Galderma recently released a new report highlighting six global aesthetic trends identified based on comprehensive trend-forecasting research conducted in collaboration with a network of aesthetic specialists and skincare influencers.

TDD/JDNPPA sat down with Gerry Muhle, Galderma’s Head of Global Product Strategy, to find out what’s happening in aesthetics now, what may be coming down the pike, and how specialists can best prepare for it.

TDD/JDNPPA: Tell us about GAIN and the new report.

Gerry Muhle (GM): “At Galderma, a big part of what we do is injectable aesthetics, and the way that we go about educating our customers is through GAIN or the Galderma Aesthetic Injectors Network. Trends come and go in aesthetics in the same way they do in beauty and fashion, so we wanted to commission a report with a trend forecasting agency.”

TDD/JDNPPA: Let’s start with what driving trends are today. Are there any macro drivers in aesthetics?

GM: “Yes. There are three macro drivers in aesthetics. There’s more and more increasing acceptability of aesthetics products. Millennials are now turning 43, so they’re not as young as some of us may remember them. Fifty three percent of millennials consider injectable aesthetics part of their overall health and beauty regimen. They might eat vegan. They’ll go to the gym, and they get some aesthetic treatments, increasing overall acceptability of aesthetics. You’ve also got increasing accessibility. There are different types of specialties now doing treatments, whether it be nurse practitioners or general practitioners in certain markets. It’s not just dermatologists and plastic surgeons anymore. They might be offering treatments where shops are vs. in doctor’s offices. There’s also increasing improvements in science and technology, so you’re getting more effective and safer products.”

TDD/JDNPPA: How did you arrive at the six global aesthetic trends in the new report?

“We pulled together specialists in the field who have a certain interest in trends from all over the world, whether it be ‘devil lips’ in China or the Brazilian ‘butt lift’. We had a core group of 40 aesthetic specialists, but also influencers because we know that a lot of the trends are also popping up online. It was interesting when we had these influencers and the doctors in rooms together because the influencers were seeing things that the physicians hadn’t seen yet. We shared the trend forecasting research and went through a half a billion data points on social media and online. We used artificial intelligence to start to track what things were trending from data points. Together, this gave us those six trends that we have started to educate providers on so that they know how to talk to patients. The six trends are Proactive Beauty, Mindful Aesthetics, Fast Aesthetics, Beauty Fandom, Expressionality, and Canceling Age.”

TDD/JDNPPA: Let’s take a deep dive into each starting with Proactive Beauty.

GM: “Proactive Beauty is really about tackling aging before it occurs. This is not necessarily a trend just for people who are under 30. Proactive beauty is also for the 60-year-old who doesn’t want to look 70 or 80. It’s about doing regular tweakments vs. complete overhauls. It’s always looking the same and never having these sort of severe transformations.” 

TDD/JDNPPA: What can you tell us about Mindful Aesthetics? 

GM: “Mindful Aesthetics is looking for sustainable, ethical, cruelty-free options. We’ve made some changes at Galderma. Our facility in Uppsala, Sweden, is 100% carbon neutral, and we’re also reducing the packaging on some of our products based on this research. Mindful Aesthetics is also about patients wanting to wear less makeup. They want that natural look that’s ‘filter-free’. They’re also wanting to have treatments that are less obvious as well so that’s why we are seeing a growth in biostimulators that get your body to create its own elastin and collagen. Results come on progressively, so it’s a more subtle look.”

TDD/JDNPPA: What is Fast Aesthetics?

GM: “Fast Aesthetics is about having a dialogue with patients about how reversible some of the aesthetic treatments are. From late 2022 to early 2023, everyone wanted to have that buccal fat reduction look, after it went viral with celebrities like model Bella Hadid and actress Leah Michelle. It was hashtagging, it was trending, but six months later, it was nowhere to be found. If you look at trending topics or hashtags online, the amount of time that a hashtag now spends in the top 10 has been reduced by 30%. Our concentration on certain topics wanes much quicker than it would have in the past, and that’s why I think you’re seeing aesthetic trends change very fast. This is what the fast aesthetics trend is all about. 

TDD/JDNPPA: And Beauty Fandom?

GM: “This is probably the most controversial one. As a company, we wanted to represent the research and the trends that came up, but it doesn’t mean we necessarily endorse them. The younger generation is wanting to look more and more like something or someone and they’re using not only fashion or beauty, but also aesthetics to get that look. Barbie Core embodies this. It was huge. Not only were people dressing in pink, but there were patients going and asking for Barbie’s looks. Now, these people can connect online, and they can follow each other’s beauty fandom. They’re wanting to look more like their idols versus just one particular feature.”

TDD/JDNPPA: What is Expressionality in aesthetics, and how is it rising?

GM: “It’s a celebration of the empowerment that comes from creating and enhancing one’s identity with aesthetics. In the past, if I was a Punk, I might have gotten a Mohawk, dyed my hair red, or got some piercings and a tattoo. Now people are expressing themselves with aesthetics on top of those other ways.”

TDD/JDNPPA: What about Canceling Age? What’s that all about?

GM: “It isn’t anti-aging. This is about blurring the lines of what you’re supposed to look like in each decade. It’s about 20-somethings dressing in ‘dadcore’. That’s why New Balance sneakers became really popular. It’s about a 50-something wearing Nike Air Jordans. Stereotypes are being broken completely. A lot of it’s fashion, but some of it’s aesthetics as well. The uptake of injectable weight loss medications is affecting aesthetics too. It sits a little bit in a few of these trends, such as Fast Aesthetics and Canceling Age. We’re starting to see that when you have rapid weight loss, it has a skin impact and a hair impact too. Treating these people with certain injectables or aesthetic products will help mitigate some of these effects. You lose the weight, but actually you look older to a certain degree in your face or you might lose hair if your weight loss is rapid. Sculptra^®’s (poly-L-lactic acid, Galderma) original indication was for facial wasting due to AIDS, and we’re seeing an uptick in Sculptra usage to Rejuvenate your skin and regenerate collagen and elastin.”