In a digital world with instant access to information, it has never been easier to monitor, maintain and improve our health and appearance. People are increasingly taking their looks and wellbeing into their own hands, paying closer attention to factors such as lifestyle, exercise and nutrition, and setting themselves personally meaningful goals. For some consumers though, taking control of your physical development is about more than just a healthy lifestyle. It’s also about exploring new limits to achieve the looks you desire.
Medical beauty treatments get topical
DSM works constantly to identify, understand and anticipate personal care trends and its latest trend research highlights a burgeoning interest in more “medical” approaches to beauty.
In the age of Instagram and the selfie, interest in cosmetic procedures is booming[1]: in China for instance, the plastic surgery market is expected to double by 2019. And a wider range of consumers are embracing this approach as a recent survey has found that 31% of American males say they are ‘extremely likely’ to consider a cosmetic procedure.[2] It is also becoming much more common for younger consumers to seek out anti-aging treatments as a preventive measure.[3]
With options such as dermal fillers, peels and laser treatments, “medical” beauty care no longer has to mean going under the surgeon’s knife. Minimally-invasive treatments have become a very popular choice, accounting for 80% of plastic surgery procedures in the US in 2017.[4] The global facial injectables market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 11% between 2018 and 2025,[5] with dermal fillers being a particularly highly sought-after procedure.[6]
Many consumers are looking for effective ways to firm facial skin and address wrinkles but find even ‘minimally invasive’ approaches too much. DSM’s research found that another expression of the medical beauty trend is an increasing demand for high-efficacy, topical products that draw on the latest scientific discoveries in cosmetics. High-concentration, pure-form vitamins, sheet masks and formulations with performance ingredients such as hyaluronic acid or retinol are just some of the increasingly popular do-it-yourself, non-invasive alternatives out there.
Hyaluronic acid - a fast-rising ingredient for anti-aging skincare
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is currently one of the most in-vogue cosmetic ingredients around. Google trend analytics for May 2018 report over 500,000 search results related to the term and more than 98,000 posts about HA can be viewed on YouTube.[7] Why the growing interest in HA? It almost certainly has something to do with the popularity of hyaluronic fillers, which achieve natural-looking, reversible results. HA fillers have become the fastest growing minimally-invasive cosmetic treatment in the US.[8] They are also the most widely used: the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that 78% of dermal filler procedures in the US use HA.[9] Demand for HA injectables is also growing in China, where their market volume is forecast to increase more than 20% annually in the next 3 years.[10]
Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance in humans. Half of the body’s HA is in the skin, where it plays a key role in skin structuring. With age, HA in the skin decreases quite sharply, causing facial skin to lose volume in key areas, including the cheeks, under the eyes, the jawline and around the mouth. HA fillers counter this process by plumping up these areas and firming the skin.
A little peptide can go a long way too...
So for consumers who would like some of the benefits of hyaluronic acid, without the injections, is there a non-invasive way to achieve compelling anti-aging results?
DSM’s well-known ingredient SYN-HYCAN was developed to remodel, lift and volumize facial skin from within by stimulating the body’s own production of hyaluronic acid. New data on consumers now shows just how much this peptide boosts HA synthesis in dermal and epidermal cells in vitro and ex vivo.[11] Moreover, thanks to cutting-edge 3D visualization technology and a novel, non-contact compression device, our scientists can now visualize that SYN-HYCAN significantly improves skin volume and restores firmness across multiple facial areas in vivo.
The global market for cosmeceuticals is expanding rapidly and expected to almost double between 2017 and 2023.[12] With its scientifically proven volumizing and firming benefits for all key facial zones, SYN-HYCAN offers an unique topical solution in this fast growing consumer market.
[1] https://www.aafprs.org/media/stats_polls/m_stats.html
[2] AAFPRS survey 2018; American Society of Plastic Surgeons 2018
[3] Dermstore Survey 2017; HSBC 2018
[4] ASPS 2017 Plastic Surgery Statistics report
[5] https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/facial-injectables-industry;
[6] Crossroads Today, ABC News, “Worldwide Dermal Fillers Market Projected to Grow at CAGR ~12.5%” Dermal Fillers Market Research Report - Global Forecast till 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/dermal-fillers-market-3893
[7] YouTube search, May 2018 , and Google Trends May 2018 Popularity Index of Hyaluronic Acid
[8] SELF, “Facial Fillers and Injectables are the Biggest Trends in Plastic Surgery
[9] ASPS 2017 Plastic Surgery Statistics report
[10] https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1913191/chinas-cosmetic-surgery-market-explode-next-few-years-analysts
[11] DSM’s scientific data - slides 15 & 16_syn-hycan master presentation
[12] http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/beauty-and-personal-care/cosmeceuticals-see-emergence-in-china; https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/global-cosmeceuticals-market-industry
