Tailoring isn’t just for your clothes anymore.
From Facebook ads to custom-fitted earbuds, from workout routines to the food we eat, more and more businesses are inviting you to tailor their products to your specifications. This isn’t a new concept, of course. Just ask Hungry Jack’s. The slogan “Have it your way” helped the company expand from a single burger shack in Innaloo in April 1971 to a nationwide chain with 390 restaurants.
What does all this have to do with Costhetics, Australia’s leading resource for news and information about plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancement? Everything…and not just because we love Hungry Jack’s! Customised skin care is being heralded as the #1 beauty trend for 2018.
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Pharmacy aisles are filled to overflowing with mountains of colourful, confusing products promising beautiful skin. How do you know what to choose? Respectfully, you don’t.
“I believe that is why today I’m seeing more people with sensitised skin,” a Sydney-based skin therapist told SMH. “People self-diagnose through the internet or beauty counters, thinking they have a particular symptom, when it may be something internal.” The delay in seeking professional help can have dangerous impacts on overall health.
You demand freshness in your groceries, so why not your skincare? “If you buy a product, even one with good quality ingredients, that was produced six months ago, you can almost guarantee that its ingredients have lost their potency,” reports MyBodyandSoul. “And when you buy skincare off a shelf in a store, how are you to know how long ago it was made? One month, six months, a year?” This is not true of bespoke skincare products.
Choosing the wrong products can also have a dangerous impact on skin. Don’t even get us started on DIY beauty hacks. Self Magazine listed some really scary ones in a recent article including a crazy blackhead-removing idea that uses school glue. Wouldn’t you rather use something meant just for you? Of course you would.
What is Bespoke Skin Care?
When you visit a seamstress and ask for a made-to-measure garment, she will make a garment using an existing pattern (based on an “average” person’s measurements) and then she will alter it according to your body’s needs. A bespoke garment is a cut above. The height of luxury and customisation, a bespoke garment is created entirely from scratch based on a customer’s specifications. The result is a superior fit and appearance.
Bespoke skincare applies these same principles. Rather than applying mass-market principles, custom skincare is a one-of-a-kind experience. It offers
- Personalised skin assessment/diagnosis
- Personalised formula preparation
- Personalised skincare routine
“The fact is,” reports the Huffington Post, “certain products don’t work for certain people. We’re all unique, with different skin types or hair types, and have different goals for what we want to achieve. Most beauty brands aren’t selling products tailored to individual consumers.”
Ask a dermatologist when s/he is in practice and the answer is likely to be “Because I want people to have the most beautiful skin they can.” That’s not the response you would get from a mass-market manufacturer. “The fact is,” reports the Huffington Post, “most beauty brands aren’t selling products tailored to individual consumers. Instead, they’re selling a brand, a luxury, a lifestyle or some product that will magically work on every skin type and solve every skin problem.”
A Skin Assessment by a Pro
A skincare professional is trained to diagnosis skin and recommend specific treatment protocols based on a wide range of factors. After examining your skin, you will be asked:
- Do you have any visible skin problems – Blemishes, flaky skin, rough skin, enlarged pores, shiny skin?
- Do you have sensitive skin?
- What is your current skincare regimen? – makeup, cleansing, exfoliating
- What do you see when you blot your t-zone (forehead, nose, chin) with a tissue – a little oil, a lot of oil, no oil, oil in some areas?
- How old are you?
- What is your natural skin tone?
- Do you have fine lines and wrinkles? Where? – forehead, mouth, eyes, cheeks
- What are some of your key lifestyle choices? Exercise, smoking, enough sleep, stress levels
Only when these questions have been explored is it possible to make an effective skincare recommendation.
Bespoke Skin Care: What Dreams Are Made Of
“Just like fingerprints, every skin is different, with its own set of unique needs which change over the various stages of our lives,” Dr Hans Lautenschlager told the Sydney Morning Herald. Lautenschlager is a scientist at dermaviduals and a proponent of “corneotherapy,” an approach to skin care that focuses on repairing and maintaining the natural barrier. In a nutshell, corneotherapy is aimed at repairing the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum and, above all, improving the barrier function and subsequently the health and balance of the entire skin. Corneotherapy is both a healing treatment and a preventative because the products are
- Made with as few ingredients as possible
- Made without harmful irritants or allergens
- Individually adapted to an individual’s specific skin problems
- Often “prescribed” along with a change in nutritional habits
If you want dreamy, creamy touchable skin, Team Costhetics suggests you talk with your skin care expert. The advice you receive may not change your life, but it will change your skin…for the better!
Stay beautiful.