meeting some of those requirements because, without some of them, you may not be able to graduate. And then, of course, depending on the state you live in, if you are not board certified, that may affect where you’re able to practice, whether a hospital, a clinic, or another place in relation.
In the beauty industry, I treat medical conditions affecting hair, skin, and nails. I also have a lot of colleagues who, let’s say, are estheticians. Where again, they go to a specialized cosmetology school. Yes, they can do your facials or, in some states, different laser procedures, or they may be able to help you with the microdermabrasion treatment for your acne or something like that. They have a particular training that allows for them to be certified. However, when it comes to being diagnosed with something and receiving medical treatment, including prescriptions, that would come from a board-certified dermatologist.
I love social media, but whenever people are online looking for solutions for hair loss, acne, or dry, itchy skin, they sometimes only go by what they see online, not a professional. I will always say on my social media platforms, go and have your skin or hair evaluated by a dermatologist first, a board-certified dermatologist, because we will be able to tell you ideally what’s causing whatever your concern is. And then again, we can customize the treatment plan. And a lot of time, I may recommend products that are over the counter, prescribe prescription products, or even coordinate treatments with an aesthetician. Now you have a diagnosis and know what’s going on before you try all these different treatments that may or may not work.
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What Sets Dr. Davis Apart From Other Board-Certified Dermatologists?
So I will say one of the things that set me apart is that after I completed all those years of training, you would think that I would’ve had enough, but I didn’t. So, after I finished my residency, I went on to do a fellowship in cosmetic dermatology. A fellowship is even further specialized training in dermatology, which involves hair, skin, and nails. But I really wanted to learn how to do laser procedures, in particular on skin of color. I wanted to learn how far that envelope could be pushed. What is safe for skin of color, and what isn’t safe? I wanted to learn different body contouring procedures. I wanted to learn about different injectables and procedures we can do for anti-aging.
Going The Extra Mile
When you go an extra step and do the fellowship training, it just gives you more focused training. It also gives you a number of cases you must complete to be certified for your fellowship. A lot of times, I love doing pretty aggressive procedures on patients, especially for acne scars. That’s a little bit of my jam. So while I have dermatology colleagues who may do minor procedures for acne scars, I tend to do very aggressive procedures where I’m essentially evaporating the patient’s skin, or at least the superficial layers of their skin. I’m vaporizing them off their face to turn over that skin so we can treat their acne scars. I feel like that’s something that also sets me apart from some of my other dermatology colleagues.
I am finished with training now, but I will say you never stop learning in the beauty field and dermatology field. There will always be new treatments, new products, or things I’m learning about from my followers or patients on social media. So, I’m always trying to ensure I’m up to date with what’s going on on TikTok or Instagram so I can know what to tell my patients not to do.
Xeomin: A Direct Competitor With Botox, What Does This Mean? What Sets It Apart?
It’s the first FDA-approved anti-wrinkle injection for frown lines. The way I describe it is whenever you get mad or concentrate too hard, you may frown or make a face where you start to get more lines between your eyebrows. So Xeomin has been on the market for some time and was the first one that was FDA-approved for the temporary improvement of those frown lines. What makes it stand out is that during the manufacturing process, it goes through a double-filtered purification process to remove certain unnecessary proteins that aren’t needed along with its active ingredient to be effective. So what’s nice about that is with you not having any accessory proteins, it’s less likely that your body may potentially build up resistance to it over time. So that’s what really sets Xeomin apart from some of the other competitors on the market. It’s, again, for the temporary improvement of the frown lines, so it is a treatment you should do several times throughout the year. But it is great, and it’s effective. It kicks in fast, and it really works.
Competitor Chemicals Exiting Through Xeomin’s Double Filter Process?
So the active ingredient in XEOMIN is incobotulinumtoxinA, a particular toxin that causes temporary paralysis of these muscles that can create those frown lines. With other competitors, they may have a different molecular shape or structure to their active ingredient. So there’s a little bit of difference potentially in a molecular structure, but they all essentially do the same. But again, what sets Xeomin apart is that double-filtered purification process. So you don’t have any accessory proteins to which you could build resistance. You want the active ingredient to do what you want it to do.
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Teyana Taylor Is Using It!
Merz, a great company, developed Xeomin, and that’s how this partnership came about. They connected me with Teyana Taylor, which I loved because everybody wants to age the best version of themselves, especially as African American women. We all may talk about different anti-aging secrets that we have either from our grandmothers or aunts or what have you. But talking about actually going and doing an injectable treatment is still sometimes seen as, I think, a little taboo in African American community. Either people may feel like