The Lighter of Side Beauty
Trends In Non-Invasive Skincare Treatments
by Brooke K. Deets

Today, many types of spas, including medical spas, day spas and resort spas, and even skincare clinics and medical offices, offer a variety of non-invasive skincare services that rejuvenate and improve the skin as well as calm the body and mind, making the spa-goer feel and look better.

With the number of spas continuing to increase every year, the spa industry is in full force and shows no sign of slowing down.

Just what is the driving force behind the popularity of the multibillion-dollar industry? Perhaps it has to do with the 78 million aging baby boomers who, according to the International SPA Association (ISPA), make up a large portion of the spa-going population. Baby boomers have reached the age where damage to the skin becomes more and more apparent. They want to look and feel younger, are willing to pay high prices for treatments and beauty products that help combat the signs of aging, and have the disposable income to pay for it.

“Right now there is a market convergence,” says Steve Davis, an independent consultant in the LED (light emitting diode) aesthetics industry. “There is a massive shift in wealth from the WWII generation to the baby-boom generation and their coming of age. They want to look younger. And you have a new technology emerging on the market that can do it for them.”

Barbara Leonardi, vice president of Skincare Technology, Inc., the maker of the Revitalight™ Skin Care System, agrees that more people are choosing the non-invasive route because the results are real and there is virtually no downtime for healing.

“The wave of the future is the total wellness concept,” she says. “Consumers are hungry for anti-aging treatments that don’t involve injections or surgery. Today’s non-invasive choices satisfy the needs of the vast majority of the population.”

Satisfying demand for services is important; however, educating the consumer about different treatments and applying those to daily life also is key. Gabriela Vazquez, education director at the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Harmonix Institute™, an educational and training facility for licensed professionals in the skin and hair industries, is committed to the concept of total body wellness and says the most important issue for any therapist to understand is why they do what they do and how to explain the procedure to the client and link it to his or her lifestyle.

“You have to make the total wellness connection, otherwise the client doesn’t get the complete therapy picture,” she says. “Life is about balance, and too much of something is not good either.

Non-invasive therapies provide great alternatives to traditional cosmetic surgeries, so why not try them first?”

Light Therapy

Science has shown light therapy to have beneficial effects in people with seasonal affective disorder—a depressive disorder that occurs during the winter months in regions where sunlight is limited—as well as regenerating the growth of collagen and elastin in the skin. Two major types of light therapy are LED and IPL (intense pulsed light), which have numerous applications in the field of cosmetic dermatology as well as the surgical and reconstructive surgical realm.

Scientifically speaking, LED therapy is the effect of monochromatic light on cells. NASA has studied LED therapy for more than 20 years and found it can speed up the healing process, reduce scarring and regenerate collagen and elastin—two major components of the skin that are negatively affected by age.

“LED therapy is a form of light therapy, also called phototherapy, where light gently penetrates the skin, leading to production of connective tissue cells that make and secrete collagen,” Davis says.

“LED therapy has 20 years of research behind it, but nobody has applied it to aesthetics, up until a few years ago.”

During the treatment, a spa technician moves a handheld device across the skin, delivering a stream of specific light wavelengths that pass through the top layer of skin and penetrate the deeper layer where blood vessels and collagen are found. LED therapy can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, sun damage, acne and rosacea, and even more specific skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. And different topical solutions, formulated to treat acne, for example, may be used with some LED equipment to intensify the beneficial effect of the light.

“The great thing about LED therapy is it can be done in a halfhour, so spa-goers can get a treatment during their lunch hour, and there is no down time,” says Joan Shellman, marketing and sales director of Arizona for PhotoActif, maker of LED light therapy equipment for the spa industry. Best results are achieved when administered in a series of four to eight treatments, depending on the client’s skin condition and amount of sun damage, aging, etc.

Shellman recommends taking before-and-after photos to show the client how his or her skin is improving. And since it is a gentle, non-invasive treatment, it can be done alone or directly after a peel, facial or microdermabrasion because it intensifies the results of the first treatment, and rebuilds the skin and its collagen and elastin, she adds.

Kelvyn Cullimore, chairman of Dynatronics, says light therapy produces great results because it increases collagen production and helps speed the healing process. “Technology is constantly evolving and allows us to offer the public a completely non-invasive way to look good and feel good,” he says.

The company’s Synergie™ unit is an FDA-cleared system that offers three treatments with one machine. The Synergie device combines microdermabrasion with facial vacuum massage and a traditional facial resulting in unmatched results, as well as a cellulite and inch-loss treatment for the body, he says. The company also is introducing a blue-light wand attachment for the unit. Blue light has been scientifically proven to help combat bacteria and treat acne as well as help in wound healing.

Skincare Technology’s Leonardi agrees that blue-light therapy, as well as amber-light therapy, will be important variables in the total-body wellness equation. The company has applied for FDA approval for its blue-light therapy application that can be added to its Revitalight Skin Care System.

“The addition of blue-light therapy just adds another dimension to a facility’s service offerings because it allows a spa, salon or skincare clinic to offer acne and blemish treatments with the latest technology that fights bacteria,” she says. “Also, facilities offering amber-light therapy report that their clients are finding relief from arthritic pain, inflammation and soreness of muscles.”

The Revitalight system uses advanced light technology designed to help diminish the visible appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and age spots on the face, neck and hands by promoting collagen firmness, the company says. Developed by electronic engineers working in conjunction with dermatologists, the system uses photopulsation technology that allows for safe and effective noninvasive cosmetic skincare treatments.

“Our unit uses the powerful Lambertian LED which is one of the most powerful LEDs available,” she says. “The highly calibrated multistage optical lens focuses its LED light over the entire application area. It’s just amazing technology.”

Many spas, particularly medical spas, as well as skincare centers, dermatologists and plastic surgeons are incorporating LED therapy into their practices, Davis says. “LED therapy is a new trend in the spa and salon market because LED devices have a class II non-prescription classification with the FDA, so you can use it if you are non-medical personnel,” he says. “The application does not require a medical license because you can’t harm the tissue.”

IPL works with the same concept of light emission but through intense flashes, similar to that of a camera. The term “photorejuvenation” has been applied to IPL therapy, which uses red and infrared light to induce skin healing; the term should not be applied to LED therapy. In addition to light, lasers and IPL use heat during treatment, which in turn heats the tissue, inducing a harm/heal method of collagen remodeling, Davis says.

The benefits of IPL are similar to that of LED and include stimulation of collagen production, reduction of fine lines and wrinkles, and increased skin elasticity. IPL also can reduce redness from dilated capillaries and irregular pigmentation. By contrast, LED has anecdotal studies—but no clinical studies, Davis says— on improving broken capillaries and must use an added topical formulation to speed up skin lightening.

IPL therapy has many applications in the realm of cosmetic dermatology. “In spas, all sorts of IPL lasers are used for vein work, non-ablative skin rejuvenation and hair removal,” says Melinda Minton, executive director of The Spa Association.

Face & Body Treatments

As the second-most-popular spa treatment, facials have come a long way in the last few years, including everything from moisturizing and anti-aging facials to facials administered with the help of a machine.

“Performing facials with the aid of a system is becoming more and more popular,” says Mary Hartmann, a territory sales representative for Bloomington, Minn.-based Sybaritic, Inc., maker of the OXYJet™ Oxygen Facial System™, which infuses the skin with oxygen and/or a spa product. On its own, oxygen can help the skin by speeding up the skin’s healing process and, when administered with different skincare products, oxygen facials can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, acne and even hyperpigmentation, Hartmann says.

“Oxygen is actually a wonderful catalyst for product,” she says. “Studies have shown that it takes about eight hours for topical products to penetrate the skin, and oftentimes they don’t penetrate all of the epidermal layers. But with a machine, product has been seen to penetrate five layers deep within 30 minutes to an hour.”

Another advantage of oxygen-infusing systems is they can speed up healing after more invasive treatments, including laser hair removal, permanent makeup application and plastic surgery. It also can be applied as a spot treatment to other parts of the body, and some systems can combine aromatherapy and oxygen therapy to give the client more treatment options and the facility more money.

Another type of facial gaining popularity is the microcurrent facial, which uses a handheld device that emits low-level electric current to stimulate the skin and jump-start the production of fibroblasts. Microcurrent facials have been seen on popular TV shows including “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and are rapidly gaining a place in the spa and salon industry.

Microcurrent also increases blood circulation, collagen and elastin production, and ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the fuel that enables cells to function properly. Microcurrent can be incorporated into most facials or can be administered by itself as a stand-alone treatment, Suzuki says.

“You can put it into an acne treatment, you can use it for disincrustation, negative ionization for opening the pores and for closing the pores when you are finished,” he says. “It’s also extremely synergetic with microdermabrasion because microdermabrasion is working from the outside in, whereas microcurrent is working from the inside out, both trying to achieve that anti-aging effect. It really can diversify your spa menu allowing about five to 10 new treatments to be incorporated right away.”

Other popular facials include anti-aging and preventivemaintenance facials and facials to help treat serious skin conditions including hyperpigmentation, rosacea and acne. “More parents are starting to send their teen-agers to spas for acne facial treatments,” Hartmann adds.

Classic body treatments such as body wraps, mud treatments and exfoliation often are what draw firsttime spa-goers into the realm of professional skin treatments. These classic modalities can be seen as standard protocol in which a spa can add its own special twist, skincare product, system or other extras.

And if the treatment itself offers more than one benefit—exfoliates and nourishes the skin, for example—the spa has even more possibilities of how to market the treatment to spa-goers, which will in turn allow spa-goers.

Take, for example, a multitasking body wrap. “A body wrap can nourish and detoxify the skin and result in inch loss,” says Jan Heinrich, managing director for Portland, Ore.-based Set-N-Me-Free, manufacturer of aloe vera personal-care products.

“Clients associate body wraps with size loss. Some spas may not want to talk about inch loss, and that’s OK—they can use it as a detoxifying body wrap.”

One of Set-N-Me-Free’s signature products is an aloe verabased mummy-style body wrap that penetrates the skin, nourishing it from the inside. Herbs remove toxins from the bulky fat cells into the inner lymph system where they are flushed from the body by water consumed by the person, resulting in a noticeable size loss.

Specialty Treatments

According to Minton, another popular skin-rejuvenation treatment is microdermabrasion, which exfoliates and polishes the surface layer of the skin. Miniature crystals—usually aluminum oxide, however sodium bicarbonate also is used—are moved over the skin by a handheld device that attaches to the skin with suction. Used crystals and skin cells are gently sucked away, helping to diminish the appearance of aging, sun damage and other facial imperfections.

Being a progressive treatment—four to six being the average number for optimal results—spa-goers will be more likely to return. Offering a discounted package of five or six treatments is a good way to attract and keep regular clients coming back, says Eduardo Madueno, director of sales and marketing for Novato, Calif.-based Aesthetic Solutions, the manufacturer of Dermaglow® microdermabrasion systems.

Microdermabrasion usually is administered as a facial treatment but can be used on different parts of the body, he says. For example, it can be incorporated into a manicure and/or pedicure treatment to soften hands and feet as an upgraded service.

“Just say that a normal manicure costs $25,” he explains. “With a five-minute microdermabrasion treatment to the hands, you can charge $35. The cost of operating your machine for five minutes might be 50 cents, and you just made an extra $10.”

In addition to light therapy and face and body treatments, there also is a rising interest in alternative therapies and services that incorporate Eastern modalities, such as ayurveda, acupuncture and acupressure, says Hannelore R. Leavy, executive director of The Day Spa Association and The International Medical Spa Association.

“There is also a tremendous increase in the use of spa services by men, which make up between 25 percent to 30 percent and even more at some spas,” Leavy says. “Teen-agers and pre-teens are using spa services, introduced by their parents and in conjunction with dermatologists.”

The spa industry is driven by an anti-aging force and continues to add new treatments that bring spa-goers that much closer to “eternal youth.” Today, non-invasive and non-ablative skincare treatments are rapidly gaining a strong foothold in the spa marketplace, particularly treatments that can be administered in a short amount of time, such as a lunch hour. And specialized treatments including microdermabrasion and light therapy also may be an affordable alternative to plastic surgery.

“Spa services have now become more affordable and are no longer considered a luxury,” Leavy says. “The trend will continue as more and more consumers are exposed to the preventive effects of spa treatments.”

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