About our School

The Institute of Virginia School for Skin Care Specialists and Makeup Artists, teaching strictly skin care and makeup, was founded by Yvonne de Vilar and her daughter Corine de Vilar who immigrated from France. Their school was incorporated in 1979 under the name Yvonne de Vilar Scientific Skin Care, Ltd.

This name was sold to Hubert and Vernell Strecker when they bought the school in March of 1991. "Miss Nell" taught music for 28 years before moving into the field of aesthetics. "Mr. Hubert" owned a corporation in Germany that made machines for the paper industry.

Miss Nell is dedicated to quality education. She spends most of her time researching and finding ways to better educate the students for their new careers. With all that there is to learn, every course is challenging.

The program at Yvonne de Vilar Scientific Skin Care, Ltd. has been issued a certificate to operate by the Board of Education of the Commonwealth of Virginia every year since 1983. This certificate guarantees that our school meets the high standards set by the Board of Education. On July 1, 2004 the regulatory responsibility was transferred to the State Council of Higher Education.

Our facility expansion was completed in January of 2005. We occupy the entire 305 Maple Avenue West building, allowing our School and Salon to be under one roof. This enables us to offer more courses and salon services and encompass a larger retail space.

In addition to our well-qualified staff, we have added specialists in skin care and medicine, who lecture or conduct work shops as part of the Aesthetic Course. A partial list is included on Faculty and Staff page.

Spa and Salon owners repeatedly recommend our school. Students continually rate their experience here as "wonderful", "excellent", and "learned so much".

An brief chronological overview of the changes that have occurred are listed below:

1981
The Board of Cosmetology of the District of Columbia approved the Scientific Aesthetics Course.

1992
Multiple high quality product lines were introduced to train students. This continues to enhance the training that our students receive.

1994
The length of the Scientific Aesthetics Course increased from 125 to 350 hours and was approved by the Maryland Board of Cosmetology.

1995
The Makeup portion of the Scientific Aesthetics Course was approved by the Maryland Board of Cosmetology for a separate Makeup Iicense.

1999
Since September our school began expanding at a rapid pace. We were able to increase our classroom size and student capacity.

2000
The length of the Scientific Aesthetics Course increased from 350 to 600 hours.

2001
The 600 hour requirements by the Maryland Board of Cosmetology were met.

In September, we expanded into a second building # 307-F, also in Maple Professional Park.

In April our school received a "5 Star Rating" from The American Aesthetics Education Association.

2003
The Virginia Board of Cosmetology required a Waxing License beginning July of this year. Our School and Salon are licensed for teaching waxing and for giving waxing services.

In September the education requirements of the Board of Cosmetology of the District of Columbia changed and we are again seeking approval under their new regulations which also is for 600 hours.

Also, in September 2003 we expanded into a third building at 301 Maple Avenue, West, where we had our offices and the main class room for the school.

2004
In November we took over the whole building, 305 Maple Avenue, West, in Vienna. The office and the class room moved from the 301 building by the end of 2004.

2005
The class room and the makeup room on the first floor were finished in May. At that time the school operation was reunited in one building.

The renovation of suite C and clinic D on the second floor was completed September 2005 and is used for teaching the post graduate courses and for an expanded retail area.

2006
In September we started our first 600 hours of training for a Master Esthetician's License in Virginia, offered in three independent modules. Module A with 300 hours includes the training of Medical Aesthetics.

2008
Announced our first ever Full Time Accelerated Basic 600-Hour Course. The first class starts May 19th and graduates August 13th cutting the time it takes to complete this course in half (12 weeks)!