The Break-Up Diet

Girl Boss Era: Beauty, Breakups & Building an Empire with Joëlle Rotsaert

• Yasmin Misner and Ilma Shahrene • Season 1 • Episode 37

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Ever wondered what your face needs when your heart is broken? Beauty mogul Joelle Rotsart joins the Breakup Diet podcast to reveal the transformative power of self-care after heartbreak.

Joelle takes us on her journey from fashion industry frustration to founding Injectable, a revolutionary aesthetics business built on dignity and innovation. With her plastic surgeon sister, she's created what she calls "the Netflix of injectables" - a subscription model for Botox that's changing the industry. But what truly sets her business apart is the focus on client well-being: complementary LED therapy, makeup stations for post-treatment touch-ups, and an ethical approach that includes turning away clients who aren't in the right headspace for procedures.

For those seeking post-breakup rejuvenation, Joelle shares accessible options from facials and microneedling to the increasingly popular "salmon sperm" treatments (polynucleotides) that stimulate collagen production. She cuts through skincare marketing noise with straightforward advice: vitamin C in the morning, retinoids at night, always use SPF, and don't waste money on expensive creams that function like "Nivea in fancy packaging."

With refreshing candor, Joelle opens up about her own "filler blindness" years, prioritizing therapy during breakups, and the challenges of dating while building a business empire. Her most powerful insight? The glow-up starts within. "I wasn't in my love era, I was in my girl boss era," she explains, emphasizing that true beauty and successful relationships begin with genuine self-love.

Whether you're navigating heartbreak, considering cosmetic treatments, or simply curious about evidence-based skincare, this conversation offers both professional wisdom and personal warmth. Subscribe to the Breakup Diet for more honest conversations about transformation, self-care, and finding beauty in life's challenging moments.

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Ilmz:

Welcome back to another episode of the Breakup Diet. We've got such a sexy guest like I feel starstruck having you here. Welcome to the diet, joelle Rotsart Woo. Thank you for having me Buckle up bitches.

Yaz:

This is gonna get bumpy. This is the Breakup Diet get bumpy, this is the breakup diet. Well, tell us about you.

Joëlle:

Tell us about your multi-million dollar business. Oh my god. Okay, so I'll talk about how I started injector and stuff.

Yaz:

Yeah, please, please, we want to know, because we're trying to make a business grow, so obviously we need more entrepreneurial female leaders with us here.

Joëlle:

Okay, so I started Injectual. I mean, I'll go a little bit back into my history. So when I was studying in Amsterdam, I sort of like rolled into the fashion world, started doing marketing in the fashion world. I hated it, absolutely hated it, hated it. Like the most bitchy atmosphere, you get paid shit, work like, the hours are super long. It just didn't make any sense to me. After transitioning, I obviously had a lot of you know it comes with a lot of surgical procedures, cosmetic procedures, just even like the way of like doing skincare correctly. It just made such an impact on my confidence, the way I held myself. It was just transformational.

Joëlle:

While my sister is also a plastic surgeon, we always talked about maybe like one day, starting a business together. I was like, let me just explore the aesthetic industry. So then I started first working for a company called Harley Academy, a training platform for aesthetic treatments, and I actually really enjoyed it. I was actually working with like smart people and then afterwards started working for like an actual clinic chain, saw what was going right there, but also saw what was going wrong there, obviously. And that's where my sister and I got the idea of Injectool.

Joëlle:

First and foremost, it's something very, very dearly to my heart, like I find it so interesting. You know, there's always new techniques, there's always new treatments to discover, there's always new science breakthroughs. You know I generally have a personal passion for it. Plus, we just saw a really good gap in the market, I think, and just get really good injectors in, create a really nice band around it. We offer like a really good service. We offer like complementary led therapy afterwards to minimize bruising, to aid healing after your injectables. We have like a skincare and makeup tester bar where people afterwards can like apply some, some makeup again before going out into the wilds.

Yaz:

Um, that's very important. To be honest, you know no but you're so bruised up.

Joëlle:

Well, but I had it before. Where I was, like you know, I went to harley's suite before starting injectable, and injectable first and foremost be treated in like an nhs waiting room, so sterile and so like, where is my dignity?

Joëlle:

like, treat me with some care, yeah exactly, and also you know you pay top dollar and then you just just your experience is like literally like going to an nhs doctor. Uh, afterwards you're literally like being shoved outside with like a bleeding lip and if you have to get on the tube you're like standing there, like with your bruised lips, like you just feel so awkward mine's the both of.

Yaz:

I go really red really easily, just in general, so I end up looking like I have like a thousand mosquito bites exactly but it's, it's funny, after the led that's completely gone.

Joëlle:

So and then afterwards if you can apply some tinted moisturizer obviously we have like sterile sponges and stuff and you still have to be a bit careful, but at least you just feel less, you know, traumatized. Most people probably won't go back to work, but some, a lot of our patients do.

Ilmz:

It has become that advanced now.

Joëlle:

I mean obviously, we also say if you're getting, there's obviously treatments, if you're getting a full face, multiple treatments, maybe take the day off. We also have, for instance, like membership. So we, for instance, with the Botox, it's almost like the Netflix of injectables, because you just pay your monthly payments towards, like your yearly Botox.

Yaz:

Oh my gosh, can you explain that more? I want to know about that. That's so good yeah.

Joëlle:

So we have a we call it a Bobo membership and then people can buy monthly payments, so £75 per month, I think it's something like that. They just get their three times a year their Botox and just you spread out the cost, basically monthly payments that is such a genius concept. Yeah, so there's not. You know, especially two and a half years ago, there wasn't actually I don't think there was any clinics in the UK doing it.

Ilmz:

Oh my gosh, you're just trailblazing this industry. Well, we try honey, we try Setting the standards high Shall, we dive into the glow up aspect of the injector. Okay, so we're obviously not advocating to like get crazy stuff done after a breakup.

Yaz:

Yeah, that should be very clear, like we want you guys obviously to talk to joelle, because she has massive insights on how to glow up and feel your best and be confident within yourself obviously after breakup I don't, you know, we always want people to come to injectable in the right state of minds Often, why we also turn people away sometimes.

Joëlle:

But obviously you know there are, you know, if people, if you don't think people need something, we just we will not do it. We have a big guest intake forum where we talk about and ask about what's going on in your life. Just flag these things. If you've just gone through a traumatic breakup and then all of a sudden you want to change your entire face, yeah, that's red flags.

Ilmz:

What's like an affordable glow up that you would recommend.

Joëlle:

Well, I mean there's obviously like get a really good facial or a really good peel, you know what I mean. Get some microneedling. They will obviously make you feel better. They're non-invasive. If you regularly get Botox, you know, obviously after your breakup if you want to continue that process, yeah, they will get your Botox. Obviously, even like a small bit of lip filler. Or the polynucleotides, you know, the salmon sperm under these eyes. Yeah, it's all sort of like treatments that will make you feel more confident. They'll enhance your appearance, for instance, like profilo or jalupro and like the salmon sperm. They're all stimulating your own tissue. So it's like a bit different than filler, where you know once you inject filler, wherever you inject it, it stays there and sort of like makes things bigger or announces things. Skin boosters work in a different way because they stimulate literally your own tissue and they make everything a bit more plump and hydrated is that what everyone's doing now like, especially because celebrities right now?

Joëlle:

around the salmon sperm. It's all about the salmon sperm. Honey, yeah, I mean also after makeup, if you've been crying a lot, that area you miss sperm, anyway you're like I can't get it, so I might as well put it on my face well, they work in a slightly different way and and like we always say, they're either made from salmon or trout, dna or sperm, sort of like.

Joëlle:

Once injected, they tell your cells to create more collagen and all that stuff tell your system to to send stem cells to the area, so they just revive everything is that something that you have to do like consistently, like I've not done it, but I've looked into doing the the salmon sperm one?

Yaz:

I don't know the actual, the polynucleotides I always forget yeah, polynucleotides. When I went in like to a skin clinic they said that they did like microneedling and then they put it in instead of the injections just under the eyes. Because my, I'm going into my own stuff, but I'm like might as well, but I have like acne scarring, like the tiny, from obviously years of acne on my cheeks. That really annoy me. So they said the best thing to do would do the needling thing and then they put like a solution over.

Joëlle:

But it's quite expensive and then they put like a solution over. But it's quite expensive and also and we stopped doing it in clinic as well is the microneedling with the polynucleotides on top, Because basically the molecule of the polynucleotides is too big to actually penetrate the skin, so they're much better injected. Obviously, if you want to go hardcore, CO2 lasers will always be the best, I think, for acne scarring.

Yaz:

I think I've seen stuff about that. What does that do CO2 lasers?

Joëlle:

So CO2 laser is just like a really, really deep laser, you know, and like it literally like takes off like a full layer of skin, basically.

Yaz:

You peel after, don't you you?

Ilmz:

peel like a mother effer. Is that the really thick peel? Yeah?

Joëlle:

I mean, there's obviously like ways. No, no, that's not, that's a phenol pill that's even yeah, I've seen that one. That was hard, that is hardcore as well, yeah, no, but um, with the co2 laser it literally like creates, almost like micro injuries. It's almost like burns the surface of the skin I'm a bit of a wimp.

Yaz:

I'm not gonna lie with all the sort of, those sorts of things I'm like.

Joëlle:

I mean, I assume you've tried also tretinoin like skincare that's the cream, right?

Yaz:

yeah, but I just peel so much whenever I use that because I have really sensitive skin that like if I use it even here, then after all my makeup for the next like week yeah, just like burns as well. Yeah, exactly I really want to ask you about, like skin care and what's correct, what's something easy that people should be doing like every day, almost. Like, should you be using a vitamin c at night or only in the morning?

Joëlle:

that type of thing yeah, but vitamin c definitely is, for instance, like one that you should really only do during the day. Plus, if it's alloscorbic acids, you should really do it, for instance, like on cleansed skin. Most people don't notice, but you need to almost uh let it sink into the skin for 20, 20 minutes before actually applying anything on top. I mean other ingredients. Yeah, I always swear by retinol, retinoids, you know any sort of difference between null and noid.

Ilmz:

Well, it's just strength.

Joëlle:

Basically shred is sort of like the purest form of it. The next one is like retinol. It's just like the strength, basically in order to penetrate the skin if you're, for instance, starting out I even say if you want to start out with skincare. I mean, that's also how I got into skincare was the ordinary. I think they do really simple serums with the simple ingredients and they're a really affordable way to get into skincare I still to this day. Use some the ordinary products.

Ilmz:

I think they're really, really great they brought their foundation back, did you see? Oh, they have, yeah, the 399 foundation.

Joëlle:

Well, there we go, but you know, I um, we have our own skincare line and, and you know, for instance, like your, eye cream is really good Under the concealer really good, okay, great. Are you using that during the day? Okay, there's a retinol in there.

Ilmz:

So that's not a good?

Joëlle:

That's probably not good. So, for instance, with retinoids and all the retinol retinoids, blah, blah, only use those during the night and then next day, day always use an spf, and then you know there's, for instance, hyaluronic acid will always be really good for the skin. You know, it's like a drink of water for the skin. Peptides are also really great skincare products. Whatever your skin needs, right? If you've got a lot of like dry and sort of like just dull skin, something maybe like with a glycolic acid will be better to sort of like take away a layer of that skin. It's hard to say like what is best. I think SPF and retinol will help anybody over 25.

Yaz:

I find it really hard with skincare purely because there's so much information there, especially like on Instagram, on TikTok on everything. And you see like trends. Obviously it's like anything. You see trends of things and then it's hard to not be like do I actually need that or am I just getting it because one TikToker has said this is what you should do?

Joëlle:

No, exactly, I'm a big believer in. I really don't believe in the 25 skincare steps, for instance, like I only use skincare ingredients that you know that really do something for my skin. I'll never get like a fluffy face oil that maybe like feels nice during the night, but I know that there's nothing in there that's beneficial for me, like also the lamers and the laparion stuff. There's nothing in there that justifies?

Joëlle:

don't tell me well, they're not a scam. Like if you make, if they make you feel gorgeous and glowy, but it's just you're spending a lot of money for basically, like, a Nivea cream. There's nothing in there that justifies the price. But also like if you enjoy them for your nighttime routine, don't stop doing it. You know they're still beneficial if you want to give yourself a gorgeous facial massage. And like if they make you feel gorgeous at night and then keep doing it.

Yaz:

But just know that you're spending a lot of money for what about that? Are you? I like that.

Joëlle:

I don't know I don't know they're, they're, they're depends on I like that yeah, I know I'm not ready?

Yaz:

no, that one is my I also am like if they work for you, when you feel that they're doing something, yeah, then keep doing it often when you go through a breakup, you feel quite low and sad and you just can not all the time, but you can lose your confidence. Can you just tell us, like a bit more about that journey and like how you personally felt, like you got your confidence?

Joëlle:

yeah, yeah, exactly with me it's quite different because obviously it was like part of like transitioning. It was hormones and skincare and then going into the more advanced surgeries. Obviously, if you're going to a breakup often breakups are quite stressful your skin will probably be, you know, suffering from stress and maybe some hormonal breakouts, and you know from crying and like I think a really good place to start is in the skin and doing like, for instance, like a really good peel.

Joëlle:

Shedding off all the eggs that might have ached Shedding off a good layer of skin and, for instance, like you know, there are a lot of mental health benefits, for instance, with the LED. There's something about the lights and the diodes in the light that make you feel better and there's been reported that you sleep better at night. It just it helps with skin or with anti-aging, with breakouts. There's so many benefits from it. Salmon sperm great. If you've been crying a lot, the area will be suffering, so you know, getting some salmon sperm under the eyes it's a great treatment.

Ilmz:

Holy shit, I am so sold, sorry, like everything I just have perfect bouncy skin.

Yaz:

It could be even more.

Ilmz:

It could be even more.

Joëlle:

The glow up continues. The glow up absolutely. Do you think fillers are on its way out?

Ilmz:

the seven milf like cheeks and the kylie jammer package, cheeks and chins exactly that's I mean that's on its way, way out.

Yaz:

The only the only like picture I have of that is sorry molly may, but molly may's before and after like that's wild yeah I feel, like that's scary. But it's so easy to go too far with that sort of stuff, I think because you don't. You don't see it. Yeah, you don't see it, and that's why it's scary that's what I also said in the beginning.

Joëlle:

In the uk, sadly, there are more rules around the marketing of injectables than actually who can perform it. You too could, literally. If somebody wants to insure you tomorrow after a one-day course, you could legally start injecting people well, exactly, but that's the scary part so, for instance, at injectable, I only work, I only like to work with medics. So anybody that's like that has a medical degree.

Joëlle:

So, um, you know, nurses, pharmacists, even doctors, surgeons think there should be strong regulations around who's doing it and who should be able to get it as well yeah, and that's why, indeed, in our clinic, we often send people away because we don't think they need it or, you know, or they're not in the right state of mind, or they're bdc looking at me you're gonna have ill luck whatever she's like going through a crisis you have to send her away for sure yeah, during the consultation process, for instance, you should never point out flaws.

Yaz:

I really like that comment that you just made with like regarding to making sure you don't point out because already to go in and like want something done, it's quite like daunting, yeah, and then if someone points out something else I know for myself. If I had that happen, I would definitely become way more insecure I would overthink to it, yeah, yeah because, also, if hopefully they are a professional, then you're like oh, maybe they're saying something.

Yaz:

I'm not, yeah, you know, and they're not my friend, they're not my family, so they're not going to give me this like clouded judgment.

Joëlle:

They're going to tell me from a stranger and then you would believe it I think a really good injector or safe practitioner shouldn't be pointing out flaws that you didn't point out yourself.

Yaz:

Yeah, um, but yeah, some do, but that's just not injectable no, I think that's really important and really nice on to you, joelle.

Joëlle:

Let's get personal. Okay, let's go.

Ilmz:

Have you ever had any filler faux pas? Have you gone crazy with it ever? Where do?

Joëlle:

we start honey? Where do we start? I mean, yeah, before starting injectable, I had major filler blindness at some point when I was like 21,. I think I got the worst filler ever. If I now look back on pictures, it's just that top lip that just kept growing are we allowed to share any photos?

Joëlle:

oh, absolutely not. There was this point where I was like we need to start again. Like you know, it's just like of years of just filler and also, just like you have to understand, especially also with hormones and obviously growing up your face changes From the age of 20, 20 was when I first probably got my first lip filler until the age of like 30 just always kept, you know, adding more and more and more. Basically, I think a year and a half ago it was like a year after I started injectable, I just was like let's start over. So kind of got got rid of everything, uh, and now I think I get like my yearly lip filler. I obviously get my botox, get a load of skin treatments. Obviously you know like microedling of facial and and and peels and stuff, but that's all sort of like you know to to do with the surface working like you look the best you've ever looked.

Ilmz:

Thank you, breakups breakups.

Joëlle:

Okay, I'm not the best at sort of like focusing my attention on too many things I can focus my attention on like work really really well and I've been really I've been doing that for the last two and a half years and like hosting and events and parties and stuff, because they're all sort of like all intertwined. Like every party that I go to I always meet new patients, so I also see as I see it as a PR activity, even though I also just obviously love partying. But yeah, I mean I have data, especially when I first started inject to all. I mean I deal with it just as well or as bad as everybody else. I think it is always a bit of a confidence boost, especially if you're not the one breaking up, like I was, for instance, also like broken up with or like being told that he wanted to remain friends. So, yeah, I mean I always start to first and foremost. I actually started again with therapy. I probably got a bit of a glow up.

Ilmz:

Um, a massive glow up. Are you kidding me?

Joëlle:

look at you I often just also start to go out a lot. You know, unfortunately I don't don't necessarily think that's the healthiest way of dealing with it, but um, you know, you just want to. You can tell us the real like yeah, exactly, you just wanna, you just wanna, you just wanna get your flirt on right. You just wanna get that that, that gratification from a stranger of like um that you still got it that you still got it.

Joëlle:

You know I I love a flirt. You know I love going out and just like flirting with people I sometimes that's even funner than being in a relationship it's more fun than sex.

Ilmz:

I feel flirting is way more fun than sex and just like doing that dance, absolutely like the blood is pumping like absolutely, absolutely, like I'm good, now I can go.

Yaz:

Yeah, exactly myself have some salmon sperm on the face exactly that's my dose of sperm I need.

Joëlle:

I'll see that yeah, male sperm is obsolete absolutely I like to feel good about myself indeed, with a. You know, doing lots of treatments led looking the best they do, going lots of lots to the gym.

Yaz:

You know the revenge body you're serving revenge also in korea, like as in. Not even like. You look beautiful, but I'm saying, in the whole thing of like being a girl boss and like having a whole business, I mean to be the successful ex.

Joëlle:

That is the most amazing yeah well, yeah, like in dating I really I find it really attractive to date somebody really ambitious, so I often date somebody that's actually already like way more successful you want to be inspired.

Ilmz:

I just want to be inspired, it's for sure. You want to be motivated, like you don't want your ambitions to threaten someone.

Joëlle:

No, no, no, exactly. One of my first exes was somebody that just didn't inspire me and it just drags you down, I think. So now I only date somebody that you know has a really good purpose in life, is ambitious, builds me up, that I can learn from an overall good person. A good person yeah, exactly yeah, kind, kind yeah, exactly, there's enough assholes in the world. It's quite hard to find actually yeah children burned down, so they're not coming.

Ilmz:

We're lost.

Yaz:

I don't know if you'd be fine, let's go on a hunt.

Joëlle:

Yeah, exactly well, where, like I said, like for the last two and a half years, I've really been focusing on my business.

Ilmz:

So just doing this dance where they focus on both, because it's one or the other for me I have friends like that that can focus their attention on so many things.

Joëlle:

I can't do it. I know myself, you know, and I like now, for instance, again I'm on the apps, but I just found it so painfully boring and this entire dance of like, how are you good, how was this weekend, how was your weekend? And I always were spent like five days after where the weekend started again and I'm like, oh god, this is just pointless. So but I know that, you know, I know my I'm not in my love a girl era. Love a girl era, you know you're in your girl boss era.

Ilmz:

Exactly. That is so fine.

Joëlle:

That's inspiring one of my resolutions for 2025. I really want to take the mental space and make the mental space for dating because it's also fun, you know, going on dates. So fun.

Ilmz:

It's exhilarating, like absolutely, but you gotta be in the right mental space.

Joëlle:

Yeah, you gotta be ready for it.

Yaz:

You also have to love yourself too, like even though even if you look like that was something I'm speaking of my personal one, to be honest like I would date before that and I but I didn't really love myself. It sounds so cliche actually but it's important and the moment I didn't even like actively kind of do it, like I kind of just like over years and stuff, and then kind of settled more within myself and then when I did start dating again like this wasn't actually like a conscious thing really, I just did it.

Yaz:

And then, when I did start dating and I met somebody, then it was like actually worked, it was the first one that worked, worked but I feel like it's because I was comfortable in myself first that goes to show the glow up starts here yeah, oh periods there we go.

Ilmz:

I feel like that.

Yaz:

Yeah, that was a good end.

Ilmz:

Thank you so much for watching guys.

Yaz:

Thank you, joelle for being here yeah, thank you so much.

Joëlle:

Thank you for having me.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Ilma Shahrene

Co-host
Head Shot

Yasmin Misner

Co-host
Head Shot

Joëlle Rotsaert

Guest