dermorexia

Beauty critic Jessica DeFino recently suggested we should consider introducing a medical term, dermorexia, to describe those engaging in “obsessive behaviours” related to skin care. ¶ Likening it to orthorexia, a term used to describe an excessive preoccupation with eating healthy food, she argued, “The same is happening with beauty today. It warrants medical attention.”

2025 May 16, “Dermorexia: ‘My pursuit of clear skin has cost me time, money and pain, but how far is too far?’”, in Irish Examiner, Cork

Cosmeticorexia (also called dermorexia) can be defined as a culturally reinforced preoccupation with attaining “flawless” skin that drives excessive, age/gender-inappropriate, or compulsive use of cosmetic products and procedures (e.g., multistep antiaging routines, early use of retinoids/alpha-hydroxy acids, injectables).

[2026 March, Alberto Stefana, Giovanni Damiani, “Cosmeticorexia: What It Is, Where It Comes from, and Why It Matters”, in Dermatology and therapy, volume 16, number 3, →DOI, page 1446