December 2011 -

Beauty technology has come a long way, particularly over the past few decades. Women now use pulsed light and lasers to treat skin conditions and prevent wrinkles, hair color no longer leaves hair looking fake and frizzy, and gel nails can be cured under UV light for weeks of chip free wear. What is next? Several dermatologists and professionals in the beauty industry gave their opinion on the next big thing beauty. Here are the top five responses:

Non-Invasive Fat Removal

The ability to freeze fat with a painless and non-invasive procedure already exists, and multiple dermatologists predicted that it will become the next big beauty fad, with advances toward home fat removal machines. Using Coolsculpting by Zeltiq, patients spend one to four hours with a non-invasive cooling device on an area of fat that they want to eliminate. A few months following the treatment, the fat disappears. Debra Jaliman, a New York Board Certified Dermatologist and author of the upcoming book, Skin Rules: Trade Secrets From a Top New York Dermatologist, notes that the product is expected to be available in a hand piece soon, with the ability to treat the arms and thighs, while Kathleen Stegman, Founder of Midwest Medical Aesthetics, predicts that home machines will be developed to accomplish the same effect.

Collagen Renewal With Radiofrequency

Jailman predicts that the next big development in skin care will be from Thermage CPT, which uses radiofrequency to stimulate the body’s natural renewal of collagen. According to Jailman, it can work to tighten any area, such as the face, eyes, arms and legs. It is safe, effective, has no downtime, and patients can expect to see up to 10% tightening within 6 months.

Additional Increases in Needleless Technology

Aside from noninvsive fat removal and the use of radiofrequency devices, Dermatologists on the whole tend to predict large increases in other forms of non-invasive needleless technology. Dr. Shirely Madhere, of Soho Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery expects to see increases in light based technology and the use of stem cells to develop various non-invasive treatments that will produce surgical results without the surgery. Stegman also predicts that stem cell technology will continue to rise in importance.

Affordable Injections and Fillers

Multiple Dermatologists and beauty professionals observed that injections and fillers such as Botox, Juvederm, and Artfill have become more and more affordable. But products with multiple uses that will both relax wrinkles and fill lines are just around the corner and are expected to be rather affordable. What were once products reserved for those with extra money to spend will become standard for many women.

Healthy Hair Care

Mikayla DeSomer, a hair stylist in Naperville, IL, observes that hair care has entered a “green era” in which products have become increasingly healthier. For example, there now are products that are vegan and gluten free, as well as low ammonia, and organic products. Straighteners have evolved from relaxers that contain lye, to silky keratin treatments. Even in the short time that keratin treatments have been around, they have evolved from controversial unhealthy services, to formaldehyde free.

With respect to the next big thing in the beauty industry, De Somer feels that the clients dictate the future of hair and beauty. She notes that the upper class will always have access to more expensive, exclusive treatments, which sends companies into a frenzy to come up with a less expensive way to do the same thing. More often than not, that process cheapens the product and gives less of a perfect result. However, De Somer believes that this process is about to change with low maintenance, green products and services as the wave of the future. She notes, “as glam gets bigger, we want it faster and cheaper. If we can create a keratin treatment that will do the job, and have no trace of formaldehyde, etc., that will boost these treatments into being just as popular as the perm in the 80′s.”

As beauty technology evolves, we have much to look forward to. The future of beauty looks brighter than ever!

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About the Author: Carleen Pruess Coulter

Budget a bit tight? Why splurge, when you can steal a great look for less? There is no need to blow your budget on expensive clothing when fashionable items can be found for less at stores such as Sears. I was provided a gift certificate to pick out an outfit and I was rather happy with the choices that I encountered.

It has been awhile since I shopped at Sears. In my college days, I used to shop Sears quite a bit for their decent selection of affordable items. Sears always kept an eye out for trends and stayed up to date on fashion, making them a favorite choice of mine. But over time, as my income increased, I tended to overlook Sears in favor of other, more expensive options. Going back to do some shopping there showed me that Sears is still doing quite well in the fashion department. The UK Style by French Connection collection and the Kardashian Kollection in particular had a number of unique and interesting items. Sears is also a decent choice for petite basics, something that I need, given that I am 5 feet, 2 inches tall!

I picked up two outfits, one to feature here and the other to feature on Girl Gloss. I was happy to find most of the items on sale. The below outfit features petite pants by Apostrophe ($19.98), a very comfortable sweater from the Kardashian Kollection that has an interesting cutout pattern along the sleeve ($34.99), and a Kardashian Kollection belt ($20). The complete outfit was right around $75. I particularly love the belt with this. It is comfortable, stretchy, and it works well to hide some bulges that I am more than happy to hide!

Each item in this outfit will work well with other clothing items that I already own, and they also match up well with the items I purchased to feature on Girl Gloss. I noted while shopping that the both the Kardashian Kollection and the UK Style by French Connection Collection had stylish items that mixed and matched together quite well. I wanted to grab shoes for the outfit, and Sears had a great selection, but I have ridiculously tiny size 4 to size 5 feet, so I was out of luck there. But that is nothing new for me. I am accustomed to shopping specialty stores for shoes in my size! One additional note: The Kardashian Kollection also has a nice selection of affordable handbags in a number of sizes.

Overall, this was a fun shopping trip that resulted in some nice finds for not all that much money. If you are looking for some affordable fashion, head on over to Sears and take a look.

Disclosures: I was provided a Sears gift card through Glam Media in order to complete the purchases for this post. No monetary compensation was provided by Sears or Glam Media for this post. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sears.