27 Jul CHINESE GRADUATES TURN TO LIGHT MEDICAL BEAUTY

During July and August, high school seniors have a celebratory time for their appearance improvement. This vacation frees them from the pressures of age and school, making it prime time to undergo light medical beauty treatments and post-operative restorations. Adolescent endocrine imbalance and irregular living and eating habits lead to chronic acne problems, so many senior graduates undergo treatments such as Hydra facials or photo rejuvenation during this summer vacation to improve the quality of their skin. This vacation allows them to enter college with a new look and confidence.

Young college students seeking partners, entering the job market, attending interviews, taking graduation photos, or engaging in social events seek subtle enhancements to look more refined. Light medical beauty procedures, such as phototherapy, injectable treatments, or hyaluronic acid, are popular among them due to their low barrier to entry, cost-effectiveness, and convenience. Deloitte’s “2023 Annual Insight Report on China’s Medical Beauty Industry” indicates that light medical beauty is increasingly favored by the younger generation, especially among girls born after 2000, as they find these procedures safe and reasonably priced.

Photos: RED user @月亮上的歪西 @西西弗西 20-year-old girls share the medical beauty process and post-treatment effect 

After the travel restrictions for outbound trips were lifted in May 2023, some students started combining their trips to countries like South Korea, Japan, and Thailand with medical beauty treatments. Overseas medical beauty has become popular among Chinese consumers due to its cost-effectiveness, noticeable results, and the chance to experience treatments used by celebrities at the same beauty institutions. The hashtag #韩国皮肤科 (Korean Skin Clinic) on RED has received 20M views, confirming the trend’s popularity.

Photos: RED user@雪柴糕糕在韩国 @陆丽娜娜 College student experiences the same medical clinic as K-pop idol in South Korea 

The intense debates surrounding popular terms like #Aesthetic Intelligence(美商), #Appearance Anxiety(容貌焦虑), and Sacrificial Conformity to #Beauty Standards(服美役) on China’s internet and the increasing trend of younger individuals seeking medical beauty procedures reveal the driving force behind the development of the country’s medical beauty industry: the growing pressure to meet aesthetic demands. There are currently over 604M views on RED related to “medical beauty.”

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