7 Aesthetic Industry Trends for 2011

Jan. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- As the economy continues to improve, many industries will see a rise but none more so than the aesthetic and cosmetic industry.  One of the few industries that saw only a minor dip in consumer spending during the recession - statistics showed non-invasive procedures actually rose due to men and women having to compete with a younger job market.  And while the number of surgeries in 2011 will go up, gains will continue to be significantly higher in the minimally invasive and non-invasive spheres.  With 2011 ahead of us, American Health and Beauty is predicting what trends will continue to be hot and what we can anticipate in terms of consumer demand in the aesthetic industry.  

"We have seen the rise of several procedures in 2010," says Editor in Chief, Keith Veseleny, "And these procedures will continue to be hot in 2011 and in some categories, new products which have been eagerly anticipated will soon be available in the U.S.  2011 is going to be a very exciting year in the aesthetic industry."

Here are the top 7 trends that AmericanHealthandBeauty.com predicts will continue to rise in 2011:

1. Not Going Under The Knife

"This is a trend that we have seen gain momentum over the years and recently, technology has taken it to the next level.  There is a continuing divergence from surgical procedures to minimally invasive procedures.  With the advent of new technology, procedures that were once only minimally invasive are now completely non-invasive," Veseleny says.  American Health and Beauty recently announced their 2010 Readers' Choice Awards, which awards the most popular procedure searched per category.   Demand for less invasive procedures will only continue to grow - two new categories were added to the Readers Choice Awards: Best of Non-Invasive Body Contouring and Best of Aesthetic Facial Procedures, both of which winners were non-invasive procedures.

2. Non-Invasive Fat Busters

Fat removal is a prime example of the push to move in the direction of less invasive.  Once only available as liposuction, this procedure now has several non-invasive options, two of which were FDA approved in 2010.  The fat-freezing device, CoolSculpting by Zeltiq (http://www.americanhealthandbeauty.com/plastic%20surgery/...)  started 2010 as #22 on the list of most popular procedures and ended November and December as the #1 procedure on American Health and Beauty.  Reader interest in CoolSculpting by Zeltiq rose over 1100% on the site.  Another non-invasive body contouring device, Zerona, also ended 2010 in the Top 10 Procedures and reader interest in the procedure remained steady throughout the year as well.

A viable new contender to the Non-Invasive Body Contouring arena is the Vaser Shape, the newest body contouring from the makers of VASER Hi Def.  Using ultrasound to affect fat, many physicians have seen immediate fat reduction results.

3. A Shapelier Rear

Curves are back in a big way and augmentation is heading south to the buttock region.  A strong trend that American Health and Beauty sees is reader interest in buttock augmentation (http://www.americanhealthandbeauty.com/plastic%20surgery/...).  Up 264% from the year before, readers' interest in buttock augmentation may be due to big name celebrities who have a larger and shapelier derriere.  A popular buttock augmentation procedure, The Brazilian Butt Lift has gotten plenty of press as the procedure uses the patients' own fat  to contour and shape the rear.  New technique in the procedure hides the scar under the thong area vs. below the buttock.  

4. More Stem Cells Please

While the industry has been buzzing about extrapolating stem cells from fat for fat transfers (http://www.americanhealthandbeauty.com/plastic%20surgery/...)  for quite some time now, American Health and Beauty has spoken to experts who perform the procedure in Europe and the consensus is we will have more information on it's effectiveness this year.  The theory is stem cell enriched fat improves the survival rate of the fat that is being transferred.  And while there is no true stem cell facelift available at this moment, most are performed as a traditional fat graft, there is technology that is able to retrieve more concentrated amounts of stem cells and it may soon be available in the U.S.

5. A New Palette Of Fillers and Injectables

While existing fillers and injectables do a good job at addressing the majority of wrinkles, lines and sagging skin, there is a strong trend emerging that uses a combination of fillers and injectables to re-volumize the face instead of pulling it back as in a traditional facelift.  As reported in American Health and Beauty, new fillers such as Belotero and Prevelle Lift, which are only available overseas at the moment, could also help address finer lines and deeper creases and better lifting, respectively.

6. Life After Lap Band Surgery

Since the FDA dropped the BMI (Body Mass Index) limit to 35 for obese individuals and 30 for obese individuals with serious health problems, more people will undergo the Lap-Band surgery to lose serious weight.  As with any weight loss surgery, an after effect of major weight loss is the abundance of loose skin.  As lap band surgeries increase, the demand for skin tightening will continue to grow.  While surgical procedures such as tummy tucks will go up, we anticipate many consumers will continue to search for minimally invasive procedures such as Thermage to address their loose skin.

7. An Influx Of New Aesthetic Providers

As the economy improves, primary care physicians will continue their migration to the aesthetics sphere.  The trend began in 2004 of physicians journeying into aesthetics, which spawned many of the medical spas that emerged at that time.  This trend was brought to a halt in early 2009 when the economy took a nosedive and many medical spas declared bankruptcies.   With consumer demand increasing (American Health and Beauty saw a 44.6% increase in 2010 from the year before) more non-core physicians will again continue to enter the aesthetic space.

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American Health and Beauty is a national online health and beauty magazine devoted to providing information and resources about aesthetic & cosmetic procedures, including Vaser, SmartLipo, Thermage, VelaShape, Fraxel, Dysport, BOTOX, Zerona.