This is the Art Beauty podcast, where we are always reaching for truth in beauty. Remember, the brands on here are not paying to be here. So we get to ask the questions that you want answered because you deserve to be informed so you can make the best decisions for yourself. With that, I'm Amber. I'll be your host today, am I? Fabulous co-hosts are Shay Sim and Nadya Kozlova. They are the founders of Viktor Michael, a line that is created just for post injection care.
We're going to be talking all about that. But before we do, welcome to the show, ladies. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having us. Harvey, where are you? Where are you guys located? In the country? We're in Seattle, Washington. Okay, great. And now, you know, before we get into these products, because I do want to talk a little bit about post injection care, why it matters, what's going to sort of set this apart.
But you both have a very interesting and sort of long history in the beauty market. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Absolutely. I was wondering, I was looking at that was like, okay, you just said, so I'm not in I have been in the medical supply industry for over 23 years. We opened up our own three clinics back in 2010. So we've had the pleasure of seeing the bad, the good, the ugly from all aspects of the medicine business.
So we're just really lucky to have entered this industry in the space back when we did. And Nadya where were you guys? Just the owners of It's Cucumber, right? Was the name of your of your investment in lemons? Yes. Cucumbers, cucumber clouds. And were you both esthetic like were you nurses? Were you doing injections or were you sort of the brains behind the stores? Believe it or not, we just came up with this amazing brand that we've been in medical esthetics for 23 years.
Aside now, the fun node is that we actually were one of the first people introducing Botox and injectables into the market back in the days when nobody knew what these injectables are all about. In the beginning, I didn't even know how to pronounce it the proper way. So it's been a long, long journey. But we're not injectors. We're not estheticians, although we probably were in the past life at some point. But we know how to do it, which is don't practice.
Gotcha. And you've probably seen thousands, if not tens of thousands of injections being done. Oh, absolutely. And having them done. Yes. So, you know, let's talk a little bit about injections. You know, when we get things like Botox. I've had Botox myself before. You know, I know bruising is common. What are some of the other symptoms that you were really seeing people have in your metal spots? I think I mean, it can get as bad as it can potentially get.
You're talking bruising, swelling, inflammation, and that's all without the potential of contraindication. Right. Because that can happen, too. But just the basics, if you get your lips done, it looks like a murder scene at some point. And next day and we have some photos to show that you will swell up. We don't care how amazing your injector is. This is what we always say, is that injector could be the most amazing person and having the most amazing technique.
But that's just how the body is, Why this is just how we respond. So even in our clinics, we say, Hey, we're awesome. You will swell up, you will bruise up. But now you've got a tool to work with. You know, I've got to be honest. So I work with Newbeauty magazine as well. And one of the doctors had pictures and said, Hey, Amber has never had lip injections. What if we did a first time lip injection video with her? And when I saw what the recovery is like for that, I said, no way.
I'll just deal with my thin lips, because it really, no matter what. I haven't seen anybody who doesn't swell. And the swelling can be very vast and that kind of lasts, what, 3 to 5 days? Would you say. It could be 3 to 5 days? Up to two weeks? Yeah. So, like, who doesn't want to go out and it looks like you've got punched in the mouth or like you went to a really bad injector at first, Correct. I mean, they swell. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It'd be terrifying.
It could be very minimal and it could be pretty terrifying. You know. And Nadia, I know, too, whenever I go get Botox, for me personally, I make sure I do not drink anything. You know, I know they say for 24 hours before. But for me, I found that if I don't do it 3 to 5 days before, that's when the bruising really has a big difference for my personal skin. Have you found that kind of across the board? Oh, absolutely.
Before you can come in, I was Victor Michael, and that's kind of what led us to it, is that we know all the tips and tricks on how to make you go was less swelling, less bruising. So no drinking. And I understand what you're saying because I would have to literally do it for like a week prior to just to get my body prepared to it. Right. And still, if they get a little blood vessel somewhere, I still bruise up right on the spot. So you kind of know, walking out of there what's going to happen.
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, the more I'm thinking about it, it is more like a week if you want no bruising. But for injectables, like. Like fillers, I'm sure that's a little bit different. Correct. You probably have to have a little bit different shade.
What are some of the you know, for people who are listening and who might be considering injections, injections, you know, without getting into specific products, Do you have any tips for people at home for things that they can do to help minimize the swelling? Absolutely. So you want to definitely stop all supplements. Just not knowing exactly what supplements can trigger the bruising and the swelling. So we always advise, you know, just just stay off of everything for at least 24 hours. Right.
Next thing is, don't be afraid to, you know, start taking some arnica or arnica before. And of course, obviously, we can get into other products and everything. But prepping the body when you know that you're your needle, the needle is going to be hitting the skin. It's inserting the skin. And this is kind of what we go back to. It doesn't matter who your injector is. A needle is puncturing the skin.
We are causing a wound and anything to prevent that wound, such as taking an oral arnica, that's typically what we would have recommend or some bromelain. And then, you know, just after just don't touch, don't touch the skin. And everybody wants to touch. Everybody wants to remold, you know, And they're like, oh, I can help with swelling or something.
It really comes down to just take the injectors direction and try to prevent by not taking anything as far as supplements, maybe no alcohol prior, but that's all you can really do, you know, And listen to your injector. Yes, absolutely. You know, and of course, it goes without saying, no smoking to go out in the sun. All these things that you should probably know better. But sometimes we need a gentle reminder. Right. Okay. So, you know, prior to having skin care.
Right. Or Victor Michael, which is a skincare line designed specifically to help minimize this sort of post injection, bruising, swelling, what was our only options? Ice. That's pretty much it. So and that's why that was sort of a hard question to answer, because you're really only option was stop, you know, taking supplements and here's your ice pack and here's some arctic air The those were your. Options.
Associate what was it that made you the sort of the lights would go off and say well we need something? And then how did you figure out what you needed to do? So being on the back side and the front side of medical space and injections in general, right. We get to we work with the patients first and foremost. And the number one deterrent when it comes to injections is the fear of downtime. And anybody will walk in. I want fillers, I want Botox.
But the second question that always follows up is what is my downtime? I have an event schedule. We have holidays coming up. My husband's going to be gone on, you know, work trip. How do I schedule this in? I got three days to recover. So in our in our world, it's you have post care for lasers, you have post care for pills, You don't have post care for injections. Why is that right?
After 23 years of Botox being introduced to the market, Cosmo DERM, Cosmo Place being introduced back in 1999 2000, why don't we have a pre and post injection care recovery system, right? So what we've done is we've taken what all of our amazing injectors have given our customers. That is the directions of go to rioted, get your aunt a care go to the next you know Rite Aid or target go get your bromelain. Go pick up whatever you can do to help prevent bruising, swelling, inflammation.
So we took this recipe list that we were sending all of our customers to and we said, let's put this in a bottle. Let's make this magic happen. Let's figure this out. What can we do? That's where the experiment started and it worked. And we're like, Holy cow, this is amazing. We need to now take it to the next level. So then that's how Victor Mike was created. Amazing. And Nadia, you know what?
You mentioned some of the ingredients, but can you tell us a little bit more about what what you decided to put into these formulas? We've got two products here. What goes in them? What is sort of the magic, the secret in the sauce? So the secret of the sauce is our patent pending injection care complex. We're obsessed with that. If I could, I want to bathe in it. It is a combination of arnica Dragon's Blood, Babassu, Oil and Gremlin.
And in the serum, you have it at the highest levels where Arnica is at 15%. And this is probably the pure is the most amazing thing you could do for your skin. It's a phenomenal serum. I call it my little liquid gold and I use it every single day, although you don't have to, but it's just the purest forms of all these amazing ingredients combined. The Yeah, it's so good. It's beautiful. Yeah. What's funny is that it's now trending for a makeup primer.
So who would have know that we're going to do that, right? Because it goes so well in your skin. We have formulated with everything with EWG in mind, so everything is great. It doesn't leave any of the residue on the skin. It goes out like it's a marriage finish. So it's just really good for you. It's so funny that you said that because when I tried it the first time, first of all, I love the way it smells. So when I tried it the first time, to me, I really got this feeling.
I was like, Oh, this feels like a primer. It's hard to sort of tell here, but it almost has that smooth sort of like a like a silicone base, which I love. That's perfect for makeup. Good to know. So is this something that you know that people should be using only for injections, or is it skincare that you can use all the time? So you want to. Oh, absolutely. So what we consider Victor Michael, sort of the beauty blender of the makeup industry.
Okay. We blend in with every single skin care first and foremost. So it doesn't matter what skin regimen that you're already using. We could just sneak that little serum right in there on to is you absolutely can use this without injections. So when we're talking about the injection care complex and those main ingredients, not only are those main ingredients in the formula, but we've also added a ton of other resources in there as far as like antioxidants go to help protect the skin.
Hydrator is to keep that skin super moisturized. So what we're noticing is that your skin just feels amazing before and after, and people are continuing to use the product way after. We've unfortunately, you know, we have a lot of people sending us a lot of udc's about, oh my God, we're using this for a sunburn. We're using this for, you know, some dry skin and we're like, can we focus on injections? Right, right, right.
Well, listen, it's good, though, if people kind of understand and like they're you know, they're falling in love with it for reasons beyond injections, because, you know, for most of us, injections are like every 3 to 6 months. So you want something that, you know, maybe people could use a little bit more energy. And by the way, I love the packaging and I love the names of this. So there's a taking a step back. There's only two products in the line right now. Right? The spray mask.
So this is the chow for now mask. Tell us a little bit about what's in this. So the mask is a cowl and clay base mask. It has ginger root extract, apple through extract. It has some watermelon extract. It also has some reddish lists in there. This mask is a recovery mask. You can pre-treat with the mask, too, but it shoes on. Contact. It cools and calms the skin. Oh, my gosh. If you just put it on, you feel how it just chills and really just do.
So imagine getting your fillers done and you are just you're you're inflamed, you're sorry your tender and you put that mask on and it's like, oh, this is all so amazing. And we have people asleep in this mask and we're like, okay, yeah, big time mask. It's okay. They sleep in it. I feel like it would get all over my pillowcases. It would be a very normal tosser. Turner Right. Is it even on when you wake up? I don't know. But it's we use it also called the zoom ready mask.
Now that's sort of what everyone's using because when you wake up in your Puffy so you know, regardless of injections you throw that mask on and it just really helps through the skin. So it's a deal. And Nadia, you know, is there a right way to use it? So I was looking because it's not just, you know, it is post injection care, but you actually should start using this before the injections, correct. Cause a little bit about the right way to use the system. Oh, absolutely. You can.
Well, if you're not me, I'm using that every single day. Then what you should really be doing is getting ready for your injections. Right. So you could start it as soon as three times prior to the injections. And then that you, you can technically pre-treat with both the mask this year. But we kept it super simple because we didn't want to have these crazy instructions for people to get confused with. Right. So start with the serum.
Three days prior to get your injections and then a few hours later start using your serum again and then add the mask as a booster for control. You can actually stick the mask in the refrigerator, get it a little more cold so it's a little better for you. But it also has some built in cooling in there. So it would go as well just as it is for you. So just follow up with the Zimmerman the mask and then use it as needed. Typically, within three days you're good to go.
But if you needed to use it for a little longer, then just continue using as needed. And is the mask a daily use or is that kind of use like once after the post injection and then maybe just keep it up with the serum? We would recommend using it morning and night. The mask. Yeah. For myself, when I get injected, I blow up, I sweat lab, I blow up, we're chasing inflammation the second that needle gets into my skin.
So I'm one of those really easy patients with a lot of anxiety that goes into that chair. So I start using the mask maybe every two or 3 hours on it. Okay. Yeah. And then afterwards, just maybe at night, a morning. A night. That's what the instructions say. But as needed, I would say so definitely more than just twice a day. Amazing. And okay. Is there any thoughts I imagine that you can probably use this around the lips. It might not be super comfortable to be putting serum mask on the lips.
We started talking about lips. Is there anything that you're thinking of specifically for lip care? Absolutely. So actually, our lip product will be out in the fall, and it's actually one of our very first SKUs we started working on. And it has probably been the most challenging because to try to get to all of our amazing active ingredients and a beautiful lip product and not compromise, the efficacy has been the biggest challenge and we've nailed it.
So we're finally in the stage to get this ready for launch. So we're really excited for Lip. I have it on right now. I wear it every single day. It's a beautiful neutral color and the lip name is called Nipple Nude. Oh, so it's going to be it's actually going to be like in a color as well. It's very Mauvey Nipple nude tense. Nipple nude. I love that. So, ladies, I have to ask, you know, where if people are interested in finding your products, where should they go?
While there's a few places they can find this up right now? Obviously our website, ViktorMichael dot com “Viktor” with a K and then we're also launched with Moda operandi. We're incredibly excited about it as well as some beauty out of New York so you can find us and load up on our website. And then we have a ton of retailers that we are aligning with as well for later launch. You know what? Before I let you go, I forgot the most important thing. What what have been the results of this?
Like, what have people said after using that this has it reduced the time? Do you have any sort of concrete facts on that or figures? We have actually done a perception study, blind study testing and we had scored up in the 97 100% consumer test panel saying that has been the number one best pre and post injection care they've ever used. Okay. 97% of the panelists said that it by day two they're redness swelling, inflammation has been reduced by over 50%.
So yeah our studies have been just absolutely mind blowing. But let me just share Amber, the number one feedback that we get and that we are absolutely in love with is the testimonials that we received from the consumer panelists that we got after the study. And they said it was life changing, that having a product like this going on, their injection journey, for them to know that they have something because sometimes it's just more than just the vanity, right? It's all about just how they feel.
And for them to now get injections and to know that they have something to help comfort, to reduce the swelling, not because somebody is looking at them, but because the way it makes them feel it has been life changing. So that has been the best feedback we've received. Well, I love I love to hear that. Always exciting to see new products coming into the market.
And thank you for being sort of having the foresight to think, Hey, this is a need that we need to fill, pun intended and done, that If people want to know more about you, where can they go right now? They can go to our website. www.ViktorMichael dot com Moda operandi dot com Shenbeauty dot com and cucumber skin lounge dot com. Amazing and Nayda if people are in the Seattle area can you give a little bit of a shout out for your spots where can they find them.
Hi team so we have relocated funds you can find us in Bellingham in Bellevue and in Seattle and just come to our medical stores and Cucumber Skin Lounge has a ton of Viktor Michael. So amazing. Wonderful. Well, I want to thank you both for being on with me today. Really appreciate you coming here. And if you're listening at home and you have questions that you want me to pass on to the team at Viktor Michael, I'm always happy to do so. You can email me at hello at Art Beauty podcast dot com.
You can find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at Art Beauty podcast. And as always, we'll see you next Tuesday, hopefully with a little less swelling and bruising. Bye!