Kinross company changing the face of Scotland’s unregulated aesthetics industry

For Jodie Fulton, aesthetics should be carried out as a medical treatment, not a beauty one.

She runs Spa at the Steading in picturesque Milnathort, a small wellness retreat in the Ochil foothills.

A qualified and practising dentist, the mum-of-two wants to see tougher regulations brought in to an industry that Scotland is dubbed “worst” at in Europe.

Spa at the Steading has grown in the six months since opening, with a professional and medical setting welcoming customers without an overbearing, “highly clinical” environment, Jodie said.

And the business has already been noticed, after her company was recently shortlisted for a Perthshire Chambers of Commerce award.

Spa at the Steading

The Spa offers a range of treatments, including Botox and IVNT (intravenous nutritional therapy), medical facials, fillers and corrective work too.

Jodie juggles her role as a mother to two young children, with being an aesthetician and dentist.

She had the idea of setting the spa up during her maternity leave and has not looked back since.

“It has really taken off and we have hit the ground running, so to speak,” she said.

“The plan had always been for the Spa to be a wellness centre, and it is building quicker than we expected it to.

“We have been nominated for a Perthshire Chamber of Commerce business award in that time too, which was really unexpected so soon.

“There’s one surgery at the moment, but the plan is to expand across the full width of the steading.”

Aesthetics and regulation

For Jodie, regulation of the aesthetics industry cannot come soon enough.

She wants to change the narrative of how the market is viewed, both by the public and the media.

Patient safety is top priority, but it was also important for her “tribe” of customers to feel welcomed and relaxed.

“At the moment, there is an awful lot about aesthetics and issues in regulating the industry,” she adds.

“But I would like to show it can be done well and safely and shine a different light on how aesthetics can be done.

“It is a completely unregulated industry, and regulation is coming but it is slower than many of us would like.

“Aesthetics should be done as a medical treatment, not a beauty one, and that is what our message is — patient safety and aesthetics done well.

“We offer skin boosters, Botox, IVTN and medical grade skin care.

“We also plan on providing hair loss treatment and hormone screening, for women in peri-menopause.

“We are fortunate enough to already have what we call our ‘tribe’, our customers who love coming to us for treatment.

“It helps that we are in such a gorgeous part of Scotland, just three miles north of Milnathort in the hills.”