“Your skin is an organ. It’s part of you and if you treat your skin well, it will treat you well,” said Abigail Trudden, a licensed medical aesthetician and president of Redefyned Skincare, LLC. The Garden City native is doing just that: redefining skincare. Working out of her office at 1101 Stewart Avenue, Suite 102 in Garden City, Trudden utilizes LightStim and MDPen technologies to give her clients the utmost confidence when it comes to their skin.
Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
A: I’m a licensed paramedical aesthetician and phlebotomist, which I have been doing for a year now. It’s a really big jump from facials and chemical peels to almost like being a nurse. I wanted to mix healthy skin care with really amazing treatments and therapies that will help people and improve their confidence.
Q: How did you get involved in the health and beauty industry?
A: I was in college and I didn’t like anything I was doing, but I really enjoyed making people feel good about their physical appearance. I worked as a makeup artist for Clarins, Chanel, MAC and Bobbi Brown and struggled with my own insecurities with very bad acne. I went on Accutane and it was the best thing I could have ever done because it gave me more confidence, so I found that when people feel good on the outside, that improves their confidence on the inside as well.
Q: How does one go about becoming an aesthetician?
A: I spent 600 hours for my aesthetic license and 900 hours for my medical aesthetic license, and during that time, you learn about the field, practice treatments and techniques and hone your skills.
Q: What are some of your specialty treatments?
A: The LightStim is my unique treatment that utilizes LED light therapy to achieve youthful skin. It heals scars from acne, plumps fine lines and wrinkles and helps with TMJ or anything pain related in your face. It is a soothing and painless technique that can be used on all skin types for a matter of a few minutes per day.
Q: Tell me about your MDPen, which is another treatment unique to Redefyned Skincare.
A: The MDPen is used for microneedling, which is essentially a process that damages the skin in an effective order to get increased circulation. The MDPen is my signature treatment and it is an anti-aging tool that features several tiny needles that both restore and refine the skin to a natural, youthful glow. The rule of thumb is that the pen cannot go deeper than 0.5 millimeters, however, my pen penetrates the skin three millimeters deep, which can aid in the removal of surgical scars after three to four treatments. However, since I am a phlebotomist, I can go deeper than the 0.5 millimeter rule for this minimally invasive treatment.
Q: What are some of the products you recommend patients use in conjunction with their treatments?
A: It’s important to start good skincare habits early on. Just wash, tone and moisturize if you want to keep it simple. I really love Indie Lee’s makeup products, especially the cleansers, toners, creams and moisturizers. The Squalane Facial Oil, Co-Q10 toner and Brightening Cleanser are my personal favorite products.