Three Innovations To Watch from ASDC’s SKINCON2025

If you work anywhere near the dermal segment of the professional beauty industry, SKINCON is the one weekend a year where you can feel the future of our industry arriving in real time. This September in Melbourne, the Australian Society of Dermal Clinicians (otherwise known as ASDC) all in on skin conference sharpened its focus on evidence, collaboration and practical change - and three launches/concepts stood out for clinics and brands planning their 2026 roadmaps.

1) An academic home for dermal science (led by Dr Frank Perri)

The first dedicated Academic Journal for Dermal Sciences was announced —spearheaded by Dr Frank Perri, longtime educator and life member of the ASDC. For a profession that’s matured rapidly inside multidisciplinary teams, a peer-reviewed journal is more than a fun magazine; it’s infrastructure for the dermal segment. Expect clearer standards, stronger citations for treatment protocols, and a more direct bridge between research and clinic rooms.

2) Personalised formulations via compounding (with Lane Khin)

Personalisation is no longer a throwaway line to get more bums in beds - it’s a method of prescription. Under prescriber oversight through the platform My Skin Compounding, compounding turns “custom” into clinical: selecting the right actives at the right percentages in the right vehicle for this skin. That might mean adjusting azelaic vs. retinoid load for tolerance, pairing pigment modulators with barrier support, or shifting the base from gel to cream as the barrier recovers. Perfect for those not quite suited to an off the shelf product or one time use situation.

NB: Compounded medicines require a valid prescription and compliant supply chain; clinics should integrate with a reputable compounding pharmacy and maintain rigorous informed-consent and aftercare pathways.

3) DermScreen: dermatologist second opinions on demand (founded by Dr Philip Tong)

Bridging the community-clinic-dermatologist gap, DermScreen (and its referral workflow, DermAssist) gives practitioners a secure way to submit clinical/dermoscopic images and receive rapid advice from consultant dermatologists - often within 24–48 hours. For regional practices and busy metro clinics alike, that means faster triage, clearer escalation, and better client peace of mind when something looks “not quite right.” For the beauty/skin sector, it formalises the “when in doubt” pathway and lifts the bar on duty-of-care and documentation.

Together, these three shifts tighten the weave between evidence, precision care, and timely specialist input. For clinic owners, this is the cue to go beyond “great treatments” into systematised skin health: documented protocols, measurable outcomes, and trusted referral loops.