Beauty industry’s worry lines

Steve Marcus

Women look at a “before” photo last week at The Aesthetic Show at Caesars Palace, at a booth promoting a wrinkle-filler. Convention speakers chose topics that reflect the industry’s uncertainty, with one speech titled “Prospering in an Era of Chaos” and one talk labeled “Anti-Recession Marketing Tactics.”

By Marshall Allen (contact)

Friday, June 12, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Beautiful and wealthy people were everywhere, but an undercurrent of unease dampened the mood.

The Aesthetic Show 2009 at Caesars Palace was focused on business, beauty and the business of beauty. Things haven’t looked so good lately.

As with many things cosmetic, everything appeared smooth on the surface. Mellow electronica piped through the hall was a hip soundtrack for glossy exhibits that boasted a “revolutionary anti-aging formula,” “well-being through technology” and “high patient demand.”

Vendors smiled as they pitched the latest wares: laser machines that resurface skin, sculpt thighs or minimize jowls; injectable fillers to temporarily erase wrinkles; water jets used in liposuction to dislodge and remove fat.

But the salesmen’s smiles belied the hard times that providers of elective cosmetic procedures have fallen on compared with recent boom years. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that cosmetic surgical procedures were down 9 percent from 2007 to 2008. Liposuction procedures dropped 19 percent, tummy tucks 18 percent and breast augmentation 12 percent.

The $10.3 billion Americans spent on cosmetic procedures in 2008 was a 9 percent decline from 2007.

The revenue reduction was compounded for some doctors who have seen paid-for-in-cash cosmetic procedures as an income generator in the wake of declining insurance reimbursements for traditional medical care.

The conference speakers highlighted the industry’s concerns. One of the physicians, whose speech was called “Prospering in an Era of Chaos,” sounded at times like a TV psychologist, emphasizing the need for doctors to remain “calm and positive.”

Dr. Elizabeth McRae, a Texas internist who estimated that half of her practice is aesthetic procedures, agreed that the convention sometimes had the vibe of a group-therapy session.

“We’re reassuring each other that we can get through this: ‘We’re fine! We’re OK! Take a deep breath!’ ” McRae said.

Los Angeles-based consultant Greg Washington, resplendent in a silver double-breasted suit, offered “attaboys” as he opened his session on “Anti-Recession Marketing Tactics.”

“You people are the right people, at the right time, with the right stuff, and the right plan,” Washington said, pacing in front of several hundred attendees from a stage in the round.

Washington promised that better times are coming for the physicians because patients can’t invest in the stock market or real estate, so they’re “putting their money in their personal beauty.”

Closing a sale — he called it a “consultation” — is not as easy as it once was, Washington acknowledged, so doctors may need to emphasize less expensive treatments for such things as wrinkles. “Catch ’em by the skin and then upsell them to a new level of surgeries or the exciting technology available to us,” he said.

Back among the exhibits, the pitch-people have honed their recession-era talking points.

Molly Perlmutter, senior marketing manager for Prevelle Silk, an injectable filler that promises to temporarily conceal wrinkles, with mild irritation, said it is half the cost of other products.

“It’s an option for people who want to maintain their looks but don’t want to spend a fortune,” Perlmutter said.

Sara Samhat, a representative for Glytone skin care products, which are sold exclusively to doctors, said her products’ “moderate price point” is catching physicians’ attention.

Everyone wants more “bang for the buck,” she said.