In honor of Mental Health Awareness month in May and the brand’s new “You Are More Than Your Scar” campaign, Mederma is revealing the ways in which perceived physical skin imperfections like acne scars, surgical scars and stretch marks can affect mental health, self-confidence and anxiety.

“When we were creating our new ‘You Are More Than Your Scar’ campaign, it was inspiring to see that every scar has a story, and more importantly, people often fight silent battles with their marks and scars. This survey has shown that skin insecurities affect everyone and feeling confident in the skin you’re in has a connection to mental health.”

— HRA Pharma America, President, Bradley Meeks

While the survey of 2,000 American adults revealed that skin imperfections have kept people from seeing family, going to birthday parties and even weddings, the survey also uncovered that some respondents already embrace their scars or have started to accept their insecurities – proving we are more than our scars.

Survey Results

Check out the Mederma “You Are More Than Your Scar” survey results below and what they reveal about Americans and their skin insecurities.

Americans’ Top Skin Insecurities

  • Respondents revealed that skin injuries like cuts (27%), burns (24%) and surgery scars (22%) have made them feel insecure about their physical looks.
  • When it comes to what makes people most self-conscious about their skin, the top concerns included acne scars (32%), stretch marks (30%) and existing acne (25%).

Mental Self-Care Takes A Backseat

  • 54% of respondents admitted they struggle to find time for self-love and self-care.
  • Over half of respondents describe themselves as the “hype man” or “hype woman” of their friend group that always boosts everyone else’s confidence – yet 54% struggle to get past their own insecurities to feel more confident in themselves.
  • 62% of those surveyed are prioritizing the needs of others and neglecting their own mental health.

Skin-Esteem

  • Three in five respondents also agreed that one thing, in particular, has a big impact on their self-confidence and mental health – their skin.
  • 58% of those surveyed said they’ve even had social anxiety due to bad skin in the past.
  • In fact, back in the pre-quarantine days, 61% of respondents said they’d skip events altogether instead of going through the hassle of dealing with skin issues and insecurities.

Skin Positivity

  • For those with scars, 62% shared they’ve started wearing their scars with pride because they’ve made them who they are today.
  • While so many suffer with skin insecurities, 64% of those surveyed said the pandemic has given them the time they needed to embrace their insecurities – and 52% have started to feel more confident in themselves.
  • Half of the respondents feel so confident in themselves today, they’d post an unfiltered selfie on social media, and 42% shared they’re more likely to join work video calls sans-makeup compared to the past.
  • With these struggles and journeys in mind, it’s no surprise that when respondents have a good skin day – 66% agreed they can take on the world.

Price of Clear Skin

  • According to respondents, the top five things people would do for picture perfect skin:
    • Cancel Netflix for life – 34%
    • Not use a smartphone for life – 33%
    • Only eat oatmeal for one year – 31%
    • Give up your favorite food for life – 27%
    • Give up sex for a year – 22%

Taking Cover

  • Covering up skin imperfections was common, with 31% of respondents noting that they use heavy makeup and 36% saying they wear baggy clothing to hide perceived skin issues.
  • Trying to get skin to look pristine also takes up a lot of time, with 26% of respondents saying their skincare routines take up about 5 to 6 hours a week.
  • Out of the 87% of respondents with scars, half said they used to hate their scars and that their scars negatively affected their self-confidence in the past.

Celeb Skin Wishlist

  • When asked what celebrity TV host’s skin they’d like to make a filter of, Savannah Guthrie, Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest were the respondents’ top three choices.
  • When it comes to stars with scars, Gen Z felt that Selena Gomez, Padma Lakshmi and Kylie Jenner “owned their scars” the best.

Mederma understands how Americans feel about scars and stretch marks that leave a mark, which is why the brand’s new “You Are More Than Your Scar” campaign strives to remind people that they are more than their skin imperfections. Alongside the new campaign, Mederma has also unveiled new packaging design across their entire suite of products that is currently rolling out on shelves.

[Source: Mederma, PR Newswire]