Illuminating Self Confidence By Louise May

With a passion for the industry, Steph was dedicated to creating a welcoming and comfortable studio on the Sunshine Coast, and with her partner Chris’s help, they set up Illuminate Aesthetics. Together, they have been helping boost their client’s self-confidence ever since. The couple’s passion for providing a gentle, comfortable experience with incredible results is the driving force behind Illuminate Aesthetics.

Steph and Chris also believe in breaking the status quo and misconceptions around cosmetic injections for men and male skincare. Chris Gardner, also holding a bachelor’s degree in Nursing with a strong background in personalised care, was dedicated to creating a welcoming cosmetic studio for men. He is passionate about creating personalised treatment plans that will deliver natural aesthetic results. His love for boosting others self-confidence and providing a gentle, comfortable experience is the driving force behind MAN, helping them grow to be the top provider of cosmetic injections for men on the Sunshine Coast.

We both grew up in the UK. Our first meeting was on the first day of university. We had both signed up for the Nursing course at Bournemouth university and met on day one. We ended up moving in as flat mates and became best mates for the whole of university, but did not get together as a couple until the end of the final year. We got engaged within 3 months of realising we were meant for each other and were married within 2 years. We moved to Australia in 2006 as a little oneyear adventure that turned into us making our life here. We both fell in love with the country and never looked back. We started off in Sydney and then moved to the Sunshine Coast 7 years ago, where we have settled and definitely call this our home. Celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary this year and have 2 children - one boy and one girl now in their early teens and to top that off 2 dogs and 2 cats. Chris has now put a ban on any further additions to our home. ;)

This is something I do struggle with at times, as I do love what I do and find that when it is your own business you are way more passionate about it and feel happier to be spending extra time or hours here, especially in our new space! I find I’m never far from my computer or phone even at home.

When we do get downtime, it’s usually spending time with the family - both our kids are very active, so we like to get to as many of our son’s soccer matches as possible and our daughter is in a cheerleading competition team, so we have to attend competitions regularly over the winter. Personally, I love to chill out at a yoga class, go for a run with one of our dogs and Walk along the beach or read. I am a big music fan so love to have Spotify or the radio on constantly and absolutely love going to live music shows. You might find me with a glass of wine or Margarita every now and again too! For Chris, his downtime involves movies either at the cinema or home, watching Rugby Union

and eating out at local restaurants. He also loves to get out with the boys and play golf, when possible, too. As a family we love to watch outdoor movies around our fire pit in the winter and chill around the pool in the summer.

We both have a coffee (flat white) first thing followed by a green smoothie (Spinach, green apple, lime, banana, and coconut water with a serve of Vitality Switch) then our Vida Glow Collagen in a big glass of water!

When I first tried to get Botox for my deepening frown lines in my early 30’s, I felt so uncomfortable even just walking into any of the places that were available at the time. The staff looked unwelcoming, I felt like I wouldn’t fit in in a place like that. I was yearning for a more chilled out environment without all the ‘exclusivity’ and airs and graces. It put me off so much that I never ended up having treatment. A few years later I thought to myself that this could be a great opportunity for me to branch out and work out of the hospital environment. I did my initial training, and this was actually the first time I ever got any treatment myself. I absolutely love that I can give someone their confidence back with a simple treatment. It’s not all about vanity, but more about restoring lost confidence and helping people feel themselves again. Chris was so supportive of my new career and saw how much I loved it. After a couple of years and a couple of treatments himself, he saw an opportunity to help men in the same way. So, he trained up and joined me a day or two a week, with the idea of making our space a male friendly clinic, where guys could feel comfortable and happy to have consultations and treatments. He also fell in love with his new career pathway and is so passionate about it. It’s an ever-evolving industry that will keep us busy upskilling for years to come. You could never get bored in this job with all the advancing technologies and new skills to learn.

To be inclusive not exclusive, while creating a beautiful space for everyone to enjoy. We work with clients to help them achieve their individual aesthetic goals and deliver natural looking results based on their unique features, Aiming to rejuvenate and refresh rather than follow trends and over treat.

I have had this building in my sights for at least 2 years! It’s on the main road through the Sunshine Coast so I had driven past it most days. I just kept having a vision of what I could do with it. I kept seeing exactly what I wanted it to be. There was another business in the premises at the time, so I never imagined they would move out. I had over the years before viewed a few other spots, but none of them felt right, none compared to the feeling I got with this building. Then at the end of last year I heard it was up for lease and I jumped straight onto it before I knew it my vision was becoming a reality! I was adamant I wanted a stand-alone building, I love the palm springs/desert vibe and have modelled the look around that. drawing inspiration from Instagram pages such as My Burleigh reno etc. There is a shop on the

Sunshine coast called Eclectic Style and I found the most amazing mirror there - this was the centrepiece of the design, and everything was planned around this wonderful piece! We wanted a relaxed, laid back and chilled out vibe. We have gone with fresh whites with golds, natural wood, and greenery. Coastal luxe with some bohemian touches might be a label to put on it.

The most popular treatment for men at the moment is definitely Anti-wrinkle. However, more and more male clients are considering fillers for masculinisation for jawline or chin for example or even replacing lost volume to cheeks. Our new Laser Genesis machine is going to be a game changer for Male skin care and rejuvenation, Laser facials are fast becoming the go to for male clients in Sydney and the Gold Coast, so we aim to be amongst the first to be promoting and providing that for our male clients here on the Sunny coast . There is still a huge stigma attached to self-care for men so actually getting them through the door is the biggest challenge. Most of the men I see are concerned about ageing in general. They see their partners getting treatments and slowing down the ageing process and feel like they are getting left behind.

We have Vida Glow available in clinic - a fantastic ingestible beauty brand that provides marine collagen supplements as well as an antioxidant powder, pigment clearing and hair strengthening capsules. I just love the whole ethos behind Vida Glow. They will only produce and sell products that have been rigorously tested and been through clinic trails to prove their efficacy through science-based evidence. They are actually TGA listed which gives me great confidence in promoting their studies. They provide quality products and amazing customer service as well as the beautiful packaging. Their marketing is very clever, and they are certainly a brand to watch. Vida Glow are the number 1 marine collagen in the world selling one unit every 4 seconds - so it’s easy to see that they know their stuff when it comes to creating a product that works and sells. I love this Vida Glow because I truly believe in their brand and have faith in their products. Our Dermal Therapist has brought along Sircuit skin to the clinic, which we are new to and have been very impressed with the results we are getting personally, so far. Dom has worked with this brand for some time, and she knows her stuff, so we are happy to be introducing this new product to our clients.

Probably work hard/play hard. I believe you have to work hard to get what you want in life, but also believe in rewarding yourself for working so hard! Chris said - try anything twice!

For me: Trust the process - I truly believe everything happens for a reason and I try to apply this theory when things are seeming to not go my way, I know that something bigger and better awaits if you just give it time. Another thing I try to live by is Don’t sweat the small stuff - This is something I apply to the kids - It’s easy to get angry over small things, but I ‘try’ to only get serious when its needed as I want them to be able to come to me if they need anything and flipping out over small things will only push them away. Chris would say the best piece of advice he has ever been given would be either Never shirk an opportunity or responsibility or Proper preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance ( not sure you can publish that !)

Well, I think the next 12 months are going to be a wild ride! We have been open just 6 weeks and already have seen a large increase in our client numbers. We are introducing a new Laser machine - The Excel V+ from Cutera - in a few weeks so we will be very excited to get that functioning at its full capacity. With that we can treat vascular issues such as spider veins, pigment, and general skin rejuvenation with the Laser Genesis. Once that is up and running our next goal for the clinic would be to introduce the TruSculpt ID and TruSculpt Flex - which is a full body contouring system. This will be a very exciting addition to our service menu. A materialistic goal is to make sure Chris gets his new car!