New Columbus aesthetics and wellness clinic offers more than skin deep treatments

From the outside looking in, the aesthetics industry may seem superficial. But nurse practitioner Jennifer Crooks knows the profound impact it can have on a person.

She recently witnessed this when helping a client in Columbus who had asymmetry in her face because of a car accident.

The client booked an appointment at Bare Aesthetics and Wellness, a clinic Crooks founded, for lip filler. While there, she told Crooks about her history and how the asymmetry in her face had always bothered her.

She’d considered plastic surgery, but it felt too extreme. After an assessment, Bare helped the client have more symmetry in her face using fillers.

At the end of the treatment, the woman was shocked. One of the nice things about fillers, Crooks said, is that clients can see what they’ll look like immediately.

“I was not expecting that at all,” the client told Crooks and the other staff.

Experiences like this are why Crooks partnered with a Columbus OB/GYN Dr. Tim Villegas and his wife and businesswoman Ceci Riedel to bring Bare Aesthetics and Wellness to Columbus earlier this year.

The clinic offers a variety of treatments including neurotoxin injections, fillers, facials, microneedling, laser hair removal. And wellness options including medically-supervised weight loss, vitamin treatments and a special procedure for breast cancer survivors.

Bare began taking appointments in February, and will hold a grand opening on April 19.

“Columbus is kind of my hometown,” Crooks said. “And I knew I always wanted to come back. Not only was it closer to my home (in Harris County), but I just knew Columbus.”

It is medicine

The medical aesthetics industry has grown significantly in recent years with the help of social media. Increased exposure in media informs the public as to what else is out there that they can do to improve their image and feel better about themselves, Riedel told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Around 41% of medical aesthetics patients follow their current or potential providers on Instagram, according to a Science Direct report, and 43% of consumer decisions to schedule appointments were because of the providers’ social media presence.

Despite the social media trend, Crooks believes that aesthetics “really needs to stay in medicine.”

Yes, people can have a nice day out experience getting massages and relaxing, she said.

“But really it is medicine,” Crooks said. “And that’s one thing I want to keep it in.”

A mutual friend connected Crooks with Villegas, who now serves as the medical director for Bare.

“He was very motivated, very smart and still very bound into medicine,” Crooks said. “It wasn’t just a money maker situation.”

Weight loss and Wellness

Villegas became interested in aesthetics and wellness because he saw an opportunity to provide more care to patients than he was able to do in his OB/GYN practice. Specifically, in Bare’s weight loss services.

“If I had a nickel for every time someone said, ‘Hey, while you’re in there doing my c-section, can you take off five pounds of fat’,” Villegas said.

Working with Bare he can offer the time, energy and resources to help individuals who are struggling with this issue. Villegas serves in a supervisory role at the clinic, he said, but Crooks has been working with clients to address weight loss for a while now.

The clinic has a holistic, balanced and healthy approach to weight loss, Villegas said. Crooks will meet with patients for an initial consultation and examine if they have other health problems.

Along with weight loss, makeup artist Amanda Bishop offers more than permanent makeup and fine line tattoos.

She is the only makeup artist in the region who trained to provide 3D tattooing of the areolar/nipple complex. The procedure provides breast cancer survivors who have had mastectomies with more confidence in their appearance by reproducing the areola in a realistic fashion.

“If we feel good about ourselves, and our body image, then we are mentally in a better place,” Riedel said. “And (Bishop) is an amazing add-on addition to the services.”

Looking natural

One of the most common misconceptions people have about getting medical aesthetics treatments is that they’ll look fake, Crooks said.

It can be overdone, she said, but feels Bare can help clients avoid this problem.

“I feel like with our style, I like for it to look natural,” Crooks said. “Where people can’t pinpoint what happened or focus on a certain part of your face.”

It is important for clients to be educated about the procedures, Riedel said, and the grand opening on April 19 will be an opportunity for potential clients to learn more. The event begins at 4 p.m., and representatives from the companies Bare is working with will be in attendance to answer questions and explain the technology.

“That’s a great way to get your foot in the door and get your questions answered,” she said.

Bare will also offer giveaways, prizes and discounted prices for various services for people who pre-book that evening. Riedel hopes clients enjoy the clinic’s spa environment and feel cared for by the staff.

Riedel and Villegas wanted to partner in a business that would operate as a family business, she said.

“And the clients are part of that family,” Riedel said.