The Future Of Beauty: “Microneedling to Firm Up Skin” With Michelle Mowry of Wellness Jar Medical Spa
Give out random complements. When you go out of your way to say something nice about another person, it can amplify your own self-confidence. And when you get a complement just say thanks. Don’t deflect, take that moment to just sparkle a little brighter. One time when I was pregnant, I was walking through the mall and a woman stopped me told me I looked beautiful. That day I was feeling particularly whale-like and it really changed my outlook. I always think about this when I see someone and take the time to share a genuine complement.
I had the chance of interviewing of Michelle Mowry .
Michelle Mowry is the nurse practitioner at Wellness Jar Medical Spa in North Palm Beach, Fla. She administers Botox and is a board-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) with more than 10 years of experience in aesthetics medicine. She received medical training from John Hopkins University and has a master’s degree. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Michelle has previously been quoted in a story by The Daily Beast about Botox.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I guess I have always wanted to be in the medical field. I really enjoy helping people and this career gives me the ability to put them at ease when having medical procedures. It also allows me to shift how someone sees themselves — an amazing gift. I was truly fortunate that my first job actually sent me around the United States training with some of the best plastic surgeons and dermatologists in the country. It was through this experience that I quickly realized this was my passion and my future — I was on the right path.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I think roaming the United States for months learning from the best-of-the best was the most interesting experience in my career. While some of the unique techniques and styles helped shape my own style, another story may stand out more for your readers. When we were at Johns Hopkins University, we walked into the morgue and lined up on a table was a line of human heads. While this may sound like a scene from a horror movie, it was actually a unique learning opportunity. We were able to use faux fillers with dyes so that we could see the exact placement of fillers and see where it was supposed to go and what to avoid. This was an odd but super informative way to learn how to optimize filler placement.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
With medicine we have to push the limits of our comfort zones. The magic comes from finding that place between confidence and overconfidence. With the right level of confidence, you are able to put patients at ease and you are able to constantly further your expertise on your own. Patients want providers who are assured in their capabilities but also know their limitations — someone who can nurture both confidence and humility. For me, mastering this balance is when I really started to see my patients become repeat patients and started to see more and more referrals.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am most grateful for my parents. My mom taught me compassion and empathy as well as having a good listening ear. I would say that is something I draw upon every single day. My father taught me that there is nothing I couldn’t accomplish through hard work — I would not have been able to pursue a medical career without that foundation. He also had no filter and some of that rubbed off on me. I think a lot of my patients feel immediately at ease with me because I don’t put on any pretense, they immediately feel like they can tell me anything — any many do!
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?
One of my favorite devices is the Vivace RF Microneedling. It actually plays to a growing trend we see with combination treatments which create a synergistic benefit. Vivace combines three different treatments in one: microneedling, RadioFrequency, and LED light therapy. The technology lets you customize how you use each modality across different areas and different people. And I love it because it is a no downtime solution with amazing results. People often get multiple sessions and when they walk in my office for the second treatment, they typically have huge smiles and tell me stories of people commenting on their skin. I love seeing that kind of joy and confidence.
As for the technology — the robotic controlled microneedling triggers a natural wound healing response that builds collagen and elastin. The radio frequency helps tighten skin and LED light calms inflammation and speeds up anti-acne and brightening effects. The ability to “stack” these modalities creates benefits like leveraging the micro-channels to deliver radio frequency and LED light to lower layers of the skin for greater rejuvenation. It also lets me adjust depth and heat across specific areas of the skin, adjust with multiple passes over the skin and adjust per patient. All the while protecting your top layer of skin, in turn, giving little to no downtime and amazing result. Adding on something like PRP which leverages your body’s own growth factors can seriously amplify results.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Not sure I can give you a Black Mirror level draw back but something to consider is that when you talk about technology advances people’s minds go to things like robot level automation. Just think about the artistic sense and human decision making that goes into these treatments. The anatomy of your face and neck in particular are so intricate and important to self-awareness and recognition that having a robot interpretation of that feels perilous to me. A more positive scenario to also consider is that over time, you will see not only improvements in results and reductions in things like downtime, you will also see lower costs and fewer taboos — that translates to more people being able to take advantage. Who knows, maybe that has bigger implications like shifting how we think about things like make-up; if we can all fix versus cover up imperfections or maybe it redefines the “new 40” to be an age like 60. If we can look and feel young longer just imagine the social and cultural shifts that could occur.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?
(1) Combination treatments. As said above there are more and more opportunities to combine different treatments to achieve better results. I love this not only because it truly does amplify results, but it also allows me to be more creative with how I customize to each patient.
(2) Natural results. I am fortunate that this is something I was taught early in my career, but what is exciting to me is that patients are embracing this more which means treatment evolutions will continue to evolve with this in mind. People want to look like their best selves not an over exaggeration of themselves.
(3) Non-Invasive. The limits of what can be achieved with non-invasive treatments are being shattered every day — what used to only be possible with surgery or hiding inside for several weeks can now be done with little or no downtime. I also love that this helps us to better achieve natural results in that with non-invasive you are gradually getting to the end result versus a one-time pull, cut and snip.
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?
(1) While we see advances in technology that help reduce safety risk, we should never lose sight of the difference the right provider can make. Most specifically I am thinking about the right medical training, qualifications and experience. Trends such as combination treatments are great examples of why this is so important — providers must be able to look at a 360 inside and outside view of the patient to develop safe treatment options that are based on an understanding of how everything interacts. Some states have minimal requirements for this which can create significant risk to patients.
(2) Home devices have come a long way too but can present more risk than consumers understand. There is a value risk in that they often get compared to medical-grade solutions and patients are disappointed in limited results. What concerns me more is when there are safety risks. I have seen patients come in with burns or other complications from misuse of these devices. I don’t know the answer in how to regulate that but at a minimum, consumers should always do their research and talk to experts before investing in or using specific home devices.
(3) The idea of Botox Parties or offsite procedures is something that should be more regulated. This practice is diluting the professionalism of the field. Additionally, many of the ‘bad Botox’ or other “botched” stories come from these types of practices. You don’t know if the product is expired or over-diluted or if a device is properly maintained. Travelling providers also may lack the proper credentials or may be unavailable to the patient if problems do occur. There is no accountability in these kinds of situations which is bad for the patient and bad for the industry.
You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)
(1) Smile. We are all naturally drawn to people who smile and there is actually science behind the saying that smiles are contagious — it is a brain-triggered response. When you smile your muscles also lift the face, making you appear younger. There are even health benefits related to the brain’s reaction to the act of smiling. So, smile — happiness feels and looks fantastic!
(2) Don’t act your age. Your age doesn’t define you or your capacity for beauty — you should live the age you feel. To give you an example, we have a wonderful CoolSculpting patient in her 70s. She recently sent us some amazing photos of her in a bikini clearly having the time of her life. It was beautiful.
(3) Give out random complements. When you go out of your way to say something nice about another person, it can amplify your own self-confidence. And when you get a complement just say thanks. Don’t deflect, take that moment to just sparkle a little brighter. One time when I was pregnant, I was walking through the mall and a woman stopped me told me I looked beautiful. That day I was feeling particularly whale-like and it really changed my outlook. I always think about this when I see someone and take the time to share a genuine complement.
(4) Focus on what you like about your features. We spend so much time focusing on the flaws that it can erode our confidence. When I meet with patients and ask them about what bothers them, I also talk about what is great about their features — and inevitably it not only lights them up, it triggers a more in-depth discussion versus someone who just says I hate this, fix it. However, I also advise them to not let others define this for you. Always focus on makes you feel more confident not on what someone else may think or say.
(5) Confidence. It’s getting tougher and tougher as many seek approval via social media, but self-confidence is about how you feel about yourself regardless of what someone else thinks. I heard a celebrity who I would never describe as lacking confidence talk about what she does on ‘bad days’ — she said when it happens she would ask herself, what are you going to do about it? I love that she owned it. And for me, the easiest way to feel more confident is to act like you are confident. This could be simple gestures like standing taller — posture has a powerful influence on your attitude and how others perceive you. Similarly, you can act positive — talk to people in a positive and energetic way and you will start to notice that reflected back. Your confidence does not need to be about your beauty, it is overall confidence in who you are which helps you feel beautiful.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would want to inspire people to be more kind to each other. Especially today where we are faced with so much negativity as well as challenges to adapt to the pandemic. It takes all of us to create a better world — one act at a time. A great example of this was the Some Good News channel with John Krasinski. The viral response was evidence that we all crave this more. Small acts of kindness are just as important. There is actually a health benefit too — being kind can boost your serotonin and also releases endorphins. Kindness may just be the secret sauce to a healthy, happy life.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“One of the best feelings in the world is knowing someone is happy because of you.” This resonates with me because it articulates a lot of why I got into medicine and specialized in aesthetics. I am fortunate to experience this feeling almost daily. This is a gift.
The Future Of Beauty: “Microneedling to Firm Up Skin” With Michelle Mowry of Wellness Jar Medical… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.