Now here’s a job title that’s less than run-of-the-mill among the business cards circulating in Southwest Mississippi: Aesthetician.
Tessa Bradford has been one for nine years and recently moved her practice, which involves administering different types of facials and skin care, from Brookhaven to the Simply Well medical clinic inside Guy’s Pharmacy in Summit.
“I do any type of facial treatments,” she told the McComb Exchange Club on Thursday.
Those include dermaplane facials, in which she uses a scalpel to remove dead skin cells and hair, as well as microderm abrasion exfoliation and her best-selling service Hydra facial, a three-step, 30-minute process that peels away dead skin, extracts dead skin cells and hydrates.
“If you have oily skin, the last step kind of hydrates, puts a lot of the nutrients back into the skin,” Bradford said. “It has peptides in it that kind of help tone and tighten skin. It’s good for all skin types, but if you do have a lot of congestion, blackheads, breakouts, it’s good for that. When you take off the filter you can kind of see all of the dead skin on there.”
Her services range from $75-$300 per session depending on the type of service offered.
“I can fit you in somewhere to help you achieve healthy skin,” Bradford said.
She also offers chemical peels, a high-intensity treatment reserved for those most in need.
“You have down time with that,” she said, noting that people who have this done are usually recovering about a week afterwards. “A lot of the people who do this have acne.”
Bradford studied for the career at the Mississippi Institute of Aesthetics, Nail & Cosmetology in Clinton and holds a license issued by the state.
“I stepped out on my own and opened my own business,” she said. “The Lord has blessed me in the four months that I’ve been here.”
Bradford said about half her clientele includes people coming for cosmetic reasons.
“Some folks just want to come in, get a facial and be relaxed, and I’m totally good with that, and there are some people who have had serious problems and I do what I can to help,” she said.
The other half consists of people seeking treatment for skin conditions after other avenues have failed.
“Typically doctors will put them on antibiotics and topical treatment creams,” Bradford said. “Typically I get them when nothing else works.”
Bradford said skin cells go through a process of death and regeneration about once a month.
“The goal is to keep them on that rotation to keep that cell rotation going,” she said.
She said people who want to keep their skin looking good should protect it from the sun.
“The sun is your worst enemy,” she said. “That’s the number-one thing. It causes the brown spots, it causes the skin cancers, it causes the fine lines. A daily SPF (sunscreen) and a hat are my top recommendations to all of my patients.”
