Meet NP Karla
Nurse Practitioner Karla Cabrera is the founder of Bella Medical Spa in Tempe, AZ. She is a board-certified nurse practitioner from Chamberlain College of Nursing, and an advanced cosmetic injector. See her other certifications below.
She founded Bella Advanced Aesthetics Training and has personally educated a wide array of medical providers in the aesthetic community since 2019.
Karla loves working in this industry and her passion is to help her patients become the best-renewed version of themselves.
She is fully bilingual in English and Spanish.
Karla's Story
Growing up, she saw her mom, Martha, struggle with severe facial scars due to intense burns caused by a dermatologist who used her to experiment with a laser (permanent makeup device) on her when Karla was 4 years old.
The damage was so serious she had to be admitted to the hospital due to a massive facial, fat infection. This infection damaged her lower face nerves and destroyed her lip outline compromising the skin on both smile lines and above her chin.
Needless to say, Martha was devastated, and Karla recalls being so scared she was never returning home.
After a few days, Karla’s mom came back with an IV in her forearm, and she told her “You are beautiful, Mom,” in Spanish. That was one of the three times she saw a tear roll down her mom’s face.
Following Martha’s recovery, she had a few aesthetic injections to make her lips and lower face as symmetrical as possible. Using concealer, liquid makeup, setting powder, and filler she looked almost exactly as she used to be. All in all, she has been able to live a fulfilling life, without people asking her “What happened to your face?” in a thousand different ways.
How Her Mom’s Ordeal Affected Karla
When she turned 29 years old, she felt she had no life, no health, and no self-confidence. Her mom suggested Karla look into becoming an aesthetic injector. With that, she signed up for a local aesthetic certification course.
Administering injectables fills her heart, and warms her soul.
“I am where I belong, and I hope anyone reading this understands that improvement is always possible with consistency. I love that I can safely inject my mom to help her feel confident and empowered.”
Karla’s goal is to make you feel confident and empowered and embrace your unique beauty.
Experience
Nurse Practitioner Karla is deeply committed to helping individuals rediscover their inner beauty and confidence. With a profound dedication to aesthetics and a strong emphasis on the medical aspect of her practice, NP Karla passionately integrates both realms to bring about transformative results.
Her journey is marked by remarkable instances of compassion and skill. From assisting individuals with cleft lip conditions to delicately enhancing volume and symmetry with innovative techniques, NP Karla’s expertise extends to those facing challenges such as Bell’s Palsy, facial trauma, and trigeminal neuralgia.
Through meticulous treatments involving Jeuveau, Botox, Sculptra, PDO threads, and fillers, she addresses issues of asymmetry caused by muscle atrophy, fat atrophy, and facial skin conditions, empowering her patients to embrace their unique beauty.
Over her last six years as an aesthetic nurse practitioner, Karla has treated facial trauma, which can affect the upper or lower jaw, cheek, nose, eye socket, or forehead. It can be caused by blunt force, such as from a fall or car accident, or from other causes, including assaults, chemical exposures, thermal burns, animal bites, and sports injuries.
Personal Life
Karla was an introvert in her early 20s. A few years later, she became a complete and happy extroverted woman.
“Nursing got the worst out of me, since I felt there was no time to stay quiet, feel oppressed, or just let “injustice” happen… it was like a “waking-up” cold shower from thinking that I was “just” a nurse to “wow, I am a nurse.”
“I started to feel proud of who I was, and I started to realize that I could do more for patients, my family, and myself. It took me 3 years after that moment to complete a MSN-FNP program, and I am grateful I could accomplish this for me and my family.”
She has been married to Oscar, her best friend and partner in life since 2009. She has two daughters, Luna and Leah.
NP Karla's Certifications
Our Team
Meet Mari, Registered Nurse, BSN
Mari is a registered nurse with a passion for aesthetics. She has been an aesthetician since 2021 and brings with her an extensive background in skincare, enhancing her approach to injectables.
With a deep love for both the artistic and scientific sides of beauty, she is dedicated to helping patients feel confident and refreshed, delivering unique results.
Meet Alycia Donnelly, Lead Aesthetic Assistant
Alycia is the Lead Aesthetic Assistant at Bella Med Spa in Tempe, Arizona. She is passionate about helping patients feel comfortable and supported throughout their aesthetic journey.
Alycia is on her journey to earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and is dedicated to learning more about the medical field and growing within aesthetic medicine. Outside of the med spa, she loves trying new foods and listening to music.
Meet Luna Cabrera, Mini Aesthetic Helper
Luna, Karla’s daughter, has a passion to help her “mama” build gift bags and organize boxes. She has intensely trained herself to become an expert on aesthetic products boxes arrangement.
She is so happy helping her mom “play” with boxes. Luna is 4 years old, and when she is not helping her mom, she enjoys playing with dinosaurs, crayon doug, and jewelry making.