Today we’d like to introduce you to KarriAnn Khalil, NP and Christine Nell, NP.
We got our start naturally being born to the same parents back in Wisconsin. We are a Nurse Practitioner sister team who work in Dermatology. We both have always been obsessed with our own skin and thoroughly enjoy helping others achieve their skin goals. Christine moved to Los Angeles first and was lucky enough to get an internship with Dr. Ava Shamban in her Santa Monica office. Dr. Shamban is a highly respected dermatologist and known worldwide. Christine then partnered with Dr. Shamban to build a practice in Beverly Hills. From there, she insisted her little sister KarriAnn come intern with her who was studying to be a nurse practitioner at the time in Southern California. KarriAnn immediately took to the field of Dermatology and knew that she also wanted to specialize in it. Together we formed a partnership, Skin Sisters Beverly Hills and joined forces with Dr. Shamban to develop SkinFive by Ava MD.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Shockingly, being a sister duo we rarely disagree so from our standpoint as partners we have faced little to no challenges. However, we built our first SkinFive location in the Pacific Palisades and there were many little roadblocks, such as a giant tree blocking our signage. Still to this day, it drives us wild and if one day a car just happens to take it down, we won’t be sad. On a more serious note, finding the correct staff was very challenging. We always say that we are very talented at what we do in Beverly Hills, but the main reason people come to us is for our personalities. We try to make everyone feel special and like are part of the Ava MD family. Unfortunately, you cannot always teach/train passion, you have to be born with it.
We then opened our second SkinFive location in Westfield Century City and there we encountered some of the silliest struggles. For instance, our construction crew was only allowed to work during certain hours and if they were seen on the mall interior with their toolboxes, we would be threatened with a fine. Our poor construction team and contractor had to constantly sneak around and hide from the mall security. We do look back and chuckle now; but at the time it was so stressful and it actually delayed our opening. Time is money…that we were not making with a closed door.
Please tell us about SkinFive by AVA MD.
SkinFive by AVA MD is an accessible skincare venue. The three of us hand-picked treatments and products that are science-based and proven to work. The whole concept was we wanted to create a list of treatments that anybody could do (any age, ethnicity, or gender) with little to no downtime, little to no pain, yet still were efficacious. People walk in looking good and walk out looking great and more importantly they feel great. We wanted skincare and body treatments to be less intimidating.
Our membership (High Five Club) is a no brainer. For $149/month you get a monthly Hydrafacial and Slimmer, a Lymphatic drainage massage, as well as 15% off of any other treatments and/or products.
What sets us apart from others is that all of our providers in both locations are Registered Nurses. We felt this was very important since they understand and have study all of the systems of the body, Furthermore, nurses actually have courses in compassion. We are taught to heel and treat the person first and the disease second. Having worked in dermatology for many years, we have realized how much we are helping treat not only their skin but also their mental health. We see it every day – if somebody feels that they look better, they feel better. Bonus! It doesn’t get better than helping someone get ready for their wedding, helping them with their post-pregnancy body and even helping someone feel “good again” after chemotherapy.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Overall it has been a pretty smooth ride. However, if we had to start over again, we would have put more emphasis on body treatments from the get-go. We named it Skin Five for many reasons but primarily because we were planning on having five face and neck rejuvenation treatments. Then we added Coolsculpt to the menu which was a huge success and low and behold people were requesting more and more body treatments. We now have five treatments for the face and five treatments for the body. The most exciting one being EmSculpt. It is the equivalent of doing 20,000 sit-ups in 30 minutes. How could we say no to that proven technology?!
Pricing:
- High Five Club $149/month = Monthly Hydrafacial and Slimmer by Balancer Pro (lymphatic drainage massage), as well as, 15% off any other treatments and/or products
Contact Info:
- Address: SkinFive by Ava MD 970 Monument St., Suite 216 Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 SkinFive by Ava MD Westfield Century City Mall 10250 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90067
Ava MD 9915 S. Santa Monica Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90212 - Website: skinfive.com
- Phone: 424.313.8242 Century City 424.322.8780 Pacific Palisades
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @skinsistersbeverlyhills
Image Credit:
Michele Mattei for the first image (white dress/blue dress) and professional lab coat image
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