NEW LOOK: “I absolutely love my clients. Every person who comes to my office is like my sister, my mother, my brother, my best friend. I want them to feel good about themselves, to have healthy skin, and to have a feeling of well-being.” Skin care specialist and permanent cosmetic artist Marguerite Hellwich, owner of The Skin Medic, is shown performing a microblading procedure to rebuild thinning eyebrows.

By Jean Stratton

Whether it is the inexorable passage of time, injuries, scarring, or other physical conditions, many factors come into play regarding appearance. All can affect how one looks — and ultimately — how one feels.   

Fortunately, a variety of treatments and technologies are available today to help improve many types of skin conditions.

Skin care specialist and permanent cosmetic artist Marguerite Hellwich opened The Skin Medic at 102 Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown last July. Her office treats people of all ages, from teens to clients over 80. Both men and women benefit from her treatments.

Desire To Serve

Hellwich’s path to opening The Skin Medic is different than that of most skin care specialists. Her 23-year career in the Air Force Reserves formed the foundation of her desire both to serve the country and the community and to care for those with problems.

A senior master sergeant and aeromedical evacuation technician, she is a member of the 514th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

“Our primary mission is to fly on fixed wing aircraft to pick up our nation’s wounded warriors and care for them in flight until we can get them to a higher level of care,” she explains. “We are also tasked with humanitarian aid when needed. It is a tremendous honor to serve our heroes.

“I became interested in skin care through my service in the military. Patient care often involved treating those with burns, lacerations, and other wounds.”

Having served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany, among other locations, she returned to the U.S., to Washington, D.C. and then Savannah, Georgia. She decided to begin skin care training, and she was determined to find the best instruction.

“I trained in Jacksonville, Florida, for aesthetics and also for permanent cosmetics at the Parisian Spa Institute,” says Hellwich. After moving back to her hometown of Bordentown early this year, she opted for further study at the Beau Institute in Mount Laurel.

Best Training

“They prepared me in every way to be successful in New Jersey. If you want to be the best, you must have the best training and use the best equipment and products. I will always focus on furthering my education. In fact, I am headed to North Carolina for training with a specialist who does the best ombre brows, and also to meet with a woman who is a pioneer in medical tattooing.”

Hellwich underwent hundreds of hours of training, instruction, and apprenticeship before obtaining her license and certification from the state of New Jersey as an aesthetician and permanent cosmetic artist.

Her focus includes scar camouflage, reduction of facial lines and wrinkles, melasma (brown pigmentation), microblading, and pigment enhancement for brows, eyeliner, lips, and aerola.

Microblading is a tattooing technique in which a small hand-held tool made up of several tiny needles is used to add permanent pigment to the skin, especially the eyebrows.

“The Skin Medic is set apart from other skin care offices in a certain ways,” points out Hellwich. “The Skin Medic is technically two offices. One is permanent cosmetics, which includes eyebrow, eyeliner, and lip tattooing, as well as eyebrow microblading, and also scar camouflage and areola tattooing, which are considered medical tattooing.

“I see men with scars that can be easily camouflaged, and women who have had mastectomies and want a more natural and symmetrical appearance. I see people with alopecia and trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) who have little to no facial hair and want to appear more normal to the outside world, and ask for eyebrows and lash enhancement eyeliner.”

Skin Therapy

“The other part of The Skin Medic is advanced skin therapy, which is skin care focused on problem-solving, which will be launched in December,” continued Hellwich. “The Skin Medic is corrective skin care. So I will see clients who have acne, rosacea, scarring, melasma, sun damage, aging skin, and other issues.

“There will be exciting new treatments using advanced technology and top-of-the-line plant-based skin care products. I am looking forward to introducing high quality oxygen facials that use pure oxygen to deliver key nutrients into the skin and having my clients experience Societe Skin Care products.”

Safety is paramount, she emphasizes. “The number one emphasis at The Skin Medic is safety. Everything I do is with an intense focus on infection control and blood-borne pathogen prevention. The tools I use are all sterilized at the point of manufacturing and are one-time use and disposable.”

Each client and his or her individual situation are very important to Hellwich, and she devises a personalized skin care plan for each person. As she notes, “Client consultations are comprehensive and informative for the client and for myself. We discuss treatments in detail and identify any possible contraindications. For example, not everyone is a candidate for procedures such as microblading. Perhaps the client is taking a blood thinner or other medication that would not be conducive to proper healing.

“In such cases, we discuss alternatives. Maybe the client would like to try henna brows and a lash lift instead. There are times when I will ask for their doctor or primary care provider approval. It is for my client’s benefit that we have an open and honest conversation from the beginning.”

Other treatments at The Skin Medic include LED light therapy, microdermabrasion, dermaplane, dermal infusion therapy, and dermal infusion therapy with Scullpla or Cicatrix. These treatments address a variety of conditions, such as sun damage, facial lines and deep wrinkles, scarring, and other skin irregularities.

All Backgrounds

Hellwich’s dedication to helping people extends to her continued service in the Air Force Reserves. She spends one weekend every month at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, two weeks training each year in the air or on the ground, and on duty on at least one live flying mission every 90 days.

She strongly believes in the importance of service. “In the military, I have met people from all over and from all backgrounds. Everyone can serve in different capacities, not just in the military. Many people are giving in different ways in their communities.”

And indeed, Marguerite Hellwich serves in many ways. As she says, “I treat the legally blind for free as well as our wounded warriors who have scars they want to be less obvious. I also offer women free removal of radiation tattoos they’ve had after treatment for breast cancer. I believe in the importance of giving back whenever possible, and for me, it is about making these people feel whole again. I am grateful to have such a part in healing.

“It is so gratifying for me to be able to work with these people in my community and the surrounding area and to provide something that makes them happy, that gives them confidence and hope. This isn’t work for me. This is my passion, and I love every minute of it.”

The Skin Medic offers very competitive pricing, and is open by appointment most days from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. (609) 422-7544. Website: www.skinmedicnj.com.