The cosmetics industry is both glamorous and controversial, depending on who you talk to. But what’s it like to own a business in a sector so entangled in customer self-perception, social media trends, and societal beauty standards?
Kate Sowden is a registered nurse and the co-founder of BeautyFULL Cosmetic Medical Clinic, and she told us how she navigates the fine line between fulfilling customer desires and maintaining an ethical practice.
ISB: Your industry is particularly driven by social media trends. What strategies do you use to manage client expectations when it comes to treatments in an era of viral internet trends?
KS: Yes, within the beauty space in this era of AI and photoshop apps it can be difficult for patients and to distinguish what are legitimate and realistic results. We follow the rule that if a before and after photograph is too good to be true, it often is. I also find clinics that don’t showcase videos can also raise suspicion.
There have been previous trends towards overfilling lips, a few years ago this trend boomed with Kylie Jenner. However, we remained true to our clinic values, prioritising patient safety, transparency, and ethical practice. Any treatment performed must be suitable for the individual patient.
ISB: Have you ever had to turn away a client who wanted an unsafe or unnecessary service? How do you do this?
KS: We feel comfortable turning away a patient for an unnecessary treatment. This can be a matter of patient safety and symptoms of Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Every patient is potentially a walking advertisement for your clinic. Treating patients unnecessarily is detrimental, not only for the patients themselves, but also for the practicing cosmetic injector.
Too often, patients will present to our clinic seeking further lip volumising treatments following treatment elsewhere. Unfortunately, we have noticed this has become too common in our clinic – where we have to inform patients that rather than injecting another ml of filler into their lips, they would require dissolving.
ISB: Would love to know how you deal with pressure – i.e. from competitors or industry trends – to adopt a treatment you weren’t convinced by.
KS: We made a conscious decision not to follow hype or trends instead, we only offer treatments we have personally tried and trust.
Within the cosmetic industry and social media trends there is constantly something new brought to the Australian market. Often, we may be late to market with offering a treatment or product. However, we believe this is best practice to ensure results claimed are both authentic and achievable for patients; ensuring it has been tried and tested adequately.
Hype comes and goes, but trust is what builds long-lasting rapport with patients. We focus on honest marketing, real results, and meaningful relationships with our patients.
Over the years, we’ve collaborated with other businesses, but we quickly learned that aligning values is crucial. Some partnerships faded as their direction shifted away from our core values.
ISB: You mention you have a patient-first philosophy. How have you maintained your personal touch as the business grows bigger?
KS: In 2021, we restructured our business ownership, ensuring full family control. This was a game-changer for us. It gave us complete freedom to make values-driven decisions and maintain our high standards and personal touch.
Our training model is quite different to other clinics. We don’t outsource our training, as all training is provided by myself and Dr Margaret, this ensures our practitioners all offer the same quality of patient care.
Many clinics offer a one-to-two day training course, whereas we have maintained a practice that all new staff members have to shadow our practitioners for a minimum of three months.
ISB: How has your adoption of technology into the business helped you deliver a better experience for your patients?
KS: Years ago, all patient records were paper-based, requiring manual scanning and filing. Now, we use cosmetic-specialized software that integrates telehealth consultations, automated medical forms, patient notes, and secure digital storage for patient photographs
This all-in-one digital system has significantly boosted productivity, reduced admin time, and improved the patient journey.
