Slathered, Zapped, Nipped, and Tucked: An Ethical Analysis of Cosmetic Dermatology

It has become common practice for dermatologists to offer cosmetic enhancing products and procedures and to do so alongside the medically required services offered (e.g., annual skin checks, treatment of rashes, removal of pre-cancerous moles, etc.). As a patient, it is likely that a visit to the dermatologist will include exposure to advertisements for these cosmetic products and procedures. Advertisements are found in the waiting area, examination room, and, in some cases, even at checkout in the form of a coupon for future use, all situated where the patient is a captive audience. This practice may not be the cause of our society’s ubiquitous focus on beauty as perfection; however, these practices arguably contribute to this culture, harming not only individual patients but also society as a whole. Further, since the physician’s endorsement of these products and procedures carries added weight, above and beyond that of a normal citizen or another non-medical professional, the impact on perpetuating a culture of beauty as perfection is even greater. Given this, in this essay I argue that the practice of dermatologists advertising, offering, and profiting from cosmetic enhancing products and procedures is unethical, violating the most basic bioethical principles. To demonstrate how this is the case I unpack how the culture of beauty as perfection is oppressive and therefore problematic; how dermatologist feed into, perpetuate, and profit from this culture; and how this practice is an ethical violation. Central to my analysis is an account of the commonly accepted bioethical principles within a framework of a social conception of the self. The implications of this analysis and findings include a need for clear guidelines offered by various medical oversight associations including the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the American Society for Dermatological Surgery (ASDS) and the American Medical Association (AMA). These guidelines should reflect a robust ethical analysis of this practice, ideally in conversation with the analysis offered herein. Once offered, physicians should follow these guidelines and, until then, should proceed with an abundance of caution, ideally ceasing to advertise, promote, or use biotechnologies in their practices for solely cosmetic reasons until more nuanced guidelines are available

Makeup Lifestyles of the Female Youths in Ghana. Evidence from Kumasi and Accra Tertiary Institutions

Women would want to appear more attractive and feminine to enjoy the benefits that accompany it. It is against this background that they predominate in makeup usage. The study fundamentally determined the makeup lifestyles of the female youths in selected tertiary institutions in Ghana. Employing descriptive research through cross sectional survey and using convenience sampling techniques, data was collected from female students, mainly in Accra and Kumasi tertiary institutions and 260 questionnaires analysed. Findings revealed that respondents generally used makeup for glamour, attractiveness, supporting their career, creativity, feeling confident and empowerment. More respondents applied makeup only on special occasions and mostly considered the complexion, skin tone, skin type, clothing, occasion and quality of the product before using it. Generally, respondents used makeup whilst going to ‘lectures’, ‘on a date’, ‘to church’, and ‘to work’. Some did not use make on all and more makeup users spent less than 15 minutes on all situations especially to ‘lectures’, ‘job interviews’, ‘church’ and ‘visit to friends’. Greater respondents ‘sometimes’ or ‘once daily’ touched up their makeups and many ‘seldom’ carried makeup item(s) for touch-ups mostly being lipstick, powder, and lip-gloss. More respondents started makeup between 16 and 19 years and more viewed makeup to social situations as ‘important’ and that makeup enhances their self-appearance, and boost their consciousness. Respondents were satisfied without makeup than with makeup and majority were aware of the negative effects of makeup on human skin. The study recommends that makeup users be educated on the negative effects of colour cosmetics so that they would be better informed in their application. This study is the first to have been conducted in Ghana and could be useful for the cosmetic industry, researchers and the academia. Keywords: Attractiveness, makeup cosmetics, female youths, tertiary institutions, makeup lifestyle, Ghana. Definition of Terms In this paper, makeup refers to cosmetic makeup and makeup cosmetics means coloured cosmetics, makeup items, cosmetics and are thus used interchangeably. DOI: 10.7176/ADS/75-01 Publication date: August 31st 201

Innovation in cosmetics - innovative makeup products: efficacy and safety

Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2017Unlike other industries that remain largely constant, the Cosmetics Industry is continuously changing. New products are created for hair, skin, makeup and personal care on a regular basis in order to meet the consumers’ needs and expectations. Cosmetic products have a lot to live up to these days, not only do they have to be innovative but also be effective and safe for the consumers and the environment. This dissertation presents the several types of innovation within the makeup branch of the cosmetics industry. Innovation can be done by adding new or improved ingredients to a formulation, making it different because of its properties; by changing the formulation itself, creating a product different from every other on the market, safer and easier to apply or use; by innovating the packaging, which is also becoming a huge trend because consumers are more demanding of unique, unusual and original packages that match their personality. Technology also takes a big part in the cosmetics industry, helping to develop products closer to the consumer needs and creating new connections and experiences between consumers and products. On a different level, cosmetics companies’ mentalities are also changing. Not only consumers are becoming more responsible and aware about environmental, ethical and social issues but they demand for the industry to share their concerns and evolve in a more conscious way. Innovation, at this pace, leads to the fast growth of the cosmetics industry. Investing in the development of a new product leads to a more complete, and varied market that provides a bigger, more effective and safer selection of products available to better suit the fast-changing consumer needs.Contrariamente a outras industrias que se mantem relativamente constantes, a industria cosmética está em constante mudança e renovação. Novos produtos cosméticos são constantemente introduzidos no mercado de forma a satisfazer as necessidades e as espectativas, cada vez mais exigentes e desafiantes, dos consumidores, tornando-o assim um dos mercados mais competitivo e com maior ritmo de inovação. Os produtos cosméticos e em particular o sector da maquilhagem é desafiado, cada vez mais, de forma a desenvolver produtos que para além de eficazes, sejam também seguros para os consumidores e para o ambiente, bem como desenvolvidos e produzidos em conformidade com os valores dos consumidores e da sociedade atual. Existem diversas formas de inovar no sector da cosmética, sendo uma delas ao nível dos ingredientes que constituem a formulação. Desta forma, podem ser adicionados ingrediente novos, nunca usados em contexto cosmético, e cujas propriedades revolucionam o método de atuação do produto; ou simplesmente a combinação de diversos ingredientes nunca antes conjugados que aliados conferem à formulação novas ou modificadas propriedades, consideradas disruptivas e superiores em relação aos restantes produtos disponíveis no mercado. Outra forma de inovar consiste em alterar o próprio tipo de formulação de forma a criar um produto completamente diferente. A aplicação de um tipo de formulação num contexto ou produto diferente do que é comum, com as devidas adaptações às novas funções e local de aplicação, é uma forma de inovação a este nível. Ao nível da embalagem do produto a inovação, criatividade e diferenciação tem ganho grande relevância entre os consumidores. A forma como o produto é armazenado e a sua embalagem, transmitem muito mais do que apenas integridade e proteção, criam também um posicionamento e transmitem uma mensagem, influenciado a forma como o produto é percecionado e desenvolvendo uma imagem de marca facilmente reconhecida pelos consumidores. A tecnologia é parte intrínseca da vida em sociedade e não é exceção no que concerne o desenvolvimento de produtos cosméticos. Não só torna o processo de investigação, fabrico e armazenagem mais rápido e eficiente como contribui para a produção de produtos cada vez mais eficazes, seguros e adaptados às necessidades mais especificas dos consumidores. Relativamente à mentalidade e aos valores da industria cosmética e das suas marcas constituintes, estes têm também sofrido alterações de forma a inovar e se adaptarem às regras de ética, sustentabilidade ecológica e responsabilidade social que vigoram na sociedade atual. As novas gerações de consumidores são cada vez mais responsáveis e conscientes acerca de questões ambientais, éticas e sociais, exigindo que a indústria compartilhe destas mesmas preocupações e altere os seus valores de forma a que estes se harmonizarem com os seus. Desta forma, o ritmo de inovação da industria cosmética leva ao seu rápido crescimento e desenvolvimento, tornando-a assim uma das mais dinâmicas e inovadoras do mercado. Cada novo produto desenvolvido ou aperfeiçoado contribui para um mercado mais completo e diversificado que oferece uma maior seleção de produtos mais eficazes, seguros e em maior conformidade com as necessidades e valores dos consumidores, contribuindo assim para a harmonização da relação industria – produto – consumidor

Negative effects of makeup use on perceptions of leadership ability across two ethnicities

Cosmetics alter social perceptions, and prior work suggests that cosmetic use may aid female intrasexual competition, making women appear more dominant to other women but more prestigious to other men. It is unclear whether these findings reflect general improvements in perceptions of traits related to women's dominance or if they are specific to mating contexts only. Here, across two ethnicities, we examined effects of cosmetics used for a social night out on perceptions of women's leadership ability, a trait that denotes competence/high status outside of mating contexts. Participants of African and Caucasian ethnicity judged faces for leadership ability where half of the trials differed in ethnicity (own- vs. other-ethnicity face pairs) and the subtlety of the color manipulation (50% vs. 100%). Regardless of the participant's sex or ethnicity, makeup used for a social night out had a negative effect on perceptions of women's leadership ability. Our findings suggest that, in prior work, women are afforded traits related to dominance, as makeup enhances perceptions of traits that are important for successful female mating competition but not other components of social dominance such as leadership

Usage patterns and self-esteem of female consumers of antiaging cosmetic products

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding authors.Aging is an irreversible process of the human body, resulting from a progressive decrease in the biological functions of the organs, including the skin. This study analyzed the relationship between usage patterns of different types of anti-aging cosmetic products, sociodemographic variables, appearance schemes, psychological morbidity, perfectionism, and aging perception of aging with self-esteem. This cross-sectional study included a sample of 260 women, aged between 25 and 64 years, who are users of anti-aging cosmetics and/or aesthetic treatments. Participants were assessed on psychological morbidity (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), appearance schemes (Appearance Schemas Inventory—Revised), perfectionism (Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), aging perceptions (Brief Aging Perceptions Questionnaire), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale). The use of facial-firming cosmetics positively correlated with self-esteem. The results of regression analysis revealed that psychological morbidity and perfectionism contribute negatively to self-esteem, while marital status, professional status, and aging perceptions (positive consequences) contribute positively. According to the results, intervention programs to promote women’s self-esteem should focus on the reduction in psychological morbidity and the promotion of adaptive patterns of perfectionism and address aging perceptions. Longitudinal studies might help explain the complex relationship between the use of anti-aging cosmetic products and psychological variables, particularly self-esteem in women.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psy chology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/01662/2020). This work was also supported by national funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Northern Re gional Operational Programme (NORTE2020) under the project 47239-Cork2Cosmetic (NORTE-01- 0247-FEDER-047239). S.M. acknowledges the research fellowship (NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-047239), fully supported by national funding by Project 47239-Cork2Cosmetic (NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-047239)

Beauty ideals, myths and sexisms: a feminist stylistic analysis of female representations in cosmetic names

Cosmetic names today carry more than just information on products’ functions or ingredients; they carry dreams, fantasy and stereotypical beliefs of femininity. This study intends to investigate gender representation through advertising language from the perspective of Mills’ (1996) Feminist Stylistics. This research explores the naming devices at word and clausal level, stylistic features and rhetorical devices in order to uncover the extent to which prevailing views of gender are either maintained or challenged. It examines how advertisers and copywriters use language to depict women and how language contributes to such depictions. Findings reveal that the noun phrases are dominated by pre modifiers that function as adjectives to describe the cosmetic names. The notion of gender is also represented in various clause types in which women are not encouragingly depicted, while the stylistic features and rhetorical devices used in cosmetic names reveal traits that are stereotypically prescribed to women. Evidences in which the cosmetic names revolve around gender differences and the patriarchal concept of male domination are extensive. This study hopes to contribute in improving advertising practices, as well as to provide awareness in educating buyers to be more critical when decoding advertising language

Exploring social media influences on colour cosmetics purchase decisions for females aged 45+

“You wouldn’t have thought that’s make-up, they’ve clearly had work done on their face.” The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of social media on colour cosmetic purchase decisions of the over 45 females. This group are the fastest growing demographic using social media (Safko, 2012), and are the largest consumer group for that industry (Mintel, 2016). The colour cosmetics industry is evolving at a phenomenal rate. Since the UK economy has entered recovery, retail value sales are currently worth £1.84bn and predicted to reach £2.5bn in 2021 (Mintel, 2017). Kantar (2014) revealed that out of 26,853 surveyed, 87% of women agreed they take great pleasure in looking after their appearance; and this was more prevalent with the older demographic. Yet, previous academic research has only investigated the uses, implications and purchase decisions of social media influences on a younger audience, (18-25 year olds) with little or no research being carried out on the older demographic. A mixed methods approach has been adopted, using online questionnaires and focus groups. The research explores the colour cosmetic habits of the over 45 females, as well as the significance of brands functional and emotional values, then onto the influence social media has on the colour cosmetic purchase decisions. The findings reveal that consumers are not directly influenced by social media, but indirectly influenced, through third party social media users such as children and grandchildren. Participants expressed strong beliefs that they make their own decisions and are not influenced by social media, with trust being the main concern. Due to this lack of trust, it appears that consumers display enhanced brand loyalty with colour cosmetic brands

Is Beauty Only Skin Deep? Exploring the Connections Between Makeup and Perception

This study explored college students\u27 perceptions of the use of makeup. In order to determine what effect makeup had on first impressions, an online survey was conducted. The study suggests that makeup does impact the perception of others, specifically women, based on how society views physical beauty. Interestingly, after conducting the survey, researchers found a higher percentage of individuals perceiving makeup toward a more positive view of how it enhanced one\u27s perception of attractiveness and how much usage of makeup enhanced that attractiveness based on the perception of participation