Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah, and here's the deal. We don't do boxes here. Every episode is different.
Every conversation has its own flavor, and no topic is off limits. If you're looking for predictable, this isn't it. But if you want real conversations, honest takes, and a touch of intellect in the best way, you're in the right place. This is Dr. Random podcast.
Hello.
We are here on the Dr. Random podcast, and I'm Dr. Sarah. And today I'm so excited for this episode. We're going to be talking about skin care. And we are here on location at Monarch Aesthetics here in Charleston, South Carolina.
And I am here with Amber Lang, and she is the founder and co owner of Monarch Aesthetics.
And I have actually been coming and using, you know, some of the services here, and I love it. I've always been obsessed with skin care. I probably. I spend more on skincare than fashion. Just, I'll be honest, I would rather have. I guess you could call it designer skincare over designer jeans, because it's our skin. It's an.
It's like the biggest organ in our body, and it really.
I feel like it makes a difference. It's like we're penetrating products on our face every day. It's close to our eyes, our mouths, our brains.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: And. Yeah. So tell me, Amber, about, you know, just what you want to share about Monarch and what started, how it was founded and. Yeah, a little history.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So Monarch Aesthetics is my baby. It's my pride and joy.
I always wanted to own a med spa. I just didn't know when that was going to happen. But it was always in the back of my brain very early on in my career.
And I was fortunate enough to have an introduction to my business partner and our medical director, Dr. Shane Cole. And he's just been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the business side of medical aesthetics.
He's been a true mentor to me, so I'm super grateful to that. But outside of that, I, you know, my whole vision was to create a med spa that didn't feel so clinical. I wanted it to feel cozy, kind of like you're going to a girlfriend's house.
But the whole experience of going to a med spa, I just wanted it to feel really special. I wanted everybody who walks through the door to feel. Feel like they're special, because they are. And not just for my clients, but for my employees as well. I know from a provider standpoint, that was always something that was a struggle Working for, you know, all these different doctors. And it was always a male perspective on what services we should offer and which equipment we were going to choose for the office. And I never really had any input.
So here I wanted this to be really a place of collaboration with providers that are artists in their own right. And I feel so far we have really outdone ourselves in that department.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Yes, definitely. And I know, I love, I feel like you can always tell the quality and the services you're going to be getting and where their mindset is with skin care when you even to see the products you carry.
And I feel like you guys carry very high end skincare products that I myself like believe in and already use before I even came here. So that like made me feel good about getting your services too.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: Amazing.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: So Amber, tell me about some of the expertise and staff that you guys here have at Monarch Aesthetics.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah, so I was really particular about who I hired on.
I didn't want to, you know, hire people that were really new to the field. Not that they don't deserve, you know, a shot at working in medical aesthetics because it's amazing. And we, you know, as nurses and nurse practitioners and PAs, I feel like there is a big influx of those, you know, providers that are coming into the beauty space. But I really just wanted to make sure that my clients were getting the very best, not just from the, you know, equipment that we use and the skincare that we offer, but also with my providers. So. So they all have many years of experience and we always take ongoing education very serious and that's something that we always push and recommend that we do.
So continuing education is something that we highly encourage and it's something that we'd love to go to conferences together and, you know, any kind of preceptorships that come into town with different doctors that are teaching us different techniques on the lasers that we carry, we always take advantage of those.
So, yeah, I feel like I really have a rock star team here.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: And you can sense that I think coming here. I feel like there is a good knowledge base for Monarch, you know, that you're getting what you pay for here. Like, it's not like you're going somewhere and you're spending a bunch of money for, you know, the staff that doesn't really know what they're doing or don't have a good knowledge base or experience. So that's so key here. That's what I love.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, to your point, we aren't the Cheapest in town. We, you know, don't always have the cheapest, you know, talks, prices or, you know, specials on every single thing at one time.
That's because we pay our providers well because of their expertise, and we put a lot of thought and effort into the whole experience of Monarch.
So you're paying for not just the service itself, because, I mean, let's be honest, there's a med spa in every corner now, and a lot of us are offering the same services, but it's just the level of expertise and the level of the high experience that you're going to get here as well.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, and I feel like, I mean, guys out there, I mean, come on, it's not just for girls. Skin care guys need to think about skin care too. So. Yeah, you know.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Getting quality skin care.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. We, you know, guys should live up to the same standard when it comes to their skin health. I feel like we are definitely, you know, catering more to the female side, women empowerment, but we welcome the males as well. I don't know if we should put that in.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Yeah, sure. Okay.
So with client experience here, what would you say is, like, makes Monarch special for, like, clients that come here in their experience for choosing Monarch for their skin care needs?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah, again, it goes back to that, like, just cozy feeling. You know, most of our clients, on a very personal basis.
A lot of my clients have been with me for six plus years.
And, you know, just all the little details that we put into the experience.
Before you even walk in the door, you get a text. We want to know what beverage you want upon arrival so that you can enjoy that.
Yes.
You know, have a glass of champagne, get all the jitters out the massage chairs in case you have to numb prior to a procedure. You don't have to sit in a quiet room by yourself. You can lay back, get a massage.
We always have old movies playing on the TV back there. And yeah, I just think that we are definitely more of a small, like, personal, authentic experience compared to, you know, some of the bigger chains that are now moving into Charleston. We really take pride in and keeping it more small and authentic.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Yes, that's important. And as far as, like, clothes, client concerns and more common client questions. Like for me, for instance, you know, I feel like sometimes routine is important. Of course, with skin care and, you know, the products that we choose to use and that our skin absorbs. Like, for instance, I have one product that I've been using, I'm not even joking for over 20 years. It's the Yonka spray lotion. Okay. And it's pink, it's moisturizing. But it's. To me, it feels like a spa every time I spray it on my face. But I've been using that consistently, like, for a long time.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: And I, like, it's so weird if I have a day without it, it's like, strange. So I always make sure I get stocked. But, you know, it's things like that that I feel like are important. So do you feel like, like, is there a more common client concern that you feel like skin care or, you know, what would you say is kind of the commonality that happens? Is it more aging or do you think it's like, younger people too, coming in that have concerns? I don't know if you kind of want to just talk about, because I know you address all, you know.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Issues.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So I think it's really individual. And again, like, it's just very personal to each individual that comes in. Their concerns are, you know, there's obviously common threads with, you know, some of the concerns, but they are still. You still have to look at each patient or client, you know, as an individual person, and their concerns are. Can be different from person to person, even if the commonality is, you know, aging or sun damage.
But yeah, there is. There's definitely a mix as far as, you know, the age range that we see now. I feel like we are starting to see younger clients becoming interested in skin health at an earlier age than what we have in the past. And I think that's great because if you're maintaining the health of your skin early on, you're not going to be chasing dramatic treatments down the road at an age that you wouldn't have to if you had just done some preventative care in the beginning. I mean, sunscreen is the cheapest form of anti aging that we can apply. And I think that we are finally getting to a place where we're starting to see the younger age group coming around to the idea of using sunscreen, at least on their faces.
But yeah, I think that in the south, it's definitely sunscreen sun damage that we see a lot of.
So, you know, we're using bbl, moxie microneedling, and then of course, your skin care at home as well, to address all of those concerns, because it's not just the brown spots, but it's also, you know, the lack of collagen and the loss of elasticity in the skin because the sun breaks down all of that really rapidly as well.
So yeah. Or sun related problems are big. You know, bulk of what I see here.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
How BBL and Moxie. Can you kind of describe what those treatments are exactly?
[00:11:29] Speaker B: They're two of my favorites.
So BBL stands for broadband light. So it's a, there's like a whole spectrum of colors with light devices that you can use.
You know, for a while there was just IPL and that's just the whole spectrum and it's just kind of thrown at the skin and you just hope that it grabs what you want it to grab. But with bbl, we're really able to like filter out different spectrums that could be potentially damaging to like darker skin tones.
And we're able to really target the like what we're going after, whether it's dark spots or vessels in the skin.
So Dr. Britter has actually studied the gene expression and how BBL can actually help to regenerate our gene expression. So you're almost like aging in reverse. If you're doing a couple of BBLs a year.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: And I've gotten the BBL and you have.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: And I'm excited.
[00:12:28] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: And we're gonna keep doing the bbls.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Yes. Okay.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: And then Moxie is more of a light rece surfacing laser so that one is attracted to water in the skin. So it works really different than the bbl. It's actually a laser that's even safe to do in the summer, even over, you know, a little bit of, you know, tan skin. Which, you know, with bbl, ipl, you have to be really, really careful with that. But Moxie is a little more forgiving. And so it's a, it's a very safe, gentle resurfacing laser that we use.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Okay. Yes. And just so listeners know, I decided to do the laser treatments with BBL and Moxy. Right. And then I'm going to be getting a hydrafacial too, which I love. Hydrofacials. Yeah, I love facials. You know when you go to those like day spas and you can have a massage or I'm like facial.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: So I love facials.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: They're super important.
You know, just keep the skin hydrated and healthy and exfoliated on a professional level.
Especially when you're pairing them with lasers. Because lasers can be really dehydrating to the skin. They are, you know, taking a lot of water. Water out. So you want to make sure that you are replenishing all that water loss. And hydrafacials are a great way to do that.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Yes. And plus, just. I think that you just feel better. And it's kind of. To me, it's.
I think it's important to take care of yourself and give that time to you. It's worth it. And you feel so good after you do something for yourself, you know, kind of like your me time. Yeah. And I feel like doing anything for your skin is in that regard. And I, you know, absolutely.
[00:14:03] Speaker B: I think that, you know, for a long time, the medical aesthetic world, going to a med spa was seen as, you know, oh, you're vain, or, you know, just coming from a completely different place than where we are now. Skincare is wellness. When you. You know, when you look good, you feel good, and when you feel good, that reflects in everything that you do in life. So I feel like we're starting to notice that. And it's not so taboo to go to the med spa and have these. These treatments done now.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, I think also speaking of genes, you know, I have that English Irish blood in me, and so I freckle a lot. Yeah. You know, I'm. I even have green eyes. So right there, that tells you something how my skin is. But, you know, so I have to be careful with the sun. But it's amazing doing these treatments because, you know, after, you know, I'm. I will never say my age, but I am in my 40s. That's all I'm gonna say.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Hey, 40s are amazing.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: I have to say, you know, after time, you know, I just had some built up of, you know, you could call them freckles, some damage, whatever. But, you know, you probably know more than me. You see my skin and you look at it from your perspective of being this expert, so. But, you know, I think my skin looks amazing.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: It does look amazing.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Like, it's glowy.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And it gives you a confidence to, you know, feel good in your skin and not have to put a ton of makeup on.
Just have healthy, glowy skin. Is that's the goal.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: Yes. And that's. That is true. And I always. I mean, I do have people who always think I'm younger than I am, so that's always a plus. But, yeah, minimal makeup, I feel like, you know, for me, I feel like the most important thing, this is just me. If you're gonna leave the house, you know, at least have lip gloss on or, you know, I go to the gym completely with no makeup on. But it's nice to know that, like, I have taken care of my skin so I can leave the house without makeup on. And feel okay, you know, I don't feel like I'm all glamour, super pretty or anything when I, you know, but, you know, I feel like I can show my face, you know.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: You're not trying to hide something.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. And I think that's the beauty of this. When you take care of your skin, you can, you know, you don't have to cover up all the time or feel like, you know.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: So, yeah.
And with. Would you say there are some really cool, like, success stories or results of clients that you would feel comfortable sharing that you think are kind of neat stories to share?
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Gosh, so many. But I feel like there is one that comes to mind just because her transformation was so much more than the physical transformation that we achieved, but it was really her transformation on the inside. She told me something that I'll never forget. She said she didn't feel seen anymore by females or by men. She had lost her husband, and she was trying to navigate her way in the world without him, and it was hard for her to make friends.
And then on top of that, she felt like from a romantic, you know, standpoint, like, she also just wasn't seen in that regard either.
You know, when she started coming in for treatments, you could. You could tell she was starting to get more confident by, you know, the way that her skin looked. And you've been to our events. They're so fun. And there's so many women in this community that are going through, you know, some of the same things, and she was able to, you know, mingle with. With some of the other clients and. Yeah, I feel like her.
Her saying that. I feel like a lot of women can relate to that feeling, especially when you hit a certain age. It's like you're not in your 20s anymore, and you just feel like you're just kind of overlooked by the world.
And I thought that was something really beautiful to see her just really transform, not just from, you know, the physical, but from the inside, too.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Taking care of her self through skin, which is what we show the world all the time, is key.
[00:18:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And like I said, I would rather, you know, and I feel like, you know, people might think, oh, the. The products, for instance, like, let's talk about the products, because I feel like, you know, I think for me, I use my little spray toner, of course. Yeah.
I feel like, you know, you need to do a serum, a moisturizer, and, of course, sunscreen.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Or, like, would you say, like, the audience listening? And I know you provide all those Products too. And what would you say are the key things as far as products for skin care?
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say consistency is always key. So especially with your actives, you know, if you're trying to change your skin at a cellular level, it's not going to be a one and done. You know, same thing as going to the gym and you're working out your muscles and you're building those every day. Same thing with your skin.
If you're using retinol, for instance, you want to make sure that you're being consistent with that and using it appropriately because it is like a medication. So dosage really matters there and how often you use it really matters. And then vitamin C, that's also another really big one that everybody should be using every day. And that not only is going to help with collagen and elasticity and brightening the skin, but it's also a reinforcement for your sunscreen that you should also be using every single day.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: So, yeah, amazing wisdom and advice.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: And would you say there are any cooler upcoming trends that are kind of interesting with skin care that maybe the listeners would want to hear about or that maybe you offer or that you're, that you hear of coming in the future? Future. That's kind of interesting.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of new things that we're, you know, doing right now. I feel like the beauty industry in general, the med spot industry, is going more in a direction of regenerative and restorative treatments as opposed to, you know, like those super corrective, overdone, overfilled. And I really, really love that. So we're using, you know, we've used PRP for, you know, many, many years.
But there are new things that are coming around that are, you know, like growth factors, exosomes, pdrn, which is fragments of salmon DNA that. Yeah. So all of these things are helping our bodies to really kick into high gear and, you know, make ourselves do the jobs that they're meant to do.
You know, PRP is wonderful, but sometimes it's not the best option that we have. Depending on, you know, somebody's lifestyle, their health, if they, you know, are under a lot of stress, diet. There's so many factors that, you know, age that play into, you know, how good the PRP is.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: So the things like pdrn, exosomes and platelet derived growth factors, it just kind of takes the guesswork out of that. So we get more of a consistent outcome with our treatments with those options now.
[00:21:36] Speaker A: Okay, how does that work with the Salmon dm. With the salmon dm, is it like an application or.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: Yeah, so it's interesting. Yep. So it's a application. So it's like a little serum that you get and you usually use it after microneedling or after laser. It really helps to speed up healing time and again, just kind of kicks everything into high gear to start doing its job better.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: What would you say to somebody listening who maybe is a little scared or intimidated coming to a med spa and they're coming in for the, you know, first time, or maybe they've heard scary stories or something, you know, like, I feel like I want to encourage everybody out there to, you know, put your skin first. And just curious, what would you tell somebody like that to get them comfortable and want to come in here and not be intimidated?
[00:22:35] Speaker B: I would say, you know, come in, get a consultation. No matter where you go, you want to make sure you do a consultation, make sure that it feels right, ask questions, and, you know, make sure that you feel comfortable and that the person that you're consulting with is experienced. And, you know, they've been in the industry for a while and they can kind of point you in the right direction.
And, you know, medical aesthetics doesn't have to be scary. I think that, again, we were kind of going in that trend where everything was really overdone and so people were kind of nervous about looking like that. But I feel like we're making beauty fun again and it doesn't have to be so dramatic. Like, we could just do things in a more subtle way now. And people are really leaving looking just a refreshed version of themselves instead of this big, dramatic change.
[00:23:31] Speaker A: Amazing. I want to know what that was.
[00:23:33] Speaker B: That I saw that you guys posted.
[00:23:35] Speaker A: About, like, the vampire thing.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Oh, the vampire. That was the prp. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we did that for Halloween.
[00:23:40] Speaker A: Okay, so what is PRP stand for?
[00:23:42] Speaker B: So platelet. Platelet rich Plasma. So it's a blood draw.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: And then we spin that down and it separates your red blood cells out.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:53] Speaker B: And so you're just left with like this liquid gold. And that's what we've been using for a long time. That was like the first step into the regenerative medicine approach.
And it's really great.
It usually is amazing no matter who, you know, does it decides to do the prp. But like I was saying, there's just those factors. It's kind of like, you know, of course, somebody who is 25 years old, they're healthy, they're active, they're not Living a super stressful life. Their PRP is going to be liquid gold.
And if you take somebody who's maybe in their 50s and they're not, you know, super active anymore, their diet could use some work. It's not going to be as rich and they're not going to have as many growth factors.
And so that's why those exosomes and the PDRN and the plate, the drive growth factors have kind of come into place so that we can, we have things to supplement now for people who need that.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
And I, you know, I think also like consuming what we consume and eat. Our diet is also big on skin. I, I do the lick, powdered collagen, the grass fed. Yeah, I just add that in my smoothies. I'm doing that for years now.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: And then I recently started adding colostrum to my smoothies.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: I can't speak on, on colostrum. I've never personally tried it.
You know, I read things, good things, and I hear controversial things. I don't really know.
I personally have never tried it.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: So I just want to share with everybody, you know, why I love Monarch. So when I come here, like they said, whenever I have an appointment, they always ask me what I would like to drink. I love it because sometimes I just want to. I think I had a nice cup of cider or hot tea or a coffee or an aperol spritz, which is nice. You never know.
[00:25:47] Speaker B: Whatever you're in the mood for, we got you. Yes.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: And you know, you just feel pampered when you come. And you also, when you buy, I think some of your packages, you also get a little tiny discount on products sometimes if you buy one.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And also the, the memberships that we have.
So it's really essentially a beauty bank. I don't ever want to take anybody's money and just be like, okay, you're buying a membership. It's a beauty bank. It's your money to spend however you want it. But what that does, is it because you're, you know, giving us your loyalty, then we want to reward you as well. So you get a different price on our talks and skincare. You get discounts on all of that throughout the year. You don't have to wait for sales.
So that's another perk. And then we do have a rewards bonus structure too.
So, you know, every dollar that you spend here on treatments, skin care, whatever it is, that all adds up as points on, on your profile and that adds up to dollars as well. So that's another great way that you can.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:50] Speaker B: Benefit from the little perks that we offer.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: Yes, it's great. And so everybody listening today, what would you suggest if they want to get in touch and come visit the spa?
Yeah.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: So there's all different avenues now because we live in the social world. And so you can find us on Instagram at monarch underscore aesthetics CHS.
Or you can go to our website, monarch charleston.com. so we have really easy online booking there. And then, of course, on Instagram, there's a Book now button on our.
On our Instagram account, too.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: And do you. For the listeners today, I think Amber is offering a special Dr. Random code.
[00:27:38] Speaker B: Yes.
Yeah, absolutely. So for listeners today that mention that they listen to the podcast or if they make an appointment, all they have to do is put in Dr. Random to receive 20% off.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: That's amazing. Thank you, Amber.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: You're welcome.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you so much for joining us today for the Dr. Random podcast.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Yes, and thank you, Amber, for coming on and.
Yeah, it was exciting to be here and I don't know, we'll catch you.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: See you at your next appointment.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
