Our editor spoke with Janna Ronert, founder of IMAGE Skincare, licensed esthetician and chairwoman of the board, whose brand says it is used by more than 60,000 licensed estheticians across over 60 countries. Together we explored what has really changed in clinic demand, why sensitive skin is still so often misread, how professional skincare should work alongside in-clinic procedures, and what clinics need to focus on now to keep their skincare offering strong going into 2026.
Read MoreAs advanced aesthetics places greater emphasis on recovery, clinicians are looking more closely at the technologies that can support tissue repair, regulate inflammation and improve patient comfort after treatment. LED phototherapy has long been used within acne and skin rejuvenation protocols, but its role is now widening. In clinic settings, it is increasingly being considered as part of a broader treatment plan that sits around a procedure, rather than as a standalone skin treatment.
Read MoreThe rise of non-surgical cosmetic treatments has brought with it a new phrase, and one that says a great deal about where the sector now finds itself. In the UK, “tweakment hotels” is increasingly being used to describe temporary or hot-desk treatment spaces, often in prestigious locations, where practitioners can rent rooms by the hour and benefit from the credibility of the postcode without necessarily offering the standards patients may assume come with it.
Read MoreAs regenerative aesthetics continues to move beyond correction alone, more attention is turning to what underpins long-term skin quality at a biological level, from amino acid availability to the role of substrate depletion within the extracellular matrix. Against that backdrop, biorestoration is emerging as a more technically nuanced area of aesthetic medicine, focused on supporting the skin’s ability to repair, renew and function more effectively over time. We sat down with aesthetic doctor and DermaFocus speaker Dr Catherine Fairris to discuss substrate depletion, the importance of amino acids in skin health, and where biorestoration, including Celora Vita, fits within the wider evolution of injectable treatment strategies.
Read MoreFor years, injectable conversations were dominated by the upper face. Forehead lines, frown lines and crow’s feet were the familiar entry points, while the neck was often treated as a separate problem, something to be addressed later, or surgically. Platysma Botox is moving into the mainstream of aesthetic practice as patients increasingly focus on the neck as a visible marker of ageing and seek treatment options that can soften early changes without surgery and changing the market. The treatment itself is not new, but its profile is rising as awareness grows, clinical protocols become more refined and the industry’s attention shifts towards lower-face and neck rejuvenation.
Read MoreWomen’s health conditions have long been shaped by delay: delayed recognition, delayed diagnosis and, in many cases, delayed research. Lipoedema is increasingly being discussed in that context, with studies suggesting it may affect around 6 to 11 per cent of women, yet it remains widely misunderstood and frequently mistaken for obesity or simple weight gain. Lipoedema is a chronic condition that affects the way fat is distributed in the body, most commonly in the legs, hips and buttocks, and sometimes the arms. It usually affects women, and is marked by a symmetrical build-up of fat that can be painful, tender and prone to bruising. The feet and hands are often unaffected, which can leave a distinct cuffing effect at the ankles or wrists. Despite this, the condition is still regularly mistaken for obesity, lymphoedema or simple weight gain.
Read MorePores remain one of the most misunderstood features in skincare. They are routinely blamed for uneven texture, shine, congestion and the failure to achieve the smooth, refined finish that has become shorthand for healthy skin. In reality, pores are not cosmetic accidents. They are functional openings within the skin, closely tied to oil production, thermoregulation and the skin’s wider protective system. The problem is not that pores exist, but that they continue to be discussed in language that is anatomically inaccurate and commercially over-simplified.
Read MoreAesthetic medicine still has a lazy shorthand problem. Patients say “laser” when they mean anything from pigment correction to dermal tightening to deep-plane lifting, and plenty of clinics let the catch-all stand because it is convenient. Dr John Quinn, founder of Quinn Clinics, argues that this is where outcomes start to drift, because the decisive variable is rarely the brand name on the console. It is depth.
Read MoreNeuroaesthetics is the scientific study of how the nervous system produces aesthetic experience: how we perceive, evaluate and feel pleasure (or aversion) when we look at faces, bodies, products, interiors, images and art. In the academic literature, it sits inside cognitive neuroscience and empirical aesthetics, with a consistent finding that there is no single “beauty centre”. Instead, aesthetic judgement emerges from a distributed network that integrates what the eyes and skin register, what reward and emotion circuits assign as value, and what memory and meaning systems contribute from culture and personal identity.
Read MoreIn the past few years, polynucleotides have lived where regenerative claims are allowed to be explicit: in the hands of clinicians. Mention PDRN, salmon DNA, or the viral “salmon sperm facial”, and the mental image is rarely a bathroom shelf. It is an injectable protocol, a post procedure recovery plan, a “skin booster” appointment, and a patient who expects their skin to behave differently in weeks, not months.
Read MoreThe latest new treatment launches read like a very clear signal from the market: clinics are being asked to deliver visible results, faster, with less downtime, while treating the client’s nervous system and lifestyle as part of the skin story. This month’s line up spans menopause care rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, stress focused Ayurvedic ritual work, upgraded professional peeling that prioritises barrier safe hydration, and a strong showing from energy based devices that promise “collagen banking” and deep remodelling without the social downtime clients increasingly refuse. Taken together, the trend is towards treatments that sit in the sweet spot between performance and reassurance, where the transformation is real but the delivery feels restorative, not aggressive.
Read MorePost inflammatory hyperpigmentation is one of the most visible complications you can trigger in skin of colour, yet it is also one of the most preventable. For Black, Asian, Middle Eastern and many mixed-heritage clients, a single bout of inflammation, a too-strong peel or an over-zealous laser pass can leave a mark that lingers for months, even years. PIH is not only a clinical issue, it is also an emotional and reputational one for salons, clinics and aesthetic practitioners.
Read MoreVitamin C has moved from niche antioxidant to non-negotiable in many professional skincare menus. Yet for every client who swears by their brightening serum, there is another who reports stinging, flushing or rough texture after introducing it. For practitioners, understanding why vitamin C behaves beautifully in some skins and irritates others is essential for safe recommendations, realistic expectation-setting and troubleshooting when things go wrong.
Read MoreChitosan has spent decades in the quiet end of healthcare, tucked into dressings and gels in hospital wound wards. Now it is edging into beauty hall territory. The ingredient crossed over into mainstream beauty headlines in 2024 when Dyson unveiled its first Chitosan styling range, powered by chitosan derived from oyster mushrooms and engineered with its Triodetic technology for flexible, long lasting hold in hair styling products. For many consumers, that launch was the first time they had seen the word on shelf. For formulators and clinicians, it was a reminder that one of medicine’s most versatile wound polymers is finally being taken seriously for everyday barrier care.
Read MoreWhen the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it had banned a series of LED face mask adverts over acne and rosacea claims, it sent a clear signal to the beauty sector. Four brands were found in breach of the CAP Code after social media and website ads claimed their masks could “treat acne”, “heal rosacea” and “kill acne causing bacteria”, often backed with before and after images. Both acne and rosacea are classified as medical conditions in UK law, which means any device claiming to treat them must be registered with the MHRA as a medical device and supported by robust clinical data.
Read MoreA 5 News undercover investigation has found beauty clinics across the UK offering microneedling facials that use exosomes harvested from human tissue, despite UK rules that prohibit human-derived material in cosmetics. In the report, some clinics acknowledged using products sourced from umbilical cord blood or liposuction fat.
Read MoreWhen Dua Lipa unveiled DUA, a three-piece skincare line created with Augustinus Bader, industry watchers clocked more than another celebrity drop. It looks like a new blueprint for how fame, science and price architecture can co-exist without cannibalising the parent brand or exhausting consumers who are weary of celebrity-fronted launches. The range launched on 4 November 2025 with a cleanser, a glow serum and a moisturiser priced roughly $40 to $85, well below Augustinus Bader’s core line. The line uses a proprietary complex called TFC5, positioned as a gentler sibling to AB’s hallmark TFC8.
Read MoreShay Mitchell’s launch of Rini, a kids’ skincare line for children as young as 3, has intensified a debate already rumbling through clinics, schools and social feeds: should children have skincare routines at all, and if so, what do they need. The short answer from dermatology literature and UK clinical guidance is simple. Healthy children need very little beyond gentle cleansing, moisturising when skin is dry, and rigorous sun protection. Everything else risks irritating an evolving skin barrier or normalising cosmetic overuse at an early age. The longer answer is that needs change with biology, not marketing cycles, and that biology is clear.
Read MoreLemon essential oil is popular with formulators because it smells clean, cuts through oil, and carries a reputation for brightening. Its activity comes largely from volatile monoterpenes such as limonene, β-pinene and γ-terpinene, with smaller amounts of citral and related compounds. In vitro and ex vivo work shows antioxidant capacity and broad antimicrobial effects against several bacteria and fungi, which helps explain its use in products aimed at oily or blemish-prone skin and as a natural preservative adjunct. That said, most efficacy data sit at bench scale rather than in robust clinical trials, so positioning should be measured.
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