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For skin care professionals, passion drives growth. The meteoric rate in which devices, treatment options, and formulations continue to evolve within the skin health industry is staggering, and professionals are here for it! When it comes to melanin-rich skin, we have been seeing greater traction in our space for more inclusive and specific protocols to confidently treat higher Fitzpatrick classifications. There are more and more resources being made available to build professional confidence in caring for deeper skin tones. It is also encouraging to observe the number of improvements throughout industry devices to safely care for all cultures, skin tones, and classification scales. However, without a firm ability to identify skin conditions or skin abnormalities, the effective application for those formulas and devices are short circuited.
MISSING FOUNDATION
The not-so-great news is this: there are commonly misdiagnosed or nondiagnosed skin disorders within melanin-rich skin. This is, in large part, due to the under-representation of melanin-rich skin disorders and their respective images within dermatology textbooks and skin education curriculum. It simply has not been commonly seen.
The good news is we are in a momentum of slow but steady change in this area. There are organizations and dermatology associations focusing on shifting that narrative. Increased research access to images of skin concerns in all shades is necessary in order to adequately assist skin care professionals and experts in familiarizing themselves with what to look for.
Until we see a larger scale-up of academic literature being more available, it is our responsibility to grow in our own education. Still, this can sometimes be limited, and the change is often at a snail-like rate.
THE NOT SO USUAL SUSPECTS
Most professionals are likely quite familiar with the most common skin concerns for melanin-rich, such as hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation. However, there are some more uniquely observed and in-depth skin concerns that may have not received as much awareness.
Here are the top misdiagnosed or nondiagnosed skin disorders in melanin-rich skin that often fly under the radar for skin care professionals.
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Charmaine Cooper, known as The Skin Theologian, is an award-winning international speaker, author, and educator with 28 years in the skin profession. Renowned for her passion and ability to connect with diverse audiences, she has trained skin professionals and educators globally for 24+ years. Cooper’s work emphasizes skin health equity and cultural intelligence, particularly for melanin-rich skin. A recipient of the ACA 2024 favorite contributor award and author of the acclaimed “No Compromise Black Skin Care Guide” series & “Melanin-Rich,” she continues to inspire through her international webinars, media engagements, and transformative workshops. Connect with her on Instagram @theskintheologian.
Once you’ve obtained your qualifications as a skin care professional and put in the work to be up to date on your skin trend education, how do you win over new clients? You’re already passionate about supporting clients achieve their best skin possible. Yet, you still find somehow, that your confidence weans when clients who don’t look like you indirectly express their uncertainty in your capability to care for their skin. You’re not alone in this experience. This is a disconcerting, yet present reality for many skin care professionals and has been for some years.
MIRROR IMAGE
According to cultural leadership experts, selective ethnocentrism is when only one culture is known or embraced. Moreover, what is considered normal for that one culture is eventually expected to be normal for another. When differences in normalcy are noticed by either party, it then becomes challenging to accept new norms. Ethnocentrism is an inescapable reality for all people.
Selective ethnocentrism (SE) can be projected both by clients onto professionals and professionals onto clients. When it comes to supporting clients with melanin-rich skin, selective ethnocentrism can sometimes be responsible for barriers to trust.
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Addressing hyperpigmentation is a top priority. With innovative formulas developed by professional brands and our expertise in treatment plans, skin care professionals continually strive to meet our client’s needs.
According to clinical analyses, the primary concern for clients with melanin-rich skin is hyperpigmentation. Hyperpigmentation presents itself in various forms and, depending upon the source, treatment times can vary. This is where the brilliance of an exceptional skin care professional shines the brightest – it is in how we help clients achieve optimal results while managing their expectations.
THE BASICS
As we continue our monthly insights on melanin-rich skin, we should understand that the topic of hyperpigmentation will always be a conversation starter for many clients. Firstly, we know that all clients have melanin. However, not all clients have eumelanin-influenced melanin. Eumelanin is one of the two influencers on the quality of melanin that is produced. Eumelanin is the influence on the melanin protein that produces a darker, more insoluble type of pigment. When hyperpigmentation occurs, it shows up as brownish-black pigment spots on skin. Pheomelanin is the other influence on melanin that produces a lighter, more soluble quality of pigment. It shows up as reddish-yellow (sometimes blueish) pigment spots.
The solubility of pheomelanin makes treating hyperpigmentation in lighter skin a bit less arduous, making active ingredients easily more readily efficacious in treating it. The insolubility of eumelanin makes treating hyperpigmentation in darker skin a bit more intentional, as the properties of pigment are more resistant in absorption capability. These active ingredients may require a bit more time to show results.
With these things in mind, it is of the utmost importance to set realistic goals and manage client expectations around hyperpigmentation concerns. It’s helpful to keep in mind that hyperpigmentation takes time to develop and therefore, will take time to treat.
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C.R. Cooper is a connective, knowledgeable, and compassionate educator who has been a skin enthusiast for over 24 years. As the education manager and master educator for a renowned global institute of learning in the skin health industry, Cooper values organizational and individual industry standards, professional and personal brand integrity, but most importantly the inherent worth in every skin professional.
Welcome back to The Melanin Diaries – helping you to love melanin more by understanding it. In this month’s column, we’re going to call attention to the elephant in the room. That is, clients with melanin-rich skin who are not comfortable with going under the beam.
Lasers can be intimidating for clients with melanin-rich skin for several reasons, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve all seen the trauma stories on social media and no doubt, so have our clients. The essential component to dismantling fear is having a solid understanding of lasers, along with the confident expertise of a skin professional.
The reality is, clients aren’t always clear on what lasers are or what they are best for.
Let’s quickly review. The word laser is an acronym that stands for light amplification by the stimulate emission of radiation. Not exactly what you necessarily want to explain to clients, yet, while that may not help the client to understand laser treatments, it is something fundamental for medical aestheticians to be competent around. When communicating the benefits of lasers with clients of all skin tones, the factors to emphasize are usually as follows:
How Do Lasers Work?
Laser light beams are absorbed by skin’s epidermal surface or the dermal tissue by materials found in skin called chromophores. This is the target of laser light and when absorbed, it causes the desired destruction of that particular material.
The three primary materials that contain chromophores and that are common areas of concern for clients are:
For individuals with melanin rich skin, the most common skin concern is centered around hyperpigmentation. This is where any interest from the client may be piqued. Unfortunately, traditional interest has been met with disappointment and fear as a result of improper clinical practice or devices. In those cases, almost always the assessment for client suitability was inadequate or there was an improper selection of laser settings or devices by the skin professional.
Have you ever sensed a bit of hesitation from clients when you first connect with them – specifically clients with melanin-rich skin? What if you could read the minds of your clients with deeper hues? What might you surprisingly discover, and what might not surprise you so much? Skin care professionals may wish we had the inherent ability to read minds and then put clients’ concerns and questions at rest with just the right answer and solution, but that is not possible.
Fortunately, skin professionals don’t need to have the magic power of reading minds in order to best support the needs and wants of their clients. Due to the prevailing misconceptions and underrepresentation in the skin space around melanin-rich skin, there’s still much work to be done. Many qualified skin professionals experience hesitation and skepticism from some clients as it pertains to entrusting their own skin to them.
The question remains, how do you handle that? Are there ways to even circumvent them? Or perhaps, we are asking the wrong questions and should, rather, seek a deeper understanding to the hesitations themselves?
Identifying and treating skin concerns is the basic calling card of every skin professional. The challenge, however, lies when the skin concern or condition is not as obvious to identify as we’d hope. Melanin-rich skin, to date, represents less than 20% of skin concerns in dermatology and basic industry curriculum textbooks. Not only do skin care professionals encounter uncertainties around traditionally identifying skin conditions, but for clients with melanin-rich skin, there exists an underlying belief of some levels of immunity to certain skin conditions. The truth is, all skin is susceptible to all skin aggressors and conditions. The primary factors skin care professionals should bear in mind are the variable nuances that can be masked and less than obvious skin concerns.
As always, The Melanin Diaries are here to provide you with a few pointers to help you successfully navigate your client support for clients with melanin-rich skin. Before we call out the usual suspects of top skin concerns for various darker skin tones, we need to lay a good foundation. Human skin is more similar than it is different. To support and care for melanin-rich skin, understanding the inherent similarities it holds with all skin is fundamental, prior to being able to understand its unique elements.
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Welcome back to The Melanin Diaries. No one wants to walk on eggshells, especially passionate skin professionals. The bedrock of client care is effective communication, not the fear of offending them. There is a large advantage in leading a consultation with the positives of providing optimal solutions for clients and not with what could possibly go wrong. It is a level of confident empathy that can be felt.
Many skin professionals soar in their empathy levels, however, have to work a bit more on their confidence levels. It is not automatic for most. With the plethora of mishaps and miscalculated outcomes that have transpired in the treatment room for melanin-rich skin, some would argue that the concern is warranted. However, if risk alone was reason enough to not provide services, there would be no medical clinics, medical spas, or skin care studios.
Therefore, mitigating risks, negative experiences, and mishaps for clients, rests on the levels of knowledge skin professionals possess. When it comes to caring for melanin-rich skin, there are at times invisible barriers that clients come to a skin health space with.
As the new year begins, skin care professionals have immense opportunities to honestly reflect on business wins, client wins, and best practices from the previous year. The other side of that same coin is to also be brutally honest, while maintaining levels of optimism for continual growth for the year ahead.
How did your client growth strategies turn out last year? Was client diversification and inclusion a part of your growth strategies for the entire year? Have you asked yourself why?
Everyone loves a fresh start, clean slate, or new chapter, and January has a way of bringing that to top of our minds like no other month can. No doubt, you had some indisputable wins, along with some legitimate areas for growth.
MELANIN MATTERS
Although no one is asking you to whip out your 2024 resolution journal, you are invited to journey alongside “The Melanin Diaries” for the next 12 issues to explore how to deliver genuinely inclusive business and skin health practices where clients with melanin-rich skin are truly cared for.