Modern technology has brought so many gifts to skin care. We are lucky to have an array of efficacious devices at our fingertips that can benefit all skin types. Our formulations are more advanced than we could have ever dreamed, and today’s software and apps allow us to manage clients with ease and care. However, when it comes to social, I’m not so sure the good outweighs the bad.
Social media allows us to cost-effectively market to potential clientele, to easily keep up with the latest skin care trends and to maintain connections with industry peers, but at what cost? The reality is that skin on social media is often filtered, giving clients an unrealistic goal for ideal skin. This has given rise to the term social media dysmorphia, where clients’ standard of beauty is the perfection they see on social. In 2018, 40% of plastic surgeons reported clients were seeking both cosmetic surgery and nonsurgical enhancements to look better in selfies on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.1 Clients are coming in to our treatment rooms with unrealistic expectations for their skin care goals, so what do we do?
Elizabeth Donat explores this topic of “artificial beauty” in her article on Page 40. To help these clients, she recommends responding to them with empathy, to manage their expectations and to be more collaborative in the consultation process.
With every client that comes to us expecting to look perfect in selfies, there are others who instead head to the drugstore believing that the latest DIY skin care video will work wonders for them. You may have to fix their costly mistake, but even if you don’t, education is key.
It is important that we educate our clients every day on what they see on social media, even if they don’t bring it up. Equally as important is the content that we post on our social platforms, which should be rooted in truth and knowledge. Otherwise, our skin care results will not reflect our social.
Yours In Hashtags,
Editor in Chief
