Introduction

There has been a considerable increase, in the last two decades, in cosmetic surgery and dieting as well as the profile of the fashion and cosmetic industry. The ‘appearance industry’ is a multi-million pound business aimed at selling beauty products to the widest possible market and this has served to increase the pressure that many people feel to conform to unreachable standards in physical aesthetics. Particularly in the Western world, we see adverts that project the agenda that ‘attractive people are popular, happy, successful, interesting and are often loved and worshipped’ (Papadopoulos & Walker, 2003). This is particularly acute when looking at adverts for facial washes and scrubs for acne that intentionally contrast the relative social successes of individuals with and without a given skin disease. Of course, cosmetic and physical perfection are rarely associated with those experiencing cutaneous conditions and so people with dermatological illnesses are often left feeling minimised as people. Modern adverstising can promote just the kind of messages that psychological health professionals try to minimise; that is, to put your life on hold until the skin disease clears and to feel less worth than those around you with clear skin. Skin disease patients can, understandably, be highly sensitive to the social significance of their actions and appearance, and the development of beliefs about their disease are influenced by the information they receive from their culture (Papadopoulos & Bor, 1999).