The pursuit of beauty is driven by various factors. While vanity cannot be dismissed, beauty in western culture has been associated with positive outcomes ranging from higher income to reproductive success.
The Skin and the Pursuit of Beauty
With Steven H. Dayan, MD, FACS
08/07/2025
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The Importance of an Advanced Skincare Regimen
The pursuit of beauty is driven by various factors. While vanity cannot be dismissed, beauty in western culture has been associated with positive outcomes ranging from higher income to reproductive success.1-3
Key elements contributing to the human brain’s perception of beauty include age, health, symmetry, averageness, face and body proportions, facial color, and texture.3 Skin health, obviously, contributes to several of those factors, and conversely, skin problems have been associated with depression and anxiety.4
It has even been asserted that beauty is processed in the same parts of the brain that cause physical changes when we are in danger, and that this sensory pathway is not visual, auditory, olfactory, or tactile, but rather a psychosocial-dermal axis.4
Of course, the skin is multidimensional; volume, smoothness, radiance, oiliness, and evenness are among the aspects that make skin more or less beautiful. A skincare regimen that addresses all of these elements is critical in the pursuit of beauty.
SkinCeuticals offers topical skincare solutions to address various skin concerns, including P-TIOX, HA Intensifier Multi-Glycan Serum, and Advanced RGN-6.
P-TIOX, a wrinkle-modulating serum, has been shown to improve contraction lines, texture, and radiance. Its advanced peptide complex includes 2% hexapeptide-8 and 2% dipeptide diaminobutyroyl, and its glass skin complex consists of 5% PHA, 5% niacinamide, and 1% laminaria extract.
HA Intensifier Multi-Glycan Serum, a multi-dimensional volumizing serum, utilizes novel ingredients to target non-sulfated and sulfated glycans to stimulate multi-dimensional volume, visibly plumping and filling lines by 24%.5 The formulation includes 2% dipotassium glycyrrhizate and 0.2% purple rice extract to inhibit hyaluronic acid degradation, along with 12% Proxylane™ and 2% lactobacillus/soybean ferment extract for multi-glycan stimulation and structural volume.
Advanced RGN-6 is the newest skin cream inspired by laser generation science for post-procedure and daily use, using six active ingredients—10% glycorepair, 1% eperuline, 2% niacinamide, 3% acetyl tetrapeptide-9, 0.2% ectoin, and 0.2% bioceramide 603—to trigger six dimensions of regeneration to accelerate skin rejuvenation alone or optimize rejuvenation and reduce downtime postprocedure.5
These products are so effective because of their advanced technology and will help support your patients in attaining their rejuvenation goals. There is a large demand for wrinkle-free, radiant, volumized skin. As the concept of the psychosocial dermal axis is studied further, however, those qualities may be seen as less of a luxury and more of a necessity, and a well-rounded, innovative skincare regimen could be as essential as ever.
— Alison A. Murakami, PhD,
VP and Head, Medical Affairs
The Skin and the Pursuit of Beauty
WHAT IS BEAUTY?
Steven H. Dayan, MD, FACS: Beauty is the rawest, most evolutionarily preserved natural force. It is how nature communicates. It says, “I’m healthy and I have good genes,” regardless of the species. Fertility announces itself via beauty. Everyone says beauty is in the eye of the beholder or beauty is only skin deep, and those are nice colloquial comments, but they do not really capture what beauty is. There are certain consistencies across beauty in all cultures: symmetry, averageness, certain body size ratios, and certain facial proportions.
HOW DOES THAT INFLUENCE YOUR JOB?
Dr. Dayan: As a plastic surgeon and aesthetic physician, my job is not to make someone more beautiful; it is to make them feel more beautiful. I need their emotions and their conscious to be involved. From a subconscious level, you feel beauty; you don’t think about it. I think you can sense it through your skin, in fact. Nothing influences attractiveness more than confidence; I want to give someone the ability to feel confident.
WHAT ROLE DO SKIN AND SKIN HEALTH PLAY?
Dr. Dayan: Skin health is your visual certificate of health. A person with homogeneous skin and a lack of blotchiness or brown spots is presenting an appearance of healthiness. Skin health can also be influenced by neuropeptides that reside in the skin such as dopamine, serotonin, or oxytocin. When these peptides—oxytocin, in particular—increase in the skin, a positive biofeedback loop can increase their release endogenously from the brain. It is one the reasons why, following a hug or an affectionate encounter, we experience euphoria and less anxiety, among other positive effects. I think the future of aesthetic treatments will go beyond just making skin look good; we will be tasked with proving treatments are “pro-social.” In other words, skincare treatments will not only improve skin quality but also elevate self-esteem, improve the first impression projected, and result in better social interactions.
HOW CAN A SKINCARE REGIMEN HELP ACCOMPLISH THAT?
Dr. Dayan: We can use skincare products in so many different ways. One of the most popular products in my office is P-TIOX, which patients are using to relax their wrinkles. Some use it on its own, and others to complement their neuromodulator treatments. It’s formulated with an advanced peptide complex including acetyl hexapeptide-8 and dipeptide diaminobutyroyl; these peptides alone have already been studied and shown to be effective in wrinkle reduction.6,7 The formula also contains a glass skin complex that makes P-TIOX a game-changer and has been shown to reveal glass skin radiance in 1 week.5 We also dispense a lot of HA Intensifier Multi-Glycan Serum, a multi-dimensional volumizing serum that visibly plumps and fills fine lines.5 This corrective serum moisturizes the skin and, in the process, exhibits improvement in skin smoothness, softness, and plumpness; radiance has also been shown to increase.5 This formula is physician-tested and complements in-office dermal filler procedures, and now has exciting clinical data demonstrating that the serum increased cheek volume by up to 0.69 cc per cheek—the equivalent of more than 1 cc of filler.5 Additionally, for patients undergoing superficial laser treatments or microneedling, we are applying Advanced RGN-6, and the skin seems to be recovering quicker with less redness and less downtime. Advanced RGN-6 is great at treating dyschromias; the skin appears firmer and smoother. It does so many wonderful things to make the skin appear healthier.
1. Kohler B, Mill W. Cultural differences in the beauty premium. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):17632. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-02857-4.
2. Hamermesh DS, Biddle JE. Beauty and the Labor Market. Am Econ Rev. 1994;84:1174–1194.
3. Yarosh DB. Perception and Deception: Human Beauty and the Brain. Behav Sci (Basel). 2019;9(4):34. doi: 10.3390/bs9040034.
4. Dayan S. The Psychosocial Dermal Axis. Modern Aesthetics. 2025(1);13:20-22.
5. Data on file, SkinCeuticals.
6. Lungu C, Considine E, Zahir S, Ponsati B, Arrastia S, Hallett M. Pilot study of topical acetyl hexapeptide-8 in the treatment for blepharospasm in patients receiving botulinum toxin therapy. Eur J Neurol. 2013;20(3):515-518. doi: 10.1111/ene.12009. Epub 2012 Nov 12.
7. Araco A, Francesco A. Prospective randomized clinical study of a new topical formulation for face wrinkle reduction and dermal regeneration. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021;20(9):2832-2840. doi: 10.1111/jocd.13937. Epub 2021 Jan 16.
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