Does this term not speak to you? This is normal, dermorexia is a disorder that has recently been popularized and explained to the general public by American journalist Jessica Defino, specializing in beauty. Like certain eating disorders, dermorexia is the consequence of injunctions to beauty, or rather a typical beauty, of which we are watered on social networks, especially on Instagram and Tiktok.
What is dermorexia?
Dermorexia is defined by a compulsive and obsessive relationship to the appearance of the skin. Even if dermorexia is not yet recognized as pathological behavior, in the medical sense, it reflects a reality that many health professionals note. “”As a cosmetic surgeon, I am particularly sensitive to this theme, because I regularly meet in the office of patients (and sometimes patients) taken in a spiral where the relationship to the skin becomes a source of stress, dissatisfaction, even obsession “worries Dr. Laurence Benouaiche, cosmetic surgeon.
How is this disorder manifests on a daily basis?
A dermorexic person looks a lot in the mirror to detect the slightest imperfection. She compares her skin to that of others, often influencers with perfect skin (the famous “clean girls”). For dermorexic, this quest for “perfect skin” necessarily involves the application of many products in a very specific order, once or twice a day.
This behavior is similar to orthorexia, an eating disorder characterized by an obsession for healthy food and the rejection of foods deemed as “unhealthy”. Dermorexia is sort of orthorexia of the skin. For Dr Benouaiche, this is “an extreme quest purity, sharpness, smoothing, which leaves no room for imperfection … or the biological reality of the skin. It affects the young generations enormously “.
An impossible quest, fueled by filters and other retouching applications
The causes of dermorexia are multiple. Like the analysis of the beauty journalist Elisa Casson in an article published on her.fr, this trend was born and continues to be fed on social networks:
- Filters to smooth the skin and retouched images are everywhere, which pushes us to believe that perfect normal skin is perfect skin;
- Beauty tutorials multiply and encourage extended beauty routines, in 10, 12 or 15 stages;
- Skins and imperfection skins are still too stigmatized on these platforms;
Real risks for skin and mental health
Faced with this accumulation of contradictory advice between dermatologists, influencers and brands; Internet users, often adolescents, adopt excessive care routines or that are not suitable for their skin. “”We see full collections of serum, peeling, homemade treatment, which end up irritating or damaging the skin barrier “flourish”notes the cosmetic surgeon.
This excess hygiene of the skin of the face promotes the appearance of skin problems:
- Redness, drought, chronic inflammation;
- Allergic reactions, sensitive skin;
- Worsening of a pre-existing acne or disruption of the skin microbiota;
But that’s not all, dermorexia can also have a psychological impact, especially since it mainly concerns adolescents whose brain is not yet a mast. Dermorexics are more at risk of suffering from dysmorphophobia, anxiety, having a bad esteem of themselves and to isolate oneself socially for fear of being seen without makeup or without filter.
