Daily Cosmetic Research Analysis

BACKGROUND: Striae gravidarum (SG), commonly known as stretch marks, are a frequent connective tissue alteration observed in pregnant women. The presence of SG can negatively impact postpartum women's self-perception, potentially resulting in diminished self-esteem and psychological issues, including anxiety and depression. The study aimed to evaluate the potential risk factors and genetic associations of SG within a Chinese Han population. METHODS: A multicenter trial was conducted involving 1,017 pregnant women of Chinese Han descent who provided informed consent. Participants completed questionnaires on demographics, medical history, and lifestyle factors. Anthropometric measurements and obstetric data were gathered, followed by a genome-wide association study (GWAS). RESULTS: The study found that 59% of participants developed SG. Significant correlations were observed between SG and factors including age, pre-pregnancy weight, maximum pregnancy weight during pregnancy, BMI before and during pregnancy, and maximum abdomen girth. Risk factors for SG included a positive family history, prior experience of striae distensae during adolescence, and specific skin types according to the Fitzpatrick classification. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that age, family history, history of striae distensae, skin types, and pre-pregnancy BMI were notable predictors of SG. The GWAS identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to SG presence and severity, involving genes including FGF12, RAB38, MUC16, PTPRT, SIPA1L2, PPARGC1A, PTPRD, and ELOVL3. CONCLUSION: The study presents a predictive model for SG risk that incorporating non-modifiable factors like family history and skin type, and modifiable factors such as pre-pregnancy weight and BMI. The findings offer valuable insights into the genetic underpinnings of SG and have the potential to inform patient counseling on strategies for risk mitigation. Moreover, the identified risk factors can enhance patient counseling, while therapeutic interventions should be specifically tailored to options that are safe during pregnancy or suitable for the postpartum period.

BACKGROUND: The global rise of live cosmetic procedure demonstrations particularly in non-surgical aesthetic medicine has prompted growing ethical concern. While often framed as educational, these public displays risk conflating clinical care with commercial performance. METHODS: A multilingual cross-sectional survey of 16,950 participants from 43 countries captured public perceptions of live aesthetic procedures using both structured and open-ended items. AI-enhanced methodologies including natural language processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and machine learning (ML) were applied to assess attitudes, emotional responses, and predictors of negative sentiment. RESULTS: Respondents exhibited high levels of ethical discomfort: 76.5% believed live procedures served self-promotional aims, while 69.7% perceived them as compromising patient privacy. Narrative analysis showed that 49.8% of open-text responses expressed negative sentiment, with dominant emotional tones being disgust (24.3%) and concern (22.8%). Topic modelling identified six core public concerns: commercial exploitation (22.5%), power imbalance in consent (19.3%), and surveillance culture (14.2%) among them. Predictive modelling using logistic regression and random forest classifiers (AUC = 0.82, F1 = 0.765) revealed narrative polarity, region, emotional tone, and prior cosmetic experience as significant predictors of negative sentiment. Respondents with no prior procedural history were more likely to describe feelings of exposure, shame, and loss of autonomy. Notably, nearly half of respondents expressed concern about the future of cosmetic medicine, citing risks of performance-driven care and ethical erosion. In response, we propose the INFORM-A checklist, an evidence-based ethical framework to guide the conduct of live or recorded procedural broadcasts. CONCLUSION: Public perception of live cosmetic procedures is characterised by scepticism and emotional discomfort, particularly when transparency and ethical safeguards are absent. The educational value of these practices is widely contested, with findings suggesting a misalignment between professional intent and public trust. Regulators, practitioners, and conference organisers must reevaluate the ethics of live procedural demonstrations in favour of consent-driven, accountable, and psychologically safe educational alternatives. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Sunscreen products and cosmetics containing UV filters are chosen by consumers based primarily on their Sun Protection Factor (SPF) value. The determination of this metric has been subject to significant advancement, both in vivo (ISO 24444:2019) and, more recently, in vitro. The recent publication by the International Standards Organization (ISO) of two, new alternative methods to the in vivo ISO 24444 method (In Vitro SPF 'Double Plate' Method ISO 23675:2024 and Hybrid Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy ISO 23698:2024) marks a major step forward in improving the reproducibility of results while addressing ethical concerns. A recent article, however, has alleged that alternative SPF methods may not reliably assess the SPF of products containing inorganic filters, such as zinc oxide (ZnO). While the observed lack of correlation with the reference in vivo method ISO 24444 is not based on ISO23675 (the authors chose to use in-house in vitro methods), their hypothesis raised indirectly the question of applicability of ISO 23675 in relation to measurement of sunscreens containing ZnO. In this article, therefore, we report data from direct measurements of SPF values for ZnO-based sunscreens using ISO 23675. We demonstrate that assumptions arising from other in vitro methods are not relevant to ISO 23675 and prove that this method can reliably measure the SPF of sunscreen products containing inorganic filters, even at high concentrations.