Preface

Before I begin, I want to make my financial disclosure clear. I am the CEO of Skin Type Solutions, a software company that automatically designs skincare regimens according to the Baumann Skin Type.® This book describes the Baumann Skin Types in Chapter 10 and mentions them in the skin type chapters. Chapter 34 includes a mention of the Skin Type Solutions software. I included it because at the time of publication, over 100 dermatologists and 240 doctors were using the system in their office.

I also need to disclose that I have done clinical trials for most of the companies that make injectable medical devices used in cosmetic dermatology practices such as AbbVie (Botox, Juvéderm, Voluma, Kybella), Galderma (Dysport and the Restylane products), Revance (Daxibotulinum Toxin A), Endo International (Qwo), Merz (Ulthera) and others.

With that said, I would love to tell you why I spent many months during COVID updating this bestselling textbook. The original Cosmetic Dermatology text (McGraw Hill, 2002) was the first textbook on cosmetic dermatology that I know of written in any language. Botox was approved by the FDA in 2002 and the first hyaluronic acid fillers were not approved until 2003. I was involved in those research trials, so I had the insights and experience to discuss these procedures in the 2002 edition. Cosmetic Dermatology: Principles and Practice (2002) was translated into many languages and was a best seller around the world. If you go back and look at Edition 1, you will see it is tiny. At that time Botox was newly approved for glabellar wrinkles, hyaluronic acid fillers were not yet FDA approved in the USA, and we were still using bovine collagen injections that did not last long, had a risk of allergic reaction, and required skin testing weeks before treatment. The field of cosmetic dermatology has grown exponentially since that time as have my children. When I dedicated the first edition to my family, I had one young child and was pregnant with my second son. I wrote the entire book myself. (It is amazing how much more time we all had before social media.)

Now it is 20 years after publication of the first edition. One of those children has graduated from college and the other is still in college—a visual reminder of how much time has passed. The field of cosmetic dermatology has blossomed. There are 20+ FDA-approved hyaluronic acid dermal fillers and at least five Type A botulinum toxins that are approved by the FDA. The laser, light, and radiofrequency fields have grown so much that most cosmetic dermatology practices have at least one of these devices. I got busier as well. Although I wrote the 2nd edition of this book mostly by myself, I could not do this Edition 3 alone. There was just so much material to cover because the field has grown so much. Karen Edmonson at McGraw Hill patiently prodded me to do Edition 3 for the last 5 years and I just did not have the time. She helped motivate me during the 2020 COVID quarantine to partner with Evan Rieder, MD, who had worked with Karen on other textbooks and proven himself to be a great writer. We also brought in a young, bright, and motivated medical student, Mary Sun, to organize us and motivate us to meet the deadlines. The three of us divided up the book, assigned chapters, and worked diligently during the days of COVID to review all of the latest research and completely rewrite this edition. I am passionate about skincare and cosmeceuticals, so I wrote most of the skincare chapters myself. We changed the name of the book to Baumann’s Cosmetic Dermatology in anticipation of Edition 4, which I may not be a part of (I will be old by then!).

Although this book has detailed scientific explanations, it is written in an easy-to-understand manner so that practitioners who are novices in performing cosmetic dermatology procedures can learn the proper techniques and understand the science. My goal is to help all medical providers give accurate medical advice and care to their patients. At the time this book was published, physician-dispensed skincare was the most rapidly growing skincare market segment. I have included chapters on how to retail skincare in your medical practice and how to choose the best physician-dispensed skincare products.

My goal is to help medical providers look beyond the marketing claims to understand the science and to empower medical providers help patients achieve the healthiest skin possible. It is my hope that this book will help all medical professionals including cosmetic chemists, medical aestheticians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and doctors understand the most important scientific principles in the field.

Leslie S. Baumann, MD

Opportunities to collaborate with legends in your field of practice do not come along often. Thus, when Dr. Baumann was looking for a collaborator for an upcoming edition of her renowned text, I jumped at the opportunity. I was fortunate to have written and edited a textbook immediately prior to joining Dr. Baumann, and understood the labor of love that would be required. I was also fortunate to have been introduced to a dynamic, organized, and incredibly intelligent medical student, Mary Sun. Mary had been my instrumental collaborator and right hand in several projects over the previous few years; I knew that she would be the glue that kept us together and a motivating force pushing the project along.

The field of cosmetic dermatology has been rapidly evolving in numerous ways since the launch of Botox nearly 20 years ago; around the time of this textbook’s first edition. What was initially a single neurotoxin being utilized by a small subset of doctors has expanded to numerous aesthetic injectables, devices, and topical cosmetics being employed by physicians, nurses, physician assistants, aestheticians, cosmetic chemists, and beyond. While expanded options and more practitioners have brought about numerous opportunities and challenges, what has not changed is the need for accurate, evidence-based information, and a practical approach to patient care. In a field rife with marketing schemes and cosmetic treatments promising results that often seem too good to be true, it is incumbent upon us to sort through the smoke and mirrors and help our colleagues understand and make the best decisions about their practices. True to the original concept behind this tome, Baumann’s Cosmetic Dermatology gives readers of a variety of backgrounds the tools to grasp the science behind cosmetic dermatology and the practical information to help their patients along their aesthetic journeys.

Evan A. Rieder, MD