Passion for Skin Turns Into Product Line, 2nd Book
Plastic Surgery News, October 1, 2007

Dr. Copeland writes what she knows.

Editor's note: Periodically, PSN features books written by ASPS members that other ASPS members' patients may be reading.

Michelle Copeland, M.D., D.M.D., takes to heart the old saying about writing: Write about what you know and what you're passionate about.
Dr. Copeland, an ASPS member who runs a private practice in New York, recently released her second book, The Beautiful Skin Workout: Eight Weeks to the Smoothest, Healthiest Skin of Your Life (St. Martin's Griffin, New York).

"Skin care is something about which I'm passionate and I enjoy," says Dr. Copeland, assistant professor of clinical surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "Writing this wasn't really work for me. It's a fun part of the things I do."

Dr. Copeland's first book, Change Your Looks, Change Your Life, deals with general topics in aesthetic surgery and includes several sections on skin care. She had hired a literary agent to shepherd the book proposal and outline to HarperCollins Publishers, New York. "To get published, you need a good idea, proposal and outline—and having a literary agent never hurts." Dr. Copeland says.

She says she decided to write the second book—which took her a year to complete—in order to focus exclusively upon skin.

"This is a no-nonsense book that gives men and women the tools they can use for better skin care," she says. "It can be a confusing topic that can leave people feeling bombarded with information. My book dispels the myths and hype of skin care and makes clear what really affects the beauty and health of the skin. The topics are myriad."

The 162-page book—which includes a glossary of skin care terms—encompasses five chapters:

• The Beautiful Skin Workout
• The Ten Commandments of Creamy Skin
• The Five Exercises of CEAMP (cleanse, exfoliate, activate, moisturize and protect)
• Designing a Beautiful Skin Workout
• The Future of Skin Care

Dr. Copeland's biochemistry background—including research with proteins, peptides and collagen synthesis at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, in the early 1970s—gave her an understanding of the biology of the skin and opened new avenues beyond the conventional to improve the appearance of the skin, she says.

"I had been frustrated at the lack of available quality skin-care products and believed I could develop my own," says Dr. Copeland. Today, Dr. Michelle Copeland Skin Care Products are carried by ShopNBC and other outlets.

She worked for several months with different laboratories to develop the cosmetic formulations that were to her liking, Dr. Copeland adds.

"I know the skin problems men and women deal with every day," she adds, "and I feel that I've provided a way for them to take control of their lives and change how they look and feel."

To learn more about Dr. Copeland's skin care product line, go to www.drcopelandskincare.com.