Meet Brittney Abood, Aesthetician

You're listening to The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast.

Hello and welcome everyone to The La Jolla Cosmetic podcast. I'm your hostess, Monique Ramsey. And my guest today is Brittney Abood. She is an aesthetician for us, so welcome Brittney.

Hi, I'm glad to be here.

Yeah, glad to have you here. Okay. I think you're like now the third or fourth Brittney at La Jolla Cosmetic <laugh>.

I know. There are a lot of us.

Did they give you a nickname or?

I think, well, Brittany Haley and I work together a lot too, so a lot of people have been calling me Abood.

<laugh> Abood.

My last name.

That's your last name. <laugh>. It's like team Britnney <laugh>. Yes. <laugh>. So tell us a little bit about, you know, your role here. You've been at La Jolla Cosmetic how long?

Since August last year.

Yeah. So a year over a year. Yeah. Yeah. And your sister works here as well, so some of the people in the audience know Teryn.

Yes. I think she's been here for about five years.

Yeah. As an aesthetician, how do you work with patients to get their skin better? It's like you kind of start with a consultation first, or you know, at that first skincare appointment. How do you guys create the plan?

I definitely start with a consult and I don't really usually consider it to be a consultation. I just wanna get to know the patient, where they're coming from, their history of sun damage, where they grew up. It's a big role in how their skin is. And then just their overall day-to-day skincare, if they've had children. Any stresses in their lives pretty much go from there. And it, it seems to be a pretty quick conversation once they just start feeling relaxed and wanna talk about it.

Yeah. I love the fact that you really look at their background, their history, they're kind of were they get the baby oil <laugh>, the sunbathing kind of girl or were they always under the umbrella? Yeah. Or somewhere in between. And you know, when you get to know patients in that first meeting, that really helps relax them cuz I think it is sort of embarrassing.

Because everyone is a little embarrassed. It could be that they have acne or acne scars or that they have really bad melasma that they don't know what to treat it with, or that they don't have a clue what to use because there's so many products out there. Yeah. It can get very confusing and then people will just say, I'll just use soap. And then they're embarrassed about that <laugh>, you know? So I try and make a comfortable space for them to be honest and give my my honest opinion and advice after that.

Yeah. So doing this for 13 years. Can you think of like certain things that you've learned from listening to patients through those encounters?

<laugh>, I would say 98% of patients that are over maybe 25 have never used sunblock or they used sunblock very sparingly. So I grew up with really not a lot of sunblock. And if I did, it was usually after I was like severely burned. You know, I grew up in Huntington Beach and every day I went to the beach and my dad was a surfer, my mom was into yachts and so we just grew up near the water, near the beach. And that's something that I come across every single time I talk to a patient and they use baby oil or they laid on their roof or they <laugh> did you know the foil? And I can relate to that and you know, and then, so I'm 37 and I used tanning beds up until I was like 25.

Oh wow.

<laugh> But sparingly, you know? But I mean, that's right when I became an esthetician and I was like, oh no, never again. <laugh> the sun is not my friend <laugh>.

Now do you use the VISIA to help patients like see their, even if they don't have a laser treatment or something else, even if they're just gonna get onto a skincare protocol, do you usually use that tool to show where the sun damage is or to sort of help them understand what is going on underneath the surface?

Since I haven't actually started my practice here as an esthetician, I haven't, but I truly believe in the VISIA photos. I think it is a great tool to see the good, the bad, the ugly and really kind of compare where you started and then where you are maybe in a year from now. So I will definitely use the Vizient, especially the first day, first consult. Yes. Absolutely.

Yeah. I think it's a great tool. And if any of you have never done it, book a 10 minute appointment with us. Yeah. And we can put you on the v i. I've actually still never done it. I've seen it. Oh I've seen people on there. I wanna do it. Oh come. And you know, it's a really, I know right? <laugh> so, but just to kind of see, cuz you see the problems on the surface of your skin, but sometimes I think that sun damage component, you can't really see all of it.

Oh, it's amazing. <laugh>. You can see the uv, the brown spots, the dark spots, the red areas and then fine lines and wrinkles. It shows a graph. So it's amazing. I love the VISIA

So you mentioned that you grew up in Huntington Beach. So tell me about kind of you not in work time, like how you grew up and what you love to do now. Some of the passions that you have.

So I grew up in Huntington Beach. Like I said, went to the beach every single day. Like our physical education, our PE classes were at the beach. Wow. We had six classes. And then we moved to San Diego when I was 15, almost 15. And went to Granite Hills High School and embraced San Diego <laugh>. And then I basically just always loved skincare, but I struggled with acne. So that's kind of how I became an esthetician. And also wanted something to always fall back on. So I knew that even if I didn't go full blown ahead with being an aesthetician at a practice, I could always go back to that. And I found comfort in that. And then I <laugh>, I have two dogs. I'm married and married now for two years, so that's new. And I live in Tiara Santa.

Uhhuh

That's new as well. Like I was actually living in Crownpoint in San Diego for the last eight years.

Oh wow.

So I've just moved to Tiara Santa and living in the suburbs <laugh>. But we love to go to the beach and take our dogs to the beach. I have a 14 year old poodle mix. And then, um, my husband had an Aussie, so the Aussie's four and a half and they're just yin and yang.

Oh my gosh. What are their names?

Buck is the Ozzie and Charlie is my little fluffy mutt. <laugh> <laugh>. So we call them Buck and Chuck

Buck and Chuck.

Yeah.

I love it.

I think our, our worlds revolve around them and yeah, we just kind of take it easy and take the dogs out a lot and we go up to North County and you know, go to the beaches up there and visit some family. And then my husband's family is up in northern California, so we go up there a lot too. We go up to Tahoe quite a bit.

Oh that's so pretty. I've only been to Tahoe once and you know, you hear Lake Tahoe, whatever. But then when I got up there I'm like, really? This lake is huge. <laugh>.

It's huge. It's so beautiful.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I was like blown away at how pretty it was and how big it was.

Yeah. <laugh>, I love going up there.

<laugh>

The summer or winter.

Are you a skier?

You know, I used to snowboard back in the day I was actually pretty good I thought. And then one day I broke my tailbone snowboarding and it was in Big Bear on ice. You know, we don't have any, we have hard pack ice in Big Bear.

Right.

And I broke my tailbone and I just, I was never the same. I was always scared to try anything new and didn't really excel after that.

<laugh>. Yeah. You know, <laugh>, once you have that hard fall, it's like, do I really wanna get back up on it horse or not?

No. No. Yeah. It's something that haunts me still. <laugh>. <laugh>.

Yeah. I don't get in the ocean because, I mean, I get in the ocean but I don't like really love getting out and swimming a lot because I had a scary rip tide experience. As a teenager kind of was floating from Delmar to La Jolla <laugh>. I was yelling at my friends like, "Why are you going away from me?" They're like, "You're going away".

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, it was, it was really scary and I had no idea what to do so I was kinda like, yeah, you know, the ocean's nice, I'll wade in. But I'm, I'm good. <laugh>. Yeah.

That's how I would be too.

Stay stand. Yeah.

You can't trust the ocean <laugh>.

So as far as the things that in the aesthetician room, you know we have the diamond glow, we have the HydraFacial. The Oxygeneo are kind of the main three. Do you have a favorite of those or what do you feel like is the best for most patients? Or do you just work on with them on an individual basis?

I think that the HydraFacial is really customizable, so I think that would work for most people. Most skin types, most people. You can really adjust the acids in it and then the protein builders and derma builders and kind of focus on a lot of different things with one machine and get a also a really nice deep clean mm-hmm. <affirmative> and not as deep as a microderm, but it's something that will actually cleanse the skin and pull the skin, get all the impurities out, and then kind of inject the skin with the serums without actually injecting. It's kind of like it pushes it into the skin.

Like it's infusing it. Yeah.

Yes. Infusion.

And then what are the different variations of that HydraFacial?

Well, with HydraFacial there's a certain acid strength that you would do for everyone. There's three different ones and then it's seven and a half percent, 15% or 30%. And then you can just kind of go up from there and play around with it. And if you do have a patient that wants to focus on sun damage or brightening their skin, there's vitamin C, you can actually mix in other products as well. So if you know that that patient really wants to focus on sun damage and brightening their skin, you can put in different products to customize that for them. And for acne patients, salicylic acid is the best thing for it. And the mixtures for the assets that we have have salicylic and glycolic. Oh. So they're very customizable. And then, and then you can purchase basically add-ons. So if you have very thin skin and um, mature skin, like a derma builder would be a good add-on for that.

And what is a derma builder? That sounds interesting.

It's a protein for the skin. It, it helps protect the skin on the dermal layer. Um, and it just builds those proteins and collagens on the outside.

Interesting. Okay.

Okay. It's good for thin skin, mature skin. I love it for like under the eyes and um, you know, where that laxity is there for most people.

So what do you want listeners to take away from listening to this podcast?

I hope that listeners take away that I am patient positive. I wanna make sure that they feel so comfortable telling me everything that they do. Don't be ashamed if you're not doing anything at all. I'm here to help. I, I treat every patient like they're a family member to be honest. And I understand that there's some limitations as far as budgets and, and really remembering the steps and the time and you know, what people can and can't use. And I just, I wanna be there for the patient and kind of be that handhold if this is new to them or if they've never really walked down that path before I wanna help them.

Yeah. Then when patients come on in for that first visit with you, is there like a certain assessment or is it more of a conversation?

Well, because I would have the room now to myself, I would love to assess the patient and I can pretty much have them just wash and look at their skin. I don't have to have them under, you know, a mag light and I can look at a patient and kind of see if there's some damage that we need to work on or acne scars or melasma just by looking at them. So it doesn't need to be super intense. And then just getting to know their background and what they use and like I said, where they grew up and if they're in the sun a lot, if they run what their diet's like, things like that.

Interesting. Yeah. So how do you think diet plays in?

If someone's struggling from acne or just really, really oily skin? Sometimes it can be from a diet. So if they're eating really greasy food, especially if they're a little younger too, there's the hormonal changes in younger, like early twenties, but then also like after 50.

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah, I know, I know this. <laugh>

Yeah, you can get, anyone can get a breakout. I don't want anyone to think that they, you know, they're past that breakout stage. You're not <laugh>,

<laugh>

There's always a chance that you can break out. But just their diet can play a big part of it. I feel like me personally, when I eat healthier my skin looks better. And I feel like a lot of people, if they notice that, if they wanna notice that other than their body <laugh>, they can look at their skin too and see, you know, if it looks more glowy and just healthier and more full, it does make a difference.

Yeah. Plump sort of.

Yeah. Plump. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

So tell me about the product lines. Like, well I won't even ask this question cause I know the answer. I was gonna say, if you're on Desert Island and you can only pick one product, I know what you're gonna say. <laugh>.

Yes.

Oh, well actually okay. I was thinking sunscreen, <laugh>.

Oh yes.

Well, yes. But, but besides after sunscreen, so the <laugh>, which, which product would you like have to have with you?

Okay, so after sunscreen I would take TNS and um, before starting here at La Jolla Cosmetic, I never used TNS because I was always acne prone. Not that I had current acne, but I know my skin and I know that I can break out from regenerative products.

Oh, like the growth factors or.

The growth factors. Yeah. And if you are acne prone more times than not it will lead you to a breakout. But TNS did not. And that was my first time using it cuz I'd, I'd used Neocutis in the past and I kind of had to be careful with it because it is regenerating. But TNS is a little lighter and it didn't make me break out and it's just a wonderful product. I use it morning and night.

<laugh>. Yeah, me too. And we'll have a link in the show notes, but it's the TNS Advanced plus Serum and their growth factors have been out over 20 years now. They just had their 20th anniversary for that. And in this latest iteration, this advanced plus serum, it really, I think they took away some of the things that were irritating some people. And it doesn't smell the older version smelled funny. And that was hard for people to get past. Yeah. And this newer version, which has now been out just over a year is really amazing. And I haven't found anybody yet who hates it. <laugh>, you know. It's like one of those things you have to do.

Yeah. It's expensive, but it's worth it.

Yes. Yeah.

You know, and I always tell people like, you can kind of skip on certain things, you know, like if you really wanna get TNS or something that's a little pricier, you know, maybe get something that's a little less expensive is for a face wash, uhhuh, you know what I mean? And focus on something that's actively going to change your skin. And that is an active ingredient product like TNS.

Right. You know, I mean even the things you can buy at the makeup counter can be really expensive and you're like really <laugh> now. I think the one thing we would wanna say, which is the best price is when you subscribe to a auto ship. So on our website, on shop dot ljc ssc.com, you can click on SkinMedica and it takes you to our SkinMedica site. They do free two day shipping. And if you subscribe and you can choose like every 60 days or every 90 days or every 45 days, and you can pause it if you need to, but you can click and it, the first time it autoships to you, so not on the first purchase you that's 10% off. But then the second purchase on the auto autoship would be 20% off. So getting that autoship, you know, 20% off when you're talking about this <laugh> product and it's expensive, that's the way to do it. So that's my advice to everybody. I love that little program and to just have it come to your house and not have to worry about getting it refilled and parking and all that.

Yeah, absolutely.

So our brand promise here at La Jolla Cosmetic is where dreams become real. So tell me about a dream of yours that became real.

Ooh. I think in this industry, which is really crazy. Okay, so I had a breast aug <laugh> from Dr. Brahme when I was 19.

Oh my gosh.

My sister and I both <laugh>.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Yeah. So we came here a long time ago and at that first consultation I thought, what an awesome place to work. Like all these people, all these nurses, everybody around me seems so happy and it just seems like such a fun place and like kind of my niche. I loved that kind of stuff. And I always thought to myself, I wanna work for a plastic surgeon. I wanna be in this industry. And I did. I became what I really wanted to be and I thought about it the other day. I was like, you know what? I've like reached my goal and I'm, I'm happy to be working side by side with um, other doctors and providers, you know, PAs, nurses that work also with Dr. Brahme. And I thought that was so funny that we that's have come full circle.

I had no idea. I love that. Yeah, I love that. And you know, I've heard that a couple times and we've done other podcast meetings, some of the staff and people started off as patients before they came to work here. And I love that. Cuz then you've kind of seen it from both sides. You understand the patient journey from that perspective and Oh, that's neat.

Yeah, Christina was my nurse.

<laugh>. Of course she was. That's neat.

It's fun. I I love to tell that story to patients. I'm like, you know what, <laugh>, I've been around for a long time. <laugh>,

But you don't look it. That's for sure.

Thank you.

Okay, so we have a new thing that we're gonna try.

Okay.

So it's a a little rapid fire back and forth. So I'm gonna give you a word and then you're gonna give me the first word you think of. Okay.

Okay.

Okay. Okay. Beauty.

Comfortable. Comfortable. Beauty.

California.

Sunshine, <laugh>,

Sunshine. Yeah. No, sunshine's. The next word. <laugh>. Oh, it's, I'm, I'm just going down the list. <laugh>, that is the next word.

Um, sunset Cliffs.

Oh, so pretty there. Sunscreen.

Necessity.

<laugh>. <laugh> Wrinkles.

Maturity

Laser.

Yes. <laugh>. I dunno. <laugh>. Love. Love.

That's funny. Okay. That was kind of fun, right?

Yeah. <laugh>.

Okay, so now before we wrap it up, I wanna let our podcast listeners, you know, we give $25 off of any product or service of 50 or more. So all you have to do is just show that you're a subscriber and we'll give you that when you come in. We can give you that off whatever you're choosing to have. So Brittany, if I were giving you $25 off of 50 or more, what product or treatment would you wanna spend that on?

I would use it towards either facial or a product. And I think, well I love TNS but I'm trying to spread the love a little bit and see <laugh>, maybe, um, Lumiere for the, it's Neocutis Lumieres an eye cream and, it's regenerating. It's super thick and wonderful. I feel like it's made a big difference for the thin skin. I have very thin skin under my eyes and it's cuz I sleep on my side <laugh> and smile lines and things like that. But I feel like it's really changed my under eyes. And also it's an upper treatment, upper eyelid and lower eyelid treatment. So you can use it on both.

Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Okay, I love that. So that's the Lumiere and it's through Neocutis

Neocutis. Yep. Yeah, it's the teal bottle.

Yeah. I love that color. They're so pretty.

I know. I love this packaging is beautiful.

<laugh>. Yeah. And then the TNS Advanced plus serum is from Skin Medica. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then of your sunscreens, what do you like to use?

My go-to is Elta MD elements, and that's because the elements has titanium dioxide and zinc and one of the highest formulations, but there's a tint to it, so there's a little bit of a, a shade to it and it doesn't come off all white and pasty on your skin, so it kind of hides that zinc color. And then it also is water resistant and it's, uh, I believe it's 44 SPF, so it looks like you have a little bit of makeup on and it covers just as much as you'd wanna cover. And I use it every day.

Oh yeah. And you can wear, you use it under makeup?

Yep, absolutely.

Oh, nice.

I think my makeup goes on a little nicer when I have the elements on first.

Oh really? Okay. Well that's good to know. It's kind of a hot, a nice hot tip from Brittney <laugh>.

Yeah. <laugh>. Love it.

Well, so you'll be seeing patients on what days right now? Do we know?

We're gonna start on Thursday, um, September 29th.

Okay.

And then so Thursdays from then on out, so it's gonna be 8:30 to 5:00 on Thursdays.

Put me in your schedule. <laugh>, I wanna, I wanna come. I think that would be really fun.

Perfect.

And we'll get me on the VISIA too and we can see what's going on under there. But yeah, I would love to like be a Guinea pig for something if you, if you need one.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'll, I'm always your girl.

I will. I will.

That'd be great. All right, well Brittney, thank you. And if any of you who are listening have questions about our services or wanna schedule a consultation with Brittney or

Come in and get a VISIA.

Come in and get a VISIA.

Talk skin care.

Yeah, exactly. Just give us a call. We'll have all the ways to contact us in the show notes and links to everything we talked about today. And thank you so much, Brittney. It was fun to talk to you.

Oh thank you. I had a great time.

Take a screenshot of this podcast episode with your phone and show it at your consultation or appointment or mention the promo code PODCAST to receive $25 off any service or product of $50 or more at La Jolla Cosmetic. La Jolla Cosmetic is located just off the I-5 San Diego Freeway in the XiMed Building on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus. To learn more, go to lj csc.com or follow the team on Instagram at lj csc. The La Jolla Cosmetic Podcast is a production of The Axis, the axis.io.