In the realm of aesthetics, Revay Plunkett, RN, BSN, is one of Fresno’s best-kept secrets. She has always known her calling was to care for others, and she has transformed that childhood passion into a thriving career as an aesthetic injector and laser specialist. The Central Valley is fortunate to have in her the kind of provider one would typically find in Beverly Hills. Revay’s caring nature and commitment to helping others look and feel their best, coupled with an encompassing background in dermatology, make her one of the most sought-after aesthetic nurses in the area. Behind her stunning appearance and immaculate skin lies an inspiring individual anyone would be fortunate to know.

As the daughter of a single mother, Revay reflects, “My grandparents had five kids, and out of those five kids, I’m the only granddaughter. All my cousins are boys!” As the only girl, she recalls taking on a nurturing role, always ready to lend a helping hand to her young male cousins. “And so I knew,” this Clovis native shares about her calling. “Not everybody knows what they want to do. I’m one of those weird anomalies where I never had a plan B. From a very early age, people would ask me, ‘What do you want to do?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m going to be a nurse.’ That was pretty clear.”

Throughout junior high and high school, Revay’s class choices were based on her nursing aspirations. She enrolled in a program that allowed students to attend other campuses for specialized learning, where she gained early exposure to subjects like physical therapy and how the body works. Although Revay attended Clovis High, she also spent part of her school year at Buchanan to pursue a medical-focused curriculum. “It was called Step to College, and I started taking anatomy and physiology and communications. So when I graduated high school, I actually already had like 12 college credits,” says Revay. She then went on to California State University, Fresno, where those preliminary courses allowed her to start a semester ahead.

Due to the high demand for local nursing programs and her desire to earn a Bachelor’s degree, Revay pursued her education at National University. “I was a part of their second cohort,” she recalls. “It was a brand-new program, and I already had all my prereqs done from Fresno State, so it was automatically a Bachelor to Bachelor program. I was able to start at National, and it was an accelerated program. It was full-time for two years.” However, Revay’s life was not solely focused on academics. “In the meantime, I did things backwards. … I had two kids. I had my first one at 21 and my second at 23. They did it with me! They were young, but my kids remember going through school with me. And I’m currently in the NP program, and so we’re doing it again!”

Revay is back in school at West Coast University, which offers a nurse practitioner program that spans three years—she’ll complete it this year. “Unlike my nursing school, where I was able to dedicate my full-time attention to school, I now have a business, and I have two kids now that are also in college.” Revay Aesthetics in Fresno is like another child to her. While she always knew nursing was her true calling, her specialty evolved over time. Given her family history of heart problems, she initially considered a career in cardiac telemetry. However, her own experience with fair skin and sun sensitivity heightened her awareness of dermatology. “I have really, really fair skin, and growing up I couldn’t sit in the sun—I get really, really burnt and sun sick. And so I have a ton of freckles. My mom has had like 50 skin cancers. It’s kind of outrageous. So early on, I was so aware of skin just because I had to wear sunscreen. I’m kind of a shade-chaser,” she divulges with a giggle.

As someone who is “three shades of pink on any given day,” Revay became acutely aware of skin fragility from a young age. “I hated my freckles. People are like, ‘They’re angel kisses!’ I’m like, ‘They’re sun damage—they’re not angel kisses. A lot of burns got this!’” At around age 20, she visited a medical office in The Palatine Building that did IPL, which Revay explains as “a laser on your arms to help take out the brown.” She continues, “And I asked the girl, ‘What are you?’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, I’m a registered nurse.’ I enjoyed it so much because it made me feel so much better about an insecurity. It didn’t matter what anybody else thought—it was just something that bothered me. You go in every eight weeks or so for a session, and by the end of it, I kind of joked with her, saying, ‘Girl, I’m going to have your job by the time we’re done!’ just because I loved it so much.”

This marked the beginning of the “happy nurse,” as Revay calls it. “When you’re dealing with the heaviness of medicine, there’s a lot that comes along with it.” She gives examples of caring for aging parents or individuals nearing the end of life. “I am so thankful for every different type of nurse out there—we have our oncology nurses and nurses that deal with cancer and children. That’s not who I am. I wanted my patients to want to come see me. I wanted them to feel better when they came to see me. So, when people say, ‘I work in the ICU,’ I’m like, ‘Oh you’re a real nurse!’ Because for me, I’m a happy nurse. My patients love coming to see me. When they walk out of my clinic, they have a feeling of confidence and their walk is a little bit different. I am so passionate about making people feel better in their own skin. It’s not about what other people even think—that’s really where I feel like aesthetics has gotten off track.”

While other recent nursing graduates were securing internships at hospitals, Revay approached a local dermatologist and offered to work for free to gain experience. She has since remained in medical dermatology. The joy of helping people improve their acne scars, sun damage, and psoriasis marks became her passion, and with the broad range of medical therapies, she was introduced to performing laser treatments. One connection led to another, landing her a position at a top Fresno office known for having the most lasers in town. She worked there for about seven years before moving to LA. Down there, she met a celebrity dermatologist who offered her a job the same day they met, impressed by her extensive knowledge of lasers.

At this point, Revay had solidified her dermatology background and laser expertise. However, while she contemplated opening her own practice, she recognized a gap in her skill set: injectables. So, for two years, she commuted back and forth from the Central Valley to Los Angeles twice a week for that Beverly Hills job. While the commute wasn’t ideal, it placed her alongside the elite in the aesthetics field. “I was able to throw myself into the best of the best and really start understanding how if you combine lasers, what can you get with them? If you combine modalities, how accelerated can you make those results? And so instead of just doing one treatment, if you really dive into it, you can get ‘wows’ and not just mediocre results.”

After two years, it was time. Revay returned to the Central Valley and worked for a plastic surgeon. However, she realized that plastic surgeons are more about cutting through skin than studying it, which has always been her priority. At that point, she knew it was time to establish her own practice. She had already purchased two laser devices, and, while in LA, had begun to successfully grow her “Nurse Revay” Instagram page organically, so her branding was already in motion. She took two months to regroup before launching her enterprise.

Revay Aesthetics opened its doors on February 1st, 2020. A month later, the world came to a screeching halt due to the pandemic, but not for Revay. Since she’d opened the practice with a psychologist, their business was deemed essential. The rise of Zoom meetings led to an influx of appointments from individuals dissatisfied with their appearance on camera. Initially located in The Atrium, Revay Aesthetics moved to its current location at Maple and Herndon Avenues in Fresno by the second year.

I’m not a “yes” woman. My most powerful word is “No. You don’t need it. Save your money on that. Use a retinol, and then let’s retouch on that when you actually need it.” For me, it really is a holistic approach to aesthetics. It’s a multidimensional, multimodality approach.

Revay likens aesthetics to building a house. “You have your foundation; that’s what holds your house up. Then you have the beams, which keep it from caving in. And then you have what your house aesthetically looks like from the outside. Those are three separate layers. So you have to look at the face as a whole.” We are entering the age of undetectable injectables, which means softened transitions and a holistic approach to facial balancing, which Revay specializes in for clients of all ages. “Did she or didn’t she? That’s the best result. If you post something and someone asks, ‘Hey, did you go get this done today?’ That’s not a good job!” Revay comments.

Injectables and treatments must be paired with proper, effective skincare to achieve optimal results. This is why Revay emphasizes a comprehensive approach with every client. “Everything’s connected—the forehead, the temples,” she explains. “You can’t just do cheeks. You can’t just treat one thing. You have to look at it and then understand what you’re doing. Do the least amount possible when you’re young. Use devices, use things that are going to be energy-based that are going to actually cause a cellular change to your DNA, that are going to make you more useful.” Skin is the body’s largest organ, and its quality is crucial to overall health and aging. “You can be 20 years old and have 40-year-old-looking skin—no amount of Botox and fillers is going to fix that.”

So, what’s in Revay’s personal skincare arsenal? Product-wise, she cannot live without AnteAGE MD Growth Factor Solution (which contains pro-healing, anti-inflammatory growth factors), Skinbetter Science AlphaRet Body Overnight Cream (for skin crepiness), and, of course, a physical sunblock. Treatment-wise, she loves a combination of BroadBand Light and MOXI lasers (which, together, remove reds and browns and make skin look more uniform). Her morning routine involves cleansing and applying serums, hydration, and sunscreen (even on cloudy days). At night, she performs a double cleanse, uses retinol and/or targeted treatments, applies serums, and adds more hydration. Once or twice a week, she enjoys a good mask or a caffeine eye treatment to reduce puffiness.

I’m a happy nurse. My patients love coming to see me. When they walk out of my clinic, they have a feeling of confidence and their walk is a little bit different. I am so passionate about making people feel better in their own skin. It’s not about what other people even think—that’s really where I feel like aesthetics has gotten off track.

“Don’t use ‘everything under the kitchen sink,’” she advises. “This is where consistency is key! Your skin says a lot about your health. You can’t work out once a week and expect the body you want and the same goes for skincare.” Regular exercise, at least three times a week, is essential for her. “I stretch before bed every night (for about five minutes) and try to focus on lowering my heart rate. True stress-relief doesn’t come from gym workouts or having drinks with friends.” In fact, she finds rejuvenation through travel. “Many people equate self-love to traditional routines like spa days or physical activities, but taking intentional breaks to disconnect from the day-to-day grind (socially, digitally, etc.) always helps ground me and puts into perspective what’s important,” she shares. “It allows me to stay focused, keep my head down, and stay in my own lane. The 40s are my best era yet, and I’m just getting started!”

Aging gracefully begins with simple, consistent steps. “Vitamin C, retinol, sunscreen—anti-aging-101 basics, right? You don’t need to spend a million dollars when you’re young. But if you can get into those good habits and then use your devices, use the filler and the neurotoxins sparingly, and then you’re able to age more gracefully,” Revay advises. “I’m not a ‘yes’ woman. My most powerful word is ‘No. You don’t need it. Save your money on that. Use a retinol, and then let’s retouch on that when you actually need it.’ For me, it really is a holistic approach to aesthetics. It’s a multidimensional, multimodality approach.”

Revay Plunkett is much more than a “happy nurse.” She empowers individuals to put their best face forward, fully aware that each aesthetic journey is independent. “This is where people get off base. There’s no blanket.” Revay guides her patients through their own unique aesthetic journeys with tailored beauty programs for every need. “My passion for lasers is my key with aesthetics,” she asserts. With nearly fifteen years of experience in laser treatments, she remains committed to staying at the forefront of new aesthetic offerings. “And if I’m going to do it to somebody, I’m going to try it!” she says with a laugh. “I’ve done it all.” This is why she can confidently tell someone they don’t need a particular treatment. Revay is dedicated to helping people look and feel their best with the latest devices and injectables, yet she wholeheartedly believes that “Less is more.”

Editorial Director Lauren Barisic
Photographer Ellie Koleen
Hair Melissa Souza
Makeup Matt Garcia