Seeing Beauty All Around
As co-founder of the La Maison House of Aesthetics in Newtown, Victoria Rappaport inspires confidence and promotes wellness for men and women alike.
Victoria Rappaport sees the inherent beauty in the world around her. This proclivity has served her well in the course of her 20-plus-year career as a licensed medical aesthetician, master aesthetician, laser safety officer, and permanent cosmetics artist.
Rappaport got her start in the aesthetics field while working for a family medicine practice. Inspired by the life-changing work of a dermatologist who visited the office several times a month, and spurred forward by her desire to treat patients outside of the traditional healthcare model, she pursued studies in skin care and permanent cosmetics. She then began assisting the visiting dermatologist with patients and was, simply, “hooked.”
Her passion for helping patients has only intensified in the years since. She steadily accrued extensive experience managing and leading medical spas, and these experiences informed her as she made overtures to open a medical spa of her own: La Maison House of Aesthetics, which she co-founded with Jon Peet, M.D., who serves as medical director. Their goal: to offer a host of noninvasive and minimally invasive procedures as a way to promote confidence in men and women.
“Opening my own spa has been my dream since I learned aesthetics,” Rappaport says. “We are not an ordinary spa. We are about wellness for both women and men.”
One such treatment includes an innovative therapy known as PRP, short for platelet-rich plasma. Designed to utilize the body’s inherent restorative capabilities, PRP incorporates thrombocytes that have been separated out of the patient’s own blood and injected into areas where rejuvenation is desired.
Rappaport, who worked previously in a hair loss surgery center, has seen firsthand the emotional toll that hair loss can take on men and women alike. That’s why La Maison offers PRP microneedling sessions for the scalp. During such sessions, PRP is injected at points where hair regrowth is desired; optimal results require a series of these sessions.
La Maison also offers PRP for skin rejuvenation and a procedure with an intimidating name: the “Vampire Facial.” While this treatment may sound scary, it is simply microneedling of the patient’s own harvested platelets into the face with the goal of achieving healthy, fresh-looking skin.
Additional nonsurgical procedures offered will include a nonsurgical “face-lift” package (consisting of Botox, a filler such as Juvéderm, and a thread lift), post-face-lift treatments, peels (both chemical and nonchemical), and injectable and/or filler replacement treatments featuring products such as Botox, Juvéderm, Voluma, and Restylane. In addition, a Halo laser enables staff to perform a number of rejuvenation procedures.
“The Halo is like a nonsurgical face-lift,” Rappaport explains. “This can be performed with PRP for amazing results that last a year or more, depending on the condition of your skin.”
Other treatment options include laser skin tightening, treatments to remove sun damage, and injections to dull and/or remove the appearance of spider veins. La Maison will also offer body-contouring services, including a newly introduced technology known as the Phantom, which Rappaport says can “take you down a size but can also lead to positive lifestyle changes.” Lastly, the med spa will offer vaginal rejuvenation treatments for women with mild vaginal laxity, orgasmic disorder, or an undesirable vulvar appearance, as well as the so-called “O-Shot” for women who struggle with sexual dysfunction.
At La Maison, the quality of the staff is just as important as the array of treatment options. While each team member brings his or her own talents to the operation, Rappaport says that qualities she praises in her employees include warmth, intelligence, and a commitment to self-improvement.
“Anyone can go to school, but that doesn’t make that person a team player,” she adds. “And that doesn’t make them good with clients. I look for friendly, compassionate team members who are eager to learn new things. The field of aesthetics/plastic surgery/dermatology is constantly evolving, and there are always new and fascinating treatments for skin conditions, cancers, and so much more. If you don’t love to learn, you will never stay up to date on what is current.”
Her business partner, Dr. Peet, embodies all these traits and more. She describes him as “a very talented physician and surgeon, as well as just a nice person.”
No Ordinary Time
It’s worth noting that this is no ordinary time to open a business. Business owners have been reinventing classic models in order to accommodate demand and keep consumers safe. Rappaport and her team have made patient safety their No. 1 priority.
“Our employees will wear disposable PPE, we will be using CDC-recommended disinfectant and cleaners, including bleach, 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, Barbicide, and Opti-Cide, and there will be hand sanitizer throughout the spa,” Rappaport explains. “All hard surfaces, including countertops, workstations, door handles, furniture, phones, and anything the patient may have touched, will be thoroughly cleaned before each new client is seen. Communal areas will have restricted access, and social distancing will be enforced. Plexiglas safety shields will be utilized. All employees have been given a copy of the latest spa protocols that include proper handwashing techniques, even though they are instructed to wear gloves for every procedure.”
Likewise, La Maison will embrace the current trend toward telemedicine. Specialists will be available for online consultations as well as traditional in-person visits.
“We take disinfection and sanitation classes in school and, of course, practice in a medical office, but the current situation takes everything to a whole new level,” Rappaport says. “We are all now specially trained in a higher level to prevent transmission and exposure from employee to client and vice versa.”
Yet, underneath all of the sanitization measures, PPE, and prevention protocols, there lies a human heart to La Maison. Above all, Rappaport offers this: “Having a patient say they have more confidence now, or that they love their skin, is the most rewarding part of my career.”
La Maison House of Aesthetics
250-254 N. Sycamore Street
Newtown, PA 18940
(215) 880-8469
lamaisonnewtown.com
250-254 N. Sycamore Street
Newtown, PA 18940
(215) 880-8469
lamaisonnewtown.com
Photograph by Nina Lea Photography
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Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, February 2021.
