Headwinds and Tailwinds: What to Expect in Aesthetics in 2026 Part 1

Announcer (00:06):
You are listening to the Aesthetically Speaking podcast presented by Nextech.

Tyler Terry (00:14):
Hey guys. Welcome back to the Aesthetically Speaking podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Terry, and I'm here today with my incredible co-host, the one and only Robin Ntoh, Robin.

Robin Ntoh (00:26):
Tyler, it's always so exciting to do this with you, and here we are at the end of 2025, in the beginning of 2026. It's so great to actually think about how we think about last year. I'm going into this year, what the predictions are going to be. So I'm ready. Let's do this.

Tyler Terry (00:43):
Happy New Year to everybody listening, hope everyone's having all the success and happiness in their lives. Just want to first start off with talking about some of those buzzwords from last year. Those are really fun. I'm going to go ahead and name these buzzwords and I want you to tell me which one is your favorite and actually came to fruition. So let's start off with, we had skinamilism, pre-juvenation, ballet body, ozempic everything, and Zillennials. Which one do you think actually came to fruition?

Robin Ntoh (01:21):
Ozempic everything. I mean, how often do we see things come and go in this industry or they'll come and they'll hit a high point and then they just kind of fade a bit. This just didn't fade. It just kept going. I mean, it was just growing and growing and it's just so prevalent these days. Yeah, ozempic, everything is just still everything and anything.

Tyler Terry (01:47):
Yeah, I know. Comparing it to, the only thing I can compare it to is, and I wasn't in the industry when Botox actually launched, but from what I've heard, from what people have told me, that's the only thing they can really compare it to is Botox. Even just the fact that we have a pill form now of this treatment that everybody wants. I mean, I remember at Thanksgiving I had friends and family members talking about it. There's all the funny memes going on, but it just feels like it's commonplace.

Robin Ntoh (02:18):
Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens next in that industry space. But for now, I'm going to say that Ozempic still holds that reigning crown of still owning that place in the industry. I'm not changing that one.

Tyler Terry (02:35):
I love it.

Robin Ntoh (02:35):
But what do you think about as a second place runner up ballet body?

Tyler Terry (02:42):
I agree with that. It's actually my favorite term that you coined last year when we went through the words. I would agree with that. I feel like it is not just a trendy word, but it's a word that can last a long, it's one of those timeless analogies of what people are actually striving to become this natural athletic aesthetic, right? People want to have something that looks and feels natural and athletic. I think no matter how old or young you are, something that we want to strive to achieve is to be athletic, to go and work out, to go on a walk, to go on a run. So to strive to have this natural athletic aesthetic is something that I think will remain a goal for years to come.

Robin Ntoh (03:32):
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that we really saw this year is this progression towards more natural people want to feel like they look beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. We talk about wellness all the time, and I'm sure we'll get into that one, but this whole concept of what looks very natural, and so that whole ballet body, natural, it all just rings true in everything that we're seeing, whether it's the technology or the treatments or just the approach people are taking to how they think about the way that they look and feel. So

Tyler Terry (04:08):
The next one I would throw out is pre-juvenation, more so because I believe that people are investing earlier and more often into trying to become their best self and look their best no matter what the age is. So whether that's patients that are older or younger, but believing that that's something that they should have a more proactive approach with. So pre -juvenation, maybe not just younger patients investing, but pre rejuvenation in the term of having a proactive stance on investing in your health, your wellbeing, your outer appearance, all of the above, but pre rejuvenation really resonates.

Robin Ntoh (04:53):
Yeah, no, I'm all in on that one for sure. I think we saw that because practices kept talking about putting their patients on treatment plans, and yeah, memberships are great and that's not necessarily new, but definitely this concept of let's really think about come in for a consult, let's talk about what do you need to do for the next year, and how often should you come in and let's address all those problems that you're concerned about. So yeah, treatment plans just totally ring true. When you think about pre -juvenation, they want to stay ahead of it, and you think about it, think about all those Gen Xers, all of those older generation parents that now their kids are looking at them, the Gen Zs, and they're thinking, you know what? My mom looks great and I want to do what she did. And that's that generation that really leaned into things like Botox and then they started thinking about the fillers and the chemical peels, and they've just maintained that look. And so now you get this younger, the kids that are thinking, I want to do what mom did, and obviously we've got social media that sort of helps if you put all that together. I think rejuvenation just absolutely strikes a chord. Any other favorites for you?

Tyler Terry (06:12):
I really like the word skinamilism more so just because I mean, it makes sense, high impact, minimal downtime. Who doesn't want that? Right? That's almost like the definition of why we have these incredible non-surgical services and treatments, but if you can find that treatment or that service that gives you whatever you perceive it to be, you, that high impact result that has minimal downtime, that really equates to schism. So I like really where maybe not so much the word but the meaning behind what it's trying to proclaim that yet, you know what patients really want something where they're going to get a lot of bang for their buck.

Robin Ntoh (06:56):
Yeah, I don't think I heard it as much as I thought I would, but I think that it's just a reference back to again, what the younger generation is looking for, really where the industry is moving and obviously with all of the wellness in play, it just continues to resonate and continues to surface. I don't think we're going to see that as a headwind. I think we're going to see more as far as how that generates more of the tailwinds and continues to support where the industry is going.

Tyler Terry (07:29):
To that point as we're talking about, the first one we started off with was ozempic everything. And a natural point for us to talk about is the GLP one integration and how that creates that tailwind. How are you seeing that Robin and practices and hearing about it within different practices and KOLs that you work with? How are people successfully blending in wellness with aesthetics?

Robin Ntoh (07:57):
I think that that just leans into probably one of the top buzzwords that we should probably put out there for 2026. And I think that concept is this philosophy of inside out wellness. So we've talked about where people want to look great, but they want to feel great, and wellness just resonates throughout. And so you see med spas that are adding on the wellness services, but you see the wellness practices that are adding on those meds spa services. So there's just this blending of services that really demonstrates that concept, that philosophy, that term inside out wellness because they really want to think about how they integrate the whole body for wellness, longevity, and systemic health. All those things that are all put together wrapped into one thing, and then you put on top of it that outer beauty, the aesthetic service offerings. And so we're going to see a lot more from the wellness industry as it finds its place in the med spas.

(09:02):
And the med spas are obviously adding those services on because they want to maintain those patients, they want to retain them, they want to keep that revenue flowing into their business, and one way to do it is to continue to expand their service set. But you're probably seeing a lot of that right now as well. When you think about some of the meetings that you've attended and a lot of the interactions that you're probably having with these med spas, especially as they think about what solutions do they need in their practice to actually manage all that. We'll get into software. I'm certain at some point, but just thinking about where you're seeing that in some of your conversations, does it resonate inside out?

Tyler Terry (09:42):
Actually, I'm going to predict that that'll be my favorite term for next year in 2027 when we have this conversation. But inside out, I think that resonates far beyond aesthetics and wellness in terms of just what people want to be. They want to feel good from the inside out and they want to make people feel good. But yeah, I mean in terms of ozempic and the GLP ones, it's certainly something that my team and I were seeing on a daily basis, a daily basis in terms of how do I better educate patients that I even offer it because patients are coming in, they don't even know that I offer it, and they're getting it online through whatever the case may be. So how can I provide that service to my patients that they're already getting, but they can actually have the face time with me because they know me, they trust me, and then I could be there to guide them through because it's not something that you just take one time.

(10:39):
This is something that you're taking, whether it's on a daily basis or depending on what you're taking. But that is something that we are seeing where it is feeding into the aesthetic side where Robin, you actually mentioned this term of ozempic face. So when that happens, what do we do aesthetically? How can we make that look and feel better with memberships? How can we tie in GLP ones with injectables, with IV therapy? How do they all collide to be that total wellness, that inside out approach? So yeah, I mean that is really what people are trying to do, which is educate patients on everything that they offer. Not every practice, but the practices that want to offer the services. How can I have this wide variety of services to treat my patients? So ideally they come to me instead of going to the IV therapy shop down the street or just the wellness only shop down the street, but they come to one place so that I can get all the benefits and I have that membership or that rewards program or whatever the case may be. But ideally trying to get that commitment, that investment from the patient.

Robin Ntoh (11:55):
I like the comment or the way that you would approach something from education. You said that a minute ago. Education I think is a big part of what makes things stick, and I don't think it's really emphasized a lot in practices. I don't think that they lean into something that's just so natural and part of what they do every day, but I don't know that they actually focus on the importance or relevance of it. And so education to me is one of those things that I would predict is going to be a big differentiator for practices in 2026 if they lean into it and do it really, really well. I think the second part of that is once you educate them, then provide a personalized treatment plan. We think about personalization in a lot of ways, but putting some precision around it, really emphasizing to a patient, this is customized just for you, and practices have so many different ways to treat the problems that patients present with. There's so many levels of technology, there's so many different fillers, there's so many different toxins, there's so many different ways to approach it and they can do it and they can cater it to different budgets, to different financial means, to different lifestyles, different commitment levels, so many ways to manage it. But I don't know that practice is really put in place a good area around educating and then building that individual treatment plan for the patients. And I think those two things are going to be the hallmarks, the differentiators in businesses in 2026.

Tyler Terry (13:35):
Wow. I'm sitting here taking so many notes. I have a lot of thoughts from everything you just said when you were talking about you have education and then you have basically you have the patient coming in for a consult and then you hope that they move forward. But the in-between is the education, and that's how you can differentiate yourself. And when you educate the patient, you're actually earning their loyalty. So we want to earn their loyalty by educating the patient. And then when we've earned their loyalty, hopefully we've earned their trust and when we've earned their trust, we can reward them for it. So they're going to know, wow, I came in, I trusted this practice, they educated me so that I feel confident and comfortable to move forward with it, and it's something that I need to come back for. Even purchasing my skincare products, my injectables and fillers, my GLP one, essentially I'm going to reward the practice as the patient with my business with my dollar. And by doing so, it really just comes full circle for the practice. So I thought as you said that I thought earn their loyalty and then reward them for it.

Robin Ntoh (14:49):
Oh most definitely. But I think we have to think about education not just as a printed piece of paper. And this is where I think practices have the biggest opportunity. Think about the format in which you deliver your educational materials, think about the consumer, think about how they actually consume and how they process and how they actually interpret whatever you're teaching them or telling them. Education isn't just one and done. Education creates a different emphasis on risk, compliance, conversion, I can name so many different ways where education could be that huge strategic shift for a practice if they really put the right emphasis on it. I think a practice should think about if I want to provide a patient a treatment plan that has five different treatments in it, they should go home and be able to not just read about it, but they should be able to watch a video about it or they should have some level of different ways that they can consume that information and not in something that requires them that they have to sit down and read a book or research on the internet to find that information. It should just be at their fingertips, something that they can actually consume at their convenience, at their pace, go back and revisit as many times as they want. And in so many levels, education just all of a sudden builds trust. Trust builds loyalty. Loyalty builds a long lifetime patient commitment.

Tyler Terry (16:25):
Yeah, I think for me, I think it's all about consistency. How are you consistently showing up for your patients? And hopefully you can have a repeatable, consistent pattern with all of your patients no matter what they're here for.

Robin Ntoh (16:40):
I think that's a good thing to lean in on. Tyler, if you think about repeatable and you think about consistency, things that are repeatable and consistent can also be automated. And so when we look for wins in your business, what are the wins that are going to cut down on those repeatable actions that can be automated that allow your staff to focus on some of those other things that require face time with a patient that you can't replace with tooling or with systems, things that you have to do one-on-one with a patient like injecting a patient, a provider has to actually do the injection, but there's several other areas in the business where you still need to meet one-on-one with a patient. But there's a lot of things out there that we've got so many different ways to automate and make things consistent to your point and make them repeatable, and that then builds in a layer of reduced risk for a business because then it doesn't get modified every time someone delivers a message or every time someone tries to provide that individual response.

(17:54):
It just becomes repeatable because it's the same information. It goes back to patient education. That can all be a very automated type of system. Once you build it, it's one and done. You update it as needed if new treatments come out or new devices and you add to it. But I think that practices have to start looking at costs are going up. Reimbursements go down for different insurance procedures. We know some of our practices are doing insurance, and so where do I improve my bottom line? Where do I improve my top line? You improve your bottom line by finding systems that put automation in place.

Tyler Terry (18:30):
And when you increase your efficiencies, you can spend more time doing other things where you're more effective if you increase your efficiency with your follow-up or your consultations, you can probably spend more time with your patients where it matters most or maybe on some of your higher ticketed procedures and things like that. But just to shift gears a little bit to talk about business strategy predictions and what actually happened, one of the things we talked about last year was an annual treatment plan and what that meant. So Robin would love to hear your thoughts on treatment plans in general and if you feel like that's something that actually stuck for 2025 going into 2026.

Robin Ntoh (19:14):
Treatment plans in my line of sight didn't take off as well as I thought they would, but I think this year those practices that adopt them are going to find themselves differentiating themselves, which I think is key this year because there's just continuous growth in this market. I think they'll find themselves differentiating themselves against their competition.

Tyler Terry (19:36):
I was just going to ask you that. What would you do or what should you do when you feel like your competition is all around you and the market is saturating and with these annual treatment plans? The idea around it is that you are investing time with the patient to suggest services and procedures and products that would be optimal for the patient for the next year with the idea being that the patient would invest back in the practice, that they would actually sign up for a membership or that they would be more likely to rebook an appointment before they leave because they have committed their time, you've committed your time, you've mutually invested into each other so that you would likely go back to the practice.

Robin Ntoh (20:23):
Some of it is figuring out the different personas in your practice, the different types of patients that your practice attracts, and making sure that you know how to satisfy what they need, what makes them tick, what do they need to become loyal, and how do you maintain that? Practices don't always lean into that. They just find one way to do everything and they assume all their patients are the same. They don't need different ways of communication. They don't need different ways of education, they don't need different approaches. And when they go in there with this one type of philosophy that does everything like a one-stop shop, do it all, it doesn't always meet all the needs of everybody. And so practices lose loyalty. They lose commitment because the patients aren't bought into it.

Tyler Terry (21:20):
Speaking of loyalty, Robin, I'd love to hear your opinion on patient loyalty versus brand loyalty versus practice loyalty. And do you think that patients are more loyal to the brand or do you think that they're more loyal to the practice?

Robin Ntoh (21:37):
That's a tough one, Tyler. You want the patient to be loyal to the practice, but the brand is a representation of the practice or it should be, a lot of times practices focus on the risk being that the loyalty is to the provider. And while that's relevant and part of what makes a patient loyal, it's also a risk for the practice because if that provider leaves, then those patients could easily follow them because they're not necessarily loyal to the practice or the brand that the practice represents. If you're thinking about the brand as being a device or a specific pharma product, then I think that's where there's another level of risk and those companies are usually designing their marketing materials and their loyalty programs to make the patient loyal to their brand and not necessarily the practice. And so that's also a risk to practices because the patients can go anywhere because they just follow that pharma brand or that device brand. And so there's a component of that that practices worry about the end of it all is it really comes down to you want to build your loyalty programs around what drives loyalty to the practice and not to the things that support it.

Tyler Terry (23:10):
Yeah, that's the common denominator. And I would say something else that I saw last year, I saw it quite a bit prior to 2025, but probably more so last year than ever, which is the providers gaining patient loyalty and moving on to another practice and starting up their own practice very confidently because they have such a loyal patient base. But I did see that quite a bit where we have an injector who's starting his or her own practice, and out of the gate they're starting off with significant revenue. And a couple practices had shared with me that their way of, I don't want to say combating that, but essentially working against that would be providing equity to their top talent. And when they're providing equity to their top talent, the likelihood of them moving on decreases. So just wanted to share that point. And Robin, if you have any thoughts on that?

Robin Ntoh (24:14):
No, I think that what you said really does resonate, and we've got probably many examples of seeing that in the practices that we've had the opportunity to work with. So I think it's spot on, but more importantly, I don't think it's nearing its end. I think we're going to continue to see that as we continue to see the number of med spas entering the market and as we continue to see medical practices that are shifting more towards wellness services. So we're going to continue to see influx into this market, which is going to continuously push that whole level of loyalty and commitment.

Tyler Terry (24:48):
Yeah. Now, what about e-commerce, Robin? What are you seeing with e-commerce adoption? Is that something that the majority of practices are actually embracing or is that something that we're going to see in 2026?

Robin Ntoh (25:02):
Practices still struggle with it because it comes down to platform. It comes down to competition and not just competition with immense spots competing with the Amazons and all of the other big business e-commerce out there that has just made it just so easy to just get online at any point in order and then it's at your doorstep the next day. And so practices struggle with that. And so I think we're looking for different ways in the market where solutions can actually deliver things more in an Amazon format or finding brands that are intentionally specific only to a medical practice that does create some level of guardrail around it and protect the practice interests, but also drive those patients back to the practice to purchase those products or services. But it's difficult. Some practices have full-time people that just manage their e-commerce and they've really invested a lot into it and it's doing very, very well for them. But I don't find that to be even in the 20%, I find that to be in the low 10% or lesser practices that actually have cracked that nut that really have a system in place and are doing well with it. So there's a lot of opportunity out there, but it's still, you're competing not just with Med Spas, but the Amazons that are out there.

Tyler Terry (26:27):
I really did like the point that you made on the brands who are creating guardrails to only sell to medical practices or for those practices to be able to offer it almost exclusively. If it was me in my practice, I would think that I would support those brands with the guardrails. So easier said than done, but certainly something to look out for in 2026.

Robin Ntoh (26:53):
Well, it's also expensive too because if you're required to keep that inventory in your office and then you've got to go through the process of packaging and then shipping it, it just practices have got such a small number of support staff that really are there to just manage the day-to-day of the patients that are coming in. To add that as an additional duty on, you've really got to have a robust bust e-commerce site to actually support hiring in another FTE just to do that. And it's not that practices aren't getting there, to your point, there's very few that we've seen and it is possible, it's, it's a big lift and it's a big commitment for practices right now. I think that we're not quite there in the market, but I think it's a potential future thought. Maybe not in 26, but potentially 27.

Tyler Terry (27:48):
Yeah, that's a great point. So just to flip the page a little bit, and let's talk more about technology and payment evolution. The first thing that I want to bring up for us to discuss is AI in practice, talking about skin analysis and where did AI make the biggest impact? So what do you think? Where have you seen AI make the biggest impact in aesthetics?

Robin Ntoh (28:17):
Practices are a little worried. We did a ad board midyear and we met with several larger med spa practices. And one of the interesting parts of that session was this tiptoeing around AI and where it fits in their business, not certain that they want it in the charting, maybe, maybe not certain. A lot of response there think it's good for operational influence and operational support, but still not certain if they want it in charting. And when I say charting, I'm thinking they referenced like, do I want to a scribe? It's actually an AI scribe that's doing that. So I think there's more to come there on the medical side of the house on ai, scribe definitely something that is important, and I think we'll see a lot more of that in the future. But when we think about it in the aesthetic side of the business, that's where there is more concern.

(29:24):
And not just from the providers and what that means for them, because you would think that they would love that concept, but they're concerned about what actually AI will listen to and how it will actually insert in that chart. Will it insert everything? Will it insert the most things? What will it insert and how much review will it require of them after the fact? But then there's the patient and the patient awareness of AI listening, and do they really want AI listening during their aesthetic treatment? Because a lot of times we know that these patients build relationships with their provider, their injector, their esthetician, their physician, and especially if it's an esthetician or someone where it's a treatment that's more than 10 minutes, think about an esthetician. They're in there for 30, 45 minutes, even an hour. They might have these long extended conversations that are personal conversations that they don't necessarily want AI listening to.

(30:23):
So I can see where providers are concerned about what is recorded, what is put in the chart, and where they might have to go back and do extensive editing. So still a lot of concern about where it fits into the charting side of the world, but I think there's so many other great things that AI will do for us that outcome tracking, assisting with operations, building more efficiencies and giving staff back that work-life balance and giving them the opportunity to really focus on that true patient interaction, building those relationships. I think that's where AI is going to be really impactful in the future. Even just for staff to use AI just in some of their day-to-day, that doesn't even mean that they interact with patients, just giving them back that free time. I mean, I use AI all day long just to help with emails and spreadsheets and things that historically would've taken me five, 10 times longer than they do now. It's just giving me so much more freedom to focus on strategy and vision and things that are relevant that AI is not necessarily going to be able to do for me.

Tyler Terry (31:33):
Yeah, I agree.

Robin Ntoh (31:34):
It's exciting.

Tyler Terry (31:35):
The thing that excites me most about AI in our industry personally is skin analysis. Even when I saw it really before ai, I always thought the Vizio was amazing. I was always blown away with the fact that it could predict my age. And I think the first time I did it, I was like 23 or 24, and it's like, you actually have skin like a 29-year-old. And I was like, no, I need skincare. But more so today than ever using AI to make recommendations, not to say it's perfect, it's definitely not. But me as a patient, I am blown away at the skin analysis component of AI within our industry.

Robin Ntoh (32:19):
I have seen quite a bit of that in the last couple of years, really start to evolve in the marketplace. And I think some tools are really stellar and have focused on that predictive outcome. And the tool is definitely meant to be something to help set expectations, something to help educate. It should be an assistance to the provider, help patients really truly understand what opportunities there are available to them. And I think it does a really great job of helping to educate before patients even come in for visits. So there's a lot of greatness to it. And who knows, I think in the next few years we'll probably see where it really places itself in a position to help manage that whole consult process as well and cut down the time and really help those providers take their whole treatment plan to whole other level. I think there's a lot that we're going to see coming from that. So it's a very, very exciting future I think, for those type of AI diagnostic tools that are coming out in the market.

Tyler Terry (33:29):
Yeah, absolutely. Alright guys. If you know us, if you've listened to even just one episode you know that we can talk and we can talk a lot. So to listen to part two of this incredible episode, be sure to check out the next episode.

Announcer (33:48):
Thanks for listening to Aesthetically Speaking, the podcast where beauty meets business, presented by Nextech. Follow and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. Links to the resources mentioned on this podcast or available in your show notes. For more information about Nextech visit nextech.com, or to learn more about TouchMD, go to touch md.com. Aesthetically Speaking is a production of the Axis, theaxis.io.