SPEAKER_03: 0:00

Welcome to the Aesthetic Report, a podcast for skincare professionals who want to grow in their careers by hearing directly from the individuals who have been there, done that, and are paving the future of their industry. Join us for the latest in all things skincare, beauty, wellness, business, and more. From interviews with leading experts to the burning topics on your mind. The aesthetic report starts now.

SPEAKER_05: 0:34

Hello, hello. Welcome to the Aesthetics Report. I'm here. I'm Lonice Stoker. And I'm here with my good friend.

SPEAKER_04: 0:44

I'm Elizabeth Brazier. And Lanise has her sexy voice on again for y'all.

unknown: 0:50

Right.

SPEAKER_05: 0:51

And we are the Dermoscope in-house aestheticians. And we have some a very good topic today that's very common in the world right now. The world of chat GBT. Sometimes I think it's becoming a nuisance in a sense. But it can be very, very knowledgeable place for professionals, right? And but now it's falling into and spilling into the aesthetics world. It's definitely a good tool. I think it's a brilliant tool. I'm hearing about it more so too, even in like high school and middle schoolers, using it for homework and things like that.

SPEAKER_04: 1:36

I was just talking about that with somebody too, because we have two girlies on our staff. Bless them, young ones. They're both in college. And I have watched them use chat DPT for literally anything and everything. I don't know if I would call that like cheating per se, because I know all of them do it. Like, is it any better than Google? I I almost would want them to use Google instead, because at least that you have to research things, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_05: 2:07

And then Google also, I feel like, gives more reference points.

SPEAKER_04: 2:12

Yes. And you can also see where it's coming from, like the web source and stuff like that. Okay, so maybe for the people that have never used Chat GPT, maybe you're in that that community of people who are like, it's a robot or whatever, I don't understand it. I'm not going to use it. So let's break down what ChatGPT or just AI in general is. This is in a very limited sense. You you could see it as a computer program, right? But it's not just a computer program. It's a learning computer. So there's these big server farms. They're full of tons and tons of servers that are like data mining. They're taking stuff from everywhere, all over the internet, different publications, things like that, which sounds really cool, right? But think about it. You're taking information from everywhere. It doesn't matter what the source is, who said it, things like that. It's trying to learn and give that information back to you based on the prompts that you're giving it. So a question is what's known as a prompt. So you're asking it or asking it to do a specific job, essentially, give you back specific information or whatever it may be. And in that regard, it is really neat what it can do, but it is still a very limited technology because, again, it's a learning tool, right? It's not going to know everything right at the beginning. It's not sourcing stuff from things that are ideal all the time as well. It may give you inaccurate information, incomplete information. I also feel like it has a writing style too. Like if you look at enough answers from Chat GBT or any kind of like AI analytic tool, you can start to see how it writes things, right? There's certain like uh hashtags and different things like that that it uses. I don't know. It just it has a very specific style. And there also there's not a lot of like voice to it, too. So sometimes vague information, but people have come to rely on it heavily already.

SPEAKER_05: 4:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 4:29

And that's what these companies also want you, they want you to be reliant on it, right? That's what kind of happens with everything, you know. Our our smartphones, right? We can't be without those anymore. We have to have them to do this, to do, you know, what what we're doing right now. It'd be hard to go back to like a Nokia brick at this point, right? And and try to do everything that we're intended to do, you know. So these companies know that you're going to become reliant on this because it says, oh, my brain doesn't have to work as hard.

SPEAKER_05: 5:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 5:02

I I can just put it on Chat GPT.

SPEAKER_05: 5:04

Finding a shortcut. This is what it's creating. Yeah. It's leaked heavily into the aesthetics in the form that consumers are treating Chat GPT like it's a licensed skin professional by uploading their pictures and asking in the depth of an analysis to recommend skincare. Yeah. And so, and even some cases, diagnosis. And so this is where it can pose problems for the consumers and the and the professionals like us, you know, that could possibly lose income, uh, client belief, you know, and misinformation, compromised skin, distrust in the professionals now. So, my question to you is have your clients used chat GBT to diagnose themselves? Have you experienced that firsthand yet?

SPEAKER_04: 5:55

So far, none of them have. I think because they hopefully think my brain is better than Chat GPT. Right. Or that my brain is chat GPT, because it's like they come with me with like any any singular question, right? And I usually have some form of answer for them, or some some way that I've come up with, you know, uh a solution for them. So I haven't run across it a lot. Now I also I don't know if maybe it's an age-related thing too, right? Because some of mine are on not the older end, but like say elder millennial, gin X, yeah, you know, Boomer, those types of ages. I just feel like, again, this is not something that they're probably going to utilize a lot because again, it's new technology. They're a little bit hesitant to try something like that. Even me, like it took me a while to really like actually try it out and do anything with it. Yeah. And I have used it for a couple of things. I'll be honest, not a lot, but I just wanted to see what everybody else was doing, you know?

SPEAKER_05: 6:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 6:58

I think there are massive limitations when it comes to it, but I don't think we can ignore it as people in the beauty space because it's only, again, it's popular. People are using it. Companies are gonna find a way to implement it. I've even seen like just indie skincare brands online, they're like, take this quiz, right? And you can find your perfect match. You know, here, use our AI tool that will build you like an entire routine out of our products. And again, they don't have to pay anybody to do that. It just does it for them. Now, is it the accurate, correct, right routine? I don't know. You know, could be, couldn't be. I mean, it it there's so many factors when it comes to somebody's skin and diagnostic tools and things like that. Even when I have somebody come in, I'm asking them a million and one questions in order to get down to like the nitty-gritty of what's going on with their skin. When you're just putting in a prompt and you're saying, I have this and this going on, write me a you know, a skincare routine. That's not enough to go on.

SPEAKER_05: 8:05

And actually the clients think they have this going on and they really don't. Yes, misdiagnosis.

SPEAKER_04: 8:10

That's the number one issue I have is that clients tend to, I'd say like nine times out of ten, misdiagnose their skin.

SPEAKER_05: 8:18

Absolutely. Absolutely. Like you, I haven't really had clients come and saying that they've asked chat for a skin routine. However, I do feel like it's the age group of my clientele, kind of like my clientele is pretty much in line with what you say, like Gen X, um, millennials. So it's not as common or popular, I don't think, even for skincare. I think they use it for work, you know, maybe in their workscape, but they don't really know that it can be used in skin. So these Gen Zers definitely are taking that by storm.

SPEAKER_04: 8:52

I mean, heck, people are using it as a therapist, an actual therapist, like using Chat GPT as a therapist, which has had some massive implications, and the companies actually have gotten in trouble for that. And if you want to go read about it, find the article, stuff like that. But so you can see how things could go wrong, given the wrong type of information, because this it's not like it has like an internal monologue and saying, Oh, this is wrong, I shouldn't say that, you know, things like that. That's not how these tools work, you know, they're just regurgitating information to you in a way that, you know, usually it sounds like you're having a conversation with somebody, right? They make it sound conversational, but it is just a computer on the other side. And they're just giving you this is the information that I have learned from all of this data source. Here you go. And different AI tools use these, use different sourcing. So you may get different answers based on what they're using as a source as well. Even like when you go into like Google, there'll be like an AI window that pops up at the top of it. Now these these web pages use it at the top of their thing. So people will like show me, like, oh, uh, I think it was happening in one of the Sedition groups, right? People were asking a question about a treatment or something. And this is like, oh, this is what I found on Google, but you can tell it's the AI window from where they put in, you know, the question in the web search feature. And I'm like, that's inaccurate. Plus, that's AI. You can't use that as an appropriate source, especially when you're talking about legal instances, contraindications, things like that, um, medications, you know, stuff that things can go really, really wrong. She's like, How could you tell it's AI? I was like, I could tell by how it's written, and I also recognize that feature that you're screenshotting for me. And unfortunately, now we have to like know that that's AI.

SPEAKER_05: 10:48

Right. Like this is making things even more difficult now. Yeah. Now that you put it like that, because I didn't even think about it from that standpoint. Because you're right now, even when you go to Google, there is that prompt up top. So now people are getting two different ones, and it's confusing the consumer even more. So this is further, because I was a little unsure, but now this is really making me like, just book the consultation with your institution. Book us, okay? Like, don't go to chat for it. But interesting enough, with some of the information we found, especially um the Business of Beauty hosts about the GEO and the LLMs, which I learned of those acronyms, you know, uh, in researching and studying for this, which is like, okay, now the company's brands are reving up their strategy to be a part of this. Because I mean, I was floored when I read that, you know, estimated 700 million weekly users are ARM chat alone, which is like, whoa. That is a lot. So now they're trying to make large language models to get recommendations for products. And these companies are moving away from SEO to GEO, which is generative engine optimization and AEO answer engine optimization. And according to the co-founder of Quick Quilt AI, he said, this is the beginning of the beginning. Yeah. And so I do believe that this is because it's just gonna get worse and it's just gonna become a more influx of people referring to these AI generators to help them with skincare because they think it's a cheaper route.

SPEAKER_04: 12:42

Yes. It's that whole that age-old question is cheaper, better.

SPEAKER_05: 12:48

But people want an instant thing. That's the thing now. People want instant gratification, instance.

SPEAKER_04: 12:54

It's kind of like they were saying in that post, right? Is that they want that one-on-one conversational, right? They want that one-on-one quality with this, not just like here's a targeted ad. That feels very impersonal, right? People are, I think we talked about this a little bit when we're talking about like influencer and all of that kind of culture, you know, about how they want to feel more connected and more personalized with you know their marketing strategies. Because that's really all it is, is a marketing strategy.

SPEAKER_05: 13:25

You still can't get more personal than coming in person, yes. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04: 13:30

Yes, and maybe some people feel like that's out of reach for them. And it I think that's what was happening with the therapists, because let's be honest, like mental health in this in this country is is broken. It's a very broken system. Yeah, that's that's what people reverted to, which is very sad. So I'm hoping that people aren't feeling like the beauty industry is broken, so that they're turning to that point. So I think we need to find a way to be approachable and to feel like they're gonna get an even better care, you know, care option answer when they come to somebody directly. I think that's where these aestheticians who are building virtual platforms, virtual consults and things, virtual skincare clients. I think that's beautiful. I think that is a very smart way to use that interaction. And yes, it takes a little bit of your time, whereas AI takes none of your time, right? They're just doing that, but you're also not getting anything back from that unless you have some type of web page or whatever with AI on it. You know, you're you're not seeing anything as the professional. And then also, I don't I can't check in with you if you're going to an AI model. So if something goes wrong or whatever, what are you gonna do? Go back to Chat GBT. Hey, this happened. What do I need to do? And then you may just get more bad information.

SPEAKER_05: 14:46

Right. So now you're depending on a device or an app where a human where we're trained to know what to do when you have a reaction or something isn't working. We have recommendations possibly at our fingertips to allow you to try. We have a treatment that you can try to calm and soothe the skin. If you had something, something happen, we can guide you better versus a bot. Yes, yes, yes. You're trusting a chat box that has no personal relationship with you, but people really are becoming codependent on this. Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 15:31

And I mean, maybe I will see it at some point. I I I do have some of those younger clients, and then of course I've got the girls in the in the space with me right now, and they may come to me with something with like, hey, what do you think? Like Chat GBT said this and this and this. You know, I I do think we need to embrace it for what it is, but not rely on it, right? So never forgetting what that tool is in its in its very basic terms. But I think you as a business, if we can kind of like route that way, you as a business entity may be able to use it in an effective way. For some people, they're using it to write their copy for websites or blog posts or things like that. If you're not good with that kind of stuff, it is a good starting tool. Okay. But it has a very particular writing style, and people can see that. So don't just copy and paste. Okay. That's usually what people do, and it's that is not a good way to go. You need to get something started, maybe an outline, maybe just how to. I've had it like look at my Instagram page. I've had it like, you know, just like, hey, look at this and analyze it for me. Tell me what you think, tell me what you see. Use it in that way. I I had it plan a whole baby shower for me when I was trying to. I come up with like a theme that I wanted. So my baby shower last last year was um during winter time, but I didn't want it to be like a wintery snow Christmas baby shower. I wanted to do like a madmen style, very 60s things like that. So I had Chat GPT like help me plan a party. You know, they were like, here's some fun, like era style games and food and stuff like that. Use it to your advantage that way. You know, if you're not good coming up with that kind of stuff, it can be great. I didn't use all of the ideas, but I thought, oh, that, and it pulled up like music selections. I made a playlist out of the things that, you know, my brother just planned his whole Hawaii trip through Chat GPT.

SPEAKER_05: 17:42

Oh wow. See, I didn't even know we can do all that. That's that's yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, I think that's really cool. That's cool.

SPEAKER_04: 17:49

So there are creative ways to use it to your advantage, but you cannot rely on it on the very important things. Like I said, with with legal documents, with uh protocols for your treatments, you need to rely on what the company is telling you, okay? When it comes to like medication interactions, things like that, do not rely on that because I don't know where they're sourcing that information from. And I would never want to potentially put somebody in harm because I was getting bad information.

SPEAKER_05: 18:18

Yeah. But why do you think people are relying on chat so much versus just booking a consult with with an esthetician? Why is that?

SPEAKER_04: 18:27

For them, again, like you said, it's that instant gratification, right? It may take them a couple weeks, maybe a month, to get in with us. And, you know, maybe they're like, oh, they can build a drugstore. All these people are gonna like sell me like expensive skincare. So I just want a drugstore routine. If that's truly what they're wanting, maybe they're just not my client anyway.

SPEAKER_05: 18:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 18:47

But also, I do get that person, can you tell me something from the drugstore? And I'm like, I'll be honest, I don't know much at a drugstore.

SPEAKER_05: 18:54

But I I did I did see that article where they did recommend like some products to the lady that tried it for a month. And they they recommended her some pretty expensive things.

SPEAKER_06: 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 19:07

And I was really impressed with that. But now, do you think these companies are really gonna heavily invest some kind of way? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 19:18

I I'm I assure you that their marketing teams are already trying to work it in somehow. I mean, if it's not that, then it's also the corporations who are using it in their back ends already. Like, I don't know how many, how many meetings my husband had where they have like some new tool or some whatever, and he's like, So it's AI.

SPEAKER_05: 19:38

Wow.

SPEAKER_04: 19:39

You know, and not necessarily to make it like take anybody's job, but like also it's again, they're like, we're gonna implement an AI tool because it's cool, you know, whatever. It's not cool though. It's like they're just like, it's just another thing we have to deal with. I think it's how you're writing prompts, there's whole prompt writers, like they get hired just to write prompts for their AI tools for businesses, right? So if you wanted to help write prompts for these people to find like their ideal, you know, skincare strategy or what treatment, you know, treatments they should look for in their area, try something like that. I mean, if you really want to get creative, you're not working behind the chair or something like that, do that. Help them, like work, work with the tool. I will I will say this because I do feel strongly about this. Like, I am a sustainable gal, right? Yeah, I I like sustainability in both like long-term results with my clients, but also I feel like the beauty industry is very wasteful already. Chat GPT is a big economic stressor when it comes to like water usage, and I don't think a lot of people understand that too. So this is this is my tangent on that. This just so you can be aware when you are using it, use it sparingly. But uh yeah, these server farms are not only using water every time that you write a prompt, but they use it to cool down the servers, and it's massive amounts of water. You're not talking it's just a drip line or whatever, you're talking massive amounts of water.

SPEAKER_05: 21:15

Wow. I had no clue about that either. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 21:18

Wow. Like bathtubs amount of water every time you ask a question. A question, a prompt. That's it. Like it's not like a day or whatever. No, every it's so you think of all these people, right, that are using this every single day and every single prompt because these servers are working so hard to farm that they need all this water to keep cool, plus all the other water usage that they're doing as well. And then I think the people that are living around these server farms are also having like massive health complications, too. You do whatever you want. We have free will in this country, but I always like to preface that because people, again, like you said, you don't realize that. You just innocently we think we're, you know, it's like a web page. Right. So we're just putting in some information. That's not how AI works because it is a learning tool. So use it, use it smartly, use it sparingly. Yeah. But I think there's ways that we could work with it in the industry where it doesn't have to become the enemy.

SPEAKER_05: 22:19

Yeah, it's here to say, but you don't think it's gonna affect us as skincare professionals?

SPEAKER_04: 22:25

I think people, especially our clients right now, they become too ingrained with us on a personal level.

SPEAKER_05: 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 22:31

They may bring something to me at one point and be like, hey, Chat GPT said this. I just thought it was interesting. What's your take on it?

SPEAKER_05: 22:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 22:38

So they may put me up against Chat GPT to like, you know, for some information or something.

SPEAKER_05: 22:43

But I definitely think I think the brands are gonna definitely be influenced to market.

SPEAKER_04: 22:48

Yeah. Or we're we're gonna be marketed, you know, an AI tool to use in our back room, you know.

SPEAKER_05: 22:57

Sounds so uh I don't know. I don't know. I think that's I think it's funny, but I think that's coming. That's like somebody putting like the EWG approved on their but I think it's coming because it's not going anywhere. I don't know. I think I think some of them will jump on that train.

SPEAKER_04: 23:15

If they do, I'm like, I'm never never again.

SPEAKER_05: 23:21

But I I do see it because people wanna quote unquote these companies, brands want to stand out, and it's gonna be someone that is going to jump on that and say, I think if they're trying to capture that younger market, like you said. Yeah, I definitely think it's gonna be the younger ones for sure.

SPEAKER_04: 23:42

Yeah, so it may not necessarily be anything that we have to worry about right now, but maybe once that that generation, you know, keeps maturing and kind of becomes like our long-term clientele, it it might be, but I don't I don't know if we'll have to worry about it in the instance right now, just where our clients are generationally. If you have a lot of younger clients or that's who you market to, then it's probably gonna happen a lot sooner. Um so it's something you definitely want to maybe take some information, lessons on, things like that. I I heard another, I don't remember who it was on Instagram. It was another like esthetician mentor. They were like, do not ignore AI, Chat GPT, learn how to utilize it, strategize with it. Yeah, but don't ignore it and just pretend it's not there because it is. It's kind of like anything else, right? It's like we we can just try to pretend it's not happening, but that leaves you behind everybody else because then you're just playing catch up when it does get here.

SPEAKER_05: 24:46

And I know, but then but it makes it so tough because then there's dermatologists that believe it's a positive tool. And so then with dermatologists being a skin doctor, you know, um, people would probably be swayed. Where we looked up Dr. Leona Yip said, you know, she believes it's great, it's positive. I mean, good for her. In her review, though, it will to me it was kind of contra contradictory. So I don't know. If y'all, if y'all are interested, go check her out yourself and listen. Well, she said it's positive, but then it didn't really seem positive, so but then the owner of chat was like he's shocked that people are utilizing it so much. So it's it's a lot. So he's like, he didn't both really realize people were utilizing it so much for this. So it's definitely I think business, yes. Getting your skincare routine, no, simply because my personal opinion on why ChatGBT skin recommendations is recommending seven different brands for you to use on your skin. It's not like you're using eminence, enemy, eminence, enemy. You're using this, this, this, and this, and this. You know, it's too many brands, and the skin actually likes the same thing. The skin does not like for you to use seven different product brands on your skin in one day. Your skin can go into shock. You can upset your skin very badly using a different brand cleanser, a different brand toner, a different brand serum, and a different brand moisturizer, a different brand sunscreen. That makes me cringe so much as an ST. That cringes me, but that's what I've seen chat has given these studies that I've been looking at.

SPEAKER_04: 26:50

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and what's to say that even in the instance that you do use all those products, right? Are they even gonna lay down together? Because I feel like in the treatment room, like we've tried, you know, a lot of our skincare companies together with each other, with maybe other things that we've had at home, stuff like that. We know how it marries with things. So I I don't see how it could figure out that those would all essentially work together.

SPEAKER_05: 27:17

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04: 27:18

I don't know. It's there's a lot of limitations. Like I really have to get in there and look at somebody's skin. I can't rely on what they're telling me alone. Right.

SPEAKER_05: 27:27

Because you have to touch, feel, and see the skin. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04: 27:31

Yeah, because I'll tell them I'm like, well, actually, you have this and this going on and this and this going on. So really we need to address that. Otherwise, these other things aren't gonna get better. But they don't even know that A, B, and C are happening to cause those things, right? And granted, maybe they'll try their chat GBT routine and then realize it's not working and come back to us. Things like that.

SPEAKER_05: 27:52

Yeah. I mean, because let's be clear, someone that has acne, right? Most commonly, and aestheticians, y'all can agree, when someone has acne, most of the time, people want to strip away all oil from their skin. They want to use oil-free this, oil free that, oil free, oil free, oil free. When really that can be detrimental because your skin actually needs the perfect balance of both oil and water to actually heal the skin. But when you strip it of everything, that can lead to more even breakouts. But chat cannot determine that because they're not seeing your skin.

SPEAKER_04: 28:32

Yeah. Even with pictures, pictures is not textural. Pictures is not like sometimes you can't even see the inflammation. And so I just I don't think it's coming for our job. Let's just be clear about that, right? Okay. I don't think it's coming for our job. It reminds me of back in the day. I don't even know if oh, what was it called? Planet Tan. Anyway, they used to have like automated everything in their little stores. I never went in, but I remember looking at the thing, and it was like you could pay like a membership fee, right? But you'd basically go in and get an automated facial and I'm like, are robots taking our job? But also I'm like, I really wanted to go and try it because I was like, I have to see what it's even doing, but I never heard anything beyond that. So I don't even know if that's a thing anymore. It's like the uh what was it, the little robot at the at Target or something that was doing nails for a while? It was like painting nails. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It didn't trim or anything like that, it just polish, polish, polish, polish. Again, I think that's what everybody kind of assumes with AI, but it's it's different than that, but also it's not physical. But I do think that we need to understand it. And you know, if if you're a very specialized person in the field, maybe do facial massages and stuff like that, that's not something that AI can take away from you, right? You know, they can go online and watch. A video of like how to do a facial massage, but it's never going to be like a professional one. Someone who's studied and you know perfected their craft and really can kind of like pick out the tension in your face and things like that.

SPEAKER_06: 30:11

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 30:17

Did you know that Dermoscope is celebrating 50 years this year? Founded in 1975, Dermoscope has been bringing skin professionals the best in continuing education for half a century, with more to come. Follow us on social media at Dermascope on all platforms. Subscribe to the print magazine at www.dermoscope.com backslash subscribe and tune in to the aesthetic report, weekly to stay in the know on our semicientennial calendar. Celebrate 50 years with Dermoscope in 2025 and join us as we usher in 50 more of the best generic non-branded education in the industry.

SPEAKER_04: 31:02

I don't know. How are you feeling about it overall?

SPEAKER_05: 31:06

I definitely feel like the Gen Z put more trust in this type of stuff, unfortunately, because of the instant gratification that people want. Also, I feel like it's the fact that people just I don't want to say lazy because they actually are seeking something. So it's not lazy. I still think it's just they want something at their fingertips right away. They want something easily accessible than maybe going online to book an appointment to walk into a place physically to see someone. Or maybe people are embarrassed and they're like, Man, my skin is really jacked, and I just want to use this, you know, the people that device.

SPEAKER_04: 31:53

They come in, they're like, I'm so sorry about my face. And I'm like, what are you apologizing for? Like, that's literally why I'm here.

SPEAKER_05: 32:01

That's why I'm here. But so I don't really know. I would maybe love to interview a Gen Zier to see like why to like further this discussion because it's not going anywhere. But maybe this could be something deeper because I want to hear their thought process.

SPEAKER_04: 32:17

I wanna, I want to get their their thoughts because they're you they are they're using it all the time, and I want to get their thoughts about like, hey, uh, maybe I'll interview um some of the girls at at work about it.

SPEAKER_05: 32:30

And yeah, because I just want to understand their logic.

SPEAKER_04: 32:34

Because they're very smart, you know, smart girls. Clearly, they got into college, they're both on the track to be nurses, stuff like that. But there was a study about people's like brain capacity, like when they were using more chat GPT, it was starting to turn off certain areas where basically they didn't have the capacity to like think through stuff anymore. Like that was starting to it's dangerous, yes, yes. And I mean, granted, everyone said the same thing about the TV when it was invented. Okay, so we just we just gotta, you know, kind of throw that in the forefront. Like, this is bad, and like everybody's gonna get stupid. But it's uh but I I understand, but we still have to put limitations on screen time. We can we know that it is like killing, you know, how our attention spans are, right? I mean, can you can you focus on anything? I can't focus on anything, but granted, I'm also a mom of two. Like, I I try my best to there's zero focus.

SPEAKER_05: 33:37

Yeah, I want to read a book so bad and I fall asleep, you know, like physically open a book to read it.

SPEAKER_04: 33:43

Yes, so I just opt for the audiobooks because literally the moment I sit still, but again, because it's it's simpler that way, and also you're like, I don't have time to sit down and read a book, you know.

SPEAKER_05: 33:54

Well, because I fall asleep so fast, so it's like dang. So it it's like it's where we agree to an extent. I think it's cool to see what pops up, but then come to your esthetician and then see, really see what happened. You know, like I think it's a fun opt to see. Okay, this is what they said, but now let me go to my esthetician.

SPEAKER_04: 34:23

Yeah, and see what she don't think of it as a trend. Yeah, it's it's definitely here to stay, here to play, whatever. But you know, I I don't think it has place inside the treatment room just now. Again, I'm sure some of these companies will start to market some things to you, especially maybe probably in the med spa space, because I feel like that's where they're trying to push the AI already.

SPEAKER_05: 34:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 34:47

Even on like the the software systems and stuff like that, you know. But it's just I even those like chat bots that like pop up on things, you know.

SPEAKER_05: 34:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 35:00

I'm I'm not someone that likes to interface with those types of things because I know I'm not talking to a person. I don't know. So I know I'm not gonna get the information I need. It's just but like say Amazon, they make you do that just to like return something, you know.

SPEAKER_05: 35:14

Yeah, and that's uh that's annoying. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 35:17

So you don't want to turn your spa into like an AI-driven, you know, model.

SPEAKER_05: 35:22

But what it so I know this is one more thing. What about those face analyzing devices that are so popular right now?

SPEAKER_04: 35:30

You know, I I haven't I don't know if I've tried one.

SPEAKER_05: 35:34

Do y'all have one at y'all's pa? Oh, like the skin scanner thing? No, yeah, the skin scanner, and then it recommends products. Is that the same or no? Do you feel like that's the same?

SPEAKER_04: 35:42

I feel like because it's actually taking like live for the most part, some of them that I've seen, you're actually putting your face into the system, and then it's using like different light beams and things like that to target specific things.

SPEAKER_05: 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 35:59

I did get a claim, I mean, this was a few years ago. Um, so probably not as AI driven or anything like that, but she was saying that there was like um this bacteria on her skin that she needed to get rid of. This woman did not have like an ounce of apnea, so I'm not even sure what this was regret. She was like, see, it's really high here. And I'm like, I'm not even sure what that is, actually. So I I don't know, I do like the skin scanner option. I think those are great to show like before and afters and how your results are going and how to kind of show you know your hydration levels and you know, reducing wrinkles and things like that as that type of tool. But to analyze and be like, oh, you know, you need all of these products. No, just let me do that. Let me do that. Yeah, just give me the readout. Give me the readout of what you're finding, the pigmentation under the skin or you know, stuff that we need to look out for. Don't recommend product though.

SPEAKER_05: 36:52

That's my job. Yes, absolutely. Um, I agree. So, all in all, what I'm hearing is we like it to an extent. Still book your consultation with your aesthetician. So we can probably recommend you a professional grade skincare routine. Don't rely on AI. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 37:16

You should write that on a shirt. Dorian, put that one on the next Dermoscope shirt.

SPEAKER_05: 37:21

Did you hear the tag that I just made? I need my my my coins if somebody uses it. She said, Don't rely on AI. Don't rely on AI. For skincare, that is. We're talking about skincare, guys. But yes. So, guys, yes. So, thank y'all so much. I think they're gonna wrap this all up with the whole chat because it's so popular. We can go on and on about that.

SPEAKER_04: 37:45

There's so much, and there's so much, like, I still don't understand about it, and only know from a very limited standpoint. And I'm sure somebody's listening to my like breakdown, they're like, that's not how it works.

SPEAKER_05: 37:56

What we do understand is skills. Yes, yes, and we will make the best recommendations, and not just us, all of us other licensed estheticians across the world that are listening. And I think this is an opportunity for y'all to go to your IGs and go live and talk about this so your clients can know you are the real deal, you are the skin expert, and book the consultation and the appointment with you so you can probably you can probably recommend skincare products for this.

SPEAKER_04: 38:28

Yes, yes. Now we're gonna do some product reviews. Got a lot, got a lot to tell you. We did stuff just kept rolling in, and I was like, wow, okay. So osmosis, stem factor MD. So actually, I was I was kind of surprised. I don't know why I wouldn't think of like osmosis as having like a growth factor solution because they're very like holistic based. And sometimes growth factor doesn't really get into like the holistic space because people are like, oh, it's you know, it's human derived and things like that. So I fully expected it to be like a plant stem cell serum, but it is a human-derived stem cell like factor uh serum. Um and I've actually had Michael trying it as well because oh, nice, he's never really used one. Like I had already incorporated growth factors and exosomes into my routine. So I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna gauge it as much on me. So I tried it a little bit, but then I had him like really fully trying it in his routine. Um, and his skin does look like more even, a little bit calmer and things like that. It's you know, it hasn't been like super crazy long. Um, and I'd like to trial it with like some laser treatments and things too. It definitely is like an interesting, it's more like a gel and it kind of has like a tackier dry down on the skin, um, but it does smell really good. I think they have like a couple of essential oils in it, so it doesn't smell like the gross like growth factor serum legs of in the past. So yeah, I think it's an interesting treatment. I'll keep watching his skin on it, but so far it's done pretty well with him, and I was happy to get him to use an extra product in his routine.

SPEAKER_05: 40:08

Yeah, I know it's kind of hard for me. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04: 40:11

I mean, he's he's good at doing his routine, just not a bunch of steps, you know.

SPEAKER_05: 40:15

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04: 40:16

It gets limited. And then the rapid flash eyelash enhancing serum. So again, this is one that I've had multiple times in my routine trialing out for here as well. I love a good eyelash serum. This one's definitely like a tried and true. It's been around for a long time. And that's the thing with like eyelash serums, like, there's really only a good few ingredients that really ultimately work for lash growth.

SPEAKER_06: 40:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 40:42

And like there's some good like peptide stuff on the market and things like that, but they're not like truly going to like get that hair growing out of those follicles. Some will just condition, things like that. This has like the full workup of ingredients in there. So, yeah, that's a couple I've been trying at first. And what else have you had right now?

SPEAKER_05: 41:01

So I've had the eminence. So eminence has been around for a very long time, and I was excited because I haven't gotten the opportunity to use eminence in a very long time. One of the first lines I came across 10 years ago when I became an esthetician, the fact that they were very organic, natural, cruelty-free brand, and that's what made them really attractive to me. But I got to try their new Tulsi Snow Mushroom Cleansing Milk. And I love a good creamy lathering cleanser because I do feel like the cleanser is the most important step, obviously, in skincare. And it feels really good, really light. The smell is nice, and I just it didn't strip your skin because you know, some foam can kind of dry you out, um, but it does not. It actually calmed my skin really good. I used it to remove my makeup one day, too, and uh I really enjoyed that. So it feels really good. Um, I learned more about Tulsi. I wasn't fond of what that was, and it's an antioxidant adaptogen. So I thought that was really cool that they included that to reduce inflammation, the appearance of retinous in the skin, and then learning about the mushrooms and skincare too to improve the barrier function, the hydration, reducing inflammation, all of that is my jam. So I think that's great for eminence and congratulations on this new hero. Yes. I feel like it's good.

SPEAKER_06: 42:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 42:34

Um, I also have the Face Reality Barrier Care Gel Cream. Definitely just one of those products I feel like is going to be soothing, calming, safe for anybody with sensitized skin. This will be a great go-to to restore the skincare barrier if it's I've been screaming at you, any redness, any type of inflammation. This will be your go-to finishing product for someone with sensitive skin. Um, great for those with acne for sure, of course, because that's their that's their tried and true. I guess some of the key ingredients that were cool in there was the squalene because it's really lightweight. Um, and then the fact that it has some humectants and amino acids and hyaluronic acid in it. You know, I love me a good hyaluronic acid, so I think that is also uh really good. So I think that's a safe product for everyone. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 43:29

So Dr. Schramek.

SPEAKER_05: 43:32

Okay, Dr. Schramek, thank you so much for sending us these BB creams, and all of them.

SPEAKER_04: 43:37

Not just not just one, but all and it's different tones, which is also really exciting because mostly with most of the lines that I've worked with, it's always been a universal shade, right?

SPEAKER_05: 43:48

Exactly. Which I feel like darker skin tones just kind of get we get left out, we get left out and leave out the higher fits all the time. All the time. So they actually included every Fitzpatrick, which was very impressive. Yes. And they they work really well. Yeah. I really liked it. Um, I am gonna try it on some of my other clients, especially with the higher fits, to see how it goes.

SPEAKER_04: 44:11

Yes, yeah. I I'm I'm keeping them to like give it to some of my clients to try out because again, like we have the skin better tone smart, which I love, but it only works up to like that middle tone of skin. And so these are kind of interesting, and so I'll I'll kind of get their feedback on it too. But yeah, it's very wearable.

SPEAKER_05: 44:31

I did a video too. I may post it. Okay, if dermoscope allow me. I have I have a video that I put every swatch on my arm so people could see that they had more options for a BB cream for other fits.

SPEAKER_04: 44:44

Because I felt like the last option was it was pretty pigmented, you know. Yeah, because it's not a super like heavy wear. Because BB creams are beauty bombs, is what that stands for, and so they're meant to be like a tinted moisturizer in a way. So go on like very thinly and yeah, and just kind of like cover imperfections, just kind of make the skin look a little more even. They're not meant to be like foundations, so that's why foundations usually need so many shades because they're trying to be like fully pigmented, full coverage, those types of things, like tinted sunscreens, tinted moisturizers, BBC C creams, like those are really meant to be kind of thin on the skin, wear very comfortably and not really look like anything on there.

SPEAKER_05: 45:31

Get that like very and it's like non-comogenic to the fact that she uh created her formula that you're supposed to be actually bob, of course.

SPEAKER_04: 45:39

Yeah, and I haven't had any issues with it, so that's to say something.

SPEAKER_05: 45:44

Yeah, yeah, I agree. So um, yes, thank you. So we had fun trying all of these products this pastime. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_04: 45:53

Yeah, so our game today is actually to play with chat GPT, and I'm not gonna think of how much water I just used to ask this question. Right, right, right. But uh, we were asked to prompt Chat GPT to recommend a skincare routine for us, and then we're going to eviscerate it. No, we're going to play it for you, and then um see what we think about this this routine for us. Maybe read the prompt that you put in and then play back what the uh what it said to you.

SPEAKER_05: 46:31

Okay. So the prompt that I put in was well, you know, it typed all this stuff up and I have to go back up. Okay, so recommend me a skincare routine for a 40-year-old woman that has normal to dry skin, about Fitzpatrick III with enlarged pores. That's what I put. Okay. Okay, I'm gonna find it.

SPEAKER_00: 47:01

Morning routine. One, gentle cleanser. Use a sulfate-free hydrating cleanser, cream or gel. Look for ingredients like ceramides or glycerin. Avoid foaming cleansers that strip oils into dryness can emphasize pores. Two, antioxidant serum, vitamin C 10 to 15% L-ascorbic acid or derivatives like sodium as corbal phosphate for brightening, collagen support, and pore refinement. Bonus helps fade uneven tone and protect from free radical damage. 3. Hydrating essence toner, optional but beneficial, with hyaluronic acid or panthanol to plump and smooth texture. Prepare skin for moisturizer and reduces dehydration lines. 4. Moisturizer, lightweight but nourishing. Ingredients to look for niacinamide, poor minimizing, barrier support, squalane or peptides. 5. Sunscreen, non-negotiable, broad spectrum SPF 30 to 50. Opt for a lightweight hydrating formula, chemical or hybrid sunscreen that won't settle in pores. Evening routine. 1. Cleanser. Same gentle cleanser as morning to remove makeup, dirt, and sunscreen. 2. Exfoliation, 2 to 3 eggs per week. Use a chemical exfoliant with pHA, gluconolactor, or low-strength lactic acid for gentle resurfacing. Avoid harsh scrubs, they worsen enlarge pores over time. 3. Treatment serum. Retinol or retinaldehyde 2 to 3 nights a week to start working up tonightly. Helps with collagen stimulation, fine lines, and visible pore size. If sensitive, alternate with niacinamide serum or hydrating peptide serum. 4. Moisturizer. Slightly richer than AM if skin feels dry. Look for ceramides, cholesterol, and hyaluronic acid. Weekly, optional boosters. Clay or enzyme mask one week, refined pores without overdrying. Facial oil, one or two weeks week at night. Add a drop of rose hip or Jehoba oil into moisturizer for extra nourishment. Professional treatments, occasional hydrating facials, chemical peels, or microneedling can further improve poor visibility and skin texture.

SPEAKER_04: 49:06

Alright.

SPEAKER_05: 49:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 49:07

So what do you think? What do you think of your routine? Would you do that?

SPEAKER_05: 49:11

It was pretty decent. I can't say. I mean, I have to say that.

SPEAKER_04: 49:15

I'd say there were things I agreed with, and then a couple things that I was like, eh?

SPEAKER_05: 49:19

Yeah, it was a couple like.

SPEAKER_04: 49:20

But yours actually recommended a professional.

SPEAKER_05: 49:22

So I know. I was shocked. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04: 49:26

That's pretty cool. And I do, I do like that you okay. So let's go back to like writing prompts, right? We have to write prompts efficiently in order to get the right type of information. You put your your age in. I didn't even think to do that. Why? I don't know, because I'm a professional and I should know that. But that could make a difference, right? So it it took that into consideration. And I love that it said sunscreen's a non-negotiable. Yeah. We love we love a sunscreen king, as the gin zs say, right? But uh I'll I'll read you my prompt and then we can go over mine. So I said recommend a skincare routine for me as someone that is very acne prone and sensitive prone with lots of pigmentation. I am also pombo skin.

SPEAKER_02: 50:08

Thank you for sharing those details. Since you have acne prone, sensitive combination skin with pigmentation, the key is to keep your routine gentle, non-communogenic, and brightening without overwhelming your skin barrier. Here's a recommended routine. Cleanser. Gentle, non-foaming, gentle cream cleanser. Treatment. You can have a gentle red point for pigmentation. Like we're supporting voice reserves. Avoid horse crosses wrong. General test Introduce one active at a time, like oxygenic acid or retinoid. Always patch a test. Stick with each change for four to six weeks before evaluating results. Consistency plus sunscreen is the best improvement for pigmentation.

SPEAKER_04: 52:17

See now, my gal's acting like she a whole skin skin therapists over here. Right.

SPEAKER_05: 52:24

And she gave you recommendations, like products. Mine did not.

SPEAKER_04: 52:28

See, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_05: 52:29

It's like Well, it did at the end. At the very end, but he didn't read it. Let me say that.

SPEAKER_04: 52:34

So it's it's it's not gonna be the same person to person. And I don't know, maybe that's just even like where we're putting in the information or things like that. But yeah, so you know, a couple things about so we'll say that from a skin therapist's perspective, looking at this. One, my skin does not agree with niacinamide at all. So that would have been that would have gone very, very badly. And I've taken that to heart and just ran with it. Athletic acid, it's not bad. I don't feel like for the skin type that I have, it's gonna like fix all of the issues, but I don't think it's a bad suggestion to start with. It like gave me the ordinary, which I don't I don't know much about that product, you know. So it's like it gave me stuff from ELTA, from the ordinary, from exactly from everyone.

SPEAKER_05: 53:19

All of it, like up, up and down.

SPEAKER_04: 53:21

Like there really wasn't any like, hey, you asked for this level of product or this level of product or whatever. It's not saying that that's a good product, they're just like this is one that you can use, you know. I did like the general tips that it gave about, you know, I don't think like the whole like sunscreen is great for pigmentation. Sun everybody needs sunscreen, like right all the people need sunscreen. But I did like that it said, you know, to use one at a time, use it for uh a time before you introduce another one, you know, that it was a lot of actives, though, it's like azoleic, AHA, uh diacinamide, retinoid. That's that's a lot of things to use in a week, you know, in a routine. And then like the cleansing, I'm like, I always would say a double cleanse for somebody who's combo skin. Yeah, just because you're gonna get the best cleanse and you know, things out of that. But overall, it wasn't terrible. My skin probably would have not done well on it.

SPEAKER_05: 54:20

Yeah. I mean, mine just did uh mine was pretty simple, I feel like, because it basically gave me a gentle cleanser, uh antioxidant serum, which was vitamin C, what they recommended, a toner, and a lightweight moisturizer, but a nourishing.

SPEAKER_04: 54:35

And it also gave us both clay masks, which was interesting.

SPEAKER_05: 54:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 54:38

And I'm like, yeah, I'm not a fan of clients using clay mask on their skin because I feel like they let them dry down too long, they get a little too harsh on the skin. Like, there's different types of clays, like some can be more nourishing, things like that. But when it's like, yeah, use one for your oil control. It when I have done that in the past, my skin has been very raw and angry. So, again, again, there's limitations to this. That's really what we're we're coming down to. But um, it's there and it's here to stay. So don't rely on AI, right?

SPEAKER_05: 55:10

Don't rely on AI. Because, like uh, like you just said though, like your skin does not agree with neothenamide, you know. But a client doesn't know that, a potential consumer doesn't know that. So therefore, it could be detrimental, and then it's gonna make things worse.

SPEAKER_04: 55:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 55:30

So it's a 50-50 here, I guess.

SPEAKER_04: 55:33

We're we'll we'll be here to try it out and use it, but ultimately stick to what you know and keep keep up with your skill set.

SPEAKER_05: 55:43

Book your book your dissertation, guys.

SPEAKER_04: 55:46

That's the end of the show. All right, okay.

SPEAKER_05: 55:49

Thank y'all so much. We'll see you guys next time.

SPEAKER_03: 55:53

Thank you for listening to the aesthetic report. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you'll never miss an episode. If you love the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and tell all your SD besties to give us a listen. And don't forget, the education doesn't stop here. The Aesthetic Report is one of many platforms offered by Dermoscope. Visit Dermoscope.com for more education and industry news from the Authority on Professional Skin Care. Stay tuned, and we'll see you next time for another episode of the Aesthetic Report.