When life shifted, Merette nudged her mom Linda to start showing up for herself again. What began as one appointment became something they now share.
“I was having difficulty getting beyond the feeling really down.”
Linda is sitting beside her daughter Merette, talking about the year her husband passed away—the year that changed everything for her. She pauses and then tells us how it all started getting better when her daughter Merette said, Mom, I think it’s time you do something for yourself.
The Nudge That Started It All
If you’ve ever loved someone through a hard season, you know the look. The one where you can see them slipping a little, and you’re not sure how to help but you know that something has to change.
Merette saw it in her mom. So she did what daughters do when they love someone fiercely: she nudged.
She encouraged her mom to move closer. To say yes to small things. And eventually, to come with her to Elase—not for a fix or a transformation, just for an hour where someone would take care of her for a change.
Linda agreed. She trusted her daughter, but she wasn’t sure what to expect.
What Linda Found When She Walked Into Elase
Here’s what Linda shared about that first visit:
“I really felt so welcomed and comfortable when I came the first time. You don’t always get that personal treatment everywhere you go.” – Linda, Client at Elase South Tampa
We know what it means to walk into a med spa for the first time when you’re already feeling vulnerable. When you’re already carrying something heavy. We want every first visit to feel like Linda’s. Welcomed. Comfortable. Seen.
Same Treatments, Different Decades
Merette took her mom to see her provider, Irina Lytvyn, an advanced aesthetic injector at Elase South Tampa. Irina’s approach to administering the same treatments across different decades of life is “My goal is never to change them. It’s about enhancing their features and helping restore where we’re naturally aging.”
That’s not just Irina. That’s how every provider at Elase approaches care. When a new client sits down, the conversation doesn’t start with what we’d recommend. It starts with what they came in for. As Irina puts it, “when a patient comes to me, I really like to address what are their main concerns, what are their goals. I really like to listen to them, what is their priority because a lot of times what’s my priority may not be theirs.”
For Linda, her priority was to look like the most current version of herself. She didn’t want “to look stretched or fake.” That’s what drew Linda to Irina. “She wants just to enhance your features.” Linda’s season needed care designed around how we naturally age: softly restoring volume and refreshing the skin.
That philosophy of care is why a daughter felt safe bringing her mom in. It’s why Linda has kept coming back. It’s not about chasing a different face. It’s about feeling like herself again, just a little more rested, a little more like the woman she was before grief took the wind out of her. For Linda and Merette, that’s looked like treatments designed to support volume that naturally softens over time, refreshing the skin, and helping each of them look like the most current version of who they already are.
Different decades. Different goals. Same approach: care that meets you exactly where you are.
What They Share Now
Linda and Merette don’t just visit Elase. They share it.
They come together. They go to lunch afterward. They’ve turned what could have been a one-time pep-talk appointment into a ritual — a thing on the calendar, a reason to drive in, a small recurring excuse to be in the same room.
It’s not about the treatments, really. It’s about what the treatments give them: an hour where the world slows down. Where someone is paying attention to them. Where they get to sit in the same waiting room and laugh about whatever’s going on at home that week.
Merette says something about her mom, “I saw a real turning point in her life. And then all of a sudden it was like somebody put a fire under her. She’s just got, like, this new energy about her.”
The fire was Linda choosing herself over and over, in small ways, until one day she felt different.
What They’ve Taught Each Other
Near the end of our conversation, Linda said something simple: “It is important to take care of yourself.” When we asked Merette what she’s learned from her mom, she didn’t hesitate: kindness. “My mom is such a beautiful person on the inside and I feel like that really shows on the outside.” Those are the two things they keep handing back and forth. Linda teaching Merette what kindness looks like, Merette teaching Linda that she’s allowed to point some of it at herself.
That’s the whole heart of Love All Your Seasons. Not milestones. Not before-and-afters. Meeting yourself exactly where you are — whether that’s a wedding, a wellness reset, a loss, or just a Tuesday where you remembered to wash your face. Every season counts. Especially the messy ones.
Watch Linda & Merette’s Story
Some moments are better seen than read.
▶️ Watch the full Elase Diaries video on YouTube
We’re Here Whenever You’re Ready
If something in Linda’s story landed for you, whether it’s a season you’re moving through or a person you’re moving through it with, we’d love to meet you where you are. Every plan at Elase is tailored to your goals, and consultations are always complimentary. Find your closest Elase →
Happy almost Mother’s Day from all of us at Elase. If you’re thinking about the mom in your life this weekend, our gift card and skincare offers are at elase.com/promotions.
And if you have a Linda in your life? Maybe today’s the day you give her the nudge.