As an esthetician Desiree Spears offers people of all ages the opportunity to have healthier skin.
When she, her husband, who is in the military, and her children moved to Platte City from Western New York where she had been an esthetician since 2008, she knew she wanted to continue in the field she loves. So a year and a half ago she decided to open her own business, KC Esthetics Spa at 303 Marshall Road Suite 2.
“When we came here we really fell in love with Platte City,” Spears said. For that first year I looked around the area for possible business locations. I saw a need for a spa right here in Platte City so I started looking for places and this location came available and it all fell into place.”
With a degree in business she worked in human resources and accounting but didn’t feel quite right about what she was doing. When she made a visit to a spa she fell in love with the environment and decided she was going to school and try it out part-time. After 11 months of training she began working weekends at a spa.
As a spa coordinator she got her foot in the door to see how she would like it. She liked it immediately and realized she needed to work full-time as an esthetician. She worked in several medical spas in New York.
“When I graduated from esthetic school I knew that I wanted to use my business degree and my esthetics training and eventually open my own business,”Spears said. “I was looking for spaces in New York but my kids were 1 and 2 at the time and my husband was traveling for work a lot so I knew it was going to be nearly impossible to open a business at that time.”
But a few years later when she found the location in Platte City she decided it was time to set her plan in motion.
At KC Esthetics Spa she offers custom facials, microdermabrasion, chemical peels, lash extensions, dermaplaning, plus facials, hydra-plus facials, brow and lash tinting, lash lifts, face and body waxing, plus she carries Image Skincare products.
When customers come to her they fill out a skin health questionnaire so she can find out what their concerns are and what areas they see as issues. She then uses a skin scope machine to analyze the customer’s skin and find the sun damaged areas, where skin is oily, uneven textures or dry spots.
“From there I can determine what type of chemical peel they need,” Spears said. The first peel will not be as aggressive and then gradually we can pump it up. Some of the peels are for acne and some for sun damage. Some people might have uneven skin texture and there’s a special peel for that too. Some people just want to look refreshed and have their fine lines and wrinkles minimized.”
People of all ages come in for advice and treatments for a variety of skin problems. This time of year Spears sees a lot skin dryness due to colder weather and low humidity.
She finds that a lot of people year-round want to treat their dry skin and wrinkles due to sun damage but she doesn’t do many chemical peels in the summer since people are exposed to a lot of sun and that could prove problematic to vulnerable skin after a peel.
“During the summer that service is pretty much non-existent unless I'm treating acne,” Spears said. “My number-one service is probably the one-hour facial. I do a lot of dermaplaning, which helps to stimulate new collagen and at the same time it removes the peach fuzz plus hair from the skin. Products are able to penetrate better after that stuff's removed. Makeup goes on smoother as well."
The skin care products she sells are formulated by a plastic surgeon and there are no petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances, just pure, essential oils. These clinical-grade products can only be found in skin care spas or a doctor's office.
Eventually Spears would like to find a massage therapist or two and partner up with them since a lot of people ask her if she does massages and there is a big demand for them. She would also like to expand the business.
“Some day also I would like to partner up with a doctor and then grow and become more of a medical spa with laser treatments," Spears said.
She considered nursing school and thought about becoming a nurse practitioner but she is glad that she chose her esthetics career and is happy running her own business in a community she loves.
“I like to help customers and make them feel good leaving refreshed and feeling even better than they did when they came in,” Spears said. Being right here in Platte City I feel like people are very supportive of small businesses and they really want to help to see you thrive. Word of mouth has been huge here. The kids love it here and it's really starting to feel like home. It feels like a good place to be raising a family.”