Qualifications
RGN SCM NIP
NMC Mentor
BA Professional Studies
Cert Education
C&G/VTCT Assessor AQA/ IQA Award
Dip Life Coach
Bio
Alice Danker is the founder/director of Vanity Beauty/Health and Aesthetics (Vanity Harrogate Ltd). I have 22 years’ experience in this field.
There are not many areas of nursing that I have left untouched. From general nursing, midwifery, and working in a special babies’ unit to running a residential home for the elderly, I have tried many specialities before finding my ideal job in aesthetics. I am originally from Malaysia, but studied nursing in King’s Lynn, East Anglia and midwifery at Whipps Cross London. Following this, I then worked with Waltham Forest Social Services in care of the elderly, eventually setting up a residential home for the elderly in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1987. I worked in that capacity for twelve years, but one morning I felt no joy left in me as my ‘work-life-balance was out of kilter. It was sobering. I thought, “I can’t do this anymore.”
Something had to change. I have always had a passion for beauty and in 1998 I began to gradually close the business I had worked for so long and decided to undertake a level 2, 3 and 4 qualification in beauty therapy.
I opened my salon in November 1999 and never looked back. I got into teaching by accident. Students in the group were always coming to me for further explanation and I realised that I loved sharing my knowledge. With my medical nursing background I found it was very useful.
I enrolled into City & Guild 730 as the stepping stone to vocational education. I then started my first lecturing job in beauty therapy at an Fe college in Harrogate. I also worked at a private college as a educator and had the Lead Beauty manager’s role.
My job involved curriculum development, staff management, assessing, internal verifying, quality control. I did this part time so as to continue to develop my skills in the treatments and business side. I believe it is imperative to have hands on experience to provide the essential skills and knowledge to the students.
My introduction to Aesthetics was again quite accidental when attending one of the Professional Beauty shows, I witnessed a health care professional injecting dermal filler on a life model in one of the exhibition booths. That was year 2002/2003. This I believe was the starting point where injections with collagen and hyaluronic acids being widely introduced to the UK market to correct wrinkles and volume lost.
It took another 2 years for me to pluck up the courage and felt I could do this. I was trained by a reputable company and have never looked back. Being able to ‘turn back the clock’ and the reward from patients when they said “Wow” is humbling. Beauty is not just skin deep; it goes far beyond psychologically.
This is where my journey started.
I am an Independent Specialist Nurse Practitioner in Aesthetics Medicine offering health and all aspects of skin rejuvenation and youth enhancing treatments. These include medical grade skincare and injectables. My regulatory body is the NMC and I practice adhering to their mandatory code. To be on their register I must complete a Portfolio of CPDs and Revalidation procedures.
This is imperative to proof that I am abiding by the code to Prioritize people, practicing safely to preserve safety, effectively, promote professionalism/trust.
For these reasons I decided to offer my services as a regional leader for the British Association For Cosmetic Nurses (BACN) (Yorkshire and Humberside)
In the world of aesthetics medicine, one must never practice alone. Support is imperative therefore an association with like-minded professionals is particularly important. This is a ‘win-win’ theology to ‘first do no harm’!
The general public needs to be educated that having fillers injected into the skin is a ‘medical procedure’ and adverse reactions can occur with dire consequences requiring expert help! With this in mind, medical aesthetics must remain medical.
About Me
What inspires and excites me throughout my life journey is challenging my limitations and most of all enjoy myself along the way. Never stop learning.
Never be afraid to diversify, utilize all your previous learnings/experiences and aspire to a new career pathway so as to achieve your work life balance.
Distance yourself from negativity however keep people that inspire you close to your heart.
Last but not least, be kind.