What if that endorsement for lip filler isn’t an ad but an opinion? And what if that opinion doesn’t come from an “influencer” but a medical professional? One who just happens to have tens or even hundreds of thousands of followers?

This is the yet-unsettled and somewhat unsettling territory occupied by medical influencers in the beauty industry—dermatologists, nurse practitioners, naturopaths, chemists, aestheticians—many of whom hesitate to use the term medical influencer, but influence nonetheless.