Ep 140 – Say What? Setting the Record Straight

0:00:00.5 Speaker 1: DMK is the world leader in paramedical skin revision education with certification programs designed to give licensed professionals a thorough understanding of the skin and an in-depth study of the DMK concept of remove, rebuild, protect, maintain. Created by the botanical visionary Danné Montague-King, DMK offers skin revision training and education for all ages, skin conditions, and ethnicities in more than 35 countries, harnessing the body's innate healing mechanisms to change the health of the skin. Learn more at dannemking.com. That's D-A-N-N-E-M-K-I-N-G.com. 

 

[music] 

 

0:00:56.8 Ella Cressman: Hello. And welcome to ASCP Esty Talk. I am Ella Cressman, licensed aesthetician, a certified organic skin care formulator and content contributor for Associated Skin Care Professionals. 

 

0:01:08.3 Maggie Staszcuk: And I am Maggie Staszcuk, licensed aesthetician and ASCP's cosmetology education manager. 

 

0:01:14.0 EC: Guess what time it is?  

 

0:01:15.3 MS: Tell us. 

 

0:01:16.2 EC: Shoutout. 

 

0:01:17.0 MS: Wooo!  

 

0:01:17.8 EC: This one goes out to aesthetics by Taylor F. She tagged us while she was listening to the Professional Aesthetics podcast, and she writes, "Best podcast for aestheticians at any point in your journey." Hey, girl. Thanks. So speaking of... We love what you said there. Speaking of saying things, welcome to Say What? Where we set the record straight on words, terms, and phrases that are often butchered in our industry, right?  

 

0:01:46.8 MS: I love this. Yeah, this is gonna be a fun one. 

 

0:01:49.3 EC: This is gonna be super fun. I think we should start out with... I mean, come on. There are so many complicated words in our vernacular that it makes sense that we would mess them up. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:02:01.7 MS: Oh, of course. 

 

0:02:02.0 EC: Scientific ones. But I think we have to thank Eva Longoria for helping us out with the first one. I wanna say that this is something I mispronounced for a long time. I had set it straight way before her, but I used to say hiluronic, like, "Hey, Luronic? How are you doing?" But it's actually hyaluronic. 

 

0:02:22.7 MS: Hyaluronic. 

 

0:02:24.4 EC: Yeah, hyaluronic. 

 

0:02:26.3 MS: Yeah. Hiya doing, Luronic?  

 

0:02:27.9 EC: Yeah, do you have any words that you... 

 

0:02:31.3 MS: Yes. And actually, it's the second one on our list here. Salicylic acid. And a lot of people do not say that correctly. 

 

0:02:39.9 EC: No. No, they do not. I've heard salydic and sacylic and by a professional. Infact, one time, I used to be a product rep and when I was a baby product rep and I had this medspa account, and you know we hold medspas in high regard. That's in sarcastic fun. So she asked me to come to her medspa to do this event. I said, "Sure. No problem." At the medspa she worked at. So here we are at this beautiful event, and she's giving a talk on acne. And she's saying, "So for acne, we really like salydic acid because salydic acid," and I'm like, "Oh, my gosh." My eyes starts twitching. "Salydic acid is great because it really kills all the acne and without salydic acid," and she said that... I don't even know. I kinda zoned out. And the only thing I could hear is salydic, and each time I was twitching but... 

 

0:03:28.6 MS: I feel like salacydic is also... Salacydic. Yeah. 

 

0:03:33.1 EC: Close. 

 

0:03:34.1 MS: Right. Close. 

 

0:03:34.7 EC: That's like pushing them both together. 

 

0:03:36.4 MS: Right, right. 

 

0:03:38.1 EC: The next one is like... I mean, this one is just nitpicky but asorbate or ascorbate versus asorbic versus ascorbic. I think those are often interchanged. 

 

0:03:51.3 MS: Yeah. I think kind of like with the salicidic or salas... Good Lord. Salidic. 

 

0:04:00.4 EC: You can't even say it wrong. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:04:00.7 MS: I can't do it. 

 

0:04:01.1 EC: Yes. 

 

0:04:01.3 MS: I'm gonna be butchering them on this podcast myself. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:04:04.8 EC: You couldn't say it right so much you can't even say it wrong. Get it girl. 

 

0:04:08.3 MS: I know. I know, right? It's kind of like just blurring all of your letters together. 

 

0:04:12.0 EC: Yeah. ____ acid. 

 

0:04:15.8 MS: Yeah. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:04:15.9 EC: I'm gonna put this, blah, blah, blah on your face and you're gonna like it. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:04:24.5 EC: That's awesome. And then the next one's on you, 'cause this one is... I hate this word. Comedogenic. I think... Yeah, this definitely gets butchered also, people saying comedagenic versus comedogenic. 

 

0:04:36.2 MS: Combdogenic. I've heard it, too. Comb like a comb over. 

 

0:04:40.0 EC: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

 

0:04:40.7 MS: Either way, It shouldn't be a thing. I hate comedogenic. I think it's ridiculous. The next one is... It's so funny because I go toe-to-toe with someone who says it the way I don't say it. And it is azelaic acid is how I pronounce it, it's how I learned how to pronounce it. 

 

0:04:57.3 EC: That's how I pronounce it too. 

 

0:04:58.5 MS: And they say azealeak acid. 

 

0:05:02.7 EC: Yeah, azeleic. 

 

0:05:03.5 MS: Azeleic or azeaeilic. 

 

0:05:06.2 EC: And I say azelaic. 

 

0:05:06.9 MS: Azelaic. 

 

0:05:07.2 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:05:07.8 MS: Because as you should, it's how it's pronounced. Azelaic. Oh, the next one's a good one. This one kills me. It kills me. But when I learned to say it correctly because I... You wanna learn exactly how to say it. I was able to break it down in a way. But there are so many mispronunciations of this word, and I think for a good reason. I think this is a hard one. 

 

0:05:33.0 EC: It is a hard one, and I think it turns into a dirty word. 

 

0:05:39.4 MS: It does. But out of the gutter to your lips, bakuchiol. That's how it's pronounced. But you'll hear bucketchow. And nobody wants to say it that way, bucketchow, buckchoil like I think... 

 

0:05:54.1 EC: I've also heard buchachiol... 

 

0:05:55.1 MS: Oh, my gosh. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:05:57.7 EC: I'm being real with you. 

 

0:06:00.2 MS: Oh, my god. No, buckchiol. That's not how it goes. Bakuchiol. This beautiful ingredient. No, actually derive renal. Ooh. How about the next one?  

 

0:06:09.2 EC: Yeah. TCA, trichloroacetic acid. 

 

0:06:11.6 MS: Oh, nailed it. 

 

0:06:12.9 EC: Oh, thank you. 

 

0:06:13.4 MS: I think that's why most people say TCA, 'cause it's a tongue twister. Trichloroacetic acid. Another one that's not on our list, but is tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate. I think that one gets butchered a lot, like ____, which threw me as this interesting association. And then the last one on our mispronounced list is carboxylic acid. I think that's a really hard one for people to say. We don't really use it that much in word form, but we use it every day. Carboxylic acid is the family of acids that... Of hydroxies but belong to and beta hydroxies and even TCA. 

 

0:06:58.5 EC: And in line with that is phenol, which we also don't use very often but I've heard people say phenol. 

 

0:07:05.5 MS: Phenol... [laughter] 

 

0:07:06.6 EC: That's way different. 

 

0:07:08.0 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:07:08.4 EC: Oh, geez. This set of words here. This one really gets under my skin. It's regime, regiment or regimen. Let's talk about them. 

 

0:07:19.5 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:07:20.6 EC: What is a regime?  

 

0:07:22.5 MS: A regime is a mode or system or a rule of government. 

 

0:07:25.9 EC: Okay. 

 

0:07:26.8 MS: A regiment is a permanent unit of an army typically commanded by a colonel and divided into several companies, squadrons, or batteries. And then the verb of that was interesting. It was to organize according to a strict, sometimes oppressive system or pattern. Alright. But here's the deal. We're referring to regimen, regimen. It's a skincare regimen. It's not a skincare regime, it's not a skincare regiment, it's a skincare regimen. And it's a systematic planned routine of action. That's it. I saw this misspelled on a professional, like a company's words. It was regiment. 

 

0:08:01.9 EC: Oh, no. 

 

0:08:02.6 MS: No, no, no. It's nuts. 

 

0:08:03.7 EC: Yeah. I do see the client will say this wrong. They'll say, "My regime at home is blah, blah, blah." 

 

0:08:11.0 MS: No problem. Then you could gently correct them, but when professionals say it, that's when my eye starts to twitch it. 

 

0:08:17.1 EC: Right. Yeah. The aestheticians gotta get it right. 

 

0:08:19.6 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:08:19.9 EC: Or manufacturer for that matter. 

 

0:08:21.6 MS: Regimen?  

 

0:08:22.4 EC: Mh-hmm. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:08:24.2 MS: Let's talk about overused words. Ooh. How about medical grade ingredients?  

 

0:08:30.3 EC: Yeah, this... The word medical just in general I think is always used wrong when actually it shouldn't be used at all. 

 

0:08:38.3 MS: I think it's a manipulation. It should be manipulation grade ingredients. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:08:44.5 EC: Okay. 

 

0:08:44.6 MS: Well, let me ask you. Because if this is a ingredient or a product that's being sold into a medical facility and used by aestheticians, is that misleading?  

 

0:08:58.1 EC: Yes. 

 

0:09:00.3 MS: Tell us why. 

 

0:09:00.4 EC: Because that same product you can get on dermstore.com with no representation and no director. 

 

0:09:06.5 MS: Okay. Touche. However, what if they only sell to a doctor? So if you're an aesthetician using that under a medical director... 

 

0:09:15.6 EC: Still on dermstore.com. That is a marketing decision. And I say this because I worked for a company who then had a medical line and it was the exact same line as the other one, the pro line. But it was switched 1% south. Yeah. So still fell under. But it was a... It was a decision to provide this elite thing. 

 

0:09:38.2 MS: Well, yeah. I mean, obviously it's their decision to sell it that way but it is now, "Medical." 'Cause they're only selling to the medical professional. 

 

0:09:48.4 EC: I would see that. I could see that. I still think it's available on the internet. 

 

0:09:51.6 MS: Right. And ____ everything. 

 

0:09:55.0 EC: Yeah. So it's like it's only available to medical professionals and people on the internet. Super exclusive. 

 

0:10:00.5 MS: Yeah. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:10:01.7 MS: Like this laser device I just bought on Amazon... 

 

0:10:04.9 EC: Oh, my gosh. I have a story about that. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:10:08.6 EC: Okay. Let me talk about ____. 

 

0:10:11.4 MS: That's the next podcast. 

 

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0:11:00.3 EC: Let me tell you what I did on accident. Well, you know I'm a sucker for like targeted ads. And it said medical effectiveness so it goes along right with this. 

 

0:11:08.1 MS: Right. 

 

0:11:08.6 EC: I bought a microcurrent machine. 

 

0:11:10.8 MS: Okay. 

 

0:11:11.4 EC: Oh, that is solar powered. You don't have to charge it. 

 

0:11:15.6 MS: Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 

 

0:11:15.9 EC: You don't have to charge it. Solar powered. But not just solar powered, it can be charged by any light. Any light, light bulb, light coming through you. 

 

0:11:24.1 MS: Yeah, you got suckered. 

 

0:11:24.9 EC: Oh, my gosh. I bought it. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:11:26.7 MS: Get it? And I'm using it. I'm like, "This is not doing a damn thing. What the hell?" So I write the company and I'm like, "Look, I don't think this is charging correctly." 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:11:39.1 MS: "I think I got a broken one." 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:11:42.1 EC: You were being serious. 

 

0:11:44.0 MS: "My Edison bulb is not charging this darn microcurrent device. I'd set it in the window sill and it's still not doing anything." And they write back. I should read it, but they write back. They're like, "Oh, thanks, Ella, for writing in. Listen, you're really not gonna feel it that much. It's microcurrent. It's not gonna feel that much, but just keep using it." And I'm like, "Oh, hell no." 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:12:07.5 MS: Listen... And then I was like, "Oh, I get it. I just got suckered." "Listen, I'm well aware of how they're supposed to work," and I wrote them back. Long story short, they returned it. But anyways, medical effectiveness is another one. 

 

0:12:18.6 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:12:18.9 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:12:19.1 EC: But to that point, medical ingredients, medical grade ingredients on over the counter, there's been s huge debate over those lately, over the counter ingredients versus medical ingredients. 

 

0:12:29.5 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:12:29.9 EC: And the purity or the effectiveness is what I learned. That's how I learned it. How did you learn it? There's a difference. Cosmeceutical, medical. 

 

0:12:37.8 MS: Okay. Now, cosmeceutical is another one. Look at me with my finger out and ____. 

 

0:12:42.1 EC: Ooh, she is wagging it. She is like, "Oh, let me tell you something about cosmeceutical, okay?" 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:12:49.1 MS: Tell us. 

 

0:12:50.9 EC: Now my training... My finger away. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:12:56.5 EC: Cosmeceutical is really not a real word. 

 

0:13:00.8 MS: Nope. 

 

0:13:00.9 EC: You have cosmetic or you have drug. So that is along with what you're saying, with medical, is like a marketing term. 

 

0:13:08.1 MS: Yes. It's a marketing term. 

 

0:13:10.5 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:13:11.6 MS: Really, let's be honest. As a formulator, I'm gonna tell you about formulation and what should be the consideration. The consideration should be the intention of the product first and then the active ingredients. There's talk about, "Oh, that has fillers and has all these things." But a lot of times, those filler ingredients are functional, too. So there's a function whether it's going to hold the active in or whether it's going to soften the skin to allow for better penetration. They all have a function. Now, the quality of the formula depends on all of those things. You can compare it to homemade chicken soup or Campbell's chicken soup. They're both soup, but one tastes different than the other. And sometimes I'm in the mood for a home-style Campbell's and sometimes I want my mom's, right? So the use of medical and grade ingredients is somehow... There is purity grades that you can get. There are different grades that you can get of raw material but that's it. Really, they're not doing much. And that is your educational tip of the day. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:14:11.2 MS: Now, let's talk about another overused word that I think sometimes gets butchered. And that is telangiectasia. Good word. And I think... You have telangiectasia, you have Coopers, and you have broken capillaries, which I hate when people say broken capillaries 'cause that I think is a misnomer. 

 

0:14:29.6 EC: Right. 

 

0:14:31.0 MS: Yeah. 

 

0:14:31.5 EC: Or distended capillaries. 

 

0:14:32.9 MS: Distended capillaries. Yeah. Another one. 

 

0:14:34.6 EC: That's what I like to say to feel smart. Really, it's a distended capillary, and what that is... It's because you don't have antioxidants. 

 

0:14:41.7 MS: It's a selling tool but telangiectasia. 

 

0:14:44.9 EC: It makes me feel like a fantasy movie that has tentacles, and I just don't like it. 

 

0:14:48.6 MS: Let's talk about an another marketing term that is incredibly overused and often misused. Organic. 

 

0:14:58.3 EC: Good word. 

 

0:15:00.5 MS: Is it though organic? Is it organic?  

 

0:15:02.2 EC: Yes. Yeah. That's the question. And we talked about organic a little bit in a prior podcast. 

 

0:15:07.8 MS: Clean, green and organic. Absolutely. And I think that those are so misleading where we see that... I don't know. Do you see it as much anymore?  

 

0:15:16.9 EC: That's a really good question. I feel like it has its moments. 

 

0:15:20.7 MS: I think so, too. Clean, green and organic or marketing genius. My favorite analogy is... I want only natural. It's like, "You know what? Poison Ivy's natural." 

 

0:15:32.0 EC: Right. 

 

0:15:32.1 MS: Are you sure you want only natural?  

 

[laughter] 

 

0:15:33.7 EC: Right. Yeah. No, I don't want any chemicals. What does that mean? This "chemical" actually came from a natural source. 

 

0:15:40.5 MS: Let's talk about overused phrases. I don't want any chemicals on my face. Guess what a chemical is or guess what's a chemical?  

 

0:15:48.2 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:15:48.2 MS: Water. 

 

0:15:48.7 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:15:50.1 MS: Water is a chemical. So define that. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:15:53.0 EC: Yeah. 

 

0:15:54.3 MS: You do want chemicals on your face because that's part of life. Chemicals don't mean man made and even some man made chemicals are skin-friendly. They are fabricated I think. They might be or unnatural. And really what you don't want are harmful ingredients. You don't wanna genetically modify, but kind of. Not genetically, but just histologically modify, I guess. And then on the flip side of that, another medspa... When I was a sales rep, I had this amazing account, super easy, whatever. They got a new esthetician. She was medical. And I came into talk about the product. She was, "Really, I don't really subscribe to this. I only subscribed to medical." Okay. And she said, "I want something that really works. And I just don't think naturally derived works." I said, "Okay, what's your favorite ingredient?" She said, "Salicylic." She pronounced it right. I'll give her that. I said, "Do you know where salicylic comes from?" Willow bark and it's a chemical. So there you go. I think that is overused. What do you think?  

 

0:16:54.0 EC: I agree with you and to your point saying medical aesthetics is the only way to get results, a lot of people say that. 

 

0:17:03.7 MS: I know. Yeah. What is that about?  

 

0:17:07.2 EC: I don't know. I think that it's just perception, kind of like a prior podcast that we did talking about self-esteem and getting the quick immediate result means it must be a medical procedure or an invasive procedure. And that's just so wrong because you can have natural ingredients, you can have non-invasive procedures and still have amazing results. 

 

0:17:28.3 MS: I was talking to my friend yesterday, who's also in the aesthetics community and she was saying like in Denver, she said it's like almost saturated with medical aestheticians who have medical directors because that's a new standard that's set. And I don't practice that way because I make a lot of progress I feel. But I think that is an interesting perspective and I would not buy into it. I think you can still make a lot of really great changes. Even if you don't have a medical director. 

 

0:17:55.9 EC: I agree. 

 

0:17:56.5 MS: Yeah. How about those who say I'm a medical or a paramedic aesthetician?  

 

0:18:00.4 EC: Overused, totally overused. Especially I hate paramedic aesthetician. What does that even mean?  

 

0:18:06.5 MS: What does it mean?  

 

0:18:07.5 EC: Yeah, I don't know. 

 

0:18:08.4 MS: But I think it's para means near, but near a medic. I would think para would be like paramedic. 

 

0:18:15.0 EC: No, you're not. You're an aesthetician. You're a licensed aesthetician and you are fantastic at that. Being a licensed aesthetician is something to be proud of. Period. You don't need medical in front of it. You don't need paramedic in front of it. You are a licensed aesthetician and you go. Boom. Drop the mic. 

 

0:18:32.8 MS: Okay. Walking away. 

 

[laughter] 

 

0:18:37.4 MS: How about this other one? I got this recently, but my clients want to pill pill. That is the most overused phrase, I think. 

 

0:18:43.5 EC: Yeah. I heard that a lot in the student clinic, in schools where clients coming in or students pilling for the first time would make that remark. And I think it's just a misunderstanding on what chemical pills do. 

 

0:18:55.9 MS: I think so too. And it's also, why are you letting your client navigate it? You are the licensed aesthetician and we just covered that. That makes you awesome. Though pill, pill is not necessarily indicative of results. Sloughing doesn't equal progress. 

 

0:19:13.0 EC: Correct. Now, listeners, we really wanna hear from you. What are your thoughts on mispronunciations, overused words, overused phrases, and all of that. Be sure to comment on our social media platforms, especially Instagram and Facebook, or reach out via email at getconnected@ASCPskincare.com. We want to know all the details. In the meantime, thank you for listening to ASCP Esty Talk. For more information on this episode or for ways to connect with Maggie or myself, or to learn more about ASCP, check out the show notes and stay tuned for the next episode of ASCP Esty Talk.Page Break