When I first went into buiness I bought the full professional range from Eve Taylor. Now I like the products, but personally I don't think they are particularly results driven, rather more a skin maintenance product really.

Anyway, the pro products are all approaching their expiry and I have loads left, hardly used them to be honest because I just can't get people in for facials. I'm lucky if I get a booking for one a month!!

I'm stuck in deciding whether to simply replace the products with more of the same and risk throwing them out again come their expiry date or whether to invest in a completely new brand and hope that it will bring in more clients.

My budget is limited so I guess my choices are too. I woulddearly love to get in something which the clients already know of but again cost factors then.

If you are only doing so few facials, you can just buy less stuff to work with, you don't really need to have all the cleansers and toners, you can just have two, one for oily and the other one for any other skin type (like cleanser and toner for sensitive skin, you can use it on dry, dehydrated skins too). See what kind of clients you have most of, if mature then keep more products for their skins, and so on. I hardly get any yang people for facials so i don't have much products for oily skin. If you want to invest in to a different skin care, you have to do a research first, see if many of your clients are interested. Like, if many of them will be ready to take a course of results driven treatments, then it is a green light for you to go ahead with some more effective skin care. A friend of mine is a mobile, and she hardly gets any clients for facials. She tried a few different brands, but nothing really worked for her, so she is just using Natural Ways, so she spends as little money on skin products as possible. But I think it can be completely different for you, so do your research.
I do many facials, and I have different clients. Some need results, others don't really care what you use, they just need to relax. I have to say the first ones are the best, because they have their facials regularly and always buy skin care from you too. By the way, many people on this forum love Eve Taylor and they think it can deliver good results too.
What ever you choose to go with good luck with it.

Debs, I would recommend you have a look at Environ. The opening order is low and the brand is results driven. They don't encourage you to carry lots of stock because the shelf life is fairly short. You need to undergo their training before you buy it - but that's a good thing, right? Then, when you are trained, they will come and do a launch with you, so you can invite all your clients, and everyone you know, for a computerised skin analysis, at the same time you could offer a promotion on facials booked on the night. Could be a good way to get your facial business back on track

What do you think is the reason that you can't get people in for facials? I think you need to work that out before you invest in another new range, otherwise you run the risk of wasting yet more money. I use, and am immensely pleased with, SwissDermyl. I do about 5 facials a week at the moment, and I intend to increase that to about 8 by marketing and promotions. Facials are a very good way to increase your retail sales so it makes sense to increase the number you carry out.

Do you not do many facials because, by your own admission, you are not 100% commited & loved-up by Eve Taylor?

We never used to do many facials, then I changed skincare products, which are soooo much better. We were all loved up with them & we found this enthusiasm helped to get more facial bookings.

What I also do which helps get more bookings is every so often with our monthly promotions I include a mini facial with some other treatments. This gets the clients to try out the products & see the results, which then leads to them booking a full facial the following month.

In theory, retail sales should also increase but my therapists are not particulary good on that atm.

Like Calla, I'm planning on increasing the amount of facials we do.

I think that is spot on!! I don't have faith in my products any more.

Ideally I would have a brand which insisted on training first because that in itself fills you with entheusiasm too. I am awaiting some info from Collin skincare but I don't know what else to go for really. Budget is a major problem.

Hi I agree with most of what has been said on here - you do have to be convinced and love what you are promoting as it always shines through. However if you only have a few products and a very basic range it will not inspire much confidence about being a skincare professional! so if you are going to do facials I would go for it otherwise it sends out a half-hearted message. I have so much interest in my products (nimue) and facials - but it did not start out that way. So promote and be enthusiastic and the word will soon get around.

Hi guys

i use a brand call academie french cosmetics. I find the product great and alot of the facials come boxed up. That is besides the cleanser,toner and mosturiser the products used come in 1 box. so after you buy say 2 types of cleanser/toner and moisturiser you only have to buy whatever facial you are looking for. Say one for hydration - you would use a suitable cleanser/toner and moisturiser and the rest of the products are in the box. I have quite a small salon so this way i keep the cost of my facials down. you should check them out on line. they are international so i am sure they are in the uk

Please can you tell me who the distributor of Academie is? I remember when I was looking into which brand to use I couldn't find who to contact as their website is STILL under construction!
Thanks!

I would like to know the distributer too x

OK I have emailed Nimue so hopefully will hear from them soon.

What other skincare brands can I gegt in for about £1500? Not a huge budget unfortunately.

SwissDermyl - 1500 quid will get you more than well set up. Their training is excellent, as is their customer support, and the products are really very good. I have many repeat customers and the products are very easy to retail. PM me if you want more details!

I have academie, its the acadarome essential oil facial that I think Sparkle is talking about.
they are based in Leeds. PM if you want to know costings and couple of tips regarding it.

Do you have any ranges in mind already that you like ?

I can understand the prediciment your in as I had the same thing about a year ago, my advice would be when you find a range that you like within budget go for a few facials first at a salon that uses them to see what you think before commiting.

I made a huge mistake taking on academie not long after I started at the salon. Academie does give 'good' results but when I changed to Dermalogica ALL of my clients wanted to switch facials and they all confirmed that results were more visible with Dermalogica, also the cost of the academie anti ageing facials per treatment was a complete rip off, the top facial they offer costs the therapist £20 per treatment to do

Dermalogica did cost me a lot of money but it sells well and it works, if you have your heart set on a range that it is over budget then I would hang on for a while and save up as you may find it costs you more in the long run if you don't believe in your new range and clients don't book in.

To use up your old products I would maybe offer 50% off mini facials or something if they book in for another treatment, they may even start having regular facials with your current range then !

What an excellent idea! Why didn't I think of that. I'll produce a newsletter or something si,ilar in the next week or so to get the ball rolling.

I've been speaking with Calla about SwissDermyl product range and it sounds good. Does anyone else have any experience of it?