Erin Draper may be new to Greenville, having moved here last March, but she’s certainly not new to aesthetics.  “I’ve been an aesthetician for 25 years,” says Erin. “I started with a plastic surgeon in Frederick, MD, who I exhausted. At the time, there was no internet; we just had filing cabinets where he would put copies of all the most current journal articles on procedures, ingredients, etc. So I went through his cabinet, I Xeroxed different journal reports, I would read them at night, and then I would review with him during our lunch break and I’d follow up with questions.  That’s how I think I developed a really strong foundation for clinical aesthetics.”

When she first moved to Wilmington, Erin started working in a day spa setting. She worked in a few local spas until the pandemic hit in 2020. When the sheltering in place was over and businesses were allowed to reopen again, Erin decided to open a studio in her home.

That studio, named Evolve Esthetique, was originally based in Erin’s home in the city of Wilmington on the river. When Erin and her husband, Rob Respler, wanted to get out of the city, it took them some time to find just the right place. “The studio had a beautiful view, so it took a few years to find a location that would embody the same tranquility that my clients had grown accustomed to,” explains Erin.

The location may have changed, but the privacy and serenity are the same. “Privacy is very important to me as a client” Erin attests. “When you go into a facial treatment, you walk out with messy hair, no makeup, and a glossy face, and in a salon setting, you’re walking out into a waiting area that could have people that you know or just a waiting room full of people waiting for appointments.” Instead, Erin’s clients walk out to a lovely view of the surrounding trees and, occasionally, her cats. Auggie and Lucius sometimes make guest appearances in the studio if Rob is at the office all day, but “I’m very mindful of people with allergies,” says Erin.

This focus on her clients is typical of the way Erin approaches her business. “I love making people feel seen and heard and understood,” Erin enthuses. “When clients come in, they’re typically anxious, their minds are in 100 places, and I love turning that energy into grounded calm. This is a place where people can really just unwind. Every day, I look forward to making women feel beautiful and relaxed and comfortable in their own skin.”

Because Erin has a strong clinical understanding of the skin and cosmetic chemistry, she is able to fuse a clinically effective treatment with a somatic experience, so her clients get the clinical benefits of a holistic, high-tech facial while Erin also activates the parasympathetic nervous system so her clients can experience deep relaxation. “It’s really a fusion of two different aesthetic worlds,” explains Erin. “In this community, we have med spas and we have day spas, and in my practice, I really try to offer the benefits of both, within the scope of my licensure.”

Erin says she is “always a student,” continually traveling to train in new techniques. As a result, her expertise is quite varied. “I am Vodder trained in lymphatic facial massage, I have the NeurotriS Microcurrent, and I’m working with light stem LED, so this is where clinical efficacy meets somatic massage,” Erin states. “I am trained in buccal massage, which is an intraoral facial massage, and I’m going to Spain in April to do some advanced training in myofascial massage for the face. I’m always training. I think it’s important.”

Erin uses all this training to try to combine the best of the clinical and aesthetic worlds. When it comes to the skin, “I’m not beating it down and breaking it down, I’m helping to restore mitochondrial function – that’s what the Microcurrent, the LED and the massage are doing,” says Erin. “I work with the tissue, not against it. I really think you respect the skin barrier, support it, and nourish it – I’m not saying you can’t challenge it, but we don’t need to beat the skin up to have a beautiful result.”