This transcript was exported on Mar 28, 2023 -view latest version here.

Skincare can sometimes feel overwhelming, whether it’s finding the right products, ingredients, or treatments, there’s a lot out there, but not always for people of African, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and East and South Asian descent. That’s why I set out to educate myself and others so that we can all feel beautiful in our skin. Hello and welcome back to The Skin Report. I’m Dr. Simran Sethi, an internal medicine doctor, mom of three, and CEO and founder of RenewMD medical spas and Skin by Dr. Sethi.

Last week we discussed my skincare trend predictions for 2023, and today we’re continuing that talk with skin treatments that will be increasingly popular in 2023. So if you missed it, go back and check out part one of this trend prediction series. For everyone else, let’s dive in. Recently I was interviewed by W Magazine about trend predictions for 2023, which you can find linked in the description below. However, I want to expand upon what I said in that article. Today we’re going to go into beauty treatments or procedures that will be most popular in 2023 and why that is. Let’s start with the injectables category. I believe we will see an even greater increase in injectables like lip fillers.

According to the Forbes Business Insights, the global dermal fillers market is projected to go from $5.3 billion in 2023 to $8.7 billion by 2029. In my practice, lip fillers are definitely the most requested filler injection, and make up as high as 75% of all fillers we inject. Lip fillers are popular amongst women ranging widely in age and skin tone, but are definitely most requested by women in their early twenties to mid-thirties. On TikTok alone, the hashtag lip filler has been used over 3.8 billion views with variations like hashtag lip filler or hashtag lip fillers check amassing more than 600 million views. At this point, you’re probably wondering why lip filler injections are so common because so many people are also scared of them and scared that they may hurt or look artificial.

This is far from the truth. A lip filler injection should make your lips look natural and native to your existing features. Pictures online of women who have duck-like lips look unnecessarily scary and make people not want to try lip fillers, but as more providers post their natural and beautiful results on social media, more women have started becoming more open to lip filler injections. In season one, episode 38, we did a deep dive into lip fillers. What to look for, what to avoid, and why you should choose hyaluronic acid or HA fillers. Iwon’t go into great detail today, but remember that most people need one to two syringes of lip filler for optimal results. This is not too much filler and asking for less than that usually will not give you the results you’re looking for.

Also, a filler syringe can cost 800 to 900 dollars depending on the provider’s experience and the product being used. If you see filler syringes offered at $600 or less, think twice about this. This is likely a sign that the provider is not experienced or they’re not using a quality filler product. If you’re interested in this topic, I’d suggest checking out the episode linked in the description below and following along in season two as we will be giving you the most up-to-date information on the fillers available. Another area in my medical spa that is becoming more the norm is laser hair removal. In a market analysis report by Grand View Research, the global market was estimated at just under $800 million in 2021 with a compound annual growth rate expected at around 18%from 2022 to 2030.

The report outlines an increasing awareness in laser safety as one of the major reasons behind this growth. Also, women of South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African descent are most likely to opt for laser hair removal as they tend to have darker thicker hair growth on their face and body. And hair removal with waxing, shaving, or threading can lead to other skin issues like keratosis pilaris, or strawberry skin. The other group of consumers driving the popularity of laser hair removal is men. Men are getting more open to laser hair removal on areas like their chest, back, ears, and sometimes even their face. This trend started a few years ago and has definitely been growing.

While laser hair removal is becoming more popular amongst people with more melanated skin tones, it used to be considered unsafe not too long ago. About a decade ago, when laser treatments were just picking up, there were reports of laser burns causing hyperpigmentation on darker skin and some practitioners even shied away from using lasers on people with more melanated skin. With advancements in technology and a large number of clinical studies, lasers for laser hair removal have advanced considerably and now there are very effective and safe options available for all skin tones on the market. The Diode and Nd: YAG laser are excellent lasers for removing darker more coarse hair.

In my practice, I use a Vectus Diode laser, which is one of the safest and most effective laser technologies for permanent hair removal, especially for people of South Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic, and African descent. At this point, I also want to mention that with the popularity of laser hair removal, there also has been an uptick in at-home laser options, which sounds like a great concept, but unfortunately is nowhere as effective as professional medical lasers and leads consumers to waste hundreds of dollars. A lot of these devices advise users to use the laser frequently in an effort to make it more effective, but I believe that this just adds to the risk of laser burns rather than improved efficacy.

For those highly interested in laser hair removal, it’s important to get it done at a physician’s office or medical spa that offers professional treatments. When researching options, make sure you know what device the provider is using and ask if they have treated people with your specific skin tone. As the experience of the laser operator is as important as a laser being used. Next, staying along the lines of lasers, we will dive into the next most popular skin treatment trend, skin resurfacing to erase acne scars, sun damage, wrinkles, and more. In the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that microneedling and laser resurfacing have been more popular and requested across almost every decade starting at 15 years old.

This, in large part, is due to social media and pop culture, but also because these treatments can be so effective and have little to no downtime. Before I start, let’s do a quick recap. What is microneedling and laser resurfacing? How’s it different, for example, from something like laser hair removal? Microneedling involves puncturing the skin with tiny sterile needles to stimulate collagen production, otherwise called collagen induction therapy. Microneedling is great for a texture overhaul and I frequently use it to raise mild to moderate acne scars or fine lines. We discuss this minimally invasive procedure more in depth in season one, episode seven. You can find that linked below.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve heard us discuss laser resurfacing before. The process of using laser energy to deliver a controlled injury to the skin’s deep surface, the dermis, and induce a collagen-building repair reaction that will erase moderate to severe scars, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation. Not only has laser resurfacing become more popular along with the rest of the treatments mentioned, it has also become more available and safe for all skin tones. In the past, we only had heat-based lasers that could penetrate to the superficial layer of the skin, or epidermis, which meant that the results did not improve skin texture significantly and had a high chance of causing hyperpigmentation in anyone with a skin type four or greater.

However, with the advent of picosecond technology, the PicoSure laser has become a game changer for not only darker skin tones but all skin tones. PicoSure laser uses vibrational pressure waves, not heat, to deliver a controlled injury to the dermis of the skin, which means it works deeper in the skin to stimulate collagen and breaks excess or abnormal pigment instead of burning it like conventional lasers, which makes it an effective and safe treatment for darker skin tones. I utilize the PicoSure’s newest version, the PicoSure Pro, in my practice, and I can tell you that it has been a game changer for all skin tones. I’ve seen amazing results using this laser to treat an entire spectrum of skin issues in all skin tones, including difficult conditions like melasma.

At this point, I want to just give you an idea of how much microneedling and PicoSure treatments can cost, so that you have a realistic idea of the investment and stay away from prices that are just too good to be true. A simple microneedling session can run between 450 to 600 dollars depending on the location and experience of the clinic. PicoSure Pro treatments cost anywhere between 850 to thousand dollars per session. If you are starting these treatments for the first time, you’re likely going to need three to six sessions spaced a month apart each for optimal results. Knowing cost and expectations when choosing a provider is helpful in gaging whether the clinic is using the right device to do the treatment and their experience with it.

Unfortunately, in medical aesthetics, there are copycat devices out there and these are the ones that tend to cost a lot less but are delivering more risk than result. One of my goals in educating you is to help you become a safe and savvy consumer and avoid situations where you could risk scarring or pigmenting your skin from a copycat laser or a microneedling procedure. So to recap, in 2023, I’m predicting that laser resurfacing and microneedling will become even more popular in an even younger age group. I love this trend because I treat so many young men and women in their early twenties for acne scarring and because they’re starting treatments when they’re younger, their results are better with fewer treatment sessions.

As there is more education and social media behind this trend, it will continue to grow and will likely be one of the most popular treatments in just a few years. Finally, another trend that has been growing rapidly and still has more room to grow is Botox injections in younger men and women. We’ve had episodes on the safety and effectiveness of Botox, and I would recommend going back to them to listen to more details, but in general, Botox injections are becoming exceedingly more popular in younger age groups than before. In all three of my practice locations, people between their late twenties to forties are using Botox, and more men are also starting to come in for Botox injections. Botox is a preventative treatment and can have natural results without making you look frozen or artificial.

Botox is calmly injected in the forehead muscles and around the eyes to prevent wrinkles, but in my practice I see so many young women coming in to use it for slimming their face. Yes, Botox can be used to slim the face, stop teeth grinding, correct gummy smiles, and even define the jawline. Just like anything else, it’s important to choose an injector who is a physician, trained nurse, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. The experience level really matters in getting the most natural look with Botox. In my office, we charge a very fair price for Botox, and if you see Botox being offered at $8 a unit or less, be careful because this is an exceptionally low price and likely means that the provider is not experienced or the product being used is not Botox.

Again, knowing how much something costs on average will keep you safe as a consumer, and Botox injections are not something you should be buying on discount sites like Groupon. When you decide to do Botox, don’t be shy to ask your provider about their experience level and to see the vial that they’re drawing up the Botox from before injecting. Botox should be drawn up in front of you before injecting and should not be in a pre-made syringe that came out of the injector’s pocket. Believe me, I say this because every time as a doctor, when my patients have told me about a Botox nightmare, usually low prices, pre-made syringes, injecting in a hotel room, all seem to be common factors and there is a reason for that.

I just want you to know that Botox is safe, effective, and can appear very natural, which is why it will likely continue to grow in popularity amongst younger people in 2023. We’ve covered a good number of trends for this year, and the good news is that all these trends are safe and effective for all skin tones and budgets. I will continue to do more episodes on these trends in detail, and I’m happy to answer any of your questions if you want to learn more. Thanks for listening, and until next time, love the skin you’re in and celebrate your beauty. If you’d like to learn more about science-backed skincare or medical aesthetic treatments, please subscribe to and turn on notifications for The Skin Report so you always know when a new episode is up.

We have a newsletter that you can sign up for on theskinreportbydrsethi.com, so that you can stay up to date on all our new episodes, blogs, products, and more. Additionally, if you have a skincare question or want to make an episode topic recommendation, please message me at theskinreportbydrsethi.com, which is linked in my show notes, and I’ll be sure to answer your question in an episode soon. We’ve received some great questions so far and I will try and answer them at the end of every episode, so keep them coming.

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