Talking Beauty with Taylor Campbell-Semien of Restorative Injectables
For our series Closet Confidential, we interview interesting and uber cool people in their homes wearing outfits from their closet. ESTHER LEE LEACH caught up with Taylor Campbell-Semien, owner of Restorative Injectables at her home in Platt Park.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ESTHER LEE LEACH
Esther Lee Leach: Taylor, I am so excited to interview you for the beauty issue! The word around town is that you are the best for making women look refreshed and at their most beautiful but never overdone. Tell us about your company Restorative Injectables and what type of treatments you offer.
Taylor Campbell-Semien: Restorative Injectables was created solely to be able to give women and men a more youthful, restored look while still maintaining their natural look. I love being able to cater a specific plan for a patient’s face based solely off their needs. No cookie cutter injections, only natural and geared toward the individual patient. At Restorative Injectables, we offer everything from laser treatments and chemical peels to non-invasive facial lifting and contouring, and neurotoxins such as Botox and Jeuveau (Newtox). We also have hydrafacials, brow waxing, lash lifting, and IV beauty drips to enhance the products and treatments we offer.
ELL: You know that my nickname for you is #glossybossbabe! I am so impressed by how you have built this very successful company from the ground up. Before you created Restorative Injectables, you worked as a nurse in the Plastic Surgery field. Tell us more about your life back then.
TCS: I live for my nickname! I just stroll around my house and tell my husband to refer to me as glossybossbabe! haha I started out my nursing career in the Emergency Room, which is a whole lot different than my life now and I quickly transitioned into plastic surgery and found my niche with non-invasive cosmetic injectables. I worked in the operating room doing face lifts, breast augmentations, rhinoplasties, you name it and I was in there. It was great to see the face with full exposure of muscles, arteries, and veins because it taught me a great appreciate for the face and understanding the depths and contours I can create with fillers and neurotoxins. That has by far shaped me more than anything to be the injector that I am today.
ELL: You became a nurse practitioner because you knew that one day you would open your own business. Why did you want to go it alone and what was the transition like from working in a stable practice to starting your own company?
TCS: Honestly, I think ignorance is bliss! That’s the only way I can describe it when I look back at that major decision I made, because it is very scary to try and do it alone. I am so happy I just went for it, but I had a ton of client support and my patients have continued to help me grow through this transition. I wanted to open my own location because I felt like I could provide a very specific niche that didn’t involve plastic surgery or on the other end of the spectrum, a cliche medical spa that offers all the same things that the spot down the street offers. I wanted to provide a natural approach to the face with fillers and neurotoxin, but also provide amazing results…and so far that is working for Restorative Injectables. The hardest part wasn’t so much being a sole provider, it was more opening a practice that requires a team, a storefront, and all the things that a practice entails that I had no idea would require as much time. I have a great and deep appreciation for the practice that I worked at previously because I now understand why they did things a certain way. At the time I had no idea, but it all makes sense now being an owner!
ELL: Now let's talk facial rejuvenation! I believe that people should handle aging in any way they want and do whatever makes them happy. Let the wrinkles show or smooth it all out! What I love about your practice is that you never push an overdone look. You are all about making each treatment personalised and specific for your client. Why was this so important to you?
TCS: This is my mantra that I preach every day to all of my patients. I am always going to be here so whenever you are ready to take the next step to help restore your look, I am ready. I believe that every patient’s results are better when the patient is mentally and physically in the place to do it. I could sell ice to an eskimo, but it really does not benefit me unless the patient is truly ready to take the next step. Most of my patients see me for years and we have an annual treatment plan that we work towards, baby steps and then moving forward. Some patients never move forward and prefer to do only the bare minimum and I still see them because I am here to restore whatever it is you want, at your pace, I just give you the education and tools to know how the aging process happens and what is available.
ELL: Can you give us a basic rundown of injectables? What products work best for specific parts of the face?
TCS: Neurotoxins (Botox, Jeuveau, Dysport) can all be used to relax wrinkles within the face, primarily forehead, 11’s (between the brows), crow’s feet which is around the eyes, brow lifting, jaw line by injecting the massetter muscle to slim the face, lip flip to provide more pout, gummy smile, chin to soften, neck to soften the horizontal necklace lines, underarms for sweating.
Hyaluronic Fillers are used to lift, fill and provide volume to the face where one has lost such as, cheeks, under eyes for a more youthful look, lips for more pout, jawline for contouring and sharpness, smile lines, corners of mouth. We can pretty much do it all depending on what is needed.
Kybella is a permanent fat reduction that can be used in small pockets of fat such as under the chin and jowls.
ELL: You are known as the lip queen! How do you create enhancement and that pouty look that you are known for?
TCS: I’m flattered to be known as the lip queen. It was always my goal to have a specific niche and lips are my thing. I have found that every lip shape is different, but I can create lifting and countouring by injecting certain areas of the lip and with the combination of botox and filler. My goal always is to provide a natural pout that is subtle, but noticeable. I think everyone is just wanting to be their best self and honestly we all look better with a fuller lip, not necessarily a Kylie Jenner lip, but a fuller lip for their face shape and structure. I look at the entire face when I inject the lips because I am trying to achieve lower facial harmony.
ELL: There is now a new product on the market dubbed #newtox. Tell us more about this and why is it so revolutionary?
TCS: #Newtox is very exciting for the industry because it has been over 10 years since a neurotoxin came to market and it was definitely time. We are seeing great results from the product and patients are sending us great feedback. It is nice to have as many tools in my pocket as needed when treating a patient and I never like to be limited to one product. I think we will continue to see new products launching on the aesthetic horizon, obviously Botox owns the household neurotoxin name, but stay tuned for even more things to hit the market offering our patients even more options for treatment!
ELL: What is next for you and Restorative Injectables? How are you planning on growing the company even more?
TCS: Everyday is a new day for both myself and Restorative Injectables. As a new mom, wife, and business owner, I am just trying to figure it out and that seems to be on a day by day basis right now. I definitely have enjoyed building the brand and working on continuing to build the best team I can. I do have a few things up my sleeve that cannot be announced just yet, but I will be ready to announce in the Fall. Overall, there is a lot of things happening on the backend that takes up all of the time that I am not injecting, but it is what patients are wanting so I am doing everything I can to give them what they want! I think scaling myself within the business is the only way I can achieve the growth that I have set out to attain, so you will see me out and about a lot this Fall in order to get there.
ELL: Let's talk about your personal style! How would you describe it and what do you wear when you are working?
TCS: I think my personal style is a little bit of a mix. I am definitely a tomboy at heart, but love a designer hand bag thrown in the mix. My day to day look varies. You can find me in a cute pair of Jaanuu scrubs or in a summer dress with some golden goose tennis shoes and a good handbag. On the weekends, I am usually wearing some form of athleisure because I love a comfy look. Someone once told me I was not allowed to buy any more sweaters because I have so many (her name was Esther). I am a big believer in mixing high end pieces with very basic tried and true pieces and always feeling comfortable because you will exude confidence.
Taylor Campbell-Semien: @restorativeinjectables
Photography: @estherleeleach
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