Skincare has taken huge strides in the last decade and we have more products and treatments at our disposal than ever before. Skincare has always been something which has been important to women but men also are now enjoying better quality skin thanks to increased awareness about how to treat certain issues and how to improve the quality of our skin.
At the forefront of the cutting edge skincare technology we have at our fingertips is Dr. Zein Obagi. Dr. Obagi is a Beverly Hills based dermatologist who has dedicated his life to skincare research. In recent years he has gained quite a following thanks to this research and the products he and his company have designed, which are helping both men and women across the globe. Many people may only just be hearing about Dr. Obagi but he has been in this game for a very long time and his products have been helping people for many years. This is a man who is notoriously quiet and private, rarely giving interviews and simply letting his products do the talking. Let’s have a deeper look into the man and his award-winning products.
Early life
Dr. Obagi was born in 1943 and grew up in Aleppo, Syria. He studied his degree and doctorate at the University of Damascus before moving to the USA in 1972 at the age of 29. Upon his arrival in the USA, Obagi worked at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan where he completed a residency. Obagi also enlisted to join the Navy where he was a naval medical officer, before completing a dermatology residency in at the Naval Hospital in San Diego.
Career
Dr. Zein Obagi always wanted to open his own practice and in 1981 he was able to achieve that dream in opening his first private practice in Chula Vista, California, before moving this practice to Beverly Hills in 1994. This is the practice where he still works and carries out research. When he opened his first practice Obagi had a new concept of looking at skincare and dermatology, which was to encourage daily skincare rather than just treating skin complaints. His main focus was the use of preventative practices to help people increase the quality of their skin through a solid daily routine.
Following many years of research, he was able to launch his own skincare product range in 2007 – the ZO Skin Health collection. Dr. Obagi had this to say on the difference in his approach to skincare:
“The practice of dermatology and cosmetic dermatology changed the way I see things. Because, first of all, we don’t address surface skin anymore, we actually go to the source. We work on the skin at the cellular level. If we don’t work skin at the cellular level it’s like fixing a crumbling wall with a coat of paint.”
The products in this range are physician dispensed and they are able to both cure and treat a wide range of dermatological conditions, and pave the way for better overall skin health and vitality.
Skin classification
The phrases ‘healthy skin’ and ‘skin health’ were rarely spoken about until 1983 when Dr. Obagi attended the American Academy of Dermatology and spoke about this concept, highlighting the need for increasing awareness of healthier skin. One of Dr. Obagi’s big issues in the industry was the skin classification system that was being used, something which he didn’t believe was fit for purpose. For example, throughout his research he discovered that many patients were being treated in the same way for the same skin conditions, yet presented vastly different results. For this reason Dr. Obagi created the Zein Obagi system of classification, taking into account colour of skin, skin thickness, elasticity, level of oil, and fragility of the skin when diagnosing a patient and recommending treatment.
Products and procedures
Not content with creating his own products, Dr. Obagi has also put his name to many new and effective treatments which have helped thousands of patients over the years. One of the most popular of these treatments is the ZO Controlled Depth Peel, a TCA-based blue peel which enables the doctor to control how deep the peel goes, making it a great technique regardless of the issues which the patient has.
In terms of the products within the ZO range, these are not merely individual products aimed at increasing skin health, but a system which he has created to boost the quality of the patient or user’s skin. Speaking to The Week, Dr. Obagi had this to say about the way in which his system has been created.
“For the first time, my skincare line does not consist mainly of products, but also a system. This approach and the treatment of skin conditions based on standards of skin health will, I hope, make this line the future of skin care”
The ZO Skin Health range offers a huge array of benefits to the user such as reparation of skin damage from the sun, hyperpigmentation and inflammation, as well as skin conditions like acne, rosacea and the emergence of wrinkles.
Awards
Dr. Zein Obagi has won a number of prestigious awards throughout his career for both his dedication to skin health and the science behind it, and here are just some of the key awards which he has scooped up in the last decade:
- The Aesthetic Show: Lifetime Achievement Award (July 2018)
- The Aesthetic Academy: The Aesthetic Icon Award (November 2017)
- MyFaceMyBody: Lifetime Achievement Award (November 2016)
- Enigma Magazine: International Achievement Award in Medicine (July 2016)
- DuJour Magazine: Game Changer Award (September 2015)
This is a man who has made outstanding contributions to dermatology and the skincare industry and his products are some of the most popular on the market today. If you have any skin complaints then these are the products which you should be looking to use in order to boost your skin health.
To book your free ZO Skin consultation at Cliftonville Dental, contact us today. We look forward to your visit.