Vicki is a physician's assistant, but she has worked in many different areas of medicine. For the past 12 years she has done dermatology and wound care.
Not only does Vicki use The Makeup Light in her home, she also uses it in her work!
"I don't think I could do home care at all without the light... Like bringing sunshine into the rooms, it's the most accurate light I've ever worked with."
The Makeup Light helps Vicki "see more true color" both for her work and at home. And when you can see the truth, it's easier to know the truth about who you are and who you want to be!
Victoria Interview Transcript:
[Please introduce yourself.]
Hello, I'm Victoria Rhodes, more commonly known by my family as Vicki, and I'm a physician assistant.
[Thank you for being here with us today, Vicki, and what type of medicine do you practice?]
Well, my background is general surgery in Appalachia, which means that because there's no specialists in the area, I got involved in a lot of different areas of medicine. But for the past 12 years, I've done dermatology and wound care for complicated wounds.
[And is that typically done in a hospital setting a doctor's office, on-location, a patient's home?]
For me, I work primarily now out of a doctor's office, but I did a couple of years of home care, and I still do home care in patient's homes for those who are bedridden in assisted living and have complicated wounds or cancers on their skin that need to be removed surgically.
[And so is it typically well lit rooms? How do you see what you're there to do?]
Well, in dermatology, I have to use a little "derm" light, which is a polarized microscope for the skin that actually has to touch the skin so we can focus to see more detail. But in the room, if it's just got fluorescent lighting and that's all that's in there, that lighting skews the color of their skin sometimes and changes the appearance. So what I can see for lesions now, I may not see the detail that the magnification does here, but a surgical light is important in the office. In the home setting. If I didn't have a good lighting system, I would not do home care at all.
[And so you found that using TML lighting works? Good for you in those settings?
Absolutely. The TML light is small, it’s portable, it’s thin, like the shape of an iPad and I have a tripod that I can set it up on. And all that's really required is that I have an electrical source and it actually is packed in such a way that I can carry in a rolling cart full of surgical equipment, two bags full of bandages and my TML light. And get myself get into a room and actually do surgery on a patient that would be done in a hospital setting.
[So portability of a lighting system is important to you for you to do your job?]
Tremendously. I don't think I could do home care at all without the light. And there are actually days that I wish I had the light in my surgical room. So even if I have a surgical light, first of all, I'm not very tall and that light is too hard to reach. I have to have an assistant that gets the light for me. And if I had a light that I could adjust and portably move in the room, I actually think the TML light is a little bit better and not as yellow-cast as my surgical light, even though I've not researched what light spectrum the surgical lights are.
[How did you hear about TML lighting?]
Well, this is interesting, but my sister is Vivian Baker, who won an Oscar last year for that makeup on the Bombshell movie. And her husband has a lighting company that for the movie industry and The Makeup Light is their company.
Well, when he heard about my working and home care and how much I could not do the surgeries that I needed to do, he let me use one of the makeup lights. And it's transformed my ability to actually help people in their homes. I actually take this light even if I'm not planning a surgery.
I set it up in homes where I need to do a complete skin exam because it gives me like bringing sunshine into the room. It's the most accurate light I've ever worked with.
[And have you ever use TML lighting for your own personal use?]
Actually, I have. I actually own now three. I have one in every bedroom in my house, plus the portable one that I carry around. I have Eyelight that I personally use every day and with a special magnifying mirror that helps me be able to see to put my own makeup on. And that's tremendously helpful for me.
I overhead lighting in my house isn't anywhere close to what this is, because I got so used to it. I put it in my other bathroom so that when people are there, they actually see to do their makeup properly too.
[I'd like to ask a question about the color of TML light back when you're doing home care. I mean, I don't know how much you know about the color information, but what does it matter to you? If you had just any light, versus like it's portable. But is there something about the brightness? Is there anything about the colors or anything about that that matters for you? You can ask a better question.]
I'm not an expert on the color spectrum of light, but what I understand is I'm getting more of this full spectrum of the sun when I use the TML light. The difference is when you walk into a room and it's lit with whether it's LED lights or incandescent lighting or even natural lighting through a shade in a window, it is way too dim to begin with and it's way too yellow.
Most of the time, if as a house is filled with fluorescent lighting, it's harsh and it gives us some sort of aberration to what I'm looking at, the TML light seems to be like pure sunlight to me. The color spectrum seems to be perfect.
[For your home use, what is the biggest challenge you have overcome and what's the biggest challenge you've been able to overcome by using TML lighting?]
Well, I have some issues with my own eyesight.Problems had multiple surgeries, and sometimes the brightness of a light makes me squint to the point that I can't see well. But I can actually multiple settings on the TML light allow me to dim it or brighten it. And being able to actually see my own eyes prevents me from getting makeup in them. That then causes problems with me later when I'm in a surgery setting.
[How has The Makeup Light helped you with your makeup choices?]
Well, I think I see more true color this time. You know, there's nothing more frustrating than putting your makeup on and then you walk outside or into another room's light and you don't look at all like yourself and the colors don't look like they match your skin that they did when you were in your house because your lighting was wrong.
This way, it never changes. And I don't get funny looks or strange comments about my skin or even questions about where do I get my makeup because it doesn't match properly. I think I think it anymore. I don't even think about it in The Makeup Light makes it so much easier to make a proper color choice for my skin.
[And how is The Makeup Light different from other makeup lights you have used?]
I can't even think that I've ever had another makeup light that I would call a makeup light. I mean, is either the overhead lighting in the bathroom or times when you feel like you have to go sit on your own porch to put your own makeup on so you can actually see what's going on.
The other makeup lights I saw is where come close to the brightness or the clarity that this one is able to give.
[Which TML products do you currently own?]
Well, I own the Key Lights one and two, because I have both versions of those which I have used in my home. And mostly Key Light, two, for the home care. I own an Eyelight, which is my personal favorite for my bathroom makeup, just because the way my bathroom set up. And I've recently been able to access the Meira, which I'm really excited to have.
[And what do you like about the Eyelight for your own personal use?]
I'm able to mount it on my bathroom mirror. It’s not obtrusive, and I'm able to mount a magnifying mirror right underneath. It is the first time in my life I can actually see my eyes in proper light without my own head creating a shadow so that I can put eye makeup on properly.
[Do you ever travel with your Eyelight?]
I have traveled with the Eyelight a few times. I don't often as much as I use the Key Lights for work when I take them to home care.