the wrong types of marketing.
  • Get into the habit of taking down contact details from every enquirer, whether they book or not. These will form the basis of your ‘marketing database’ – a list of emails, addresses and phone numbers that you can use to sell to in the future on an ongoing basis. Remember that once you have these and as you add to the list, you have a responsibility under Data Protection to look after these details, not to spam them with constant heavy sales pitches and to always give them the option to ‘opt out’ of future promotions.
  • Remember that saying the words ‘Botox’ or ‘Botulinum Toxin’ in a sales-orientated manner violates MHRA standards. So always be careful to use alternatives like ‘wrinkle-reducing treatment’ or ‘anti-ageing injections’ instead!
  • Words are everything – keep track of the language you are using, split test and be prepared to vary it. If something isn’t bringing in clients, change it and try saying it in a different way.

We hope this Botox Training Marketing Blog has been helpful. Cosmetic Courses are market leaders in both Cosmetic Training Courses for medical professionals and providing medical aesthetic marketing advice. If you would like more information about training with us, Book Online now or call our friendly team on 0845 230 4110.

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Cosmetic Podcasts in the UK for Practioners

Our site features a number of audio Cosmetic Podcasts concentrating on the medical aesthetics industry in the United Kingdom.

These Podcasts are completely free of charge and are also available on iTunes or through the Cosmetic Courses Cosmetic PodcastsFacebook page, http://www.facebook.com/CosmeticCourses.

The Podcasts concentrate on advice on how to set up your business on how to maintain your treatments and relationships with your patients, and how to develop and improve your cosmetic business.

It also include episodes of clinical techniques to ensure that cosmetic practitioners are using the most up to date techniques available.

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Dentists and the Medical Aesthetic Industry

It is a well known fact that great teeth can transform a face and takes years off.

A dentist is a highly skilled professional who understands the make up of the face better than most.  Trained in the detailed anatomy and muscular structure, there is no-one who appreciates more the effect that good teeth and firm skin can have on a person`s confidence and nobody understands better how to achieve that outcome.

Dentists have used cosmetic methods like teeth whitening kits for many years to improve their patients’ aesthetic appearances. More recently, however, dentists have started to appreciate the natural link between dentistry, Botox and dermal filler treatments and practices are starting to branch out into this new area.

Botox has been used to treat issues such as temporopmandibular joint disorders and for treatment of chronic migraines and now more and more are looking at its use for aesthetic treatments.

Botox injections and facial fillers are leading the way in the cosmetic procedures department, being largely non- invasive forms of treatment, in comparison with breast surgery or skin tucks and demand is strong.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2002 for use cosmetically, Botox is now a widely used and safe procedure enjoyed by many and works by relaxing the muscles that cause wrinkles by movement. Dermal fillers plump out and smooth away wrinkles.

The medical aesthetic industry is made up of practitioners from doctors, dentists and nurses with Professional Associations such as the Association of Facial Aesthetics, who exist to protect, help and support dentists within this field.

As demand grows, so do career opportunities for fully trained individuals in this area. The huge growth is demonstrated by the successful launch in 2010 of the Cosmetic News Expo, offering a chance for cosmetic dentists to gain free education in this field of expertise. Hand in hand with the Expo is a free monthly publication, Cosmetic News, which is full of information for practitioners.

There is plenty of room in the industry for dentists to study with leading training providers like Cosmetic Courses in Botox and Dermal Fillers then go on to become big success stories in their own rights.

Examples of dentists who have moved successfully into the medical aesthetics industry include Dr Komal Suri, who has a passion for beautiful smiles, having trained extensively to be the best she can be. She has attended Aesthetic Advantage Training in New York and studies with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry as well as the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and has attended Master classes.

Dr Brian Franks is a facial aesthetics clinician specialising in wrinkle reduction injections and dermal fillers and as a member of several Aesthetic Facial Associations is well respected in his field. His involvement in this field was a natural progression as demand grew for these services. Both dentists and many more regularly appear on the cosmetic dentistry guide and are recognised as experts who have understood the natural progression from dentistry to cosmetic facial work.

If you would like more information about training courses in Medical Aesthetics for dentists with Cosmetic Courses, please call us today on 0845 230 4110

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Cosmetic Courses join the Big Beauty Therapist Botox® Training Debate: Should Beauty Therapists be allowed to Inject?

Back in March, The Consulting Rooms’ Ron Myers reported on the medical aesthetic industry’s “hot” controversy: should Beauty Therapists be allowed to inject Botulinum Toxin and Fillers?

Traditionally, as at Cosmetic Courses National Training Centre, training in botulinum toxin and dermal filler treatments has been the exclusive domain of the medically qualified. Cosmetic Courses lists surgeons, registered nurses, opthamologists, doctors, dermatologists, dentists, dental hygienists, dental therapists and certain paramedics amongst its accepted delegates; no mention of Beauty Therapists, despite the hundreds of calls a year from eager candidates.

The logic behind this is strong. To date, the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services’ (IHAS) Treatments You Can Trust Register has refused to provide quality assurance accreditation to cosmetic injectable providers who do not fall into the above job fields. This is typical, Cosmetic Courses Coordinator Rachael Langford confirms, of industry attitudes generally. Insurance is very difficult to obtain to train non-medical delegates in cosmetic injectables and, in our experience, a Beauty Therapist is likely to have a very tough time finding insurance to set up their business afterwards. As Ron Myers points out, the manufacturers and major suppliers themselves of these products do not support their use by non-medically qualified practitioners, which surely speaks volumes.

Many Beauty Therapists are keen to come on botox® training courses, however, and very vocal about their rights to become Medical Aesthetic Practitioners. In such difficult times of economic recession, practitioners from all backgrounds (Myers acknowledges) ‘want to generate an income from this evolving market segment’. As Dr. Phillip Dobson points out,  technically there is nothing illegal about a Beauty Therapist administering botulinum toxin (if a doctor or dentist has signed the scripts for them) and dermal fillers, so long as they do not mislead their patients into believing that they are medically qualified; it all comes down to patient consent. Many Beauty Therapists who telephone Cosmetic Courses argue that they have a better understanding of the skin than, say, a dentist and a number of them have already attended anaphylaxis or resuscitation training. They claim that there is too much “superiority” and “snotty remarks” in the industry and they may have a fair point; even amongst those who are accepted to inject, some Cosmetic and Plastic Surgeons still frown upon Dentists and Nurses who do so. Now an organisation called the CTIA (Cosmetic Treatments and Injectables Association) has been founded to challenge the exclusion of Beauty Therapists from cosmetic injectables, on the understanding that all practitioners should be inspected regularly for quality.

Yet as Dr Samantha Gammell, President Elect of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors (BACD) maintains:

“A one day training course does not provide non-medically qualified ‘therapists’ with the depth of knowledge required for these types of treatments nor the understanding or skills to deal with the complications that can occasionally arise from them. The public needs to protect themselves by demanding to be treated in a safe medical environment by a competent, well trained cosmetic doctor or a suitable healthcare professional who makes the patients interests his or her first concern. It may be cosmetic but it is still medicine.”

Whilst Cosmetic Courses sympathise with the frustration of Beauty Therapists, founder Mr Adrian Richards emphasises that we fully support the BACD. “At the end of the day,” says Mr Richards, “dermal fillers and botulinum toxin are injectable substances that can cause harm. We believe they should only be used by trained medical professionals with the appropriate training. This is why we set up Cosmetic Courses, to offer the highest standards of training and make every effort to ensure that the safety of patients is of paramount importance.” The Cosmetic Courses team are looking into possible alternative training options for Beauty Therapists rather than injectables, so that they can still support their enthusiasm for the Medical Aesthetics industry…more on this coming soon!

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