As a medical professional you may wish to enter the aesthetics industry to be able to administer a wide range of non surgical treatments.  You will have spent time googling which company to go for to make sure it meets your needs before, during and after completion of your training. If a professional, indepth course that allows you a vast amount of injection experience is your top priority then look no further than us, Cosmetica Training.

We cater for both foundation and advanced botox training courses and dermal filler courses as well as other aesthetic courses that can improve the texture of the skin to enable you to holistically treat your future patients.

Our location is based in a fully equipped and dedicated clinical training centre and is easily accessible from the all over the UK. It has also been reported today that Liverpool is listed second as the city that offers visitors value for money.  The research factored in accommodation in a 4* hotel, food, drink and local transportation.

You can not only start your aesthetics career in a purpose built clinical training centre but also enjoy Liverpool’s culture and vibrant nightlife at a competitive cost too for those wishing to stay overnight.  We are able to source local accommodation and arrange transfers for delegates who request this at the time of booking, all associated charges will be billed to the delegate.

Chemical skin peels are a highly sought after treatment and any practitioner wishing to undertake them need to ensure they book on the right training course.  You need to ascertain which type of peels you wish to do and what sort of down time the patient is going to go through following the treatment.

There are superficial salicylic acids, glycolic acids and the more popular trichloroacetic acid. Dr Philippe Deprez is the man behind the Easy TCA Skin Tech range which is used by many practitioners world wide, it is easy to use and achieves the desired results with different protocols available for varying conditions.

Taking America and many other countries by storm is the prescription strength products from Dr Zein Obagi.  With a 15 % and 20 % TCA, their Blue peel achieves controlled penetration to either a superficial depth or penetrating deeper to the papillary or reticular dermis.  The Obagi line is not matched by any other medical range we have seen and is reflected in the price tag.

The blue peel allows for 3 clinical end points as a guide to show the depth the peel has reached, 2 of which are frosting and epidermal sliding. A papillary peel will mean a down time of around 5 – 7 days duration following a 6 week skin preparation course.  The active ingredients of Obagi Nu Derm should be stopped around 4 days prior to having the blue peel and should be gradually introduced following the blue peel application.

The risk of post inflammatory pigmentation is reduced with the blue peel due to the preparation and continual use of the Obagi range, making this peel suitable for any skin type.

Our new Cosmetica clinic sees the launch of the Obagi blue peel which is available from our trained medical staff. For prices and further information please contact us on 0845 467 7732.

Throughout the years we have seen systems come and go that are supposed to make our lives as an aesthetic injector easy, but we are yet to use a system that delivers the ease, speed and comfort that we can achieve in daily clinics using expertise and topical or local anaesthetic.

We remained sceptical when we heard of the new Artiste system by Nordson Micromedics.  We were approached to see if we were interested in utilising this system during our botox and dermal filler training courses, our initial thoughts were that we could not see it fit into our company although it may be of interest to our tutors.

Upon delivery of the system, it was easy to assemble and to use with fool proof instructions.  The old Juvederm Ultra syringes do not fit the hand pieces, however all other syringes can be accommodated by the different hand pieces that are available.

The pressure gauge is easily changed to adjust to the different thickness of dermal fillers that are to be injected and the higher the pressure the faster the flow.  The system would be suitable for use by all although great care and skill is still required to ensure the right injection depth is gained.  it is also suitable to those practitioners that prefer to inject quickly or at a slower pace.

Booked into our Cosmetica clinic today we had lip augmentations, peri oral lines, oral commissures and liquid face lifts.  50 % of the patients were injected manually and the remaining patients were injected using the Artiste system.  All patients had topical anaesthetic applied for 30 minutes prior to treatment and were asked to score the treatmetn on a pain scale of 1 – 10, the lower the number equating to a pain free treatment.

Those patients injected manually assessed their pain scale as 6 – 7 whereas the patients injected with the Artiste system stated their pain scale was around a 3. All patients had been injected previously and the Artiste group had previously been inejcted manually and made a comparison of the manual inejction being a pain scale of an average of 6 out of 10.

As well as the comfort scale we noted that each syringe of dermal filler lasted longer than we would normally expect when using manual skills yet achieved the same results.

The positives of using the system are the economisation of the product and the comfort of the patient but does this outweigh the negatives?  We could only really find 2, firstly the price £3000 + VAT and the treatment time was extended reducing the profit margin that can be expected.  In time you may be able to shorten the injection time and we will monitor this throughout the next few weeks.

We do not think it would be a system we could use on our basic courses in view of the fact that new aesthetic practitioners may not be able to justify the price tag.  However, it is something that we would use in clinic, in our advanced courses and we would recommend that all injectors trial this sytem.

The media love to cover how celebrities are having fillers, botox and face lifts trying to highlight when possible where it has “gone wrong”.  Photographs of unnatural looking lips, swollen faces and tell tale bruising are adorned across the pages of gossip magazines, sometimes suggesting that natural is better.  However, they also imply that we should try to achieve perfection; that we, as men and women of today, should aspire to have flawless skin, a radiant smile and look forever youthful.  They portray that no matter what age, people should always look younger and try to prevent the ageing process.

In a ‘news’ page of a weekly magazine, two well known age defying stars, were featured looking less taut than they normally do. Said celebrities, both around the 50 year age mark, are known for holding back the tell tale signs of their age, are more often than not, are praised for their youthful appearance. They will not deny any rumours of cosmetic surgery or beauty enhancing treatments, but  unfortunately, they are also subjected to criticisms stating that they should focus less on maintaining their young looks. Nevertheless, when these stars go out without makeup on, with faint wrinkles in view, they become a theme of gossip.  A 50 year old non-celeb is free to walk around au naturale and be free of judgemental  glances, but the famous are criticized for their lines, that are often the result of genetics.

Over time, as the media and entertainment world increases in size, A Listers have become one of the main topics of conversation in our everyday life.  Everywhere we look, there are magazines that feature celebrities on the covers. But more often than not, the cover stories are based on their appearance. Why is it that our society today appears to care more for how actors look then the films they appear in? If it was not for their talent, we would not be aware of these icons, so why do we choose to discuss their looks, and more specifically their ageing?

As ever increasing numbers of people train in Botox courses, calls to regulate the industry were heard throughout the UK.  The Government did not want to regulate however, gave the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) funds to create a self regulatory body.  The result, Treatments You Can Trust.

It was thought initially they would include standards for training providers and we have waited with baited breath for the arrival of such protocols.  Current companies have such diverse protocols, such as how many delegates are allowed on each course, the tutor to delegate ratio, the number of topics taught in one day, what qualifications they accept and how open they are to advising non prescribing delegates need to work prior to booking them onto a course.

On 6^th June the Treatments You Can Trust Governance Group are meeting to discuss the Training Principles that will apply to registration as a Botox Training provider.  Cosmetica were privileged to be able to view these principles of best training practice and were asked to provide comments as to the contents.  The Principles should be used in conjunction with the Standards for registration onto the Treatments You Can Trust register of injectors.

It is hoped that these Principles will standardise the way medical professionals are trained to ensure each new injector is exposed to the same high quality training which will hopefully lead to increased public safety with all injectors having the same practical experience and skills upon completion of their aesthetic training course.

The General Dental Council (GDC) has successfully sued the first therapist for undertaking teeth whitening without a registration with their professional body. Warrington based Paul Hill pled guilty to the charges of illegally practicing dentistry in 2010 and 2011. A total of £13,030 was ordered to be paid by Mr Hill and his company.

It is a criminal offence for anyone who is not a dentist to carry out or consider undertaking a dental procedure under the Dentists Act 1984, this includes teeth whitening. The GDC state that any procedure that aims to improve the overall look of the teeth is a dental procedure and have completed the first test case in this matter with a further 3 cases appearing in court this month.

This is a cause for concern as the amount of people undertaking teeth whitening who do not have the qualifications necessary for registration with the GDC has risen tenfold. A teeth whitening technician does not have the knowledge or experience to be able to carry out the procedure safely and as it is illegal for them to offer this treatment any insurance they have will become null and void. When insurance becomes invalid the client would have to instigate a private law suit against the therapist.

To clarify; only a registered dentist, or dental hygienist or dental therapist under supervision of a registered dentist can carry out teeth whitening treatments. This makes it clear that if you are not a dentist and you carry out teeth whitening you are breaking the law.

After the airing of BBC 3’s Botox Britain, the researcher contacted Cosmetica Training as they perceive us to be a reputable company who will work with them to provide information on important legislation within the industry.  Cosmetica always welcome the opportunity to assist in reliable, informative documentaries to allow information to be imparted to the public which will enable them to make an informed decision on who they go to for their botox injections.

Due to the time scale of the information that was required and the approach that the new documentary was taking, we were unable to assist and suggested alternative contacts.  The theme of the interview changed from “Botox gone wrong” to Nurses face being struck off the register for administering Botox.  The change was due to the apparent lack of coverage of this topic in light of new NMC changes.  We were pleased to inform the researcher that we have not seen any cases of Botox going wrong as our tutors are all highly experienced, all the delegates we train are all medically trained and during the practical sessions are all closely supervised to ensure their injection technique is undertaken safely and accurately.

The 5 Live interview featured a nurse who asked to remain anonymous stating that she had utilised remote prescribing and had to change her practice accordingly, although did not agree with the new NMC guidelines.  Also featured were Sally Taber from the government’s self regulatory body, IHAS and Dr Mark Harrison a remote consultation service provider.  Sally was in favour of the new guidelines and Dr Harrison opposed them, however stated that it will have an impact on his business.

Sally reported how the GMC are to release new guidelines also to clarify its position on remote consultations for botox treatments.  We can only assume currently that they will concur with NMC guidelines from the information Sally was giving.  We were astounded to hear that the nurse thought it was not as safe for a nurse prescriber to administer botox.  The university level V300 qualifications is intense and covers all aspects of law, pharmacology, takes 6 – 8 months to complete and has a pass requirement of 80% rather than the usual 40% pass rate.

Whilst Sally may not have chosen the most appropriate arguement in support of face to face consultations, to ascertain asthma, we agree that face to face consultations are more appropriate as you can see whether the patient has any muscular atrophy, undiagnosed dermatological conditions or infections in the area and will enable the prescriber to make an informed decision on what is the most appropriate dose for the nurse to inject.  It seems to be a little known fact that if the nurses tells the doctor what he/she is going to inject then the nurse is making an illegal prescribing decision.

Whilst the interview highlighted sensationalised concerns, it is true that if a nurse acts outside of NMC guidelines they do face disciplinary action which could include being struck off the register.  A nurses’ condition of registration is to ensure the safety of the public and to work within all the legal and NMC guidelines.

Cosmetica has written to the NMC asking 8 specific questions on non prescribing nurses who administer botox, we will publish their answers when they are received.

Botox injections are becoming more popular and are no longer seen as the treatment that only the stars can afford. With its increasing popularity, is there a sudden downfall in standards associated with this?

The first thing we saw was a rise in the number of Botox parties being offered, beauty therapists entering the industry, closely followed by mobile practitioners and mobile therapists offering treatments in the” comfort” of your own home. District nurses offer medical treatments to patients when necessary however, Botox treatments are a cosmetic medical procedure that seems to be seen as a treatment that does not require a clinical environment to healthy, mobile patients. With this association we are now increasingly seeing the presence of cheap Botox being illegally advertised along with a ridiculous pricing structure.  £40 per area on a voucher website, £75 an area in a barber shop in Liverpool, £200 for 3 areas in Manchester city centre all undertaken by practitioners who have trained to undertake this procedure. Cosmetica charge cost price of £40 for each area to models requesting treatment from delegates in a training environment, however, we do not intend to make a profit margin from these treatments and we would question the qualifications and experience of those offering cheap Botox treatments as part of a business venture.

With everything that is happening within the medical aesthetics industry we were intrigued to hear about a BBC documentary researching for a programme about Botox.  It was quite disturbing to see adverts appearing on forums asking for people aged 18 – 25 who have Botox. This is an age group that obviously do not need these treatments and we feared the route this programme would take would be one showing the industry in a bad light.

There was a young girl who had received poorly injected lip enhancement along with unnecessary Botox injections, a woman who lost her house after choosing to pay for treatments, a lady who had unfortunately encountered problems with permanent lip implants that we now know occur, a beauty therapist who shockingly injected her 15 year old step daughter with Botox and a presenter who sought the advice of a respected aesthetics doctor. The presenter decided to have some time with the doctor away from the cameras and emerged from the clinic room stating it was not a treatment that was for her at this time, yet she had rather suspicious swelling and erythema in an area that is frequently injected with Botox. Of course it is her prerogative to keep whether she had treatment confidentially or not.

It was very disappointing that the presenter chose to not explore the illegal nature of the beauty therapist. No sane prescriber, be it a doctor, dentist or nurse would prescribe Botox for a 15 year old child, so we can only assume that this therapist had Botox that had been prescribed for another patient and used this to treat her step daughter. This action is illegal as it is seen as theft. No consultation would have occurred so the therapist would have decided on the dose that again is illegal. She could face imprisonment or a large fine as making a prescribing decision when you are not legally allowed to is a criminal offence. The legislation regarding prescription only medicine is very clear. If you are not allowed to prescribe anything before undertaking Botox training then this will automatically be the case after completing a Botox course regardless of your initial qualifications. We have contacted the BBC to ascertain who this beauty therapist was, who her prescriber was and why they chose not to cover the illegal aspect of her decision-making. We have yet to hear from them although will update our blog accordingly.

The most pleasing aspect of this documentary was the section with Andy Pickett who highlighted the concerns of non authentic Botox and dermal fillers that are available to purchase over the internet.  Botox is a prescription only medicine and as such needs to be prescribed by a doctor, dentist or independent non medical nurse prescriber.  If such products can be purchased from a website claiming to be a pharmacy then they will not be authentic, sterile or safe products suitable for injection.

The same researchers are recording a further documentary being aired on BBC Radio 5 Live, so it will be interesting to see the course that is taken with this programme.