HOULTON, Maine — If you’re new to Houlton, you might not be able to get a dentist or a primary care doctor for at least a year, but you can get Botox injections, neck microneedling and other medical aesthetic procedures.
“I really, truly didn’t know if this was something that would be successful in Houlton,” said nurse practitioner Dayna Lincoln, who owns Magnolia Aesthetic Med Spa on North Street in Houlton. “But since I opened, people shared with me that they were traveling all over the state to get these services and how thrilled they were that they could stay home.”
Lincoln initially opened a small space with one treatment room last year, but within six months realized she would have to expand her space and offerings because of the demand.
“You would be surprised at the variety of people who come in,” she said. “Teens for laser teeth whitening and acne, women in their 80s who come for Botox. And a lot of people assume men don’t come, but men come for skin care, teeth whitening, anti-wrinkle treatment and vitamin therapy.”
The business of injectables has burgeoned around the nation, and men are leading the rise with a more than 381 percent increase in usage over the past decade or so, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Even Gen Zers are getting what sometimes is called “prejuvenation” Botox, hoping injections now will ward off the effects of aging later.
Lincoln said she saw a huge void in the medical grade offerings available to people in northern Maine, which is one of the main reasons she opened her business.
Earlier this year, she and her husband, Emery Lincoln, bought a building at 24 North St they now share: one side for the Lincoln Agency, her husband’s insurance company, and the other for the expansion of her business. The Houlton couple renovated the space and now Dayna Lincoln has several treatment rooms for new offerings.
Magnolia Aesthetic Med Spa is one of only a handful of medical grade facilities in Northern Maine, with the other two in Presque Isle and Caribou.
Carol Westerdahl, a local therapist who works at the Carleton Project, said that Lincoln did a procedure for her and was happy with the results.
“It’s wonderful to see a kid from The County doing so well,” she said.
There are other aestheticians in Houlton, including Kimberly Maguire, who owns Sundara on Market Square, but they’re not licensed for injectables like Botox. Maguire offers a variety of facials and enhancements, such as intense pulsed light therapy, bio peels, facial masques and hydrodermabrasion.
Only licensed physicians, physician assistants and nurses are able to administer Botox and filler injections for facial rejuvenation in Maine, according to state law.
This spring the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce named Lincoln as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
“Not only is Dayna a pediatric nurse practitioner, she is a wife, mother and a woman who embodies the meaning of true entrepreneurial spirit,” said Jane Torres, executive director of Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce.
