Dr. Andrew Dargie
So welcome to Botox Cowboys. I’m going to be the host today as Tyler is off getting engaged—and she actually did say yes. So congratulations to Tyler. I’m here with… yeah, I can’t believe someone actually tied the knot with that guy.
Dr. Rob Dale
Congratulations.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
We are here with Dr. Robert Dale, who is also known as Handsome Rob for anyone in the industry. Dr. Dale is not only a good friend of mine, but an exceptionally good cosmetic injector. I will let him introduce himself formally, but he is the medical director at The Vanity Lab, the owner of Evergreen Medical Spa in White Rock, BC, and a recent finalist at the AMWC Aesthetic Awards in Monaco for Top Non-Surgical… what’s the word I’m looking for, Rob? Top result?
Dr. Rob Dale
Facial rejuvenation.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Top—okay—Top Non-Surgical Facial Rejuvenation. So welcome, Rob. I really appreciate you being here. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself so our audience knows who they’re learning from today?
Dr. Rob Dale
Thanks, Andrew. And thank you for inviting me to be on the podcast with you. I’ve been listening to it on my commute and it’s awesome. I found the little shout-out you put in about “ScroTox” in one of the earlier episodes. So, yeah—my name is Rob. Dr. Robert Dale from Vancouver. I have a clinic with my wife, Dr. Supreet Maan, out in White Rock, BC, like you mentioned. I work in Yaletown at a clinic called The Vanity Lab. I’ve been doing this work full-time for about six years now, and it’s really been a blessing and a passion finding this industry. Maybe we’ll talk about it later, but you were my foray—you were the person that taught me at the very beginning. So I have you to thank for a lot of this. I’m excited to chat with you more today.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Oh, I appreciate that. We’re going to cover a few different topics today. We’ve got some pearls for patients who are listening, we’ve got some tips for injectors. But first and foremost, let’s talk about this briefly: what drew your attention to aesthetics in the first place? You started your career in urology—a surgical discipline—and then you decided to transition out of that, completed your CCFP designation. What took you from there into aesthetics?
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah, that’s a great question. Sometimes when I’m chatting with patients, this comes up and I tell them the story. Like you mentioned, I started off my training in surgery, in urology. So I’ve always loved working with my hands and I love the technical aspects of medicine. I always wanted to be some kind of proceduralist. I was doing surgery for two years and I loved the surgery part, and then I found there were other things I never considered—job prospects, being on call all the time, lifestyle factors—and I decided, okay, for those reasons, it’s not for me.
Fast forward: I entered the workplace. I was doing cardiac surgery assisting, working in the hospital. But I was really missing that hands-on, artistic sort of approach. So I decided to try Botox and I took your course. I remember this was back at the Parq casino, I think, a number of years ago. And I found it was so much different than I thought it was going to be—in a good way. I was really enamored by it, especially with filler. I found filler really interesting. Basically, once I started, it was a one-way path. I slowly started paring down my hospital work. Eventually I gave it up completely. I focused completely on aesthetics.
For me, what aesthetics provides is the opportunity to use our hands to deliver a technical procedure, but also to connect with patients in this lighthearted, fun environment, and to use our artistic eye a little bit. Because in medicine it’s all objective, it’s all algorithm-based, you know? There’s not a lot of room to flex your creative muscles. But this is a really unique area where you can. So yeah—no looking back.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you’ve progressed really well in your career—and quite quickly—largely due to your good technical skills, good bedside manner, and you’re passionate about this. You’re always pursuing more education. You’re curious and want to learn, and that’s important.
What other skills do you feel translate well to success in the field of aesthetics? We are both athletes. We both had high-acuity medical training. What are a couple of ingredients you see in people in the industry who have been successful?
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah, the athletics one is interesting. You’re right—we both share a sports background. You with track, I did sailing. Sports teaches lessons for life: practice, honing your skills, learning from your past performances, trying to look at things with a critical eye, always trying to be better. That’s something sports teaches really well, and it’s applicable to so many things—our field included. And then I guess a softer skill—sorry, yeah, go ahead.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
No, no—I was going to say: aesthetics is a little different than hospital medicine in that there’s just an unlimited number of patients. You show up and do your job. What’s required to be successful in aesthetics is tremendous energy, hard work, creativity, a commitment to a cause, and an unwavering determination. You can’t compromise on getting to that final dream or endpoint.
That level of determination, I do think, comes from sports for many people. You face challenges and setbacks. This field isn’t for the faint of heart. If you just want to come in and coast, this is not the field for you.
Dr. Rob Dale
Totally. Especially nowadays. There’s so much competition.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Absolutely. It’s a great industry to get into. I see thousands of people come into it, and there are some tendencies where you know pretty early on that this might not work out. I also see that people with a high-acuity background—ER nursing, ICU nursing, surgical backgrounds—fields where people have had to learn a comprehensive skill set and deal with challenges—these typically translate well to aesthetics.
Dr. Rob Dale
Absolutely. Totally agree.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Okay, now I want you to myth-bust for me. This is one we hear all the time.
Dr. Rob Dale
Sure.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
I know you feel strongly about it, and I share your opinion. I hear all the time: isn’t hyaluronic acid filler bad?
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah—great question. Very loaded question these days if you’re cruising on social media. In general, for all of these treatments—hyaluronic acid included—they’re neither good nor bad. They just are. They’re tools. And what you do or don’t do with these tools is what makes them good or bad.
It’s like saying filler is a tube of paint. You give that tube of paint to different people and ask them to paint a picture of a mountain—you’re going to get different outcomes. If a painting is good or bad, it’s not the paint’s fault. It’s the person holding the paintbrush. People attribute goodness or badness to products, or they vilify a certain product, but at the end of the day it’s not the product’s fault. It’s what’s being done with it.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah, and patients are going to ask: over the last year, largely influenced by social media and people that look overdone in public, people come in with a firm stance. They’ll say, “I’ll get Botox,” or “I’ll get a biostimulant,” but “I don’t want HA filler. It’s unnatural.” How do you talk to those people?
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah. What I tell them is: hyaluronic acid is a component in your own body. We have it in our body all the time. The difference with these gels is that companies will modify them—they’ll add crosslinking or modify them in the lab so they don’t break down so quickly. But at its heart, hyaluronic acid is native to our body.
It’s been around for decades. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of studies on it. It’s safe in the body. Are there complications and risks? Yeah, for sure. Every single procedure has complications and risks. You have risks walking across the crosswalk to get to your clinic from your parking spot. There’s always risk. But the risks are low if it’s done properly.
And like I said, it’s not the filler that’s bad. It’s a safe material. People will say, “Oh, it migrates,” or “It lasts longer than they say.” I have specific answers to those questions, but in general the products are safe and well studied.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Oh yeah—there’s a tremendous amount of evidence to support their utility and safety. I think some of the narrative online is: “Look, they don’t stay where they’re put.” You’ll see an MRI with “filler throughout the face,” and those things make me frustrated.
I saw one from a plastic surgeon in France the other day saying, “Don’t ever get fillers,” plugging plastic surgery, which I thought was pretty hilarious. And the picture she was showing—there’s so much you don’t know about it.
There are many different types of fillers. There are very soft fillers that hydrate the tissue of the skin, and with a treatment like that you would want to spread it around generously. People don’t know what they’re looking at.
Filler as a volumizing agent is absolutely necessary as part of an injector’s toolkit—providing lift and volume replacement over time. So: filler is an amazing thing. But it depends on your injector.
That takes me to my second point: what do you say when someone comes in and says, “I’ll never use Restylane filler again,” or “I hated that result with Botox,” or whatever product it is? How do you address that?
Dr. Rob Dale
Good question. First I have a comment on the MRI thing. I was at a dinner a couple months ago and we were talking about MRIs with a well-known doctor from Australia. It was interesting because an MRI doesn’t see hyaluronic acid. When you see these dramatic pictures and it looks like there’s filler—if you look at the physics of it—MRIs see water. So what is the picture actually showing? Is it the filler? Is it water being absorbed by the filler? It’s not so clear.
And there was a news story in Australia—one of the first published stories with this MRI “filler face.” The backstory was: it was an aesthetics reporter who had the study done, and they told her it was just for interest’s sake. She was really happy with all of her treatments—nothing wrong with her face, happy with the outcome. But then they took the MRI, put it in the newspaper, and said, “Oh look at all the filler in her face,” like it was a bad thing. But she wasn’t unhappy. It looked good. So you’ve got to be careful with what you’re seeing out there.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah, there’s a tremendous amount of misinformation. Whenever somebody comes in and speaks strongly on a product, I give them the chance to tell me more. But the reality is: if you have a poor cosmetic result, it’s likely not due to the product. It’s either the injector didn’t set expectations correctly, chose the wrong type of filler, put it in the wrong tissue plane, or didn’t set the patient’s expectations appropriately.
It’s really an indictment on injectors, because a lot of injectors won’t take responsibility for a poor outcome. They’ll say, “No problem, next time we won’t use this brand,” rather than taking accountability that the outcome is on their shoulders.
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah, 100% agree. If someone comes in and they don’t want a product, or they say a product doesn’t work for them, try to dig more deeply. Usually it’s a provider issue.
Even between toxins, people will say one works better than another, and it’s because a lot of providers don’t know you have to inject toxins differently. They all have their own personalities. If you don’t understand that, you’ll get different results with different products unintentionally.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Absolutely. A mark of a good injector is being able to use any product. When you consider your top three neurotoxins—you’ve got Xeomin, Botox, Dysport—some people come in and say one of them doesn’t work for them. Well, they all work exceptionally well. The molecule in the vial is literally identical across the three products. But there are subtle differences in toxin load and spread, and as an injector you have to adjust markings and dosing appropriately, and you’ll achieve an exceptional result with all three.
Dr. Rob Dale
100%, yeah.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Okay. When a patient comes in and they say, “Dr. Dale, I just want the lowest dose of Botox—just give me baby Botox,” what do you do?
Dr. Rob Dale
Well, first we have an appointment minimum now, so that helps. But I tell them a couple of things.
To get a “low dose,” you can either take away areas or treat areas in isolation, or you can just do a really low dose. Both are not good, I don’t think. Patchwork treating the face—our faces are designed to move and express as a whole unit. The muscles don’t work in isolation, they work together. What looks more unnatural is spot treating things. If you treat things together, it looks more natural—which is counterintuitive because everyone thinks “do less, it’ll be more natural,” but it can be “do more, it’ll look more natural.”
In terms of dosing, there’s tons of data: dosing with neuromodulator correlates to how long it lasts. If you’re going to make the investment and go through the procedure, I want the treatment to last. I don’t believe in underdosing.
And people worry about developing resistance or antibodies to toxin. If you’re getting “baby dose” and doing it every four or five weeks, you’re increasing exposure to the antigen. In theory you might induce resistance earlier, or be more likely to. I don’t think that’s a good way of doing treatments.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
No—and this term “baby Botox” is—
Dr. Rob Dale
A marketing ploy or something.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
A hundred percent. Total joke. This is a medication. As with any medication, you need to dose to effect. You’ve heard me say that hundreds of times at my programs: dose to effect.
There’s a real inconsistency in education and training. A large percentage of injectors learn a standard dose—doesn’t matter young, old, male, female, strong, weak—and they just stick to that. It sounds nice to say, “Oh, let’s sprinkle this in,” but treatments aren’t going to last. People waste more money over time.
At the end of the day, I’m going to use the lowest possible dose to achieve a nice cosmetic effect that gives you the best value and longevity. Don’t buy into baby Botox nonsense. It’s just marketing.
All right, last myth buster. This one I chuckle at: “Use Sculptra for bone.”
Dr. Rob Dale
Oh man. Yeah. For those that don’t know, Sculptra is one of the biostimulatory treatments. It’s an injection that stimulates your body to build collagen and elastin and regenerate tissue. Amazing treatment.
When I was first taught Sculptra through the pharmaceutical company—and now I consult for the pharmaceutical company to teach other doctors—it was taught like you can inject it with the needle down on the bone, you can inject it with a cannula in the subcutaneous plane, you can do everything with it.
It never made sense to me because if the goal is to build collagen and improve skin quality, why would you be injecting it with the needle down on the periosteum? Yes, they said there’s some data that there’s communication between the periosteum and the skin surface, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Why put the product there?
I’m a firm believer that all of these products—biostimulator, filler, toxin—have their optimum use case. No one product can do absolutely everything, no matter what the drug companies tell you.
So I try to use products for what their strengths are. And Sculptra, in my opinion, its strength is skin quality, collagen, elasticity, and some of this newer stuff about pigment suppression—but it’s skin quality stuff. I don’t buy it, even though there are still some people out there—some really famous KOLs—where that’s their big technique. Personally, I just don’t think it’s—
Dr. Andrew Dargie
So my point is: question everything you hear in aesthetics. It doesn’t matter who’s talking on a big podium. There’s absolute nonsense in the field. Just like patients reviewing social media—absolute nonsense out there.
People develop big names not necessarily for their aesthetic skills, but their charisma and entertainment value on stage. And yeah, Sculptra is not a bone product, in my opinion.
Now: I’ve got an interesting face. You and I believe in full-face consultation—right? Not spot treatment. Focusing on one area can make other areas look more aged. You can lack balance.
I sent you a picture of our fellow Botox cowboy, Tyler Brooker. Pictures of Tyler are available on our website for anyone who wants to look at them and assess them. As I’ve mentioned: we can’t fix ugly, but what we can do is help them—and he needs it to get ready for this wedding.
Run us through what a typical Dr. Dale consultation would look like if you were to counsel our buddy Brooksy here, if he were to walk into Evergreen Clinic with you as the physician.
Dr. Rob Dale
We have a pretty in-depth consultation process—about an hour long. Coles Notes version: we want to learn about the person. Why is he seeking these treatments?
He might say, “I don’t like this wrinkle between my brows,” and a lot of people would stop there and say, “Okay, let’s put Botox there.” But my question would be: why don’t you like that wrinkle? What does it mean to you? Why treat it now? What’s changed?
And then it comes out: “I’m getting married three months from now and I want to look good in my photos,” or “Sometimes people think I’m angry when I’m not.” There’s always a deeper reason. It’s never just about a wrinkle. Our job is to uncover those reasons, and I think that underpins a lot of our success.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
He wants to look as handsome as his older brother and as distinguished. Next question: how much filler does he need and where? Coles Notes version of Tyler Brooker. Give him a volume assessment right now.
Dr. Rob Dale
This is the video you sent me, right? We’re looking at this picture.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yep.
Dr. Rob Dale
Honestly, from a filler perspective, I don’t think he really needs a lot. He’s got a nice masculine face. Really square jaw. I can’t see his full profile—more like 45 degrees—but from what I can see, his chin is nice and projected, defined cheekbones.
Maybe his nasolabial folds can be lifted back a little bit and softened, but overall I don’t think he needs a ton of filler, at least from this picture.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Rob, you’re supposed to coach. Tyler’s going to run with this thinking he’s too pretty for filler.
What I really notice is his lips. I think we could do some lip augmentation here that would be quite natural. What are your thoughts?
Dr. Rob Dale
Interesting. Yeah, I’ve done a few male lips. Don’t do a ton of it—hasn’t been a big part of my practice. But I see what you’re saying.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah. I agree with you on the nasolabial folds.
Dr. Rob Dale
Also, when he’s smiling, he loses his upper lip a bit when he smiles. He might be a good candidate for a lip flip if he’s not fully into lip filler.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah. Okay. Doctor recommended lip flip for Brooksy. And overall, good bone structure.
Typically when we’re assessing a face, we’re working top to bottom, lateral to medial. In terms of his side profile, the number one area he needs filler is his frontal bone has receded. Tyler would benefit from a couple of syringes—we’re actually going to do that shortly for him. That’s an area that males need treated quite frequently.
I think his cheeks look good. Maybe half a syringe per cheek would look quite natural and sharpen it to match his jawline. And then nasolabial folds and lips.
And like you said, it’s not that he needs a lot of filler, but even in someone that doesn’t, there are still nice areas where we can help people look refreshed.
Dr. Rob Dale
Totally. And if you look at his—it’s mirrored—but his left side, our view, his right side: his face is asymmetric and he’s got a flatter cheek on his left. I don’t recommend everyone start doing this, but I do asymmetrically treat people now if I’m trying to soften asymmetry. For him, we could make his left side match up with the right a bit more, and that would be a filler thing.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah. With this wedding coming up, I’d recommend he probably looks better with his hair shaved off to look like me, and we need to get him to grow his facial hair out a little bit more.
Now: what advice would you give injectors who want to succeed? Someone comes to you and says, “Dr. Dale, look what you’ve done in five years—you’ve had lots of success. Give me three pearls, quick hitters.”
Dr. Rob Dale
Number one: get the right training and start your journey on the right trajectory. I feel really fortunate—taking the course with you and learning with you years ago—you did a great job teaching everything in a very evidence-based, no-BS kind of way, with a good moral compass and a good framework for thinking about the industry. It wasn’t just “put the Botox here.” It was how to think about the industry. That’s super important for anyone entering.
Number two: do it for the right reasons. A lot of people think it’s easy money or a way to avoid nights in the hospital. You need to do it because you’re genuinely interested in patients, you genuinely want them to get the best outcomes, and you care. People sense that, and it impacts the treatments you deliver. This isn’t a gig to make a quick buck. You won’t be successful doing that these days.
Number three: have an open mind. Everyone’s telling you things. Drug companies have their agenda. Think critically. Be willing to consider other options, theories, ways of doing things. Try it out for yourself and don’t just take other people’s word for it.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah, those are great tips. Only a couple more questions. What’s something that gets Dr. Rob Dale really fired up—like grinds your gears—in aesthetics?
Dr. Rob Dale
Okay—what grinds my gears is when patients want a really good deal, or they want to bargain me down on the price, or they’ll say, “So-and-so will do it for this.” Anything that cheapens the service.
In my opinion, you should come to a provider because you trust them and want their expertise and results—not for the price, high or low. If people are doing that, I feel like they’re not appreciating the effort and value I’m trying to bring. They’re cheapening it down to a number. That’s frustrating.
I also don’t like big lips.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Okay—anyone in the Vancouver area, kick off your consult with Dr. Dale asking for 35% off and it will go very smoothly for you.
Now, you got any questions you want to put me on the spot with, Rob?
Dr. Rob Dale
You’re heavily involved and have really shaped the training industry in Canada. You’ve got a finger on the pulse. Where do you see the industry going in the next five years? Just in general.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Let me shake this magic eight ball. I think the evolution will be more towards anti-aging, regenerative medicine, and more comprehensive care that goes beyond volume replacement or muscle relaxation—wrinkle improvement, texture repair. People will combine cosmetic needs with health goals. There’s interesting new technology coming out in anti-aging beyond injectables that I think will be synergistic.
Injectables will always have a place if used by the right person who takes the time to know you and meet your needs and exceed expectations. But the industry has become watered down—commoditized.
And I want to be clear: it’s not me complaining about people charging less money. My target is patients seeking the highest level of results. I’ve worked hard to offer those confidently. I’m not the right physician for every patient, and neither are you.
But when you see people with no training and no certification offering products at cost, it creates confusion in the market. There’s a race to the bottom in price. It’s challenging for patients to filter out what’s real information and what’s not. Clinics have keyed in on that.
Over the next five years, I expect expansion into full-body health and wellness rather than point treatments. That’s how I see it going. What are your thoughts?
Dr. Rob Dale
I basically echo what you said. I think a lot about commodification—so many clinics and providers and what that means.
I talked to one of the OG aesthetic doctors in Vancouver and he was like, “Oh, you guys, all you young kids and your Instagram.” He said when he started he didn’t even have a website. And I was thinking: that’s fine, but if you started today without Instagram and without a website, could you build your practice? No. Different market now, and it’ll be different in five years.
You look at any industry that’s commodified—like a t-shirt. You can buy a t-shirt for a dollar or for $200. They’re both t-shirts, but there’s a separation of value, perceived value, brand experience, quality, and other things. I think there’ll be more of a spread in our industry.
That doesn’t mean there’s no room for high-end. It means you need to be thoughtful about how you craft your experience, results, brand, and the emotions you elicit. You have to be more sophisticated.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yeah. Mentorship is key. I mentor a lot of people, and I have mentors myself. One challenge is when you talk to someone who was an industry OG 30 years ago, their perception of what worked can be obsolete now. You do need to be more sophisticated and thoughtful.
What worked 30 years ago wouldn’t work now. How do we evolve? Pairing yourself with someone who has experience but is also on the cutting edge—that’s a good person to look to for help.
Now: 2025 is wrapping up. What was the highlight of 2025 for you, and what are you looking forward to in 2026?
Dr. Rob Dale
Highlights—work-wise, it was a really exciting year. Like you mentioned, we were top three finalists at AMWC Monaco, which was a big honor.
I work a lot with one of the pharmaceutical companies and their big international KOL who pioneered a certain type of filler treatment. They did a big competition this year with over 500 injectors and we won it. We were in the 10 finalists around the world—the only person from North America. So next year, in 2026, I get directly mentored with him. That was a huge win for us. It’s been really exciting from a work standpoint.
And I think 2025 was not an easy year for a lot of people in this industry. For us, we actually grew. That was a huge win. I think it’s a testament to the differentiation of experience we’ve been working on for the past couple years, and we’re starting to see the fruits of that. So it’s been a great year.
2026—just trying to hang in there and finish 2025 right at this point. In 2026 we’re looking at expanding our offerings in both clinics and really focusing on business development. That’s something I’ve been learning a lot about this past year—the business side. I’m excited to dive into that and learn a whole other skill set, as you know operating multiple businesses.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Amazing. Any plans for kid number three?
Dr. Rob Dale
Oh God, no. I say that, but I haven’t undergone any procedures to secure that fate. No—definitely no plans for kid number three.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Listen, Uncle Andrew’s here to help if that third comes along. I need a break from work and taking a day off here and there, so I’m happy to step in and play babysitter.
Dr. Rob Dale
Oh man, that’s not taking a day off. It’s a different kind of work. Fun work, but different kind of work.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Exactly. Well, I appreciate your time, Rob, joining us. For anyone looking to get treated by Dr. Dale, whether it’s in Yaletown, you can find him at The Vanity Lab, or in White Rock at EvergreenMD.
I’ve watched Rob’s progression over the years. I’ve worked with him, done many sessions with him, and what you’ll find is an injector who legitimately does care, is thoughtful in his approach, and can deliver exceptionally good results. I’ve referred many a client to Dr. Dale—he does things the right way. Proud to have you as a colleague.
I remember from day one in your basic training I was like, “Oh, this guy’s got some juice to him.” Through your filler training and all the other stuff we did together, it’s been an honor being part of your aesthetics journey.
Dr. Rob Dale
Yeah, thank you so much, Andrew. Thanks for inviting me to chat today. And like I said, thank you deep down for setting me on the right path at the beginning with the course. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and for the industry in general. And you’ve been a great friend.
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Thanks, Rob.
Dr. Rob Dale
So—
Dr. Andrew Dargie
Yes, we’ve had some good laughs along the way and it’s a joy now that you teach with us. This is really great. Enjoy the holiday season, give my best to the family, and we’ll look forward to connecting again soon.
Dr. Rob Dale
Thanks, Andrew.

