Interview with Dr Javeria Atif – Dermatologist and Aesthetic Physician

Skim us through your early life and professional journey?
A doctor who always wanted to be an artist and now I’m both. Being a dermatologist I’m someone who believes in science but being an aesthetic physician my work is my art. I did my graduation from Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore Pakistan, I was a gold medallist of my institute. After doing my graduation, I moved back and forth between UAE and the UK for my post-graduation. After completing my post-graduation I did my fellowships in aesthetics. Now currently I’m a member of the American board of Aesthetic Medicine as well as American academy of anti-aging medicine.
 
 
What services do you offer at your beauty clinic?
So I work in Dubai and Abu Dhabi both and in both of my clinic we provide all the services related to skin for face and body. We have mainly 6 departments including plastic surgery, dermatology, nutrition weight loss, hair transplant, general medicine and dental. When it comes to dermatology department we have almost all kinds of lasers present in the market apart from that we provide fillers, botox, threads, and we’re quite famous when it comes to treating acne and acne scars and pigmentation particularly in the brown skin because brown skin behaves quite different from the white skin. Apart from that we have almost all the hero machines that are present in the market for body slimming, for fat melting as well as for skin tightening.
 
 
What inspired you to pursue a career in dermatology?
Basically I’ve been a patient of acne throughout my life. I have faced teenage acne, hormonal acne, adult acne so I know how much painful it is physically as well as emotionally. When I was facing acne I have been to a lot of doctors including the big names of my country and I concluded that I was just another patient for them and they were giving me treatments just to make money so I  decided to come in this field. A lot of my patients they know two things about me first of all I always try to customize the treatment according to the patient, according to what’s going on in their mind. Plus I’m extremely honest about my opinion so I feel blessed that i make them feel better about themselves and I not only heal their skin but also their hearts.
 
 
What are your recommendations for maintaining healthy skin, hair and nails?
So when you ask me some general advice about skin, nails and hair for everyone I want to mention something extremely important and extremely Underrated nowadays that is your lifestyle. Your lifestyle is extremely important for all the organs of the body including the skin, hair and nails. So eat rainbow and try to complete 5-7 colours of vegetables and fruits every day. Number 2 cut-down the sugar intake because sugar is a great ager for the body and it is much more dangerous than smoking. Number 3 is to be physically active. You know when you’re physically active it doesn’t only bring your weight under control but also regulates your hormones as well as it enables you to deal with the stress of daily life. Number 4 which is extremely important, when it comes to your skincare please stick to basic. Don’t use 9-10 steps of skincare in the morning as well as in the evening. You just have to use 1-2 good target oriented actives in your skincare routine. In that way you will be more consistent, you will know what is working for you and what is not working for you.
 
 
 
 
How do you stay updated on the latest trends and advancements in the beauty industry?
Fortunately I live in a place where all the big companies come very often and conduct a lot of trainings and a lot of big conferences happen in this part of the world. So I attend a lot of trainings and conferences because I believe that when you keep learning you keep growing. On the other hand I try my level best to share my experiences and whatever I have learned so I travel to different countries to share my experience with other doctors and to train them. This is how I stay updated about my field.
 
How do you handle client feedback or concerns?
When it comes to the feedback of my clients, it’s extremely important whether it’s positive or negative because i believe that the feedback is what reshape my work and make it better over the period of time. So all of my patients they know one thing about me that I try to stay in touch with all of my patients until and unless they’re happy and satisfied. So we always try to reach back to our patients and we call them for follow-up because I personally believe that their feedback is way more important for me than them.
 
Can you provide guidance on the best ways to protect the skin from environmental factors like pollution and harsh weather?
So this is very important and interesting question that does pollution affect your skin and my answer is yes. Like any other organ of your body, your skin gets affected from the pollution. How? By producing free radicals. Yes, these free radicals will ultimately leads to fine lines, wrinkles and pigmentation. How you can protect your skin against pollution. Number 1 I always advise my patients to apply physical sunscreen because it provides a barrier between you and the environment. Number 2 is cleansing your face two times. When you come back home, double cleansing is a game changer. Number 3 is Astaxanthin is an antioxidant which is backed up by a lot of research.
 
 
What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned in this journey of success?
The greatest lesson which I have learned during the journey of my success is that the cycle of life is all about ups and downs. When you’re down you will go up. When you’re up you should be prepared to go down. But during this cycle do stick to 2-3 people who are genuinely happy for you when you’re up and the people who lifts you up when you’re down. These are the people who will pick up your call in the middle of the night and they will stay with you, and they will sit with you to listen to your silence when you’re feeling down. These people are extremely important for you. These are the people we collect in our life, we remember them and we keep them for the rest of our lives because these people are the biggest asset we have in our life.
 
What advice do you have for the people who want to step into beauty industry?
Though I still consider myself a learner in this field but what I have learned from my experience until now is that there is a big problem happening in this field. We have started calling our patients our clients so when they come to us they trust us with their insecurities, the insecurities that they cannot tell their partner or loved ones. So don’t take it for granted, there is a huge responsibility on your shoulder when you join this field, because the rules and regulations all over the world related to this field are not that strict but remember at the end that you’re a doctor and they’re the patients.