Plastic surgery is out of the closet. No longer the exclusive domain of the pampered rich and famous, we now have bus shelters pushing BOTOX and liposuction ads in the yellow pages.

But despite the new acceptance of a little nip ‘n’ tuck, many Canadians still hesitate at the thought of slathering their faces with acid or injecting deadly poisons into their foreheads. Luckily for them, savvy beauty-care marketers are stepping up to the plate with a new breed of products that offers the benefits of cosmetic surgery, without the risk – or the cost.

Called dermocosmetics – cosmetic products that combine dermatological or pharmaceutical properties – this new category is taking advantage of the hype and awareness generated by breakthroughs such as BOTOX with targeted campaigns aligning its products with the medical profession. And marketers are doing it using many of the channels previously relegated to the real pharmaceuticals: PR, sampling, seminars and even hiring medical sales teams to visit dermatologists.

In short, they’re positioning themselves near the serious, medical end of the cosmetics spectrum, as a more affordable and safe means to the same beautiful end.

‘There’s a big trend towards dermocosmetics,’ says Marie-Christine Boily, brand manager for Dorval, Que.-based Dermtek Pharmaceuticals’ anti-aging brand, Reversa. ‘As baby boomers are getting older, they want to look younger, so there’s a huge market out there for these types of products. We’re really blessed because that’s what we’ve been doing all along. Now everybody else is jumping on the ‘dermo-bandwagon.”

With drug-store facial skin-care sales increasing by a significant 12% in 2002 over 2001, according to Toronto’s ACNielsen, it’s no wonder new players are trying to capitalize on growth.

One of the majors in the category is Procter & Gamble, which last April launched a new line in Canada under its Olay brand, called ‘Regenerist.’ Though positioned more for mass and not strictly a dermocosmetic, the new line is still being marketed as an alternative to plastic surgery.

The Regenerist line includes a serum, a cream and a lotion that contain an amino-peptide complex – with vitamins E, B3 and B5 and green tea extract – which seek to exfoliate the skin’s outer layer to reveal fresher skin underneath. The products are touted to work in the same manner as a chemical peel or dermabrasion treatment, but are ‘non-invasive.’

The launch followed a survey conducted by Olay/P&G that found that while younger-looking skin is important to many women, 76% of them are not comfortable using ‘invasive cosmetic procedures to make this happen.’

Sarah Kemp, education and public relations manager for Toronto-based P&G, says Regenerist is for ‘women who are not satisfied with what their current, over-the-counter anti-aging product offers them and are considering more drastic methods of improving their appearance.’

Regenerist products range from $29.99 to $32.99 and are packaged in sleek black-and-red cylinders meant to convey a ‘high-end look.’ The line is being supported by TV and print advertising out of the U.S. by Saatchi & Saatchi, with placement, along with product sampling, in Canadian women’s magazines like Flare and Chatelaine. The print ads show the product in what looks to be a darkened, austere doctor’s office with the tagline, ‘Dramatically improved skin appearance need not require drastic measures.’

Montreal-based Lancôme, on the other hand, takes a less dramatic approach with its recently introduced Resolution D-Contraxol, which some have dubbed ‘Botox in a bottle.’

Lancôme says that the thousands of muscle contractions and movements that the face experiences throughout the day are a leading cause of wrinkle formation. Therefore, the formulation includes vitamin A nanocapsules and an ‘anti-elastase’ agent, which relaxes the skin and allows users to frown, laugh and distort their visages as much as they like without the worry of developing wrinkles.

An ad campaign by U.S.-based Publicis is currently running in women’s beauty magazines and features a model squinting her eyes and offering up a big smile – laugh lines and all. The ad reminds women that their faces will go through 15,000 facial movements per day and is accompanied by the tagline, ‘Squint, frown, laugh…live without the worry of wrinkles.’

Another category, very similar to ‘medical’ cosmetics that can replace surgical procedures, consists of medical cosmetics that can accompany such procedures.

For example, St-Laurent, Quebec-based Canderm Pharma’s NeoStrata brand of anti-aging products contain the exfoliant glycolic acid, which works in the vein of the more invasive chemical peel procedure, in that it targets age spots. Annie Turenne, marketing co-ordinator for NeoStrata, says peels have a stronger effect, but the company recommends using the products in conjunction with them to achieve optimal results. She adds that NeoStrata has always had a close link to doctors, as the brand is used and sold in dermatologists’ office

A TV campaign for the new Uplifting line and the base NeoStrata brand, which launched in January of this year, tells women to take the problem of aging into their own hands, says Turenne. Uplifting products contain the ingredient kigeline, which is known for its firming properties, and Turenne says the product was launched in response to consumer demand for a firming cream. A print campaign for Uplifting is also running in women’s magazines, and a Q&A-style, informative ad is running in Cosmetics magazine, targeting cosmeticians.

The main NeoStrata brand targets women in their late 20s through to 55, says Turenne, who adds that the Uplifting line could skew towards women in their early twenties. However, she notes that the brand’s spokesperson – Quebecois comedian Chantal Fontaine – is in her mid-30s, and that has resonated with consumers who have expressed thanks for their representation of a ‘real woman.’

Like NeoStrata, Dermtek’s Reversa also supports its brand by striking up relationships with dermatologists. Its eight-year-old line of skin-care products targets women aged 30 to 55, and includes facial creams containing active ingredients such as glycolic acid and matrixyl, an alternative to the often doctor-prescribed anti-wrinkle treatment retinol. Its latest product launch is Vitabase – a skin-tone enhancer developed with dermatologists that Boily says can ‘help skin renew itself naturally.’

She points out that the company has a strong medical background, thanks to founder Robert Lavoie (Taxi president Paul Lavoie’s brother), who established close contacts with dermatologists across the country, and Boily says they have been vital in disseminating the Reversa line. The company has a medical sales team that visits dermatologists on a daily basis to provide them with samples. Says Boily, ‘A lot of people go to their dermatologists to ask what products they should be using, so I think it’s really important to target [those doctors] as well.’

The company also holds seminars for cosmeticians and pharmacists every season to educate them about Reversa, and it tries to spur editorial coverage by sending out press kits to beauty-magazine editors well in advance of a product launch. Says Boily: ‘There’s credibility attached to somebody’s opinion. We can see a difference [in sales] when a product has been talked about.’

Meanwhile, a print campaign by Toronto-based ad shop Taxi for Vitabase features the product envisioned as an eraser and includes the tagline, ‘It does more than conceal. It erases.’ The campaign is currently running in women’s magazines across Canada.

Boily says the main reason for putting the product front-and-centre in advertising for Reversa is that it wanted to veer away from traditional, ‘insert-beautiful-woman-here’ beauty advertising.

‘[A mistake that some companies have made] is they have gone for ideals that are really not attainable. Consumers are a lot more intelligent – they know that there’s airbrushing involved,’ says Boily. ‘But there’s a certain amount of dream that you have to sell, whether you like it or not, and consumers still want the dream – they want to aspire to something. You have to achieve the right balance between realism and a bit of fantasy.’