Carmel Baxter-Wilks is giving people the chance to feel happy in their skin.

In July she opened a medi-spa on Reid Street having spent more than a decade in similar clinics in Britain.

The role was a perfect segue from her work in healthcare here, as a registered nurse practitioner and prescriber.

The Skin Company offers “advanced aesthetic and non-surgical cosmetic treatments” by Ms Baxter-Wilks and her “highly trained and experienced medical and aesthetic” team, Michelle Tavaziva and Fadi Allen.

It’s completely different from the treatments that claim to combat fine lines and wrinkles offered by traditional spas, she said.

“Those products are going to feel nice on your skin and you're going to have a nice relaxing spa, but unfortunately those fine lines and wrinkles, the volume loss, are all still going to be there the next day.

“I think people these days want something that's actually going to eradicate them and if we're talking about fine lines and wrinkles, you basically have got to inject the muscle that is contracting and block that contraction to stop that muscle from being dynamic.

“I think people just want things that are much more effective, things that are going to address the concerns that they have.”

Although most of their clients fall in the 40-plus range, their goal is to “enhance confidence at any age”.

The Skin Company addresses concerns such as fine lines and wrinkles, dryness and dehydration, acne, uneven skin tone, fat reduction and peri-menopause/menopause.

A skin analysis is usually the first step for clients, who are then given a “personalised and comprehensive” five-point treatment plan addressing their specific needs and concerns.

“What I feel quite strongly about is making sure that people are using the right product for them at the right time; [something] that's addressing the right skin concern as opposed to them just going to the pharmacy and pulling a cleanser off the shelf.

“I've seen people that are using exfoliating cleansers every single day and we put them through our skin analysis and the skin is red raw underneath, because they are just exfoliating too much.

“But when you don't have enough information about what it is that you shouldn't be doing [that’s what happens].”

Similarly, she said, people have brought the handful of products they regularly use into the spa for analysis, and are shocked to learn that all of them have the same active ingredient.

“They're using all of them and they wonder why they're not getting anywhere. It’s the result of just going out there and just grabbing something because you wake up one morning and think, ‘I need to do something for my skin.’”

The beauty of introducing such a business to Bermuda is that many people already understand the benefits.

“Bermudians travel a lot and we've got a lot of expats here – from the US, Canada, the UK. They’re all familiar with these types of clinics where you can go in and book your Botox in the same way as you would have booked a regular facial in the past,” Ms Baxter-Wilks said.

“We use technology to do an in-depth skin analysis. And the purpose of that is to have an objective view of somebody's skin concerns; the technology that we use allows us to see the different layers of the skin.”

The Skin Company website lays it all out under a tab directed at a range of concerns including “fine lines, rosacea and skin sensitivity”.

“Just in my practice, what I’ve seen over the years, is that if someone thinks they need to get something done to their face and they go on to a menu, they might see all of these sorts of lovely looking [descriptions], but they don't actually know what is really in that facial that's going to address their concern.

“If I'm seeing lots of hyperpigmentation for example, how do I know that the facial that I select is going to help with the hyperpigmentation?”

It is what she has focused on since she left the island for England to be with her children while they were there in school.

She now divides her work between The Skin Company and Therapie Clinic, said to be the “best clinic group in the UK and Ireland”.

“I didn't want to be back in Bermuda unless I could do something like this; that was basically the impetus of setting up The Skin Company, so that I could still practise in the same way as it was practising in the UK,” she said.

Ms Baxter-Wilks was trained in Botox and fillers in 2006 in Florida. She then thought of starting a company here but in 2008 the economy crashed.

“And then we decided to do a complete pivot and move back to the UK and get the children through school. And so it was something that I've always been interested in.

“And I think it's always something that I've been quite passionate about, but this has been the only time that I've been able to really fully focus on it because the children have grown and I was fortunate enough to be able to get all of my qualifications and experience in the UK. While I was there to be able to then set up this year.”

With parental consent The Skin Company will treat young people with acne and similar concerns, but draws the line at Botox and fillers.

“I don't like treating people that are under the age of 25. I don't think that they really need injectables unless there's been some sort of trauma,” Ms Baxter-Wilks said.

“There’s no cap on age [but there are] certain treatments, depending on the age group [when it comes to] injectables, that you would do.

“For someone in their seventies, you’d probably do dermal fillers to try and correct some volume loss and get some projection but sometimes it’s just getting them on a really good, easy, simple skincare routine.”

• For more information visit theskincompanybermuda.com