Two friends recently opened a nursing aesthetic clinic with the intent of helping other people feel more confident in their own skin.
Kim Duttlinger and Christine Hermosillo recently opened The Aesthetic Studio, 116 W. Lafayette St., Ottawa, and have been friends for many years.
“I thought why not have her be my business partner. For one, because she’s the smartest person I know and why not give her an opportunity as well,” Duttlinger said of Hermosillo. “That’s really it. She’s just one of my best friends. Who better to go into business with than one of my best friends?”
A graduate of University of Iowa with her bachelor’s degree and State University of New York with her master’s degree, Duttlinger is a certified registered nurse anesthetist with more than 15 years experience as an anesthetist at the former Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru and St. Margaret’s Hospital in Spring Valley.
Duttlinger first became interested in Botox as a patient herself and then decided to learn how to administer Botox, a medicine used to improve the look of forehead lines, crow’s feet and frown lines. It started as a side gig for family and friends and then she began building a clientele working at Ariva Skincare in La Salle.
“That’s what led me to look into Ottawa and branch out a little bit more and offer more services that just Botox,” Duttlinger said.
In addition to Botox, The Aesthetic Studio offers microneedling, chemical peels, dermal fillers and microblading for eyebrows.
“I like the natural look. I am all about making somebody look as natural as possible, but with more of a refreshed look. It’s like aging gracefully, really, is what my intentions are,” Duttlinger said. “There’s lots of things you can do that will make you look like you’ve had a little more sleep or make you look five to 10 years younger than you are without changing your appearance drastically.”
Hermosillo said she considers Duttlinger to be one of the best when it comes to aesthetics and was happy to enter into this business together. Hermosillo, who has a bachelor of science in nursing from Lewis University and a master of science degree specializing in family nurse practitioner from Northern Illinois University, is a board certified advanced practice registered nurse with more than 15 years experience providing patient care in the Illinois Valley. She’s been practicing aesthetics for more than three years.
“As advanced practice nurses, treating each person as a whole is what we do,” Hermosillo said. “Starting a nursing aesthetic practice allows us to play a small role in a person’s ‘big picture’ by helping them feel confident in their own skin and that is what I like about aesthetics.”
The Aestethic Studio offers a free consultation to patients wanting to inquire about a path of care.
“I let them tell me what they don’t like about themselves. Everybody has something they focus on. We just talk about what we can do to help with that specific area,” Duttlinger said. “For instance, if [the patient were to say] I don’t like this line in my forehead I would say, ‘Well this is what I have to offer, this is what would help, this is what it would cost to treat it, this is what the expectations are.’
“It’s just really giving them all their options, being completely honest with them.”
The studio is open by appointment only. For more information, visit myaestheticstudios.com.
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