Personal Care For Professional Use

Posted: July 25, 2007

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C&T: So the esthetician treats the surface of the skin. The derm docs treat the dermis.
Clarice: Technically that is correct. If estheticians say we’re treating the dermis, then we’re making a drug claim. But by the way, the peptides really are working in the dermis; we have to be careful there; we can’t come out and say that.

C&T: Yeah. A medical formulator at Young said peptides work in the lowest levels of the epidermis where the fibroblasts are living. Clarice: Well, my understanding is that the peptides work mostly in the epidermal junction, so that’s probably a safe way for companies to say the peptides are working within cosmetic limits. i.e., is the epidermal junction technically the epidermis or is it the dermis? I would go with the Young version because that’s a safer statement for us in this industry.

C&T: So you like training in formal classes. What about handouts, sample, before and after photos. Do they play a role in training? Clarice: We need it all. If you’re telling me a specific ingredient does A, I want to see before and after pictures showing it does what you say. When the raw ingredient suppliers YG uses present an ingredient to Rebecca, they show the before and after slides. She is very particular about the b&a pictures and uses them in her presentations. Yes, spa people are very visual people. That’s why b&a pictures and classroom presentations work for us. I tried to read C&T magazine once, but I couldn’t follow it at all. Too technical. I need stuff simple; in bullet form. Spa people want to know the science, and it’s hard to find (compared to stuff on the business side of spas); but we need it a form that’s understandable to us. And there are so many conflicting internet sources; sites that downplay ingredients; sites of people who think they need to protect the world from cosmetics. It’s a matter of people being smart about what websites they go on. I have a big advantage there because of my connection with a company like YG. Anyone who carries their products has an advantage. At her classes Rebecca hands out a list of websites she finds are honest. Available is another issue. A spa owner has to manage staff, do the marketing, etc. You don’t always have time to sit down and research ingredients. That’s why spa owners should take advantages of the classes that are offered. The classes are offered to help people out, but it’s very hard to get people in ‘em.

Clarice: The Midwest Beauty Show is in March, so this April article is too late to promote it. But you should be promoting the Face & Body show in August and the American Expo in October. For C&T, especially American Expo, which is co-sponsored by Skin Inc and the Chicago Cosmetology Association. A lot of the manufacturers read C&T. There are some great classes offered at that show. They have speakers. This year the Midwest Show has speakers from the American Association of Esthetics Education; four people give a class; the classes must not be product-specific. F&B has classes all day on the first day of F&B; those classes are non-product classes; Linda and others pre-review each presenter’s PowerPoint and delete anything too product specific or too much like a drug claim. Those are the three best shows: Midwest, F&B and American Expo; the last two are Skin Inc shows and they’re the best because of their non-product classes. But Saturday classes at the Skin Inc shows are tough because spa people find it hard to take Saturdays off. Mondays aren’t good because that’s the last day and the manufacturers are leaving. It’s a tough call. Also, manufacturers can buy their own classrooms at the shows and present whatever they want there, even it if is product-specific.

C&T: When you were selling cosmetics in the drug store, what kind of training did you get for that?
Clarice: When I sold Elizabeth Arden and Ultima, they had classes 2-3 times a year that they would send you to. I got a lot of my basic skin care training there. In those days, Arden products were manufactured by Ely Lilly. We learned great technology then and it’s back in the industry now, but it went by the wayside when Faberge bought Arden. It was a manufacturer’s class, geared to the products they produce, but it had a lot of good information there. The best training I got in the drug store was seeing the customers come back day after day. A customer would come in directly from a derm doc who recommended Product A, B and C; a few days later the customer would come back and I could track the product’s results, and if necessary suggest Product D instead. So my drug store training was from manufacturer classes, learning the products on the shelves, seeing what the derm doc prescribed/recommended, and also talking with the pharmacist. You won’t get that kind of training any more in pharmacies, because they don’t have those cosmetic-type departments with the beauty experts.