Electricity's Role in Anti-Aging Skin Care

It may seem as if new developments to combat aging skin are being introduced faster than the speed of light. At the forefront of the research, dermatologists are underpinning these advancements, refining the basic understanding of how the skin ages in order to develop more effective non-invasive cosmetic procedures and products. Now, as an alternative to laser light -- used successfully for years to make skin appear younger -- dermatologists are investigating electricity.

"Electrical devices are integral to medicine, as physicians use low-level electricity to stimulate bone growth, reduce chronic pain, pace the heart and even improve hearing," said dermatologist Patricia K. Farris, MD, FAAD, clinical assistant professor, Tulane University, New Orleans. "As dermatologists, we use electrical devices daily in our practices when removing unwanted growths and stopping bleeding after surgery. Based on these proven medical capabilities, electricity has been studied in the cosmetic arena to further improve aging skin."
Electric devices: The good, the bad and the future

Farris explained that the first attempts to use electricity in cosmetic procedures were aimed at stimulating facial muscles. Low-level electrical stimulation has been shown to increase muscle mass and muscle tone, and it was thought that electrical stimulation of facial muscles might be useful to build up the supporting structure of the skin, elevate soft tissue and improve facial contour. While many of these early electrical devices were designed to use at home to improve signs of aging and were sold directly to consumers, Dr. Farris noted that the results from these devices (known as galvanic skincare devices), were less than stellar.

"Although the majority of these devices have not been tested, they are generally believed to be ineffective by the scientific community," said Farris. "In one study where patients using two different at-home electrical stimulation devices were evaluated by blinded reviewers after four months of use, the reviewers examined before and after photos and were unable to detect any differences in the appearance of aging skin in patients who used these devices. Unfortunately, many of these at-home electrical devices are still being sold today via the Internet -- with no scientific basis for their claims of improving aging skin."

A more effective electrical technique for nonsurgical skin lifting is in-office radiofrequency (RF) treatments. RF devices deliver electrical energy deeply into the skin, changing electricity into heat. Dr. Farris explained that studies show it is the tissues' inherent resistance to the electrical current that generates the heat, which causes contraction of thin membranes running through the fat in the deep layers of the skin, resulting in an immediate tissue tightening.

"RF devices have not replaced traditional surgical face lifting, but significant improvement in neck sagging, jowl and cheek contour, and eyelid and brow drooping have been documented," said Farris. "The latest generation of RF devices delivers energy using the fractionated technology adapted from lasers, and studies show that fractionated radiofrequency (FRF) may be more effective than traditional radiofrequency at skin lifting because it induces both collagen and elastin formation."

Another new technique using electricity to improve aging skin that is currently being evaluated is electoporation (EP). With this technique, electricity is used to physically enhance skin penetration through high voltage, short duration pulses applied to the skin.

"While research is preliminary, electoporation has been shown to effectively enhance skin penetration of molecules and water-based compounds. It is possible EP will enable us to deliver compounds such as skin nutrients and growth factors to the skin far more effectively in the future and ultimately help reduce the signs of aging," said Farris.
Cosmeceuticals get a charge of electricity to improve aging skin

Most cosmeceuticals marketed for aging skin use chemicals to improve the appearance of the skin, but Farris noted that now the principles of electricity are beginning to be used in these products to create "bioelectricity" to alter cellular activity of the skin. For example, a cream with a metal in it is placed on the skin, followed by another cream containing a different metal. The metals applied to the skin have opposite charges, which act like a battery -- similar to electric stimulation techniques to reduce muscle or nerve pain.

"Much of what we know about bioelectricity comes from our study of wounds, which appear to generate a low level of electricity that starts the healing process," said Farris. "Interestingly, it also has been shown that aging skin has lower levels of bioelectricity, resulting in poor wound healing, and reduced collagen and elastin formation. This is an exciting area of research, and more studies on these electrically based cosmeceuticals will help us further understand their capabilities and the duration of aesthetic improvements that can be expected."

Tour at Cosmoprof

The organizers of Cosmoprof North America have unveiled a new initiative, “Best Beauty Retailers in Las Vegas Tour,” a custom field trip that will bring participants to a variety of retail establishments both on and off of the famous Las Vegas Strip.

This one-of-a-kind project was developed specifically for Cosmoprof North America as a result of feedback and inquiries received from industry insiders and past attendees. Show organizers contendit is the perfect opportunity for independent store owners, as well as international visitors, to get acquainted with U.S. retailing concepts.

The hand-picked group of stores represents a wide variety of beauty categories: prestige, specialty, boutique, professional only, salons/spas, masstige, general and multicultural markets, and mass. The line-up includes Beauty Center, Sephora, SKINS 6|2 Cosmetics, U*tique and Ulta.

Participants will receive tips on running a successful retail business such as overviews on signage, merchandising, impulse-buying and display placement. In addition to these tips, ideas on staffing, discussions about inventory management, and unique-to-each-venue success stories will be shared.

The beauty merchants represent a broad range of retailing environments, each with distinctive models and strategies. Participants will receive hand-outs from these brick and mortar establishments while in the field.

The tour will take place on Saturday, July 30 from 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. It will begin and end at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Marc Birenbaum of Beauty Store Business magazine will be the tour guide.

The cost for Professional Beauty Association (PBA) members is $100 and $125 for PBA non-members. Lunch will be provided.

Consumer Insight Study on Anti-aging

While anti-aging products provide a ray of hope for some consumers, it seems that many are realistic about their gains from such products. According to recent Mintel research, 69% of consumers believe how you age is mostly genetic, and external products are more hope than help. Additionally, eight in 10 consumers think diet and exercise are the most important factors associated with aging skin, and 78% say using sunscreen is the real key to preventing visible signs of aging.

While many consumers say aging is controlled by diet, exercise and genetics 69% also report that the earlier they start using age prevention remedies, the better off they are.

“There’s a sizable gap between opinion and practice,” says Kat Fay, senior beauty analyst, Mintel. “While there are no guarantees when it comes to anti-aging skin care purchases, many women buy the products anyway with the hope of achieving visible results. They adopt the ‘it’s better to try something than do nothing’ approach.”

The $832 million anti-aging skin care market, by Mintel's data/research, has experienced decelerated growth in the past year, but sales are expected to increase 46% in current prices from 2010–15, according to Mintel. It seems even when times are tough, women are still reluctant to cut back on their favorite anti-aging and beauty products.

Currently, just 24% of consumers report using anti-aging skin care products. Another 21% have used wrinkle-reducing facial skin care products in the past year and 18% report using skin rejuvenating products. Meanwhile, 39% of consumers who are concerned with aging have not taken any action to prevent or reverse the signs of aging.

“Respondents aged 25–54 report the most likelihood to use facial skin care products with anti-aging, wrinkle-reducing, and skin rejuvenating properties,” adds Fay. “This makes sense, as at age 25 many people are likely beginning to see the first signs of aging and want to prevent further signs. Through middle age they are trying to reverse the signs; and after age 55 they are likely more resigned to aging and less inclined to spend.”

For consumers who are concerned about aging, the entire face is the biggest concern (48%) followed by the eye area (41%), the stomach (40%) and the neck (31%).

Tips to Lift and Brighten Eyes

Lifting and brightening eyes doesn’t have to take the work of an expert plastic surgeon. All a woman really needs are a few quick fixes in her back pocket and her eyes will have never looked brighter or lighter! Beauty expert and co-owner of Outlashe Eyelash Extensions Nicole Flevaris has put together her secret stash of tips that every client should know.

Shape That Brow. Provide eyebrow stenciling for a perfect and even look. Stenciling works wonders for opening up the face and making eyes look lifted. Make sure to recommend a cleaning at least every two-to-three weeks in order to prevent an unkempt brow.

Extend yourself to the max. Applying eyelash extensions will instantly open up the eye and make it brighter.

Not your average wrinkle cream. There are many wrinkle and dark spot erasers, but one beauty secret not many women know is that using Preparation H under your eyes is a surefire way to brighten eyes and reduce bags. However, this can be only used once a month at the most for a special occasion.

The new concealer. Many women are often only wearing a concealer or corrector under their eyes. This is a thing of the past! Have clients mix a cream blush into their foundation to counteract the darkness of the skin in hues of peach and pink. This trick is used by makeup artists and works better than concealers.

Don’t forget your brow bone. When applying eyeshadow, it’s important to always sweep a light white or cream shimmer shadow along the underneath of the brow line. This instantly gives a brighter, lighter appearance and helps lift the brow for a more open eye.

Demand For Stem Cell Skin Care

One thing that we all have in common is the we are all aging slowly yet surely. This is all part of the natural cycle and something that seems inevitable to us. What really matters is how we manage the impact that the forces of time can have on our bodies. How we eat and the amount of exercise we get can help us keep in shape, but those things will do nothing to combat the onset of wrinkles. There is hope on the horizon in the form of stem cell creams that naturally fight the effects of aging.

The signs our bodies start to show as the years start to add up can be subtle at first, but we all see them eventually. Wrinkles often start to appear around the eyes before anywhere else. Crows feet and tiny lines at the edges of the eyes start out quite fine and spiderweb outward each and every passing day. Over weeks and months it becomes easy to recognize the visible signs of getting older. Given enough time the wrinkles will deepen and spread until our face is transformed into a whole new landscape. There is nothing wrong with wrinkles or age spots in themselves, but being able to look our best for as long as possible is the dream of people everywhere, and for good reason.

As age spots and wrinkles increase in size and volume they begin to dominate our features. Our own face will change before our eyes. This is a fact of life, but not one we have to just sit down and accept. Choosing to stay looking young and healthy is a matter of taking care of our skin. To get the best results will mean finding a skin cream that can help revitalize and protect our skin. Finding just the right solution means sifting through the false promises to find real results.

There are endless products and gimmicks that claim to stop the signs of getting older and prevent wrinkles. The market is a mine field of untested and flimsy claims of effectiveness. Only a few products actually stand up to the task and give us visible results. Stem cell creams in the form of plant cell based products have made an immediate effect on the world of skin care and age defiance.

Plant Stem cells have been found to have an almost instant impact on the health of our skin. It can repair the minor damage from blemishes and wrinkles that as well as protect the sensitive facial skin from further damage. Now there is no way to freeze time or roll back the clock, but it is good to have the next best thing. We would all like to stay looking youthful and vibrant as long as possible, and that is what stem cell creams are all about.

The best solutions to the medical problems of any age always seem to come from mother nature. A huge array of plants of all sorts have had dramatic effects on how we treat all sorts of ailments and skin problems. Most native cultures posses knowledge of many natural cures to anything that ails you. Certain plants have been used to keep us looking fresh and youthful for quite a long time now. Once again the flora of the world has led to a break through in the war on aging.

A wide variety of plants and flower are being used as stem cell sources. Some fruits are also being helpful in the ongoing mission to stay looking as young as we possibly can. Many products and balms can be found that use this budding new technology. Provided sweetly by our loving earth. Finding the right one can be a matter of searching and researching the reviews and products found online. Read the reviews and check the feedback people leave to be sure of getting the best of the best. Plant stem cell creams come in many varieties and they all have their benefits.

The value of looking young and vital is never ending. It can take just a few minutes on the internet to find the perfect stem cell cream that can keep anyone looking their best for years to come. Everyday that passes without any protection from the test of time is a day we lose the battle against aging. A little daily prevention can make the clock stand still and our skin look its absolute best. It is more than worth looking into in the quest to stay smooth and attractive.

Spa / Beauty Clients Through Social Media

With consumers ever more likely to include social media as a tool for their product purchasing decisions, spas need to evolve from simply maintaining a social media presence to fostering dialogue. Social outbound engagement provides a new opportunity for spas to achieve the classic marketing goals of greater awareness, sales and customer loyalty with strong return on investment (ROI).

All major beauty brands today have digital marketing strategies in place, yet they are still not doing enough to keep up with consumers. Despite significant discussion regarding social marketing, there still has not been sufficient focus on delivering comprehensive social marketing strategies, leveraging its true word-of-mouth potential and tracking its ROI.

The percentage of time Americans are spending online has more than doubled during the past few years, while time spent on other communication channels has dropped or remained flat. People now spend more time online than engaged in any other media activity. Concurrent with the rapid increase in time spent online, there has been the recent dramatic rise of time spent on social media channels. Today, social networking is the No. 1 online activity, with people spending more than six and a half times the amount of time on social media as they do on Internet searches. And it’s not simply about quantity of time, it is also the degree of influence that social media possesses for consumers in their purchasing decisions. These trends are even more pronounced in the beauty industry, as women are even more likely to spend their time using online social media and refer to it when deciding which products they wish to buy.

Spas today need to evolve from simply maintaining a social media presence, to one of social outbound engagement, in which spas meet consumers on their terms—in a compelling, interactive manner. Following are the 10 best practices for successful social outbound engagement.

1. Recognize the need for separate social marketing strategies for your spa loyalists as well as independents (both of which will be defined later in this article).

2. Understand how your spa is represented in social media today, and how you could shape that to look tomorrow.

3. Prioritize social marketing efforts to ensure you are maximizing your net impact.

4. Engage your target clients through your social marketing strategy to facilitate discussion with, and among, that target.

5. Leverage constructive feedback to improve your products and services, as well as the perception of your spa among influential social channels.

6. Develop consumer brand ambassadors who can speak to independent consumers who are primarily interested in the opinion of other consumers in formal and informal online channels in which your brand might not have a presence.

7. Design your social marketing strategy to create a strong ripple effect to reap the benefits of positive online word-of-mouth.

8. Align your marketing resources based on what truly influences client spending behavior.

9. Integrate your social marketing program with both your traditional and other online programs to ensure a cohesive and compelling customer experience.

10. Measure and deliver ROI through clear metrics to track and enhance your social marketing efforts.

Through a comprehensive social marketing strategy employing these 10 best practices, spas can cost-effectively realize significant improvements in awareness, spend and client loyalty. The brands that catch up with consumers through social media will be the ones to reap the maximum ROI through the positive word-of-mouth they will achieve.
Social media and the American consumer

Sure, social marketing is being talked about a lot these days, but just how relevant is it for the spa industry? Although there are a few anecdotes that hint at its potential for success, is it something that can be effectively integrated into a comprehensive marketing strategy, and measured to prove high ROI?

The answer? Yes.

Originally perceived to be something used only by high school and college students to stay in touch with each other, it has since turned into the most influential marketing channel available.

Many spas today recognize that the Internet represents an important marketing channel, and have varying degrees of digital marketing strategies in place. However, most still underestimate just how central a role online media plays in consumers’ lives and in their buying decisions. Consumer behavior has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, and beauty companies need to catch up. A study by Forrester found that, from 2004–2009, Americans increased the amount of time they spent online by 117%, while time spent watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers and magazines decreased or stayed flat.

In other words, use of the Internet has more than doubled, while time spent using the other major media has remained flat or shrunk in the same five-year period. Although this is impressive, what is the base, and how many hours are you actually talking about today? A recent Heishman-Fillard and Harris Interactive report finds that Americans are now spending more time online than engaging in any other media.

Figure 2 notes the average number of hours U.S. consumers spend in each media per week.

It’s not just quantity of time that is important; it is also quality. And the Internet is playing a tremendously influential role in the lives of consumers. In fact, 64% more Americans now regard the Internet as an “absolutely essential” or “extremely important” source of information, when compared to TV.* In short, the study found that the Internet has twice the influence of TV and 10 times the influence of print media on consumers.2

The transition of how beauty consumers are spending their time has not just occurred from traditional media toward online. Within online as well there has been a seismic shift over the past few years: social media.

Social media really is nothing more than word-of-mouth, online. My Facebook post, your Tweet. I StumbleUpon, you Yelp. YouTube, Wikipedia … show and tell, word-of-mouth, 2010-style. The corporate hope has always been that if consumers have good experiences with your products or services, they tell all of their friends. If they have a bad experience, they just tell you. Clients do not always act as you might wish. In the social media reality of 2010, the reach and impact of word-of-mouth is exponentially greater today than ever before.

Some numbers:

Americans spend more time today on social networks than any other activity online; 906 million hours, in fact, are devoted to social networks and blogs by Americans per month, more than twice that of any other category. That’s more than six and a half times the amount of time they spend on Internet search.

• Americans are spending 43% more time on social networks today than just a year ago.3

• Nearly two-thirds (66%) of online Americans, according to a 2010 report, visit social networking sites, up 230% from 20% two years prior to the study.4

• The average Facebook user spent six hours and three minutes on Facebook in June 2010, nearly three times or more than the time spent by any other audience of another top 10 website.

The numbers are impressive, but still don’t convey the entire impact or implications of social media for the spa industry.

Further, numerous studies have shown that women are more likely to spend time on social networking sites than men. An Edison Research report, for example, found that women comprised 57% of all consumers who checked social networking sites multiple times a day.6 And it’s not just the amount of time, but the degree of influence social media carries in the buying decisions of American beauty consumers. Consumers have shown that they are more likely to accept the opinions of friends, family and even other consumers online (who they may not even know) over the opinions of spas themselves, as expressed on spa websites and other marketing channels.7 Reading community message boards, general interest websites and blog reviews have been shown to make women more favorable to a product when shopping, compared to brand websites.8 And a report issued by Gartner in July 2010 found that the majority of consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchase decisions.9

Social media, simply put, is the most engaging channel available to consumers today. From a promotion code for an exfoliating scrub announced on a blog to a foundation blending tip shared on an online beauty forum; from a video testimonial on a new mascara by your cousin in Ohio to a friend’s Facebook post about a sunless tanner she likes, social media is empowering consumers to choose when and how to learn about brands, and infiltrates every step of their purchasing decisions. Social media is the dominant player on the Internet today, and its usage and impact has been skyrocketing. The spa that learns how to swim best with the social media current will be the one to maximize the tremendous ROI it has to offer.
Social marketing and spas today

All of the studies previously cited lead to two conclusions:

1. American beauty consumers are spending much more time online and on social media sites than ever before.

2. Social media has become a dominant influential channel that impacts consumers buying behavior.

Of course, establishing a brand presence on Facebook and Twitter is just the first step as far as social marketing is concerned. Let’s call it Social Marketing 1.0. And although there has been some anecdotal success of effective social marketing within the spa industry, there has not been widespread adoption of a comprehensive social marketing strategy tied in sufficiently to ROI. Just as spas have progressed from traditional to online marketing, establishing websites, incorporating e-mail into their customer relationship management (CRM) systems and providing e-commerce capabilities, so too do they need to evolve to the next stage of social marketing: Social Marketing 2.0.

What is Social Marketing 2.0 for the spa industry? In a phrase, it’s social outbound engagement. It’s more than simply achieving an arbitrary fan base or specified number of posts by year’s end. It’s comprehensive marketing designed to foster dialogue with—and among—your loyal clients of today and your loyal clients of tomorrow. It’s reaching out beyond your official channels; it’s reaching through communities and influential players in the online landscape of today. It’s integrating social marketing with your online and traditional marketing efforts, and utilizing metrics that culminate in high ROI. It’s adhering to the 10 best practices for social marketing.
Best practices for social outbound engagement for the beauty industry

1. Think for two

The first step for an effective social outbound engagement strategy is to recognize that you have two broad consumer groups, each of which necessitates its own strategy to effectively leverage social media.

Loyalists: These are your VIPs whose frequency and amount of spend make them your most profitable customers today. They are the people who are easiest to engage through your brand’s proprietary online and social media channels. They are the ones who are already on your e-mail lists, reading your blogs and following your Facebook updates—or at least identify strongly enough with your brand to want to stay informed.

So, how many of your loyalists do you actually track? What can you do to get more information about those you do not know? How do you leverage your social media assets to further engender their loyalty?

Independents: These clients might do business with your spa on occasion, but also spend with your competition. Or perhaps they have never made an appointment, but have challenges that your products and services address. They have the potential to become profitable, long-term clients of yours, but how do you reach them? They are much less likely than loyalists to be on your customer lists or fan groups, but yet they are still active online.

The total spend of independents in your product categories far exceeds that of the loyalists, which you are realizing today, so you need to court this group. However, to do so requires you to meet them where they are already spending their time online, because they are not interested in visiting you on your online social properties ... yet.

2. Know your social shadow

You can’t develop an outbound engagement strategy unless you know where you are starting. Establish metrics and survey the most relevant social media sites for your business. To shape how your brand is represented in social media tomorrow, you need to know where you are today: How many mentions of your spa are there in social media? Who is talking about you? What are they saying? What percentage of the discussion is positive, neutral and negative? How many inbound links and bookmarks to your sites are there?

Now that you know how your spa is represented, it is important to understand who else is influential in online social media for spa consumers but is not referencing your brand. How is each of your competitors being referenced today in social media? By whom? How about complementary products or general beauty issues that your products and services address?

A comprehensive examination of the relevant social universe will enable you to understand what your potential online social reach could be, relative to what it is today.

An effective social marketing program should both increase the number of people discussing and engaged with your spa, as well as increase the overall positive references to your spa in social media. By realizing both of those objectives, the ultimate goal of marketing can be achieved: tracking and producing incremental revenue with demonstrated high ROI.

3. Prioritize

In an ideal world, a spa would address every relevant customer and commenter in all social media channels. However, this is not possible given the limited bandwidth. It is critical in social marketing, as in all marketing, to prioritize based on what will deliver the best results for a given amount of resources. Who reaches the most influential people? Who inspires conversation and engagement? Just as not all customers are as profitable as others, not all social media channels are as influential as others. So, how can you gain an audience with the most influential and insightful consumers? Who will enable you to create the greatest impact through a comprehensive social marketing program?

4. Engage

Some brands still treat their initial forays into social marketing with the same approach as classic marketing channels: The brand talks, the customer listens. Social marketing enables a true dialogue between current consumers, prospective consumers and spas in a way not possible before.

What can you do to foster participation and dialogue about your products and services, about the solutions you are providing? Are there conversations regarding your spa and issues taking place in which you can join and add value? Can you provide access to your experts to discuss beauty issues and best practices, and share overall insight through interactive formats? Can you develop social media content that engages consumers and motivates them to share your assets with their friends and family?

Are the social media resources you are creating that would legitimately be of interest to someone who is not yet a loyalist of yours? Engagement is essential for engendering true loyalty among your target audience. Does your current social marketing strategy sufficiently address this?

5. Leverage the negative

One of the more challenging elements of social media for spas is that, with so many different voices in social media, it is inevitable that some might be more negative in their appraisal of your products, services or overall brand. Of the negative references, it is important to identify those that are constructive in nature and those that have a greater online impact. For these, look to remedy the situation through the following methods.

Direct assistance to address the issues they raise.

Validation by regarding their feedback as constructive and valuable. Indicate, specifically, how you will leverage it into your marketing and product and service development process.

Incremental services you can provide to enable them to have a positive association with your spa.

By creating a positive experience where there was a negative void, you are creating a social impact far greater than that one individual. Other online consumers notice when someone they trust has changed their opinion of your brand, and, in addition, it motivates them to reconsider your spa in a more positive light.

6. Cultivate brand ambassadors

Consumers have been shown to be more likely to trust the opinions of other online consumers over those of a company whose products and services they are considering purchasing. The more these people encounter real customers who are passionate about your spa, while still retaining that girl-next-door ring of truth to which they can relate, the greater the chances are that they will go ahead and try your spa.

By developing an environment and support system that cultivates and empowers these consumer brand ambassadors, you will be able to multiply the impact of your social marketing efforts. These are the people who will speak on your behalf through blogs, communities and in direct response to their friends’ posts to share their experience with your product. The spa industry has some of the most passionate and vocal consumers of all. Are you leveraging them? Have you identified who could become your greatest brand ambassadors? What are their demographics, purchasing behaviors and issues? Which of your current client loyalists has a very large online presence and social influence? Who are some of the most influential and credible beauty consumers today whose demographics and activity indicate their potential to be a great fit for your spa, even if they are not yet a current loyalist of yours?

Motivate and enable them to feel even more a part of your brand, and speak on your behalf. Consider product samples, application tips and direct access to some of your experts to ensure that any of their questions are addressed. Is there any technical support they might require to communicate with other spa consumers through pictures, video or online access that you can provide? What additional support, resources or incentives might there be to further motivate them to represent your spa well, and feel that they are recognized and appreciated for doing so?

7. Turn online social ripples into waves

One of the greatest powers of social marketing is the multiplier effect. Social media is word-of-mouth, online—so develop your social outbound engagement strategy to maximize its ripple effect. There are three key factors that determine how much of a ripple you can create from your initial efforts.

Create content of significant value and interest. Content is paramount online, so whether through insightful expertise, exclusivity, games, humor or other means, develop compelling social media content.

Seed the idea with the most engaged and passionate key online influencers.

Motivate the sharing. Have you developed content in a format that makes it simple and quick for anyone to pass along to a friend? Is the content as compelling as it can be to encourage sharing? Can you develop incentives to further promote the ripple effect?

8. Align your marketing resources

Have you allocated your marketing resources to maximize your net impact? Are you placing the appropriate weight on each marketing channel given how your customers are actually learning about your products and services and making their purchasing decisions?

A Duke University and American Marketing Association survey found that business-to-consumer product chief marketing officers, on average, will allocate 12.4% of their marketing budget toward social media in the next 12 months, and plan to increase that to 22.6% in the next five years.10 What is the best allocation for your spa and your target audience?

9. Integrate

The best social outbound engagement strategy is the seamless one. Whether you are speaking through an influential online community forum to someone who has never seriously considered purchasing your product before or to a loyalist who you wish to invite to an exclusive event, you want to ensure you deliver a consistent, cohesive brand experience for your audience.

What are your brand values? Is there a disconnect between the social marketing voice you use through your Facebook presence to the print ad in The New York Times announcing your newest treatment? Is your social marketing strategy leveraging your traditional marketing assets and events? Do you have a comprehensive marketing calendar that captures all your social, online and traditional marketing touch points and events? Have you mapped out all possible customer journeys, and understand how each component smoothly leads to the next so that your audience has a seamless, positive brand experience?

10. Deliver the ROI

This all sounds nice, but we’re all busy, and, at the end of the day, need to show real, specific ROI. Can that be done for social media? Yes.

Some of the best methods available today to track ROI for your social marketing efforts include the following.

Compare number of impressions generated through social media with cost of delivering same impressions using traditional media.

Minimize customer service operational costs through outbound social engagement to retain disengaged clients. Evaluate with cost for in-person and phone support, noting your average cost for attracting a new client.

Track actual sales through promotion codes or custom URLs promoted through social media.

Boost online sales by measuring all traffic and revenue driven directly from clients who originated in social media channels.

Link names registered in your CRM system to those of your social media followers, including their preferred social media site(s) and user names. Motivate them to self-identify, and you can successfully capture both their immediate and long-term spend and attribute it to the correct marketing channels.
In conclusion

Social outbound engagement provides a new opportunity for spas to achieve the classic marketing goals of greater awareness, sales and customer loyalty with a strong ROI. Social media’s reach and impact have skyrocketed, to now represent the most influential channel available today. It’s time for spas to catch up with clients, and construct and deliver comprehensive social marketing strategies. Only then can spas cost-effectively realize the tremendous word-of-mouth potential, and the profits that will then ensue, through today’s online social media.

1. Forrester via North American Technographics Benchmark Surveys (2009)

2. Understanding the role of the Internet in the lives of consumers, Digital Influence Index, Heishman-Fillard and Harris Interactive (Jun 2010)

3. What Americans Do Online: Social Media and Games Dominate Activity, Nielsen (Aug 2010)

4. 2010 Social Networking Report, Experian Simmons

5. Top Online Sites and Brands in the US, Nielsen (Jun 2010)

6. The Social Habit—18th Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Research (Jun 2010)

7. Purchaser Influencer Survey, Expo, (Jan 2010) and Nielsen Trust and Advertising Global Report (Jul 2009)

8. Women and the Digital Path to Purchase, ivillage, shespeaks (May 2010)

9. User Survey Analysis: Consumer Marketing Using Social Network Analysis, Worldwide, Gartner (2010)

10. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, The CMO Survey commissioned by the American Marketing Association (AMA), B2C Products (Aug 2010)

Top Beauty Trends for 2011

For spas and clients alike, beauty trends are an exciting glimpse at what many love about the beauty industry—the innovations, the breakthroughs and the flat-out amazing discoveries that work to make women and men even more beautiful. In 2010, the biggest beauty trends prove that where beauty is concerned, a little of the old can be as trendy as a lot of the new, and clients are eager to kick-start this new decade of beauty with fun; a goal you can help them achieve by working with the following trends.

The tools of the road
Tools are fascinating, and nowhere are they garnering more attention than in the beauty world. And although clients aren’t going to go so far as to forsake their estheticians, for today’s beauty trendster, do-it-yourself (DIY) beauty tools are an increasingly popular skin care bridge between spa visits. Hair removal, extreme exfoliation, laser line reversal and even at-home light therapy for hyperpigmentation all are becoming more and more mainstream, and savvy beauty companies are jumping on board. From prestige to mass, the trend for DIY at-home beauty is only just beginning to reach its full potential as a building block to spa services.

The little antioxidant that could
Antioxidants have made a name for themselves in the beauty world that few ingredients can match. Given their prevalence in every type of skin care product and treatment, it might be presumed that the antioxidant’s time in the sun had passed—however, it hasn’t. Antioxidants are here to stay, and now their anti-aging and overall well-being benefits are being added to more items than just skin care. Makeup brands are embracing the power of antioxidants in eye shadow, lipstick, foundation, and even mascara and eye liner. In addition to protecting the skin from environmental damage, many antioxidant makeup products also boast anti-aging and wrinkle-reversing properties, as well. For today’s typical über-busy woman, the multibenefit aspect of antioxidant makeup is not only a hot trend; it’s a smart trend, as well, so it is your job as a spa professional to educate clients about the importance of antioxidants.

In the tween of things
Teenagers, it may seem, spend a good deal of their time feeling entitled, but perhaps they are onto something. The tween and teen skin care trend is one area where young adults might just have every reason to feel entitled. Faced with record levels of stress, responsibility and opportunity, today’s teenagers also deal with growing numbers of acne outbreaks, skin problems and unprecedented exposure to environmental damage. Although not necessarily a new trend in 2010, the need for skin care that is formulated to expressly meet the needs of this unique group of individuals is one of the most exciting trends that continues to gain momentum. These days, brands aren’t just paying lip service to this category, either. Today’s suppliers have made advancements in ingredients, formulation, delivery methods and even packaging that truly provide a benefit to young skin, and help prep these beauty newbies for long-term skin care success. Not yet ready for their mother’s favorite products, yet definitely in need of more than soap and water, skin care and cosmetic lines that offer carefully edited products specifically tailored to benefit young skin are timely, effective and here to stay.

Technology for wow
Another exciting trend that is poised to be hot in 2010 is the rise of unique applicator systems for color cosmetics. Not content to merely offer consumers the same old options as in the past, today’s cosmetics brands are rolling out technologically advanced applicators and formulas that promise photo-finish application and precision; and high-definition results never seen before. Sound too good to be true? Maybe not. Some brands are beginning to offer products with unique features, such as a futuristic paint-roller applicator that seamlessly applies makeup to the skin or a roller-ball applicator for an antioxidant-enriched formula designed to minimize fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. Foundation isn’t the only product to sport such cutting-edge technology. A new mascara on the market features an oscillating wand that provides an application so precise that the results are said to rival the lush appearance of false lashes. Photo-finish results for everyday wear are on trend and on time.


The rise of the eyes
After the tumultuous energy of the past two years, consumers are looking to 2010 to be the start of a fresh, new, bright beginning, and eye shadow trends appear to be leading the way. From look-at-me smoky to the ephemerally popular nude, eye makeup is once again big in 2010, and only trending to get bigger. Gone are traditional interpretations of these looks, and in their place are color options that breathe new life into old favorites: funky purples, peacock greens and bold corals give smoky eyes an edge, while shimmering golds, buttercup yellows and spring-fresh lilacs make the nude eye anything but vanilla. And it doesn’t stop there—a renewed focus on brows is also taking shape, with products to groom, fill, shape and even grow brows popping up in every sector.

Glam-for-less
Glamonomics is here. Trending to be even bigger this year than last, the consumer demand for high quality-yet-affordable beauty indulgences is hot. No longer willing to pay top dollar for every single product in their makeup bags, women are seeking more affordable cosmetic options that can be supplemented with special indulgences from time to time, and beauty brands are bringing their A-game to answer this call. Private label products allow clients to purchase items at a lower price than most skin care lines and allow for the branding of the business at the same time; a win-win situation. Even high-end skin care brands are getting into the game, creating specialty sets and product options that give consumers the indulgence they crave at a more affordable price. No longer can brands presume consumers will stick with their favorite product no matter the cost. In 2010, she’s also going to indulge her inner glamazon in an affordable, fun way.

Advancements and fun
The consumer thirst for increasingly more innovative and exotic beauty products and technology is, by now, well-known to most brands. As the beauty industry continues to recover from the economic turmoil of the past few years, savvy brands will continue to try and stay ahead of this bell curve by leveraging what has worked, what is working, and what needs to be working in order to give consumers the products, services and innovations they seek. The trends for 2010 reflect this outlook, keeping beauty on the move, and in-the-now with unique product offerings, amazing advancements in formulations and flat-out fun.

Natural and Organic

Malie Organics is spreading its roots in organic personal care products with the reformulation of its Pikake personal care collection.


During the past 20 years or so, many personal care formulations have evolved from synthetic to natural to organic. But the creators of the Malie line have reduced that evolution cycle to only a couple of years—make that 18 months. After just a year and a half of research, the company has rolled out an organic version of its Pikake personal care collection.

And to think, it all started with a quality of life issue.

After their kids were born, Dana and Shaun Roberts wanted to get them away from the “shopping-center mentality” that dominates the U.S. mainland. Their quest for a less consumer-centric lifestyle led them to Hawaii and the founding of Malie (pronounced: Mah-lee-ay, which means “calm serene tranquil”), a personal care company that utilizes the natural ingredients indigenous to the archipelago.

“Using the worldwide web, we were inspired by the nature and plants that were here,” recalled Dana.

At first, Malie offered linen mists, room sprays and hand soaps, but since its founding in 2004, the company’s product line has grown to include anti-aging creams, body washes, butters, soaps and many other grooming staples.

“We learned pretty quickly, say in the first six months or so, that the boutiques wanted body creams and related products. It didn’t take long before we realized that we were in the spa niche,” Dana said.

Once they had found their niche, Dana and Shaun wanted to create products that were organic too. But they found out that their options were limited.

“Six years ago, we couldn’t find organic ingredients,” said Dana. “So we launched the company using natural ingredients. But we realized that we should be on the forefront of organic movement and moved from natural to organic ingredients.”

That decision has put some stress on its supplier base, but Malie relies on a network of 20 suppliers who earn their living on the Islands.

Just last month, the company announced the completion of a three-year transition from natural to organic beauty with the relaunch of Malie Organics’ Pikake Collection. The Pikake Flower is a Hawaiian jasmine. Malie Organics captures the essence of Pikake by distilling the flowers into Hawaiian Hydrosols for a beautiful collection of products.

According to Dana, Malie’s Hawaiian Hydrosols utilize Pikake’s botanical benefits at the molecular level, capturing the true essence and very soul of the flower.

The Pikake collection includes an organic body cream, organic body wash, organic body polish, organic luxe butter soap, organic mist, organic liquid hand soap, soy candle and island ambiance reed diffuser.

A Big Year

While some company executives would have killed for a 6% sales gain in a recession-plagued 2009, Dana says she was disappointed in those results, noting that many retailers were “ultra conservative” in their game plans. But, so far, 2010 results are promising, with sales increasing 24%, due in large part to big gains in Japan. No wonder why Dana is confident about the future, insisting that there will be no double dip and pointing to the fact that her lead times have doubled as the economy has improved. At the same time, she’s confident that Malie Organics will continue to grow.

“For companies where the owners are involved and the products are unique, those brands are growing,” she insisted.

Now, Malie Organics is developing products based on orchid distillation. The company has teamed up with researchers at the University of Hawaii to create new scents based on flower essences.

The Next Big Thing?

Another unique idea whose time has come is KonaRed Coffee Fruit, a new venture developed by Shaun and manufactured and marketed through KonaRed Coffee Fruit & Sandwich Isles Trading Co. This ingredient, a byproduct from the harvest of Kona coffee on the Big Island, is rich in antioxidants. Three raw materials are available to formulators: whole powder (available in 14, 40, 80 and 100 mesh), freeze dried powder (100% water soluble) and liquid extract (100% water soluble).

According to the company, KonaRed polyphenols contain properties that:

• Help fight inflammation;
• Neutralize toxic free radicals that cause aging and disease;
• Fight free radical damage;
• Provide exceptional nutrition;
• Provide anti-viral and anti-bacterial benefits;
• Help protect against systemic oxidative stress;
• Help resist sun damage;
• Boost mood and energy;
• Curb the appetite;
• Help reduce the incidence of oxidative pathologies such as coronary heart disease, inflammation and possibly even certain cancers; and
• Provide health benefits associated with glucose management, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, depression and anxiety and oral health.

In fact, KonaRed Coffee Fruit has an ORAC score of 407,600 per 100 grams—a score that is significantly higher than any known plant product, including blueberry and açai.

With a firm commitment to organic materials and an eye on novel ingredients, Dana and Shaun Roberts are confident in their company and their futures.

“We’re growing faster than we can supply product,” observed Dana. “Next year will be a strong year, too.”

Future of Beauty

In honor of the Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing and Management Master’s Degree program at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the annual Capstone presentation focused on Beauty 2020: The Future of Beauty. In an attempt to help the beauty industry understand the long-term effects of the new economy, the presentations addressed the consumer, manufacturer, and retail universes through the year 2020.

Alumni Association Chairs, Vivianna Barrera, L’Oreal USA, Matrix; Kate Foster, Juicy Couture, and Rebecca Heck, Firmenich, Inc., provided an overview of the Master’s program, which fosters interpersonal connection and leadership, empowerment, and innovation, to inspire change in the industry. Dr. Joyce Brown, President, FIT, welcomed attendees and highlighted the program’s Leadership in Action program, as well as the creation of the Alumni Association, whose members are already vice presidents of cosmetic companies, including Coty and others. She also acknowledged FIT’s partnership with The Wharton School, as well as the recent tribute to 10 of FIT graduates, at the FiFi Finalist breakfast.

“The FIT Master’s Program in Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management serves as a juncture between academia and the industry,” explained Brown.

In addition, Brown noted the upcoming industry breakfast, which will celebrate the 19th Anniversary of the program, by honoring Marc Pritchard, chief brand building officer, Procter & Gamble and Linda Wells, editor in chief, Allure, on September 22, 2010.

Leadership, Sustainability and Innovation

Chris Hacker, chief design officer, global strategic design, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., delivered the keynote address, saying, “We are delighted to sponsor this 10th anniversary program, which helps people develop as senior leaders. My colleagues and I believe in the value of this program.” He highlighted a dominant theme emphasizing sustainability, transparent consumer experiences, and the premise of delivering and executing innovative ideas for the future.

Rochelle Bloom, president, The Fragrance Foundation, introduced the first Capstone topic, The Future of Fragrance, presenting graduates, Shiri Sarfati, Lisa Negrelli, Jessica Wolfe and Monika Ziobro, who provided insights into the vitality of the future of fragrance. Sarfati noted that there were 1,000 fragrance launches in 2009, 300 of them in the U.S., and while 2009 fragrance sales were down, there was strong support of the classics, with 7 out of 10 purchases being classic fragrances.

The students provided a series of platforms with which fragrance of the future might be approached, including Eau Share, which emphasized the importance of developing a scent vocabulary, enabling scent to help childhood development, and encouraging consumers to become the true storytellers about fragrance. Eau Network was an idea that encourages consumers to share their stories about, and experiences with, fragrance, much like The Food Network, which has contributed to creating a community approach to food creation, sourcing, experimentation, and expertise. Eau Juice, entailed the ingredient story, noting it was time to re-engage consumers with descriptive, recognizable stories.

Speakers (l-r): Chris Hacker, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies; Rochelle Bloom, The Fragrance Foundation; Michele Serro, IDEO, New York; Dr. Joyce Brown, President, FIT; Carlotta Jacobson, president, Cosmetic Executive Women; Lezlee Westine, Personal Care Products Council and Stephan Kanlian, chairperson, Master’s Program, FIT.
It’s the quality of the juice that will bring the customers back, the panel noted, saying that the time has come to connect with the next generation of “Scentennials,” by offering fragrances and experiences that they can relate to and enjoy. They also urged dropping the negative term, “synthetic,” and presenting “eau molecules,” as an alternative, within a technologically derived scent context.

Eau Space denoted the future of fragrance, which would be expressed in stores via lifestyle stories and moods, rather than brand names; and Eau Bars would be attended by Certified Fragrance Specialists that could offer direction, as well as opportunity to be immersed in “Fragrance Pods,” where customers would be transported virtually to lavender fields, hear directly from a perfumer, arrange a fragrance class or workshop, or book a flight to Grasse!

The subject of Retail came next, with a musical video admonition to the tune of Malvina Reynolds’ Little Boxes, a tuneful discourse on the drab nature of sameness. Fragrance needs to be antithetical to the concept of “little boxes on the hillside, made of ticky-tacky, and all looking the same…” Indeed, the point of the presentation, introduced by Michele Serro, practice leader, IDEO, New York, and presented by Group Leader, Yumiko Nishikawa, and Maura Cannon, Jennifer Marino, and Denee Pearson, emphasized the need to entice, engage and entertain. To evolve retail, it is important to understand that the days of excessive shopping are over, and retailers must employ better means of communication, embrace change, and provide digital services, which offer tangible results.

Among the latest practices cited were the “I-Runway,” where brands can be accessed and purchased on personal electronic devices, or the availability of experiential shopping experiences.

According to the panel, “Retailers must cater to the behavior of millennials, who say, ‘show me, don’t tell me,’ and provide the tools, as well as honesty and transparency, to help the new customers connect. Let consumers sit in the driver’s seat, utilize phone applications and connect with a broad spectrum of consumers with ‘Click and Brick’ touch points.”

They urged that every possible touch point be utilized, from traditional retail to social media, and that they must be integrated, reminding attendees, “Remember, no one wants to be a little box on the hillside.”

The Future of Leadership, introduced by Carlotta Jacobson, president, Cosmetic Executive Women, presented Marixsa Rodriguez, group leader, and Carly Guerra, Lea Koussolis, and Caroline Ornst, who emphasized community, agility, information flow, whole brain approaches, co-creation, and collaboration in the new workplace. The Future of Beauty, introduced by Lezlee Westine, president, Personal Care Products Council, featured group leader, Nichole Kirtley, and group members, Marta Cammarano, Mariangela Gisonda, Jennifer King, and Beatriz Loizillon. Interestingly, this session debunked the myth of the “superwoman,” and framed the concept of beauty in a more pragmatic way, rooting it in reality and personal identity.

“Today’s woman embraces her perfectly imperfect self,” noted Cammarano. It was foretold that the woman of the future wants to have a real conversation between brands, seeking the products that reflect her unique beauty needs.

Clearly, the future will demand new interaction and a reciprocal dialogue to keep apace with the changing consumer population. The students also emphasized the need for the new beauty to support responsibility, safety, and sustainability, urging philanthropy, intelligent consumption, and education.

In addition to this year’s Scholarship Awards, honors were awarded in the following categories. Phebe Farrow Port, Senior Vice President, Global Management Strategies, Estée Lauder Companies, presented the Faculty Leadership Award to Pamela Vaile.

Outstanding Leadership Award, presented by Shashi Batra, president, Victoria’s Secret, went to Marixsa Rodriguez; and the Department Medal Award, presented by Mark Polson, executive director, innovation/business development, Estée Lauder Companies, was awarded to Yumiko Nishikawa.

Stephan Kanlian, chairperson and associate professor, Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing and Management, concluded the presentation, noting, “It truly takes a village to put together a program like this, which travels to three continents, and enables us to share alumni and student talents with you.”

Estée Lauder To Acquire Smashbox Cosmetics

A move beyond department store counters for EL.

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics, Inc., a privately-held, photo studio-inspired prestige cosmetics company based in Los Angeles, CA.The acquisition is expected to close in July 2010, subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approval. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, the Company said that the transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in fiscal year 2011, before transaction and integration costs.

The Smashbox brand, with its unique equity positioning, is a strategic complement to The Estée Lauder Companies’ portfolio of leading prestige cosmetic brands. Smashbox’s significant presence in assisted open-sell environments and specialty distribution channels will expand The Estée Lauder Companies’ product offerings and reach new and younger consumers in these high-growth prestige channels.Additionally, The Estée Lauder Companies will leverage its extensive international experience as it seeks to grow the brand and engage Smashbox’s expertise in digital and social media to advance its current capabilities, an important and growing competency for the Company.

Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics was founded in 1996 by brothers Dean and Davis Factor, great-grandsons of the makeup legend Max Factor, who were inspired by photo studio celebrities to create a unique makeup brand that met the highly demanding needs of a professional photo shoot.Since that time, Smashbox has established itself as a highly successful prestige cosmetics brand and a top performer in specialty channels.Currently, the majority of Smashbox’s sales are based in North America.

William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies, said, “One of the enduring strengths of The Estée Lauder Companies is our ability to identify brands with unique positioning and nurture those brands to accelerate their momentum and realize their full growth potential.The addition of Smashbox to our portfolio continues this 64-year legacy. We expect that with our strong cultural synergies and shared appreciation for family heritage, this will be a wonderful union.”

“Smashbox, like The Estée Lauder Companies, is a creativity-driven, consumer-inspired organization with great talent,” said Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Estée Lauder Companies.“Adding Smashbox to our portfolio of brands will help strengthen our presence in prestige specialty channels worldwide, increase our product offerings in this important category and enhance our capabilities in digital media and direct response television. We are energized by the promising momentum of Smashbox and believe the brand will help attract new and younger consumers to The Estée Lauder Companies all over the world.”

“The Estée Lauder Companies is the ideal home for Smashbox,” said Dean Factor, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics, Inc.“The Company possesses the scale and vision to help transition Smashbox into its next phase of growth, and its track record of nurturing and growing prestige brands is second to none.Moreover, we share a similar cultural heritage and dedication to consumer-inspired innovation and creativity.We expect to benefit greatly from The Estée Lauder Companies’ extensive knowledge in product development, operational execution, and international marketing and distribution, and we look forward to the next great period of growth for the brand.”

“Smashbox is the leading Hollywood photo studio-inspired cosmetics brand with a devoted following and timeless appeal,” said John Demsey, Estée Lauder Companies’ Group President, responsible for the Estée Lauder, M•A•C, Tom Ford, Prescriptives, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone, La Mer brands and after closing, Smashbox. “We are excited to be acquiring a uniquely positioned cosmetics brand with true talent well known for engaging consumers across prestige channels and in the digital media space. Smashbox fits perfectly within our DNA, and we look forward to continuing to delight our consumers together.”

Eco Clean Arrives in U.S.

If you want your green cleaning guaranteed, go to Scandinavia or simply have Scandinavia come to you. Eco Clean is a new cleaning product range made from pure, local Danish ingredients available at a shockingly reasonable price.

Scientist Jens Erik Hansen, acknowledged globally for developing products with low eco-toxicological profile, toiled for five years perfecting the proprietary formula called AEB (Active Eco Boost), a natural amino acid derivative. AEB solubilizes dirt and keeps it suspended in the solution, enhancing the cleaning properties while minimizing skin irritations. It goes into each of the following liquid products: All Purpose Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, Dish Wash, Glass Cleaner, Hand Wash and Kitchen Counter Top Cleaner.

Eco Clean is made from plant and sugar-based surfactants fragranced with fresh smelling essential oils (orange rosemary, spicy lavender and cool mint). More technically, this non-toxic range is made from sugar beets, a sustainable, renewable, readily biodegradable resource that comes from Danish farms on the island of Falster. The sugar beets are known as D-Glucopyranose, the highest quality sugar surfactant derived from fatty acids of plants.

FDA Approves New Warning for Botox

Boxes will carry new message regarding treatment.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new warning on Allergan Inc.'s Botox and a similar product about the possibility of life-threatening breathing and swallowing problems, according to recent reports. This follows an earlier advisement about stronger warnings.

Along with signing off on a boxed warning for Botox and Myobloc, made by Solstice Neurosciences Inc., the agency said it was changing the generic names for both products to avoid medication errors. The formulations and brand names will remain the same.

The FDA said Botox's generic name is onabotulinumtoxinA, after previously being known as Botulinum toxin type A, while Myobloc's name is rimabotulinumtoxinB after previously being called Botulinum toxin type B. Dysport was approved in April with the generic name of abobotulinumtoxinA, said reports.

Holistic Beauty and Skin Health: How Whole is Holistic? Part 1

By: Jimm Harrison

What does it mean to be holistic? Where does holistic begin, and where does it end? A holistic connection between mind and body is recognized as an important aspect of beauty and skin care, though the current concept of mind, body and spirit is vague, nonscientific and limited. This makes it difficult to effectively use holistic in the practice of esthetics and spa therapy. A clear definition and insight into holism can help to develop a model useful in the business and practice of beauty and wellness.

Holism is defined as the understanding that the parts make up a unified whole. The parts are no longer viewed as individual units, but are analyzed in relation to the whole organism. Holistic health and beauty perceives the organs and parts of the body, emotions and the environment as interconnected with an affect on the overall health of the person and, ultimately, the skin. The question is, how whole is holistic? Is a person a closed container of mind, body and spirit that stops at the skin’s boundary, or does it go further? How far out does the holistic effect go?

The connection between beauty and health

What is beauty? This question is seldom asked and rarely has a clear-cut answer. Beauty is often stated as being in the eye of the beholder, but this is hardly a basis to support a multibillion dollar industry. There must be more to beauty that drives people to achieve it. For those in the business or pursuit of beauty, there is value to having a clear beauty definition and well-defined beauty goals.

Beauty has its roots in biology and is a means of attraction. Nature’s goal is to reproduce and continue a species by producing the strongest offspring. To do this, both parents—or seeds or cells—must be in the most vital, healthy condition. Beauty is used in nature as a visual representation of health.1

If beauty is health, then a beauty goal would also be a goal of health. To achieve health and beauty, a holistic approach is most effective in addressing all conditions that may influence or cause an imbalance to the system.

Emotions and skin health

Mind-body is the most commonly made holistic association. Emotional stress has an influential impact on, and can instigate, disease and skin damage. The impact stress has on the skin is evident in several conditions, such as hives, acne, psoriasis and eczema. These conditions are either directly caused or exacerbated by stress.

The body releases signaling molecules through thought and stress. These neurochemicals and hormones physically alter the activity and functions of the body. They may cause inflammatory responses, which can have profoundly negative effects on the skin. For example, the stress hormone cortisol, released during stressful situations and the fight-or-flight response, is known for its inflammatory effect and can cause premature aging of the body and skin.2

Stress-induced glucocorticoids also were found to be directly responsible for the breakdown of the cutaneous barrier function3 and transepidermal water loss,4 resulting in psoriasis5 and atopic dermatitis, and the emotional stress-induced neuropeptide Substance-P was found to play a role in acne.6, 7

The responsibility of the practitioner is to establish if stress is a potential cause of imbalance, though it’s not always obvious, and select a remedy or treatment that will address both the stress and the physical condition. Holistically, your business should be representative of the stress-free and relaxed mind-body, and you should offer tips or provide classes on reducing stress.

The environment and the skin

Living environment and conditions are another consideration in the holistic evaluation. The most obvious of environmental concerns are those familiar to your geographical environment, such as common allergens; sun exposure, which includes elevation; and atmospheric conditions of moist or dry air. Other concerns include: airborne toxins or pollutants from nearby industrial manufacturing, mills or farms; contaminated tap water; or environmentally unsound waste areas. A toxic environment may manifest as allergies or atopic dermatitis, but it also may just as easily result in a skin condition with a cause more difficult to identify.

Areas producing high amounts of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from wires, power plants or other sources and radio frequencies (RF) from microwave towers and ovens also have been implicated as a cause of disease8, 9 and may directly or indirectly affect skin. The EMFs from cellular phones are debatably another potential source of biological disruption.10, 11 EMFs and RFs also may alternately create emotional stress with the resulting effect on skin.

Home interiors too have potentially high amounts of EMFs or RFs, as well as environmental toxins. Providing awareness of environmental and home pollutants through available literature or Internet suggestions, such aswww.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.health, will offer a valuable service to your clientele and support the image of a green business.

Personality and philosophy

Personality and individual philosophies can be used as diagnostic elements for their affect on skin condition. The Hippocratic temperaments and the doshas of ayurvedic medicine are systems that classify personality and physical types for use in diagnosis and treatment. Matching skin to personality may be obvious—a nervous personality equals stressed skin and congested skin fits a sluggish personality—but deeper observations break from the obvious and look at stubbornness, fear, anger, type A and worrisome personalities, where the clinician may observe the personality and holistically connect withskin condition.

A person’s philosophical viewpoint is also a consideration. Positive or negative, spiritualist or realist, and even political viewpoint may be a subtle defining factor in skin condition. Philosophical viewpoints and personality types will likely parallel emotional balance. Be conscious that your business philosophy often will attract a philosophically like-minded clientele, and your treatment options should correspond to that.

Lifestyle, diet, work habits and social habits

Lifestyle is reflected in the skin’s condition, and prescribed treatments are only as effective as a person’s habits will allow. No sleep, stressful work habits and a party-all-the-time lifestyle will not allow for proper digestion, circulation or detoxification, which ultimately will be seen in the skin condition.

It’s well known a poor diet is a detriment to skin care. The nutrients from a balanced, whole food diet with supplementation will maintain a healthy body, mind and skin, so it’s holistically beneficial for the practitioner to have a basic understanding of diet and nutrients.

Exercise, proper rest and playtime also have their benefits. They increase the health and emotional well-being of the individual and their skin. A business based on beauty wellness may do well to include holistic services such as a professional lifestyle coach, nutritionist and fitness center, or offer informational resources to counteract a negative lifestyle.

World issues and interconnectedness

What effect does a struggling economy, desolation in third world countries, war and political chaos have on the skin? Thought it’s only speculate on this issue, the potential imbalance on health that may occur should not be overlooked.

The modern perspective of the universe sees interconnectedness between all things. In this context, joy in one corner has a joyful influence on everything everywhere, and the same applies to pain, suffering and cruelty. Be aware of the emotional impact this may have, with each person responding uniquely to world eventsand energies.

Your business may counteract negative world issues through recycling programs, volunteerism and other positive actions that, in turn, emit positive influence within the interconnected whole. In this context, your positive action will have a positive healing stimulus on the skin of your clientele, as well as on your business.

The quantum aspect

Quantum, or subatomic, science presents a mysterious and altered understanding of physical reality. Reality is not necessarily as it is perceived. It can be said people create the physical world through their perception, senses and thoughts.12 Interconnectedness becomes evident at the subatomic level where boundaries, space and time dissolve and are not as you tend to believe.

Energy work, such as Reiki, along with meditation, prayer healing, feng shui, and other ancient rituals and philosophies, find support from insight into the quantum sciences. A basis in this science is where a holistic model can really take flight and expand the possibilities of how mind, body, spirit, lifestyle, relationships, world crises and interrelated connection among all things may affect skin.

What effect does your attitude, the ambience of the spa, the camaraderie of the staff, the neighborhood of the business or the competence of the manager have on the outcome of a treatment? Based on a quantum viewpoint, these are dynamics that may certainly, and holistically, influence the outcome.

The holistic model

Bear in mind, the information presented here is meant to develop an awareness for the potential of a holistic model. There are no rules regarding holism, except the understanding that all parts work in concert and are not isolated, independent pieces. How far you take this, or how whole you see holistic, is guided by your own sense of holism. Part II of this series will give suggestions regarding holistic treatment options, analyzing each topic and matching it to ingredients, formulation, techniques and business models.

REFERENCES

1. N Etcoff, Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty, Anchor Publishing Inc., Harpswell, ME (2000)

2. S Talbott, Cortisol Control and the Beauty Connection, Hunter House Publishers, Alameda, CA (2007)

3. EH Choi, BE Brown, D Crumrine, S Chang, MQ Man, PM Eias and KR Feingold, Mechanisms by which psychologic stress alters cutaneous permeability barrier homeostasis and stratum corneum integrity, J Invest Dermatol 124 587–595 (2005)

4. M Shahidullah, EJ Ralffle, AR Rimmer and W Frain-Bell, Transepidermal water loss in patients with dermatitis, Br J Dermatol 81 (1969)

5. BB Arnetz, B Fjellner, P Eneroth and A Kallner, Stress and psoriasis: psychoendocrine and metabolic reactions in psoriatic patients during standardized stressor exposure, Psychosom Med 47 528–541 (1985)

6. M Toyoda and M Morohashi, New aspects in acne inflammation, Dermatology 206(1) 17–23 (2003)

7. WJ Lee, HD Jung, HJ Lee, BS Kim, SJ Lee and W Kim, Influence of substance-P on cultured sebocytes, Arch Dermatol Res, July 300(6) 311–6 (2008)

8. IM Thornton, Out of time: a possible link between mirror neurons, autism and electromagnetic radiation, Med Hypotheses, 67(2) 378–82 (2006)

9. Microwave & Radio Frequency Radiation, Communications Workers of America (CWA) (Accessed on Dec 28, 2008 from www.cwa-union.org/issues/osh/articles/page.jsp?itemID=27339127)

10. Researcher sees cancer risk from mobiles, International Herald Tribune, Jul 24, 2008 (Accessed on Dec 28, 2008 from www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/business/cellphone.php)

11. What are the health risks associated with mobile phones and their base stations?, World Health Organization, Dec 5, 2005 (Accessed on Dec 28, 2008 from www.who.int/features/qa/30/en/)

12. FA Wolf, Mind Into Matter: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit, Moment Point Press, Inc., Needham, MA (2001)