A New Era of Aesthetics: Why Natural Injectables and Laser & Light Are Better Together
Sciton UP Xchange Chicago | October 24–25, 2026
I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at Sciton's UP Xchange in Chicago on October 24th and 25th, surrounded by endless energy, innovation, and some wonderful speakers sharing their passion and expertise in aesthetics.
I'm always impressed by Sciton and the amount of planning, effort, and investment they put into creating a truly exceptional educational experience. And can we just acknowledge that tickets to this two-day conference were a mere $250, while some aesthetic conferences are charging thousands? That's pretty impressive!
I still remember the first time I attended a Sciton event. I walked in at 8 am, and there were bright lights, a DJ, music pumping, and an energy that was completely unmatched. I remember thinking, What on earth is going on here? Am I staying or leaving? But within an hour, I was clapping, laughing, learning, and completely caught up in the atmosphere. You quickly realize that Sciton has mastered something many educational conferences struggle with: how to entertain while delivering genuine educational value. There's no dozing off in your seat or mindlessly scrolling through your phone at a Sciton event. You're far too engaged for that!
And what I particularly love is that the education extends well beyond laser and light. There's a little bit of everything: business management, marketing, branding, facial injectables, cadaver anatomy, and, of course, the innovation Sciton continues to brings.
One of the presentations I was excited to share was titled A New Era of Aesthetics: How Natural Injectables Pair with Laser and Light.
And if there was one message I wanted everyone in that room to take home, it was this:
Injectables alone are not the answer. Laser and light alone are not the answer. The magic happens when we bring them together.
After more than two decades working in aesthetics, it's interesting to reflect on just how much we have evolved.
I actually started my aesthetic career working with laser and light treatments, and goodness, the machines we were using back then seem antiquated and some what dangerous compared with the incredible technology available today.
When I opened The Confidence Bar in 2020, my vision was to create a boutique practice focused on delivering safe, natural, and beautifully individualized injectable treatments. That became our specialty, and something I'm incredibly proud of.
But for years, we referred our wonderful patients to neighboring businesses and respected colleagues for laser and light treatments to improve the quality of their skin. We could beautifully restore facial volume, soften lines, and improve facial balance, but what about the skin sitting over those structures? What about the pigmentation, redness, enlarged pores, sun damage, and changes in skin texture including menopausal and GLP1 skin that our patients were equally concerned about? We were only addressing part of the picture.
And as a small business owner, investing in a laser platform is no small decision. These machines are certainly not cheap! But when you begin to understand the technology, research, engineering, and innovation that go into developing these devices, you gain a much greater appreciation for the investment. And then you attend an event like UP Xchange and see firsthand the pride, passion, and respect the Sciton team has for their technology, their customers, and one another. I really love who they are as people. And let's face it, laser sales representatives haven't always had the greatest reputation. So when you find a company where the people, the education, and the technology all align, it's really refreshing. It makes you feel good about the investment you've made and, perhaps more importantly, the people you've chosen to do business with.
We eventually took that leap and introduced a Sciton platform into The Confidence Bar. And I couldn't be happier that we did. Today, we're able to care for our patients more comprehensively under one roof, combining our expertise in natural injectables with advanced laser and light treatments.
Not only has this allowed us to deliver more complete treatment plans, but it has also brought a tremendous amount of professional satisfaction to our team. And ask any of our team members what their favorite treatments are. Yep, you guessed it — MOXI and BBL. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing the improvements in our patients' skin and knowing we're able to offer them so much more than injectables alone.
Good skin never goes out of fashion.
With love and light reflective skin,
Rana x
Rana Kennelly, MSN, AGNP-C, CANS
Founder, The Confidence Lab & The Confidence Bar
