On Making Beauty Personal

Hello! I’m Natasha and I joined City Skin Clinic as an aesthetic doctor. I’ll be honest, it’s not often that I have an opportunity to talk about myself. So when Amel asked me to write a post to introduce myself to our readers and clients, I was a touch nervous but also terribly excited. I’ve been given a pretty free briefing to introduce myself and my personal take on beauty as both a woman and a professional.

Right, starting from the beginning, I was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and I completed all my education there. Yes! A Geordie! Without the accent, I’m afraid! I am a dentist by qualification and I am fortunate to have gained a lot of experience in several fields of dentistry. Clinical lecturer and examiner in King’s College, NHS & private general dental practice, community dental care and oral and Maxillofacial-facial surgery to name a few! During my several years training in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (head and neck surgery), I discovered my passion for human anatomy and the was fascinated by the concept of the perceived “perfect form”. Following this interest, I completed further training within non-surgical aesthetics and decided to gain an MSc in Aesthetic Medicine which I am currently completing along my role as aesthetic doctor at City Skin Clinic.

If it is not clear already, I am a passionate academic and thrive on developing sectors within healthcare. This field encourages forever-learning and this is what I intend to do! My passions lie within scientific advancements and professional development, medical education and ethics, and medical treatments and techniques that bring about natural, realistic and youthful results. I love the idea of working with the human body and someone’s pre-existing form to enhance and build on their beauty. This to me means personalising all treatments for each and every individual. It also means embracing innovation and looking beyond immediate problems and “quick-fixes” in order to truly rejuvenate and revive skin and its underlying structures.

This is quite a simple one actually; self-confidence. Within this world, we each have our own roles to play and a different skill to contribute. No individual is like another, therefore, in my opinion categorising or defining beauty doesn’t make sense. If you have the confidence in yourself and can project that to the world, I believe that indicates a strong, beautiful person. My interest in aesthetics comes from a desire to promote an holistic approach to improving people’s confidence in their own beauty.

I’m aware that there are many factors that can impact self-confidence and that many options exist for tackling this. Of course the solution always begins with sitting with yourself and deciding what matters to you. When you look in the mirror and you see a feature that lowers your self-confidence, you may not see your beauty so clearly. Whether you decide that you can improve your confidence by learning to embrace/accept the thing that bothers you or you choose to to undergo a treatment such as non-surgical aesthetics. You will always be the best placed person to choose the option that best addresses these concerns. It is vital that you are addressing your concerns only as other people’s opinions regarding your aesthetics may not be what actually affects your confidence. I recently heard on the radio that during a fashion show a burn’s victim catwalk model was not concerned about the extensive scarring on her face, but the shade of her teeth.

I have always been very selective about the roles and environments I wanted to work in as it was important to me that the company shares my ethos of ethics and education of the medical profession. My first meeting with Amel felt like I was talking to my own reflection. We instantly connected during my interview because we shared the same views and opinions with regards to medical professionalism, and the importance of educating the client for long term health and well-being. I remember observing her during one treatment session and absolutely loved the relaxed, calming environment that her warm personality creates. The client’s progress and outcome mean so much to Amel that she dedicates her time and efforts to educating and following up each and every single one of them. We both strongly believe that our work is not complete at the end of the appointment but is ongoing. This is evident by her creation of a personalised skincare regime for each client which is offered after their treatment without any additional cost. This really resonated with me and re-enforced my own beliefs about patient care. Since joining City Skin Clinic, I’ve been very happy to be part of a company whose values chime with my own; to walk alongside the client on their journey.