Bimbo Ige runs Celeb Laser and Aesthetic Clinic through which she has helped many, both men and women, to regain their self-confidence. In this interview with IVORY UKONU, she talks about some of the procedures she offers, their pros and cons, the craze about body enhancement and other issues.
Did you always want to be a medical aesthetician?
No. I chose to study radiography at the university, although my parents wanted me to become a medical doctor. I mean how many medical doctors can one have in a family? My two sisters are more into the psychiatry side of medicine and the other is a gynaecologist. I saw how uninteresting their lives were and decided to follow my mother’s footsteps. She studied radiography, too. I was very much interested in medical machinery. When I was in London I became interested in lasers and I took a course in it. It was easy making that transition. I started with laser teeth whitening. Now there are 10 procedures that I do under the laser category.
What are the other procedures under the laser category that you do?
Apart from laser teeth whitening, there is laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal, laser pigmentation removal, laser carbon facials, etc.
What prompted the interest in laser treatment?
I had issues with my teeth. I wanted them really white. I spoke to my dentist who encouraged me to train in laser teeth whitening since I was already in the medical field and so I trained for it. That was how I began my practice with laser teeth whitening, which I did for five years before adding other procedures. For instance, I have a dental department where scaling, polishing and fillings are done in addition to teeth whitening. There is the intravenous therapy section aka IV, where we do Glutathione, B12 etc. infusions. Then there is a facial room where we go beyond normal facials and do medical facials. Then there is a department where I do semi-permanent makeup, stretch mark removal and skin tag removal. Then there is a department where we do facial fillers, facial Botox, armpit Botox, facial threading, Platelet-rich plasma, aka PRP. I am planning to go for a course in London on how to inject Botox for the head for those with constant headaches; and in the back, for those with constant aches or straightning the back.
Didn’t you learn this when you learnt about Botox initially?
The industry I operate in keeps advancing and I have to travel every year to make sure that I am trained in order to keep up with the trends. Otherwise, I would be left behind and there would be nothing to do anymore.
What exactly is platelet rich plasma?
It is a procedure where you take your own blood and put it in a centrifuge machine to separate your blood to get a nice plasma golden liquid and then inject it back into the skin. PRP is good for people that suffer hair loss. It is the next best thing to surgery basically. It can be used to treat stretch marks. After filtering your blood, we inject it into the area that has stretch marks superficially. We also use it for breast lift, to encourage multiplication of fat cells in that area.
Where exactly do you get all your training?
In the United Kingdom and America
How many certifications do you have?
I have about 82 certifications. This industry requires a lot of training and retraining. From Bachelor and Master’s degrees to diplomas and basic certificates. I got most of my certifications from the United Kingdom, but when I returned to Nigeria, the Ministry of Health made me requalify in order to practise in Nigeria. I got a professional diploma in cosmetics and dermatology from Medical Aesthetics Clinic and Wellness Limited in Lagos.
How long have you been a medical aesthetician?
I have been in this industry for 10 years.
A few years ago, people were sceptical about getting fillers and Botox done here in Nigeria. Today, Lagos specifically, has Botox and dermal filler shops in almost every street corner, literaly. What is responsible for this?
Nigerians look up to people abroad a lot and like to copy what they do. With Botox and Dermal fillers, Nigerians rose to the occasion. But this rise in the number of practices can be attributed to the period when the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world. Many people couldn’t travel outside the country and they had to search for Nigerian practitioners and injectors to perform these procedures for them. Today, people don’t have to travel out to get procedures done on their body, they can get whatever they want done here.
For those who may not know, what is Dermal filler and Botox?
As one ages, one’s body starts to lose collagen, an important substance that exists all over the body, including the skin, muscles, bones and connective tissues. Decreased amounts of collagen in the skin causes skin laxity and loss of volume. Skin becomes thinner, loses its elasticity and starts to sag. Dermal fillers come to the rescue. They are injections that plump up wrinkles and smooth the lines on your face. They are injected in the areas around the eyes, mouth and nose and the results are right away. They can last several months or years. Botox, on the other hand, is an injection or shots that use a toxin to prevent a muscle from moving for a limited time. These shots are often used to smooth wrinkles on the face. They’re also used to treat neck spasms, sweating, overactive bladder, lazy eye and other medical conditions. The medicine in Botox injections is made from the same toxin that causes a type of food poisoning called botulism. Ironically, the bacteria toxins are not harmful if used correctly. Depending on the problem being treated, the effect may generally last three to four months. These treatments are non-invasive and require little recovery time.
However, I have since found out that fillers made in the UK tend to evaporate faster in hot conditions, so I stopped using them and started using fillers made in Dubai or America. The weather is hotter in these countries than in the UK and so these fillers last longer here. So besides all the training I do abroad, I still have to do my research on what works best for African skin, particularly in Nigeria. Every single thing I bring to Nigeria, I use on myself, just to make sure that it works on our skin. So the Dermal fillers I use will last for about 18 months and the products I use for Botox, about eight months. Last year, I went to do a new training on stretch marks called Camouflage. It camouflages stretch marks. I was the only black person in that class and of course all the training was done bearing their own skin type in mind. So I asked how that training can be applied to damaged skin, particularly Nigerian skin because most Nigerians bleach their skin and it becomes thin in the process. I asked because if the machines built for the training I went for are used on a bleached skin, the person will have hyperpigmentation. And the trainer said to use hydroquinone, the very same ingredient used in bleaching creams that caused the stretch marks and the thinning of the skin in the first place. Now, this is where we have to do our own research to know what suits our skin type and pigmentation.
Are there side effects with Botox and Dermal fillers?
Serious complications are rare and some of these side effects are only temporary. Dermal fillers only contain one ingredient and that is hyaluronic acid. Our body produces it, there is nothing bad about it, it is just clear liquid like water and you put that back in your skin to rejuvenate it. I use fillers on myself but no one can tell I have used fillers or modified anything on my face because I try to keep things natural which is what fillers do. It alters your appearance a bit, but does not change it totally. However, some people use it to change their entire appearance and it isn’t supposed to be so. I use the barest amount of fillers for clients and tell them to go home and get used to the little alteration. If they are not happy with the result after about a week, then they can come back for more. I would rather do a bit more than overdo it and everyone ends up not recognising you anymore.
Botox on the other hand is one of the safest procedures you can ever do. As long as the person administering it is a well-trained injector and you know all the muscles in the face and have been practicing for at least two or three years, then there should be no issue at all. There are parts of the face that you cannot inject. If you make a mistake and inject those parts, that is when there will be side effects
So fillers can be used to enhance the bum if one doesn’t want to go under the knife. Can it be used to enhance the breasts?
Some people do it, but I don’t because the breast area is very sensitive.
Stretch marks occur naturally on the body. What is this craze to get rid of them?
Not all stretch marks are natural. Some are caused by the use of bleaching creams which contain harmful ingredients. Nowadays a lot of people are parading themselves as sellers of natural skin brighteners, selling what they call organic cream. But in actual fact, these so-called organic creams contain steroids. These people buy tube creams that clearly state not to be used for more than 14 days and they add these creams in their products which have no instructions on how to use or ingredient list and sell them to Nigerians. So when you continue to use these creams, it thins out the skin and with continuous usage, the skin will tear and that is the fat, big stretch marks you see on people’s skin. Unfortunately, these kinds of stretch marks cannot be cured by cream or soap.
The question now is, why do people buy these organic creams?
That is another subject entirely.
Do you advise your clients to stop using these organic creams?
Yes, I do, but most of them don’t listen. So I now tell them that if they must use these creams, they should only use it at night. If they are used during the day, the sun will react with the cream on their skin and they will end up with sunburn.
With the number of women walking around with Brazilian Bottom Lift procedure, BBL on the increase, do you plan to add surgery to the list of procedures you offer and get the required training?
No. Everything I do is non-surgical and what I offer is for those who are too frightened to go under the knife.
What do you think about the craze for BBL?
It has been severely abused. Everywhere you turn, someone has done a BBL. One of my friends who does it in his clinic says he is fully booked till the end of the year.
What is the most difficult thing about being a medical aesthetician?
Power. Everything we do relies on power. You can’t afford to have power go off in your practice, if you are a medical aesthetician. First your clientele will just look at you like you do not know what you are doing. Also, God forbid that power goes off while you are administering a procedure on a client and using a machine that requires light to power it. With the way power keeps going off and on or fluctuating, it can damage my machines which are very expensive to procure or service. I can’t always send my machines abroad for servicing.
Are you saying there are no companies here in Nigeria that can service your machines?
There is none. What I do is to buy all my machines from either the UK or Germany. That way, I have 24-hour support unlike China-made machines that have no support and require you to replace them if they get spoiled. So, I prefer to spend more money on purchasing my machines and call for support if there are issues, then they can train our machine guy here in Nigeria. However, there is a new company opening now in Lagos that seems to be doing that.
What are the other challenges?
Training manpower. I do this almost every day, on customer relationships, administering certain procedures. But there are some things I still do not allow my staff to do, such as administering Dermal Fillers or Botox. I do them myself. I can’t train my staff on that.
Is there a school where one can learn about fillers, Botox and PRP in Nigeria?
None is doing advanced training. It would be nice if we could have that. It would save me a lot of money travelling all the time. But Clinique Aesthetics and Laserderm Aesthetics Clinic both do some kind of training.
Is there a body that regulates what you do?
Yes, there is a body called Association of Practitioners of Spa and Medical Aesthetics of Nigeria, APSMAN, and I am the vice president of the association. We have been in existence for eight years now. The Ministry of Health sanctions what we do.
More men are becoming more aware of their appearance. What is your take on this?
Oh, men now like to look good. I was impressed when I returned to Nigeria and set up my teeth whitening practice. Most of my clients were men. Apparently they finally found what they could do to look good for their women.
What would you say has been your greatest achievement since you became a medical aesthetician?
A lot, but I will consider the fact that I started out doing just one procedure for a long time and grew to have six different departments where I carry out different enhancement procedures.
What do you think must have shaped you to be who you are today?
I like to help people. I like to put people first ahead of my own needs. I like to make people’s lives better. So going into this field, I see a lot of people who have lost their self-confidence over one body part they are unhappy about. They come to me crying for help and I am always here to help them get better. I do free consultation and sometimes I spend as much as two hours with one client and just allow them to unburden their grief. I am passionate about making people feel better about themselves.
How do you unwind when you are not working?
I work. I am constantly researching on issues that have to do with the industry I operate in and so I do that at night after the close of official working hours.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
