Every December the same question arrives at cosmetic clinics, phrased about a dozen different ways. Someone wants to buy a treatment for a partner, a sister, a mother or a friend, and they want to know which one to pick.
The honest answer is that they should not pick one, and that this is a feature rather than an obstacle.
Why you cannot buy someone a treatment
Whether a cosmetic treatment is appropriate for a particular person is decided at an in-person consultation, by the nurse, with the person who will actually be treated sitting in front of her. That assessment covers their skin, their medical history, what they are asking for and whether what they are asking for is a reasonable thing to do. None of that can be established in advance by whoever is paying, however well they know the person.
For the two prescription categories this is not only clinical practice, it is the law. Fine lines and wrinkles and volumising treatments involve Schedule 4 prescription medicines. A prescription medicine cannot be advertised to the public in Australia, which is why those two pages describe the concern and the consultation rather than the treatment, and it is also why nobody can hand you one in a box with a ribbon on it. A prescriber has to assess the person and decide.
So the thing to give is not a treatment. It is the means to have one, and the freedom to be told it is not the right idea.
What a voucher actually is
An Enrich Aesthetics gift voucher is an amount, not a service. There is no fixed value. You choose what to give, add a message if you want one, and the person receiving it decides what to do with it after they have been assessed.
That structure does the work. The recipient books a consultation, sits down with Kirsty, and finds out what is suitable for them rather than what someone else guessed at in December. If the answer turns out to be something completely different from what you had in mind, the voucher still covers it. If the answer is that nothing is appropriate right now, the voucher is still there for when something is.
The consultation itself is not charged, so a voucher of any size leaves that door open. Where a prescription is involved there is a $27.50 telehealth scripting fee, which covers the prescribing practitioner’s consultation rather than any treatment.
Choosing an amount
Several services at Enrich Aesthetics carry published prices, because they are cosmeceutical treatments, medical devices or a cosmetic procedure rather than prescription medicines. That means you can pick an amount against something real instead of guessing.
- Chemical peels are $99, $120 and $140 for levels 1 to 3, each a 30 minute appointment. Level 4 is discussed at consultation.
- LED light therapy added to a peel is $60.
- Teeth whitening is $100 per 30 minutes, so the length of the appointment sets the price.
- Exosome therapy is $450, which includes a skin needling step and LED.
- Skin boosters are $500.
- Bio-stimulator threads start at $500.
- Rejuran is $550 or $700 depending on the course.
The two prescription categories have no published price and cannot have one. That does not mean a voucher aimed at either is used up by the appointment. A consultation is not charged, so the voucher holds its full value until there is something to put it toward, and the only charge that can arise before any treatment is the $27.50 telehealth scripting fee where a prescription is involved.
Nothing says a voucher has to cover a whole treatment. A contribution toward something the person has already been thinking about is a perfectly ordinary thing to give, and it often lands better than an amount picked to look impressive.
What to know before you buy one
The terms are short and worth reading before you decide, because they are not unusual but they are firm.
Vouchers are valid until the expiry date shown on them, and cannot be redeemed or replaced after that date. They are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for cash. They cannot be combined with other offers or specials. Lost or stolen vouchers are not replaced, so it is worth photographing the voucher when it arrives.
The full terms sit on the gift vouchers page alongside the rest of the detail.
Is it the right gift at all
This is worth saying plainly, because the category tends not to.
A cosmetic voucher is a good gift for someone who has told you they are interested. It is a poor gift for someone who has not, because whatever you intend by it, a voucher for facial treatments can read as a comment on someone’s face. If you are unsure which of those two situations you are in, you are probably in the second one.
Where it works well is when it takes something off a person’s list rather than putting something new on it. Someone who has mentioned wanting to talk to a nurse about their skin, someone already paying for treatments, someone who has said they would go if they got around to it. In those cases the voucher removes the last bit of friction, which is usually the cost rather than the interest.
It also works for someone who only wants to be assessed. A consultation is not charged, so going in and being told what is and is not worth doing takes nothing off the voucher. The full amount is still sitting there afterwards, whether they use it that day, months later, or decide against the whole idea.
Practicalities
Enrich Aesthetics is a single-practitioner clinic, which affects the timing more than it affects anything else. There is one nurse and one appointment book, so a treatment is not a same-week arrangement in the way a retail purchase is. Anyone planning to use a voucher around a specific date, their own birthday in January or an event in autumn, is better off booking the consultation early and working backwards from it.
That is a scheduling point rather than a reason to hurry. The voucher does not change value and the clinic does not run seasonal offers.
To arrange one, get in touch. Enquiries are answered within 24 hours, and vouchers are prepared ready to send to whoever they are for.
About this clinic
Enrich Aesthetics is a single-practitioner, nurse-led clinic at 22 French Rd, Wangi Wangi, on the western side of Lake Macquarie. The nurse who assesses you is the nurse who treats you.
Kirsty Neagle is a Registered Nurse (Division 1) holding general registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, AHPRA registration NMW0001646562, verifiable on the public AHPRA register.
Appointments run 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, closing at 3pm on Thursdays. The clinic is appointment-only rather than a walk-in space. Clients travel in from Toronto, Rathmines, Coal Point, Carey Bay, Kilaben Bay, Morisset, Warners Bay and Belmont.
The short version
You cannot buy someone a treatment, and you would not want to. A voucher gives them the amount and leaves the decision where it belongs, with the nurse who assesses them and the person being assessed.
Pick an amount against a published price if you want it to cover something specific. Pick any amount if you do not. Give it to someone who has already told you they are interested, and let the consultation do the rest.
This guide is general information about buying a gift voucher. It is not medical advice, and it does not replace an in-person consultation.
