Get Your Skin Ready

Salons, spas offer ways to prepare for summer exposure

Tossing aside sweaters and pants for summer’s apparel of shorts, tanks and skirts might sound like a relief – but not if you don’t feel good about your skin. Bare legs and arms reveal fine lines, wrinkles and volume loss; and any lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores or dark spots on the face now shine in the sun’s natural light.

“People want to look their best,” says Neroli Salon & Spa senior aesthetician Jessi Rivera-Walz. “They want to look well and feel good.”

And this isn’t just a concern for the aging population. “People of all ages are becoming more aware of the effects of products and the environment on their skin and are looking for preemptive ways to combat what is harmful and damage-causing,” says Aspira Spa director Shannan D. Roeh.

Milwaukee’s number of day spas, plastic surgeons and aestheticians is growing. “The Midwest typically follows the trends of the East and West Coasts, which gives us an opportunity to really get education about the treatments trending and what really works,” says Michelle Miller, Quintessa Aesthetic Center’s aesthetician and aesthetic coordinator.

SKIIN ANTI-AGING LOUNGE

Baby boomers are a huge sector of Skiin’s clients, says Chris Zajdel, co-owner of this “advanced anti-aging lounge” in Waukesha.

Preventative care and anti-aging as it relates to their skin are clients’ primary concerns. That includes decreasing – or eliminating altogether – the visible effects such as fine lines, wrinkles and volume loss.

Skiin has been open since 2012. In the last several years, Zajdel has seen increased interest in Milwaukee for skin-rejuvenation services. Whether it’s a relaxing oxygen-infusion facial or more in-depth procedures such as platelet-rich plasma with micro-needling (“great for scar recovery,” Zajdel says), an in-house board-certified plastic surgeon works closely with 13 employees who are trained in advanced modalities. Each employee has at least 10 years experience in the industry, further bolstered by Skiin’s monthly trainings.

Ski in is the country’ s only advanced education center for Cool Sculpting, a cutting-edge treatment in which fat cells are frozen.

“You have a whole body that goes beyond your neck,” says Zajdel, adding that CoolSculpting is the future of skin rejuvenation.

Skiin is also an advanced education center for Thermi, a minimally invasive,

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non-surgical treatment that tightens the skin. Treatments – including facials and back-cleansing services – are further customized for teens or male clients.

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• People want to look their best. They want to look well

and feel good.

NEROLI SALON & SPA

Adopting a plant-based philosophy is a mantra at Neroli Salon & Spa, with locations around the Milwaukee area. Today’s spa-goer, says Rivera-Walz, wants a holistic approach and intentionally seeks out environmentally friendly products.

“When you walk in, we encourage you to take some deep breaths,” she says, then sip hot water infused with turmeric. Aveda’s plant-based products are used for almost all treatments. Common concerns for clients, says Rivera-Walz, are hyperpigmentation and blotchiness or redness, resulting in uneven skin tones.

“People want to be able to choose not to wear make-up,” she says.

Microdermabrasion, another service offered at Neroli Salon & Spa, addresses uneven skin tone using crystals made from sodium bicarbonate (or baking soda), healthier for the skin than aluminum. Tiny pokes to the skin during microchanneling “help stimulate the skin’s collagen growth,” she says. This is used to treat fine lines, sagging skin and hyperpigmentation that can be caused by acne, age spots or sun damage.

Neroli’s new customizable Aveda Tulasara facials, recommended as a series of three or four treatments a week or two apart, then once a month, are “rooted in the Ayurvedic style,” says Rivera-Walz. “Every single treatment will be different. You want to wake up the skin.”

COSMETIC SURGERY AND SKIN CARE CENTER

Considered a national expert in facial aging and rejuvenation, Dr. John Yousif, a plastic surgeon with Columbia St. Mary’s Cosmetic Surgery and Skin Care Center in Mequon, recently published the findings of his suspension neck-lift technique in a medical journal.

Following 110 patients, says Yousif, “almost no one had recurrences.” He has also developed a technique for a midfacelift with suspension.

“A lot of facelifts don’t focus on the middle. The middle of the face descends over time, causing this visual lengthening,” he says. “The lower lids look longer than they did when you were younger.” Not elevating the middle can cause many facelifts to look unnatural, “like somebody pulled toward the top of the ear,” he says.

Frequently invited to speak at

conferences around the world because of his success is the field, Yousif is pleased at an increased awareness of cosmetic surgery back home in Milwaukee.

“The economic downturn really hit the cosmetic market in Milwaukee a lot. I think it’s coming back,” he says. One reason is that people are staying in the workforce longer and are, unfortunately, dealing with ageism. “We give someone who’s beautiful a deference,” says Yousif. “There is a bias towards youth,” that doesn’t value an older person’s wisdom, he says.

IMPRESSIONS DAY SPA

Specializing in plant-based, nonchemical peels, as well as microdermabrasion, Impressions Day Spa in Mequon relies exclusively on Eminence products, which are organic and biodynamic. This chemical-free philosophy is woven into all of its treatments and services.

“Impressions believes that we are bombarded with chemicals in our daily lives and we should not put them on our skin,” says owner and founder Kitty Tierney. According to Eminence, severe heating and hydrogenating processes affect the nutritional content and potency of natural ingredients. Vitamins in their all-natural base offer results, because seeds, pulp and peels impart regenerative and healing powers that only nature can produce.

When used for the day spa’s facials – which include Impressions Signature Facial – the products’ fruit pulp and flower buds treat fine lines, the eye area and dry skin and address other concerns such as large pores, rosacea, sun damage and uneven skin tone. Each facial is customized for the client’s skin condition and concerns. Another skin-rejuvenation service offered at the spa is a Pro Peel Microdermabrasion. Very fine crystals exfoliate the skin’s top layer in order to encourage new collagen growth.

While the spa’s clientele used to be mostly the aging population, it’s now skewing younger. “People are taking better care of their skin at a much younger age,” says Tierney. “Our antioxidant-rich products contain blueberries, hibiscus, bamboo, lavender, roses and lemongrass.”

ASPIRA SPA AT

THE OSTHOFF RESORT

A strong believer in using all-natural, organic ingredients, Aspira Spa places a strong focus on skin rejuvenation.

“For centuries, people from around the world have found nourishment and aid to the skin through natural sources,” says Roeh. “We believe this remains the most healthy and effective solution.”

One way this resort-style spa in Elkhart Lake addresses skin rejuvenation is with its Chroma Lift, which “lifts and tones the contours of the face, eyes and neck using natural masks, chromatherapy, lymphatic drainage and stimulation of the reflex points,” explains Roeh.

The Coconut Age Corrective Facial,

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