Aesthetically Balanced - Elle Edwards, FNP-C

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      FORWARD

       Dear Reader,

       What you are about to read is a passion project set into motion with the intent to empower you, relate to you, and help you see the balance between the internal and external. It is meant to push you to dive deeper to truly see your worth, your wants, and uncover answers to questions you may be asking yourself. This book is a loving encouragement to help you get where you want to be. First through your soul, and then, aesthetically. The world of aesthetics is a balancing act, and one that has to be approached with grace and awareness. I hope after reading this you gain insight into how truly powerful, worthy, impactful, and complete you are. I hope you feel contentment and confidence in any aesthetic and life choices you embark on from here on out…

      “Mental wellness is not a destination, but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going.” - Author Unknown

       With Respect and Love,

       Elle xo

      CHAPTER ONE

      Internal + External = Balance

      What is the impact of medical aesthetics and how does it relate to your own soul and personal growth?

      I have worked in the world of medical aesthetics for over a decade. I have worked with plastic surgeons, dermatologists, inside spas and salons, and even owned my own practice doing exactly what this book is about, medical aesthetics.

      I absolutely love what I do. I love being able to assist people in their journey of anti-aging, enhancing their confidence, and being able to replace deficits that naturally occur throughout our years. However, over the last few years, there has been a shift in energy within this industry. In hindsight, 2020 was not the most kind to us, and it weighed heavy on many individuals’ mental state. Mental well-being can be categorized as anything from self-love to self-care and of course, self-esteem. I wanted to take the opportunity to reset us. To rewind, and get us back to the starting point where we each deserve to be. I hope to assist with a new momentum in gaining our power back in areas that may have been stripped from us. To attempt to shed light on areas of healing that we all need, and unite us on the foundation of simply being complete, worthy, and whole with no strings attached. Simply, just as we are.

      Is this in any way to convince you never to enter the world of medical aesthetics or to stop doing what you're doing? Absolutely not. This is what I do for a living, and I wouldn't have it any other way. As an aesthetics provider, this shift in energy has made clear that not all money made is profitable, not if my patient leaves just as unbalanced as they came in as.

      The world of medical aesthetics (fillers, neurotoxins, procedures, surgeries and everything in between), is something that came, saw and conquered our nation in what seems like an overnight phenomenon. The global aesthetic medical market size was estimated at $86.2 billion in 2020, and by 2028 it is predicted to reach 124.7 billion dollars (forbes.com). Why is that? Evolving technology in treatments and procedures plays a part, safety and availability along with more advanced research and education play into it as well. However, I think the personal state that each individual is in, is what has caused the aesthetics industry to skyrocket. Changing, altering or enhancing yourself in any way used to be rather taboo, judged, or thought to be dangerous. Now however, we see it as encouraged, expected, and required in many ways to keep up with the undeniable pressures of anti-aging. The idealism of how we should look, and the fear of simply accepting “ourselves” as is has become a daunting task.

      In my opinion, this mindset starts when we were younger, and each year seems to increase in intensity. For instance, Oprah Winfrey conducted a survey and asked multiple questions about how women felt about their looks. She asked a group of teenagers and a group of women in their 60’s. It was reported that 59.11% of teens admitted to using photo altering software to change the pictures people saw of them. 45% of teenagers are considering plastic surgery and almost 5% of those teenagers had already had plastic surgery. Looking at the National Organization of Women (NOW), their recent studies show that 53% of American girls are unhappy with their bodies, and that grows to 78% by the time the girls reach 17. Looking into the age range in which women typically come into medical aesthetics (college age), showed 70% of college women say that they feel worse about their own looks due to what is reflected in women's magazines and society.

      These results are staggering, sad, and let's be honest, relatable to each and every one of us on some level. The world of medical aesthetics was intended to be such a beautiful opportunity for women to empower themselves in enhancing the beauty they had, receiving benefits of anti-aging, and heightening their confidence in everyday life. It was also set out to be a vessel to correct deformities, abnormalities, deficiencies, and other aesthetically altering situations that may have been out of the patients’ control. That was always the goal, and still so important and wonderful to have the opportunity to offer. Sadly, somewhere along the road, like many things intended for pure good, things have gotten twisted into a new belief. That altering yourself is a necessity to make you whole, to give you self-confidence, to make you beautiful, and quite frankly, to make you enough and complete. Once created as icing on the cake, has also become the cake itself.

      The lipstick effect is an instance I talk about quite often. It was something explained to me years and years ago by my sister who has worked in the fashion industry for the last 15 years (and is absolutely brilliant). The lipstick effect was coined after the Great Depression, which saw cosmetic sales rise in the four years from 1929 to 1933 (specifically, lipstick). Of all the things that would be deemed necessity, crucial, or even a luxury, lipstick may not be what most would assume for that time period or even today. To me, this truly speaks to the effect that the aesthetic world has on mental health, as well as the correlation of self-care and self-esteem. Think about the world renowned company, Estee Lauder. Founded by a husband and wife in the 1950’s, Estee Lauder quickly grew to arguably one of the most desired cosmetic brands. It is still a household name to this very day. So what set them apart? What was their big break moment? Estee Lauder (the wife of Joseph Lauder), made the decision to be the first company to give out free samples/gifts with any purchase (giving away free product? WHAT?), and those samples/gifts were none other than beautiful miniature lipsticks. That’s right! Many women would come back for that very same sample after they had opportunity to try it. The brilliant part? Most women would leave the shop having purchased much more than they originally planned for. When they returned home with their cream or blush, these women were transmitted into a feeling of a beauty, sexiness and a welcoming, uplifting change to their lips. For a moment in time, they were able to feel and see that special spark. They saw a reminder of the beauty, vibrancy and a life through a confident reflection.

      Stress and trying times may affect everyone differently, but for women especially, those moments seem to be made bearable, better, or given hope by self-care in any form. Think about it, how much better do you feel when you get an opportunity to get dressed up and look your best? How much better is your mental health when your external, no matter how altered, looks like you're internal is feeling? Playing devil's advocate, how do you feel when you look beautiful and dolled up on the outside and have the worst day ever on the inside? Does it weigh on or diminish the way you feel you look? When you look at what you saw in the morning as a beautiful masterpiece, do you find ways to still pick it apart after not such a beautiful day? Chances are, yes. We all do. And that is because our internal beauty and self-esteem and self-worth must match our external. It must be a balanced relationship, and one that is worked on, protected and taken care of as one in the same. With that being said, you have to start somewhere to achieve that balance, and the first step is not always to work on the external, even though it might be much easier.

      Where it starts to get tricky is understanding that your external worth, self-esteem and beauty needs to be this standard of you at any time and not just when you are at your best. When you strip away the filters, when you take off the makeup, when you remove the nice clothes, and are left with you; that is when you need to come to a point that you see the exact same level of worth. Now of course we can all appreciate when we do

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