FACE 2016 celebrated its 14th successful year in the UK, Wendy Lewis shares some of her highlights from the four day programme

The Queen Elizabeth II Centre is home to the Facial Aesthetic Conference & Exhibition (FACE), now in its 14th year as the UK’s premier aesthetic conference and exhibition. The conference celebrated its recently formed strategic partnership and alliance with EuroMediCom and Informa, publishers of PRIME and organisers of AMWC in Monaco and a host of other international congresses.

Every year, FACE strives to enhance the conference experience and expand the ways attendees can enjoy unique content across the most important sectors of aesthetic medicine, and feature a multi-specialty group of speakers and educators in response to the growing demands of delegates from practitioners to industry.

It was another record year of national and international speakers, including many Americans and Europeans. Among the impressive roster of UK faculty were Drs. Raj Acquilla, Neil Walker, Nick Lowe, Rajiv Grover, Bessam Farjo, Kate Goldie, Paul Banwell, Tracy Montford, Rachael Eckel, Rita Rakus, Shirin Lakhani, Christopher Rowland-Payne, David Eccleston, Sherif Wakil, Bob Khanna, Christopher Inglefield, Sandeep Cliff, Uliana Gout, Ash Labib, Kambiz Golchin, Ariel Haus, Ravi Jain, and many more practitioners from cosmetic specialities.

According to Dr Ravi Jain, ‘FACE has always taken pride in ensuring high quality educational content for the delegates and this year, the team raised the bar yet again. I was delighted to share my experience improving patient consultations using Galderma’s Harmony Consultation Tool in the main injectables agenda chaired by Christopher Rowland Payne.’

Screen Shot 2016-07-22 at 12.06.07From across the pond, Drs. Brian Kinney, Mark Rubin, Hema Sundaram, Michael Kane, Raj Kanodia, Mark Taylor, and Stephen Mulholland were among the popular presenters. The international faculty included practitioners from far and wide, including Drs. Mukta Sachdev of India, Frank Rosengaus of Mexico, Maria-Angeliki Gkini of Greece, Mario Goisis of Italy, Alek Nikolic of South Africa, Tom Van Eijk and Ali Pirayesh of the Netherlands, Klaus Hoffman and Welf Prager of Germany, Han Jin Kwon of Korea, and Christine Dierickx and Joan Vandeputte of Belgium.

‘As a regular faculty member at FACE in one of the most beautiful locations in the world, it was a pleasure to see familiar faces as well as many new attendees. The consult sessions of the last day of the meeting attracted a large crowd, which was a great testament to the audience’s enthusiasm,’ said Dr. Sachdev.

FACE 2016 featured six tracks, including Injectables, Body, Skin, Hair, Threads, and Business agendas that took place across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In addition, there was a special Sexual Aesthetics track added this year that generated a lot of attention. A Pre-Course Agenda was held on Thursday to give attendees an additional opportunity to learn from the experts. In total, delegates had over 100 hours of educational content to select from, which kept everyone extremely busy.

‘As one of the leading aesthetic events, FACE Conference never fails to deliver insightful exhibitions, demonstrations, debates, and the latest technologies from industry experts. The wealth of expertise displayed by such a credible group of aesthetic practitioners provides a unique networking opportunity for attendees and a chance to share their extensive knowledge,’ said Dr Rita Rakus.

The conference also provided exhibitors the option to host workshops and seminars to introduce their new lines, products, and services. Dermatologist Neil Walker described his experience using the Ellipse system to reverse photoaging. Plastic surgeons Brian Kinney, Joan Vandeputte, and Leonard Miller presented a seminar on Algeness Agarose filler for deep zygomatic volumising, lifting and reshaping of the face. Dermatologist Ariel Haus presented on UltraShape Power from Syneron Candela for permanent fat cell destruction. Drs. Ravi Jain and Hema Sundaram conducted a workshop for IBSA/HA DERMA on their BDDE-free hyaluronic acid technology for skin remodeling. While Dr. Kuldeep Minocha presented a workshop on Silhouette Soft™ to share his personal experience with patient selection, indications for the procedure, and the pre-treatment consultation.

According to Dr. Ariel Haus, ‘This was one of the biggest turnouts I have seen at FACE, both from exhibitors and visitors. It’s also encouraging to see so many new treatments coming to market. The interest shown in the UltraShape Power Treatment from Syneron-Candela that I demonstrated is proof that there will always be room for new technologies.’

New to FACE 2016 was a programme of intimate advanced hands-on training courses running throughout the event on Injectable treatments with only 5–10 delegates per session that allowed for a uniquely personalized level of instruction and live injections. The presenters gave attendees an overview of anatomy, concepts of beauty, safety, and adverse events.

Clinical skin care was an important focus of this year’s conference again. Dr. Zein Obagi chaired a special skin workshop covering peels, pigmentation, and skin care dispensing, as well as a full day ZO Skin Health European Symposium. Among the other skin care brands that had a big presence at FACE 2016, SkinCeuticals, Epionce, Neostrata, Radara, I/S Clinical, Medik-8, Cutangenix, and Glo-Therapeutics.

Paul Banwell chaired the SKIN sessions this year. ‘It was plainly apparent from the level of attendance that skin health, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and nutrition have finally been recognised as important components within a cosmetic medicine practice. Highlights included ways of supercharging skin health regimes with vitamin A and nutri-cosmecueitcals, as well as the emerging evidence for new botanical antioxidants and immunoprotectants,’ he said.

Another recurring theme of this global conference was the emphasis on the challenges of managing skin of colour. ‘Being part of the laser sessions and discussing the latest in hair removal lasers and newer thinking with the non ablative Q-switch lasers allowed for audience interaction, as there is an increasingly growing interest in treating skin of colour with lasers,’ said Dr. Sachdev.

The business of FACE 2016

The robust, live Business agenda moved this year to a dedicated section of the Exhibition Hall located on the first Floor. This new space and format facilitated more time and space for questions and mingling with delegates and exhibitors. The informative and interactive business talks have become a mainstay at FACE for clinic managers, marketers, aesthetic nurses, physicians, and staff alike.

Among the most important subjects on the agenda were the impact of regulations on clinic marketing, the rise of social media channels for connecting with patients, new methods for virtual cosmetic consultations, and branding best practices. Snapchat, Instagram, and live streaming video platforms gained a lot of momentum at this year’s Business agenda as these channels continue to pick up steam among aesthetic practitioners globally. Lorna Jackson, Editor of The Consulting Room™, offered an eye-opening analysis of the Advertising Standards Authority rules governing websites and web marketing. Gary Conroy and Amanda Cameron of 5 Squirrels Ltd., parlayed their extensive experience in aesthetics into a lively discussion about clinic brand building and skin care dispensing. Sharon Cass, Education Brand Manager of Skin Brands, gave a comprehensive lecture on merchandising and selling clinical skin care.

In addition, running alongside the Injectables agenda, there was a ‘FACE Rewind’ lecture programme that highlighted some of the most popular talks. So if you missed a lecture or two over the course of the conference, you had an opportunity to hear select speakers share their key messages for a second time.

On the social side, a festive reception was held on Saturday evening at The Skyloft, which offered guests panoramic 360-degree views of London in a unique modern British venue.

Save the date: FACE 2017 will be held 15th–18th June 2017. For more information, visit: www.faceconference.com