Doodling 2-1. The Common Principles of Makeup and Dermatology Procedures

Looking at people these days, they seem to know their own facial strengths, weaknesses, and charm points very well. They also seem really good at makeup in ways that emphasize their strengths and compensate for weaker areas. Makeup trends change quickly, but the basic concepts of makeup do not.

• Evenly express skin texture and tone,

• Reduce overly voluminous areas,

• Fill in areas that lack volume,

• Conceal sagging areas as much as possible.

A thought suddenly came to me that the basic principles of makeup and dermatology procedures are the same, and that became the topic of this article. I will divide this into the base makeup and color makeup sections and introduce the principles of makeup and the dermatology procedures that correspond to them.

<Makeup Base Makeup>

• Skin Texture Refinement

▶Exfoliation vs. Peeling:

Exfoliation: As the first step before base makeup, many people use wiping toner, peeling pads, or scrubs to clear away dead skin cells. In fact, all three of these—wiping toner, pads, and scrubs—are steps dermatologists skip. Because they damage the skin barrier, I explain to patients that they are not good for the skin. However, if you refine dead skin cells through this step, foundation goes on more evenly, so the skin texture may temporarily look better. I fully understand why patients find it hard to give it up.

Peeling: Dermatology procedures corresponding to wiping toner or scrubs include various kinds of peeling.

Aqua Peel:

• Peeling using AHA, BHA, and similar ingredients

• In particular, it removes blackheads on the nose and the butterfly zone, evening out the bumpy areas that can show through after makeup.

• Other peels: LHA-based Lara Peel and Jessner peel using Jessner solution also remove dead skin cells on the skin surface and control sebum, making the skin texture smoother.

▶Makeup base work vs. skin boosters:

Using moisturizer & primer: Before applying BB cream or foundation, moisturizer is applied to address internal dryness. If enough moisturizer is not used, makeup is more likely to lift like flakes and lose adherence. Silicone primer is used to finally fill in pores or depressed scar areas.

Skin boosters:

Procedures corresponding to home care for relieving internal dryness and improving the skin barrier include various skin boosters.

These days, we can say it is the "great skin booster era." Just a few years ago, the options were only about:

• Water glow injections effective for dryness

• Chanel injections (Filorga, NCTF 135), which brighten the skin

• Rejuran, effective for skin regeneration

• Exosomes, effective for skin regeneration and inflammation relief

Recently, additional options have been added, such as:

• Stronger water glow injections like SkinVive and Rejuran Revive, which extend the duration of the existing water glow injection and show stronger effects,

• Juvelook/Juvelook Volume, which are also used for scar treatment but improve skin texture and tone and overall skin structure,

• Radiesse, effective for improving fine wrinkles and elasticity

Injection methods have also expanded from the existing manual injection method and mechanical injection to include cannula procedures, needleless injectors such as Mirajet or Curejet, and methods like the Potenza pumping tip.

As both the types and injection methods have become so diverse, it may actually be even more confusing and harder to decide for those choosing among them. Primer fills in enlarged pores and depressed scar areas, reducing how much foundation or BB cream gets trapped there. The dermatology procedures that match this are pore treatments and scar treatments that fundamentally remove those areas. If I were to talk about each of them in detail, the discussion would become too long, so I plan to organize them separately next time.

• Skin Tone Refinement

▶Foundation and concealer vs. whitening treatments:

Makeup: First, BB cream or foundation is applied to brighten the overall skin tone. Standards of beauty differ from person to person, but generally, Koreans prefer a lighter skin tone. Because of that, many people seem to use foundation one shade lighter than their own skin tone. After foundation, concealer is used to cover dark circles and blemishes once more, evening out the skin tone.

Dermatology whitening treatments: The first dermatology procedure corresponding to foundation and concealer is laser toning.

① Laser toning:

• The most effective and core treatment for blemishes, melasma, and hyperpigmentation

• Based on 1064 nm Q-switched Nd:YAG and picosecond lasers

• In addition, CO2/erbium, IPL, and 532 nm lasers are used where appropriate to remove epidermal pigment or lesions

• Other procedures may also be added to improve the unstable epidermal-dermal environment.

② Injection treatments that brighten the overall skin tone by one step and help improve pigment lesions include vitamin C injections and glutathione injections (white injections), among others.

③ Maintenance procedures include:

• Vitamin care: a method of delivering highly concentrated vitamins into the skin through electrophoresis

• LDM: not a direct whitening treatment. It is a care treatment that indirectly helps with tone-up by improving the damaged skin barrier and restoring the normal skin turnover process

For people who are really good at makeup, the base makeup step is actually the one that takes the most effort and time. I think it is the same in dermatology procedures.

Of course, the volume procedures and lifting we will look at in the next part are also important areas in dermatology and areas with a lot of demand. However, there are some areas that can be improved with relatively fewer sessions and in a shorter time.

But evening out skin texture (improving the skin turnover cycle and overall skin environment, and treating depressed scars) and evening out skin tone (treating melasma, blemishes, hyperpigmentation, and so on) are truly long-term, difficult, and delicate areas. They require steady investment of time and money to improve, and the doctor must also think carefully each time about what treatment is appropriate for the patient’s condition. Patients also have many things they need to maintain, such as improving daily habits and taking supplements. As I write this, I keep thinking even more that makeup and dermatology procedures have many similarities in many ways.

That concludes this look at the base makeup stage. Next time, I will return with the color makeup section.