A licensed esthetician for over five years, 27-year-old Nashville native Meredith Campbell has always had a passion for making other people feel beautiful and confident in their own skin. “I always loved doing my mom's and friend's makeup and just pampering everyone I loved,” she says.
After working for and interviewing with other salons over the years, Meredith found that she wasn’t able to provide the exact type of services and results she wanted for her clientele. So in April of this year, she opened Confidence By Mere in Franklin's Grassland neighborhood. “I want to provide my clients with this sweet spot between a luxury day spa and a med spa,” she says. “I want both the results and relaxation because I feel like self-care is so much larger than just skin care. I want to nurture someone's soul and for them to feel better mentally, physically, and emotionally when they leave my salon suite.”
The suite itself imbues calmness and relaxation. “Clients don't have to go through a front desk person; it's all run through me. I have a beautiful pale blue suite with white accents and little crystals hanging in the corners.”
Meredith offers a wide range of services for all skin types, with many being requested again and again. “My Dermaplane Refresh Facial is a favorite because of the exfoliation and immediate results people love,” she says. “But it also has the long-term effects of cell turnover, which helps with fine lines and wrinkles.”
The CO2 Lift is another client favorite. “It's this beautiful mask that’s left on for 45 minutes while I’m giving a nice scalp, hand, arm, and foot massage. The mask helps regenerate the skin and I like to think of it as a hyperbaric chamber for your face. It helps rush oxygen-rich blood up to the surface of the skin and is going to plump, hydrate, brighten, tighten, and lift skin.”
The Aging Gracefully Facial promotes aging as beautifully as possible. “I don’t like to use the term ‘anti-aging’ because there should be nothing negative about it,” says Meredith. “What I use during that facial is a line called Yonka from Paris and it's all about bringing the skin back into balance. It uses aromatherapy, relaxation techniques, facial techniques and reflexology. It's really just a whole ball of self-care.”
She also likes to incorporate Gua Sha. “This is an ancient Chinese technique with little jade stones in different shapes,” says Meredith. “These little stones are used for lymphatic drainage of the skin, and it's almost like a contouring tool that also helps with fine lines, wrinkles and, of course, that puffiness in the face. It helps with regenerating the cells, so it's actually good for people with acne, and really great for helping those who have saggy jowls or feel like their necks are starting to droop.”
While some people come in with an idea of the treatment they want, others aren’t sure of what they need. “As soon as they get onto my table, I'm going to talk about what skin products they’re using and their long and short term goals,” she says. She will decline to provide a service that is not suitable for a client's skin, even if it's requested. “This is where having a licensed esthetician, and someone with years of experience dealing with different skin types, different age groups, and different goals, is very important,” says
Meredith. She explains that while you learn the basics of skin care in esthetician school, the real magic comes from taking that knowledge and combining it with ongoing learning and training. “I'm always actively learning new techniques and taking courses.”
Her main goal is, and always will be, to instill confidence in all of her clients and even those she just comes into contact with. “Especially because of social media, I feel like so many women have confidence issues. But people are seeing what celebrities are doing to look so young and fantastic at such advanced ages, and I feel like they are now realizing that these treatments are not just for celebrities. Everyone deserves to feel good in their own skin, and I feel that in the past few years, skincare has really become a forefront of the whole self-care movement with really focusing on mental health, physical health, and just really taking the
time for yourself.”
Meredith and her fiancé, DuSean Sayles, (they’re getting married in October) live by Belmont University and have two fur babies - a dog named Mani, and a little fluffy orange cat named Pierre. “We're big foodies, and we enjoy the food scene here,” she says. “New
restaurants pop up all the time and we like to try new things. We're pretty adventurous eaters, so we really love trying unique tasting menus. We love our craft beers too, so we like going to breweries. You can usually catch us at our neighborhood Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint. That is pretty much our stomping ground.”
“What I do is definitely all about spreading positivity,” Meredith says. ConfidenceByMere.com