A Plastic Surgeon’s Standard
The Difference Is Judgment
Aesthetica was created for patients who want to look refreshed—not treated. Lasers, injectables, advanced skin care, and functional wellness are considered together, with each plan shaped around your features, your skin, your goals, and the amount of downtime you can accept.
Because Aesthetica is part of a plastic surgery practice, the recommendation is not limited to a med spa menu. The right answer may be Botox, BBL, MOXI, a facial, or wellness care. It may also be deeper resurfacing, surgery—or less treatment than you expected.
Four connected families of care. Aesthetica brings together Sciton laser treatments, injectables, medical aesthetics, and functional wellness. This allows concerns involving pigment, redness, expression lines, volume, texture, scars, laxity, hair, or hormonal change to be considered together rather than matched automatically to one device or treatment.
A plan based on skin, anatomy, and timing. For aesthetic care, the team evaluates your concern, Fitzpatrick skin type, recent sun exposure, medical history, and the amount of visible recovery you can accept. Wellness care begins with a medical evaluation and laboratory testing. Your written plan identifies the recommended treatment, its order, expected downtime, and who will perform it.
Care by the appropriate provider. Injectables are performed by Dr. Howarth or an advanced aesthetic nurse injector under her direction. Light and non-ablative laser treatments are performed by trained clinical team members under written protocols. Medical-aesthetic treatments are performed by the appropriately licensed provider. Dr. Howarth personally evaluates and performs deeper, full-field, and surgery-coordinated laser resurfacing.
Arizona changes the calendar. Light and laser treatments that require untanned skin are generally planned during Scottsdale’s cooler months, October through April. Injectables, facials, HydraFacial, light peels, SkinPen, and wellness care are available year-round.
SCOTTSDALE · A MODERN OFFICE SETTING
Four Families of Care
Explore Med Spa Treatments in Scottsdale
Sciton Lasers
BBL HEROic, MOXI, HALO and resurfacing for pigment, redness and texture.
Explore Lasers
Injectables
Botox, Dysport, Daxxify, dermal fillers and PRF for movement, volume and hair.
Explore Injectables
Medical Aesthetics
HydraFacial, SkinPen, peels, facials and Ellacor for skin health and texture.
Explore Skin Treatments
Functional Wellness
Hormone and medical weight-loss care guided by evaluation and labs.
Explore WellnessExplore by Concern
What Would You Like to Change?
At Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD in Scottsdale, you do not need to know the name of a treatment before you visit. Start with what you see or feel. The clinical team considers your skin, facial anatomy, symptoms, goals, medical history, downtime, and Arizona sun exposure before recommending a plan.
More than one concern may belong in the same plan. The first visit determines what should come first, which treatment fits, and when the most honest recommendation is to do less.
Where to Start
Who Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD Is For, and What Happens First
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is for adults who want a specific change in their skin, face, hair, or health and want a physician’s judgment on how to get it. The first visit is a skin assessment for the three aesthetic families and a medical evaluation with labs for wellness. At the skin assessment a member of the physician-led team examines the skin under magnification and answers four questions in order. What is the concern, and which layer is it in: pigment and redness, which point to the Sciton lasers; expression lines and volume loss, which point to injectables; dullness, congestion, scars, and texture, which point to medical aesthetics; and descent, which points to a surgical conversation with Dr. Howarth. What is the Fitzpatrick skin type, which decides which lasers are safe and at what settings. How many days of visible healing can you accept. And what month is it, because light and laser treatments wait for laser season, October to April, while the rest of the menu runs all year. Symptoms that point to hormones or weight are directed to a wellness evaluation, where labs come before any prescription. A changing pigmented lesion is sent to a dermatologist before any cosmetic treatment.
Dr. Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS is a board-certified plastic surgeon and an instructor in plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is the medical aesthetics brand of her practice, Howarth Plastic Surgery, at 7373 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite C150, Scottsdale, Arizona 85253.
At a Glance
Aesthetica at a Glance
The four families of care at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, plus the Treat a Concern guides, by what each family treats, its range of downtime, and when it is scheduled in Scottsdale. Individual plans are set at the skin assessment.
| Family | Treatments | What it solves | Downtime range | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sciton lasers | BBL HERO, BBL HEROic, MOXI, HALO, MicroLaserPeel, ProFractional, Contour TRL | Brown spots, redness, diffuse pigment, texture, pores, fine lines, acne scars, etched wrinkles | Minimal for BBL, 1 to 2 days for MOXI, 5 to 7 days for HALO, 7 to 10 days or more for deep Contour TRL | October to April; 2 to 4 weeks of sun avoidance after |
| Injectables | Botox, Dysport, Daxxify, dermal fillers, PRF EZ Gel, PRF hair restoration | Expression lines, volume loss in cheeks, lips, chin, jawline, and temples, under-eye hollows, thinning hair | None for neuromodulators; up to a few days of swelling or bruising for fillers and PRF | Year-round |
| Medical aesthetics | HydraFacial, SkinPen microneedling, chemical peels, facials, Ellacor, lymphatic massage, ear piercing | Dullness, congestion, dehydration, acne and acne scars, texture, lower-face wrinkles, post-surgical swelling | None for HydraFacial, facials, and light peels; 1 to 3 days for SkinPen; 5 to 7 days for medium peels; up to a week for Ellacor | Year-round; medium peels October to April |
| Functional wellness | Bioidentical hormone replacement, medical weight loss | Perimenopause and menopause symptoms, low testosterone, excess weight, and the skin and hair changes that follow | None; labs first and rechecks every 3 to 6 months | Year-round |
| Treat a Concern guides | Ten guides, from Skin in Arizona to Hair Thinning | Which treatment comes first for the thing you see in the mirror, and when the answer is a dermatologist or surgery | Varies with the treatment each guide names | Each guide states its own season |
By Concern
Start Here by Concern
The treatment that usually comes first for each concern at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, what is considered next, and the guide that explains the decision. Skin type, downtime, and the month move a concern from the first column to the second.
| Concern | Start with | Then consider | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin in Arizona | A skin assessment, a daily mineral SPF 30 or higher, and a calendar that places lasers in October to April | HydraFacial and light peels through the summer; a laser series planned to finish before spring | Skin in Arizona |
| Sun damage and brown spots | BBL HERO, 2 to 3 sessions about 4 weeks apart, on fair to medium skin | MOXI for diffuse pigment or darker skin; HALO when texture accompanies the spots; a dermatologist for any changing spot | Sun Damage & Brown Spots |
| Redness and rosacea | BBL HERO with the redness filters, in a short series | Gentle medical-grade skincare and HydraFacial for sensitive skin; a dermatologist for rosacea that needs prescription therapy | Redness & Rosacea |
| Fine lines and wrinkles | Botox, Dysport, or Daxxify for lines that move with expression | MOXI or HALO for fine lines at rest; Contour TRL, performed by Dr. Howarth, for etched lines; fillers for folds from volume loss | Fine Lines & Wrinkles |
| Skin texture, pores, and dullness | MOXI in laser season, or SkinPen in any season | HALO for texture that outlasts a series; HydraFacial monthly for dullness; a medium peel in the cooler months | Skin Texture, Pores & Dullness |
| Acne and acne scars | Light salicylic peels and HydraFacial with extractions for active acne; SkinPen for scars on any skin type | ProFractional in laser season for deep rolling or boxcar scars; a dermatologist for persistent or cystic acne | Acne & Acne Scars |
| Melasma | A topical pigment program, strict sunscreen, and light peels | MOXI at conservative settings in laser season; broadband light is avoided because heat and light can worsen melasma | Melasma |
| Dry and dehydrated skin | HydraFacial, customized facials, and medical-grade barrier repair | MOXI for early sun damage beneath the dryness; a wellness evaluation when dryness arrives with menopause symptoms | Dry & Dehydrated Skin |
| Skin laxity | SkinPen or HALO for mild laxity; Ellacor for moderate to severe lower-face wrinkles | Facelift, neck lift, or eyelid surgery with Dr. Howarth when the problem is descent; body contouring after major weight loss | Skin Laxity |
| Hair thinning | PRF hair restoration, 3 to 4 scalp sessions 4 to 6 weeks apart, for mild to moderate thinning | A wellness lab panel for iron, thyroid, and hormones before shedding is attributed to any one cause | Hair Thinning |
Your First Visit
What to Expect at a First Visit to Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD
A first visit to Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD has three parts: an assessment that names the concern and the family of care it belongs to, a written plan that names each treatment and who performs it, and a calendar that places light-sensitive treatments inside laser season and everything else around it. Most first visits include a first treatment when the plan allows it, such as HydraFacial, a light peel, or a neuromodulator; light and laser treatment waits for untanned skin.
The concern named, the family chosen, the limits recorded
A member of the physician-led team examines pigment, redness, texture, lines, scars, volume, and laxity under magnification, records your Fitzpatrick skin type and recent sun exposure, asks how many days of visible healing you can accept, and flags anything the med spa should not treat first: a changing lesion, true descent, or a symptom that needs labs.
Each treatment named, in order, with who performs it
You leave with the plan in writing: which family or families, which treatments, how many sessions, the downtime for each, whether it is performed by a laser technician, the nurse injector, the licensed aesthetician, a licensed wellness provider, or Dr. Howarth, and the point at which physician-performed resurfacing or a surgical consultation would be the next step.
Lasers between October and April, the rest year-round
Light and laser treatments and medium peels are booked in laser season, usually as a series that finishes before spring UV climbs. Injectables, HydraFacial, facials, light peels, SkinPen, Ellacor, and wellness care fill the rest of the year. Summer is written into the plan rather than left empty, with sunscreen correction and HydraFacial while the skin waits for October.
Clear Information. Informed Choices.
What a Med Spa Inside a Surgical Practice Does Differently
Every treatment on this page carries risk, and the honest difference between med spas is how that risk is screened, managed, and disclosed. Light and laser treatments can cause post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, more likely on tanned skin, on darker skin types treated too aggressively, and on skin exposed to sun while healing, which is why Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD schedules them between October and April and adjusts settings by skin type. Dermal fillers carry a rare but serious risk of vascular occlusion, which a plastic surgeon’s practice manages with anatomical knowledge, hyaluronidase on site, and a physician in the building. Medium peels, SkinPen, and Ellacor carry a rising pigment risk as skin type darkens. Hormone therapy and GLP-1 medication carry medical risks that labs and a contraindication screen reduce but do not remove. What a med spa inside a surgical practice does differently is to say plainly what its treatments cannot do: no laser lifts jowls, no filler fixes a loose neck, no facial changes a collagen problem, no hormone produces weight loss, and no cosmetic treatment should touch a pigmented lesion that has not been examined. When the answer is surgery or a dermatologist, the practice says so.
Possible Side Effects Include
- Redness, warmth, and swelling from hours after light treatment to a week after resurfacing
- Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, more likely with darker skin, tanned skin, or sun during healing
- Bruising, swelling, or asymmetry after injectables, and rarely vascular occlusion with filler
- Breakouts, flaking, or prolonged pinkness after peels, SkinPen, or Ellacor
- Nausea with weight loss medication, or breast tenderness and spotting in the first weeks of hormone therapy
What Treatment Cannot Guarantee
- Lifting comparable to a facelift, neck lift, or eyelid surgery
- Safe light or laser treatment on tanned skin in any month
- A result identical to another patient's photographs
- Weight loss from hormone therapy, or tighter skin from any medication
- A substitute for a dermatologist's evaluation of a changing spot
The Downtime Ladder
Downtime Across the Four Families, From None to Two Weeks
Downtime is the most practical way to compare treatments across families, because it is the variable patients feel most and the one most closely tied to how much a treatment changes. The ladder below runs from no visible recovery to about two weeks. When treatments are combined in one visit, the longest recovery in the combination is the one to plan around, and in Arizona every rung above the first also needs 2 to 4 weeks of strict sun avoidance afterward, which is why the light-based rungs live in laser season.
HydraFacial and facials leave skin slightly pink for an hour. A light peel may flake for 2 to 3 days. Botox, Dysport, and Daxxify leave small bumps that settle within the hour, with the effect arriving over 3 to 14 days. Lymphatic massage and wellness care have none. This is the rung for summer, for events, and for monthly maintenance.
BBL HERO and BBL HEROic leave skin warm and pink for a day while treated spots darken and flake over 7 to 14 days; makeup is fine by day 2. MOXI is 1 to 2 days of pinkness and 3 to 5 days of fine sandpaper texture. SkinPen is 1 to 3 days of sunburn-like pinkness. Dermal fillers and PRF EZ Gel can bring a few days of swelling or a bruise. Most patients treat on a Thursday and are presentable by Monday.
HALO is 5 to 7 days: sunburn-like on days 1 to 2, sandpaper by day 3, peeling through day 5 to 7, then the glow at 2 to 3 weeks. A light MicroLaserPeel heals in 3 to 5 days and ProFractional in 3 to 7 depending on depth. A medium TCA peel peels in sheets over 5 to 7 days. Ellacor is about 3 days of redness and pinpoint scabs, up to a week. Plan a long weekend to a week away from cameras and the sun, and book in laser season.
Deep Contour TRL resurfacing is 7 to 10 days of dressings and healing skin and longer for the deepest plans, with pinkness that fades over weeks, and it is performed by Dr. Howarth. Physician-performed laser skin resurfacing coordinated with facelift, neck lift, or eyelid surgery follows the surgical timeline. This rung is for etched wrinkles, deep scars, and descent, and it is planned in a consultation with the surgeon rather than at the med spa chair.
Surgeon-Directed Care
More Tools in the Toolbox: Why a Plastic Surgeon's Med Spa
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is the med spa of Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Scottsdale, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and an instructor in plastic surgery at Mayo Clinic, where she trained. She is a surgeon who performs facelifts, eyelid surgery, and body contouring, and who also sets every protocol in the med spa, and that combination changes what a patient is offered in four specific ways. First, diagnosis before treatment: a surgeon’s habit is to name the problem before choosing the tool, so a pigmented lesion is examined before it is lightened, a wrinkle is sorted into muscle, surface, or descent before anything is scheduled, and a hormone symptom gets labs before a prescription. Second, the depth decision: laser technicians perform BBL, MOXI, HALO, and lighter erbium treatments under her written protocols, and the deep, full-field, zone-specific, or surgery-coordinated resurfacing that changes etched wrinkles and scars is performed by Dr. Howarth, because depth is where the risk and the result both live. Third, complication management: a filler occlusion, a burn, a pigment change, or an infected piercing is a medical problem, and the physician who manages it is in the building, with hyaluronidase on the shelf and a surgeon’s knowledge of the facial vessels. Fourth, honest escalation: when jowls, a loose neck, heavy eyelids, or an abdominal apron after weight loss are the real concern, no device on the menu fixes them, and the same physician who directs the med spa offers facial surgery or body contouring rather than another series.
Choosing a med spa led by a female board-certified plastic surgeon also carries something quieter. Most of the patients who come to Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD are women who want to look rested rather than changed, and Dr. Howarth’s standard, in the med spa as in the operating room, is restraint: the smallest treatment that solves the problem, performed by the right person, at the right time of year. Most patients never need surgery, and the med spa exists so that they do not have to. But a practice that can also operate has no reason to oversell a laser, and a surgeon who trains other surgeons has no reason to hand a deep resurfacing to anyone else. More tools in the toolbox, and an honest answer about which one you need.
SCOTTSDALE · MODERN OFFICE SETTING
Before & After
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, Before and After Treatment
The fairest way to judge any treatment is a pair of photographs matched for concern, skin type, lighting, and timing. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD maintains before-and-after galleries across the families: BBL HERO for brown spots and redness, HALO and Contour TRL for texture and etched lines, Botox and dermal fillers for expression lines and volume, SkinPen for acne scars, and facial surgery for the cases that outgrew the med spa. During your assessment the team can show you cases that match your skin type, your concern, and the month you plan to treat.
Patient Case Summaries
Selected First-Visit Case Summaries
These deidentified case summaries illustrate how the physician-led team at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD decides where a new patient starts in Scottsdale. Each one shows a concern sorted into a family of care and the reason for it, across all four families: a new arrival who started with lasers, a patient who started with injectables, a patient with darker skin who started with medical aesthetics in summer, a patient whose skin and hair complaints began with wellness labs, a consultation in which the honest answer was surgery rather than anything on the med spa menu, and a long-term resident whose year is planned across all four. Each summary connects the patient’s concern and skin assessment with the decision made.
Case 01
Start with lasers
Brown spots and redness in a new arrival in October: BBL HERO with MOXI, with laser season on her side
Patient presentation
A woman in her forties who had moved to Scottsdale from Chicago the previous spring asked what would clear the brown spots and blotchy redness that had appeared across her cheeks after one Arizona summer, and whether she should start with a facial.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick II skin with scattered solar lentigines, diffuse background redness, mild dehydration, no melasma pattern, and no lesion with irregular borders or recent change. She was untanned by mid-October and could avoid sun for two weeks after each session. The concern was pigment and redness, which is a light problem, not a facial problem.
Procedure performed
A series of three BBL HERO sessions about four weeks apart, performed by a laser technician under Dr. Howarth’s protocol, with MOXI added in the same visits for the diffuse pigment, a mineral SPF 30 started at the first visit, and a HydraFacial planned for the following summer.
Clinical rationale
Discrete brown spots and redness on fair skin respond to broadband light, diffuse tone to the 1927 nm fractional laser, and the two are routinely combined in one visit; an October start let the whole series finish in January, well before spring UV. A facial would have hydrated the skin without touching the pigment.
Follow-up
Her spots and redness had cleared after the third session; she maintains with one BBL session each October, monthly HydraFacial through the summer, and daily sunscreen she did not use in Chicago.
Case 02
Start with injectables
Frown lines and flattened cheeks in a woman in her forties: a neuromodulator first, filler second, no laser needed
Patient presentation
A woman in her forties asked which laser would remove the vertical lines between her brows and the tired look she saw in photographs, having assumed that lines meant resurfacing.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick III skin with good surface quality and no significant sun damage. The glabellar lines appeared with expression and faded at rest, which makes them muscle lines, and the tired look came from mild deflation of the mid-cheeks rather than from the skin. No laser was indicated.
Procedure performed
Botox to the glabella and forehead, then at the two-week check a conservative hyaluronic acid filler to the cheeks performed by Dr. Howarth, with a medical-grade retinoid and sunscreen routine and no laser scheduled.
Clinical rationale
Expression lines are made by muscle and respond to a neuromodulator, not a laser; a hollow mid-face is a volume problem and responds to filler placed by someone who knows the vessels beneath it. Choosing the injectables family first spared her a laser series that would not have changed either concern.
Follow-up
The frown lines were soft at two weeks and the cheeks looked rested rather than filled; she returns every three to four months for the neuromodulator and is considering Daxxify for a longer interval.
Case 03
Start with medical aesthetics
Acne scars on Fitzpatrick V skin in June: SkinPen rather than a laser
Patient presentation
A man in his twenties with deep brown skin asked to start laser treatment in June for rolling acne scars across both cheeks, after a coworker’s HALO result.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick V skin with rolling scars and a few boxcar scars, no active acne, and a tan from outdoor work. An ablative or hybrid laser at this skin type carries a meaningful risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and no laser is used on tanned skin in an Arizona June. The concern belonged to medical aesthetics first.
Procedure performed
A series of four SkinPen microneedling sessions six weeks apart beginning in June, performed by the licensed aesthetician under Dr. Howarth’s protocol, with PRF applied topically after needling, strict sun avoidance for a week after each session, and a topical pigment program between sessions.
Clinical rationale
SkinPen creates collagen-stimulating channels mechanically, without heat or pigment absorption, is used across all skin types, and runs in summer with sun discipline; a conservative ProFractional session in a later laser season was written into the plan for any scars that remained.
Follow-up
Scar depth improved visibly after the fourth session with no pigment change; a single conservative ProFractional session to the deepest scars is planned for the coming winter.
Case 04
Start with wellness
Hot flashes, dry skin, and thinning hair in a woman in her fifties: labs first, then a hormone plan and a hair plan
Patient presentation
A woman in her fifties reported night sweats, skin that had gone dry and dull over two years, and hair thinning at the part, and asked whether a facial or a laser would fix the skin and hair.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick II skin with dehydration, fine lines, and early diffuse sun damage; diffuse thinning at the crown without scarring. Her symptoms pointed inward before they pointed at the skin, so a wellness evaluation with a fasting lab panel came first. Labs confirmed postmenopausal estrogen deficiency with normal ferritin and thyroid and no contraindication to hormone therapy.
Procedure performed
Bioidentical hormone replacement started by a licensed provider under Dr. Howarth’s direction with rechecks every three months, a PRF hair restoration series of four scalp sessions, monthly HydraFacial for the barrier, and MOXI planned for the following laser season.
Clinical rationale
Estrogen loss thins skin and hair, and treating the deficiency is the first step, but hormones alone do not restore the tissue already changed, which is why PRF for the scalp and MOXI for the skin were planned alongside rather than instead. Iron and thyroid were checked so that a non-hormonal cause of shedding was not missed.
Follow-up
Night sweats settled within a month, shedding slowed by the third PRF session, and her skin hydration improved on the HydraFacial series; she completed a MOXI series the following winter.
Case 05
Honest guidance
Jowls and a loose neck in a woman in her sixties who wanted everything except surgery
Patient presentation
A woman in her sixties, a long-term Scottsdale resident, asked for whichever combination of lasers, Ellacor, and filler would tighten her jawline and neck without an operation.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick II skin with moderate sun damage and good surface quality, but clear tissue descent along the jawline with jowls, a loose neck with platysmal banding, and no significant volume loss. The concern was descent, which no device in the med spa lifts.
Recommendation
A surgical consultation with Dr. Howarth for facelift and neck lift, with a BBL HERO series for the sun damage in the meantime and Ellacor discussed as a later option for residual perioral wrinkling once the tissue had been repositioned. Filler to the jawline was not recommended.
Clinical rationale
Lasers change the skin surface, Ellacor removes skin in the treated area, and filler adds volume; none of them moves descended fat and platysma. A practice that can perform the operation has no reason to sell three sessions of the wrong tool, and the honest answer was given at the first visit.
Follow-up
She underwent facelift and neck lift the following spring, returned for the BBL series that fall, and now maintains with monthly facials and a single Ellacor session for the perioral lines surgery does not address.
Case 06
Maintenance plan
A long-term Scottsdale resident's year, planned across all four families
Patient presentation
A man in his fifties who hiked most weekends and had completed a HALO series two years earlier asked for a plan that would keep his skin where it was without a series every winter.
Skin assessment
Fitzpatrick III skin with well-maintained texture, a few returning lentigines on the temples, crow’s feet that deepened with squinting on the trail, and mild dehydration through the summer. No lesion needing referral, and testosterone and thyroid normal on his annual wellness labs.
Procedure performed
A written annual calendar: one BBL HERO session each October for the returning spots, a neuromodulator to the crow’s feet every four months, monthly HydraFacial from May through September, a wellness recheck each January, and a MOXI session in February in the years texture drifts.
Clinical rationale
Maintenance across families costs less downtime than correction, and the plan places each rung in its season: light in laser season, injectables on their own clock, HydraFacial through the summer, and labs once a year. Writing it down is what keeps it from becoming a menu again.
Follow-up
He joined the A-List so the next season is scheduled before the last one ends, and his skin at the two-year mark matched the photographs taken after the original HALO series.
From First Visit to a Plan You Can Keep
Booking, Planning, and Follow-Up at Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is a medical practice with a spa’s convenience. Established patients book online. New patients can book online or request a consultation, and the team responds usually the same day.
Online booking or a consultation request
Book a skin assessment directly online, or request a consultation and describe what you see in the mirror, the treatment you have in mind if you have one, and the downtime you can give. Either path starts with the same examination, and the family of care is chosen after it.
The family, the treatments, and who performs them, in writing
You leave your first visit with a written plan: which of the four families, which treatments and in what order, who performs each, how many sessions, the downtime for each, which months they fall in, the home routine that protects the result, and the point at which physician-performed resurfacing or a surgical consultation would be next.
Maintenance timed to laser season, injectables on their own clock
Most Scottsdale plans repeat annually: a fall laser session, injectables every 3 to 6 months, HydraFacial or a facial through the summer, wellness rechecks every 3 to 6 months, sunscreen year-round. A-List members have the next season scheduled before they leave the last one.
Your Questions, Answered
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD Frequently Asked Questions
A med spa, or medical spa, is a clinic that offers medical-grade aesthetic treatments, lasers, injectables, microneedling, and medium-depth peels, under the direction of a physician, with the setting and convenience of a spa. What separates one med spa from another is who directs it and who performs each treatment. At Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD the director is a board-certified plastic surgeon, every protocol is hers, and deep resurfacing is performed by her.
Yes. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is the med spa of Howarth Plastic Surgery, the Scottsdale plastic surgery practice of Ashley Howarth, MD, FACS. The two share one physician, one suite at 7373 N. Scottsdale Road, and one plan, so a patient whose concern outgrows the med spa moves to physician-performed resurfacing or surgery with the same surgeon rather than being referred elsewhere.
Dr. Howarth writes every protocol and decides who is a candidate. Light and non-ablative laser treatments such as BBL, MOXI, and HALO are performed by laser technicians under her protocols; deep, full-field, and zone-specific resurfacing such as deep Contour TRL is performed by Dr. Howarth. Injectables are performed by Dr. Howarth or an advanced aesthetic nurse injector under her direction. HydraFacial, facials, peels, and SkinPen are performed by the licensed aesthetician, and wellness care by a licensed provider.
Laser season is October to April, the months when light and laser treatments that need untanned skin are scheduled in Arizona. Summer brings a UV index of 11 or higher and well over 100 days at or above 100 degrees, which raises pigment risk on treated skin and makes the 2 to 4 weeks of sun avoidance after treatment hard to keep. In summer the plan shifts to HydraFacial, facials, light peels, SkinPen, and injectables.
It depends on what makes the wrinkle. Lines that appear with expression and fade at rest, frown lines, forehead lines, and crow’s feet, are muscle lines and respond to Botox, Dysport, or Daxxify. Lines etched into the skin at rest are a surface problem and respond to resurfacing: MOXI or HALO for fine lines, Contour TRL for deep etched lines, in laser season. Many patients need both, and the fine lines guide explains which comes first.
Established patients book online. New patients can book online or request a consultation through this page, and the team responds usually the same day. Every new patient’s first visit is a skin assessment or, for wellness, a medical evaluation with labs, and the treatment is chosen after it. Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD can be reached by call or text at 480.535.5021.
Yes. The A-List is the membership program of Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD, built for patients who maintain their skin on a schedule: a fall laser session, HydraFacial through the summer, injectables at a set interval. Members have the next season booked before they leave the last one. The program is described on the A-List page, and the team explains whether it fits your plan at your first visit.
Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD is inside Howarth Plastic Surgery at 7373 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite C150, Scottsdale, Arizona 85253. The med spa and the surgical practice share the same suite, so a skin assessment, an injectable visit, a laser session, a wellness lab draw, and a surgical consultation all happen at one address. The office can be reached by call or text at 480.535.5021.
Ask five questions. Who is the medical director, and is that physician in the building or a name on the wall? Who writes the protocols, and who performs each treatment? Who manages a complication such as a filler occlusion, a burn, or a pigment change? Does the practice own current equipment and treat your skin type? And will it say when the honest answer is a dermatologist or surgery? This page answers each for Aesthetica by Ashley Howarth MD.
Yes, and most plans do. BBL and MOXI are routinely done in the same visit, MicroLaserPeel and ProFractional stack in one session, a neuromodulator and a laser can share a week, HydraFacial runs between laser sessions, and PRF is applied after SkinPen. The rules: the longest downtime in the combination is the one to plan around, combinations are written into the plan rather than added at the chair, and anything deep is performed by Dr. Howarth.
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