I had a moment walking the Beauty and Wellness show in New York.

And honestly… estheticians have lost the plot.

There, I said it.

I’m walking the aisles, and it’s permanent bracelets, tooth gems, teeth whitening, lash extensions, vibrational plates, and cryo chambers. I’m like… what are we doing?

This is our biggest trade show. Our industry. And barely any of it has to do with skin. Don’t even get me started on dermaplaning.

At a certain point, I just stopped and thought, why are there so few people here actually talking about skincare? Real skincare. Skin health. The barrier.

And the answer felt pretty obvious.

Because what we’ve been calling “skincare” isn’t working.

If it were working, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be reaching for all this extra stuff to keep clients engaged, to keep businesses afloat.

Clients aren’t dumb. They can feel when something isn’t working.

I think trust is slipping. And I think it’s because skin isn’t getting better – it’s getting worse.

The barrier is compromised. Skin is reactive. And instead of pulling back, we’re pushing harder. More exfoliation. More devices. More intensity. Trying to force results out of a system that doesn’t work like that.

You can’t force the body. It takes time. It takes actually knowing what you’re looking at. It takes restraint, which no one wants to sell.

And yeah, this is strong. I know.

But I lived this.

Before Botnia, I was in the treatment room using what I was told were the best products. Following the education. Doing everything “right.”

And over time, I had to be honest with myself. My clients deserved better than what I was giving them. I wasn’t seeing the results I promised them. The results I was promised by the brands selling to me at these exact shows.

So I stopped.

And I built something that made sense to me. Something that worked with the body instead of against it. So walking this show, I felt a weird mix of frustration and pride. Frustration because I can see how far off we are. Pride because I know we’re not doing that.

And then something really cool happened.

I went to a class on skin barrier health, looked to my right, and the esthetician next to me was a Botnia partner.

Then I met more of you in New York.

So we are out there.

It just doesn’t look like the main stage yet.

But honestly… I don’t think the main stage is where the good work is happening anyway. This feels like the beginning of something. And we’re building the version of skincare we actually want to be a part of.