Back in the days when Team Costhetics members were running around in their nappies, plastic surgery focused primarily on facelifts and boob jobs.
Our team members are all grown up now and starting to show their age! That’s given them a deeply personal interest in what’s available in the ever-changing landscape of aesthetic enhancement.
Clever monkeys that they are, our team figured out a way to satisfy their self-serving interests and help Costhetics maintain its reputation as Australia’s leading source for cosmetic surgery news. They grabbed their Sherlock Holmes hats and put their brains to work creating a head-to-toe analysis of hot trends in cosmetic surgery and non-surgical aesthetic treatments.
These procedures can enhance body parts from top to bottom, and everywhere in between. (Yes, we’re talking about ‘naughty bits.’) Let’s start at the top and work our way down…
Heads Up: Using Platelets to Grow Hair
It seems you just can’t win when it comes to hair…or can you? On the one hand, many folks want to rid themselves of excess hair on the face and body. On the other, both men and women struggle to maintain and regrow hair on their heads. There are lots of proven ways to address too much hair: waxing, plucking, depilatory creams, and laser treatments. The same can’t be said for stimulating hair growth.
Until recently, people with not enough hair had a very limited number of solutions for their problem:
- Hair transplants
- Prescription medication
- Hair loss concealer powders
- Wigs and hats
In 2018, Costhetics predicts the rise in two new minimally invasive solutions:
- Laser Light Therapy (Photobiomodulation) – Laser therapy has put hair on the heads and smiles on the faces of people who suffer from genetic hair loss (androgenetic alopecia). Ironically, the use of low-level lasers for treating baldness was first discovered during treatments designed to do the exact opposite. Intense pulsed light, diode, and alexandrite lasers often stimulated hair growth when the goal was to remove hair.
Based on a successful track record, lasers are now widely used to help people with thinning hair. It is believed, and confirmed by multiple studies, that low-level lasers effectively increase blood flow to the treatment area, which, in turn, prompts stubborn follicles to produce hair.
The treatment is still improving as more information is gathered. Professionals are hard at work to determine the number and length of treatment sessions that will provide the best results.
- PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) & PRF (Platelet Rich Fibrinogen) Injections – Once again, science has found value in using a patient’s own plasma in cosmetic treatments. Already in use for facelifts, PRP injections are frequently used in place of or in conjunction with commercially produced cosmetic injectables. This same stimulation affects hair follicles, too, as shown in more than a dozen studies worldwide.
After a blood draw, the blood is spun in a centrifuge to separate red blood cells from plasma. “Our blood is made of two main components, red blood cells, and plasma,” the director of dermatology clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York told Allure Magazine. “The plasma contains white blood cells and platelets, which are rich in growth factors.” Results of the treatment can include:
- Increased hair growth
- Increased thickness of existing hair
- Decreased hair shedding
Team Costhetics gives this treatment a BIG thumbs-up for its simplicity, low risk factor, quick recovery, and beautiful results.
“Wigging Out” Over Thin Brows
Eyebrows are another hairy topic that will be in the spotlight this year. Many of us have plucked our naturally lush brows to keep up with a fashion trend, only to find they can’t regrow what they’ve plucked out when fashions change. (It’s like the old Joni Mitchell lyric, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”) Other reasons for thin brows include
- Dramatic weight loss
- Hormonal imbalance
- Genetics
- Age
- Stress
- Medications
For more than a decade, “caterpillar brows” have been hot, thanks to the eyebrows of actresses like Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, and Keira Knightley. (Cosmopolitan reported that model Cara Delevigne has single-handedly caused “a fall in tweezer sales.”) There are make-up solutions for thin brows such as brow pencils and powders. There are also over-the-counter hair serums that use peptides to encourage hair growth at the follicle level,” reports Huffington Post. However, the trending fix for finicky brows is the eyebrow wig…developed right here in Australia!
Eyebrow wigs were originally created for individuals who had lost all their brow hair due to illness or medical conditions. The wigs are made of human hair and come in a variety of colours. They are attached directly to the skin with a special adhesive and will stay put up to seven days.
If your eyebrows need help, but not that much help, you may want to consider eyebrow extensions. The extensions are applied one by one to natural brow hairs or to the skin and last up to two weeks. In addition to filling out bare spots, they can also give you
- A higher arch
- Less curve
- A longer tail
The falsies fall out naturally in conjunction with your hair’s natural shedding cycle, meaning they can stay in place for up to two weeks. If you’re someone who routinely rubs your eyes, however, expect them to last for just six or seven days. Be sure to visit a trained professional to ensure the best possible results.
Don’t Sweat It (Literally!)
The hot Australian sun may feel wonderful on your skin, but it can wreak havoc with your sweat glands. Excess sweating (hyperhidrosis) can create an embarrassing flood of fluid (and odour) from your underarms, feet, forearms, forehead, and groin. The condition peaks between the ages of 18 and 54. When an extra-swipe of antiperspirant doesn’t do the trick, people may choose
- Prescription-strength antiperspirants with aluminium chloride
- Cosmetic injectables (the same ones that help “freeze” facial lines)
According to the International Hyperhidrosis Society, studies demonstrate that the treatment can help patients achieve a 94% reduction in sweat. That’s HUGE!
Injectables block sweat gland function for three to six months, but Costhetics foresees more people turning to a new microwave energy treatment destroys them for good.
The treatment can cause discomfort, which can be controlled by lidocaine, depending on a patient’s needs. Side effects are modest. They include some swelling at the treatment area and skin irritation.
Surgery is also an option, but more of a treatment of last resort due to risks and complications.
Other 2018 Aesthetic Trends We Predict – Bespoke Everything
The #1 beauty trend that will continue to grow is customisation. “Have it your way” isn’t just a slogan for Burger King anymore. Millennials, in particular, don’t want to be told what to do. They want to choose what’s best for them.
Thanks to the internet, today’s consumers are savvy and well-educated. They’re putting their knowledge to good use, demanding skincare treatments, surgery solutions, and non-invasive treatments that have been customised to their needs.
“We believe [customisation] is the new form of luxury, which is really a return to the old form of luxury in the idea of having something made just for you,” says Dave Gross, a businessman who helped companies like Zazzle, Reebok, and Nike target the specific and unique interests of their customers.
Also on the fast track for taking over in 2018 are:
- Don’t Fix It, Foil It – Ageing is no longer an issue solely for the aged. “People are not waiting for lines to form before they start neurotoxins,” reports New Beauty magazine. “Prevention is key, and patients in their 20s and early 30s are getting treated before the lines are apparent.
- Easy Peasy – The ease of non-surgical treatments, the reduced risk, and quick recovery are three factors that will drive consumer enthusiasm for non-invasive treatments. Look for spikes in body sculpting with injectables, fat melting and freezing, and (of course) cosmetic injectables.
- Good Bacteria – Probiotic skin products will be all the rage. New research is being conducted around the world to develop products that help maintain natural skin flora by promoting the growth of healthy bacteria.
- Micro Goes Macro – Wrinkle-erasing injections and filler injections will enjoy another boost in popularity thanks to a new, safer delivery system taking Europe by storm. Reduced quantities of the toxin are injected into the dermal layer of the skin rather than into deeper layers. The micro approach also works to decrease pore size and oil production.
- Workout-Free Abs – High-def liposuction combines traditional lipo with additional body contouring to enhance the appearance of abdominal muscles. It’s a fix for patients who would rather spend their free time at the surgeon’s office than at the health club.
- Try-Before-You-Buy Nose Jobs – The use of dermal fillers provides a relatively inexpensive way to re-contour noses. The results are impermanent, making it an excellent way to test-drive a new nose before committing to rhinoplasty. Costhetics thinks the treatments will spike as individuals select it for short-term camouflage when posing for pictures (think wedding and graduation).
Relax, Don’t Do It
There are a host of new procedures and treatments being offered around the world. While most of them are great, a few of them deserve a thumbs-down. Specifically, these treatments aimed at your nether region:
- Anal Bleaching – Despite what you may think, a dark anus has nothing to do with your bathroom habits. The desire for a whiter anus has everything to do with pornography. Porn stars pay careful attention to their “bits” because their private parts aren’t really that private. Yours are, and there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of colour down there.
- Penis Whitening – Likely the bastard child of anal bleaching, skin whitening for the penis is on the rise. It was born in Thailand where many men are drawn to a Westernised ideal of beauty. Darker skin is also associated with outdoor labour and poverty, making the whitening process an unwelcome statement about class and race. A tiny laser is used to break down melanin in skin cells, and the treatment is gaining traction around the world.
The problem is that the pigment returns and patients who do not have maintenance treatments are left with unpleasant leopard spots. “Penis laser whitening is not necessary, wastes money and may give more negative effects than positive ones,” Dr Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn of the Thai health ministry said in a statement reported by The Telegraph. We agree.
- Vaginal Whitening – What’s good for the gander is good for the goose, right? In the case of lightening genitals, that seems to be true. Women are flocking for laser treatments and picking up bleaching creams and lotions to make their vaginal areas whiter. The trend seems to be tied to two things:
- Readily available pictures of women’s genitals on the Internet and elsewhere that have been unnaturally photo-shopped and re-touched.
- The ability to get a better view of the vaginal area as the result of the popularity of genital shaving and waxing.
The problem is that manufacturers often fill their products with dangerous ingredients such as mercury and hydroquinone, a substance that can discolour skin, turning it black or blue.
Team Costhetics will keep its eye on the ball (the crystal ball) to make sure we can help you stay on the leading edge of everything that can help you stay as gorgeous as you already are.