Facial Ranges! Making The Right Choice!

[Mrs.Clooney]

With final exams looming, I am giving much thought to what facial range to bring into my home salon. For most of us our budgets are very limited and yet we want to promote a fantastic and worthy product range which our clients will absolutely love! We want them to see results in their skin care and we obviously want to see the results too.

But how to go about it?

A couple of helpful people I know have suggested I launch my beauty business on a skin care range which really does not break the bank eg. Priadara or Hive Solutions. Their recommendation is 'build your client base first as in their experience most of my income will come from waxing and nails and not facials.'

As I am training at Champneys College, I can purchase the Champneys range at a discount and we use the products every day so I am already familiar with them.

But are clients really going to want to come to me if I follow this course of action? Is this going to help me build my business to the point that I can afford to introduce a more luxury skin care range of my choosing?

What provides you with your bread and butter? Is it facials or is it waxing, tinting, nails etc?..... Is there any point in currently parting with £1000 plus for a client base I don't have because I have no products to offer? It is a chicken and egg situation.

What do you suggest? What has been your experience please?

 

[Martigirl]

I faced the same problem and I also wanted a male friendly range which further complicated my search.

It is well known I chose Environ.

I have built a brand new client base also I started with 1 auntie lol

My facials are not my most popular treatment but once people try them the continue with them.

Once they buy the retail items they change over completely.

I would say I made my investment back within the year which I was happy with as I started from scratch.

My most popular treatment is spray tanning, then Hot Stone Massage.

hth's

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

I faced the same problem and I also wanted a male friendly range which further complicated my search.

It is well known I chose Environ.

I have built a brand new client base also I started with 1 auntie lol

My facials are not my most popular treatment but once people try them the continue with them.

Once they buy the retail items they change over completely.

I would say I made my investment back within the year which I was happy with as I started from scratch.

My most popular treatment is spray tanning, then Hot Stone Massage.

hth's

Thanks Martigirl. Environ? I would never have thought :wink2:, lol.

 

[number1kitty]

Can I ask a question with regards to those of you that use environ?

I did the training a couple of years ago, and the products are good. However during the training the trainer said it was pointless offering facials without purchasing their machine!!! At the time I was only looking to spend £500-£700. I certainly didnt want to buy a £3000 machine on top of this.

Also the trainer was adamant that the client needed at least 30 treatments at £60 over 5-6 weeks to get results GULP! Affluent area or not I thought that was quite steep!

So I suppose what I am saying is, How do you find just doing basic environ facials without the machine and do you still get results, or is it also down to hetting your clients on home care and combine the both. What put me off really was I thought that the basic Environ facial was something customers could do at home with their own home care products they purchased!

Also anyone had first hand experience with Aromatherapy Associates?? There a really good price point and I think they have both female and make ranges.

Danne Montague King is brilliant. Its about £500-£700 opening order, its natural plants and botanics and it gets results. Its a great price point and you can add more and more packages as you get more clients such as the body range, alkaline skin washing, skin peeling etc. Its fab for acne, rosacea, lines and wrinkles etc! I love it anyway!!!!!

Kate x

 

[essentia]

Hi I tried to get an Aromatherpy Associates account but they only deal with you if you have several treatment rooms. I do not think it was always like this but this was the response I received last year when I enquired.

 

[hippy-chick]

I'm loving academie!

I started off with Liz Earle, its not OTC but is available on Shopping channels and her own website. I used it because I used it at home and I really liked her style.

Once I run out of Liz Earle, I will be only academie.

 

[bombini]

It is a difficult choice to make when choosing a skincare range as on one hand you have expensive premium ranges that attract clients because of the name, products etc. they have seen, heard experienced them or there friends rave about them but this type of client tend to already go to a salon and have regular facials so you are effectively trying to tempt them to your salon with a better service, cheaper prices but I would think most of these clients (certainly mine) wouldn't go to joe bloggs down the road just because they were offering the same facial for a couple of pounds less there would have to be some pretty good incentives to make them switch or problems at there existing salon.

If you choose a less well known cheaper range I have found most clients are coming more for the facial and less for the products so in other words they are happy to have a facial once a month but just as happy to use cheap and cheerful products and not buy your retail. There not really buying into the concept of facials ifykwim

I personally would avoid getting a budget range in IF you are planning to upgrade in a year or so as I think it can cause problems when you change ranges. For example say you charged £30 for a facial (to make a decent profit) with the cheap range and then announced a year later you would now be using xyz range that was much more expensive and would need to charge £40 per facial some clients are going to be seriously put off by the £10 increase (or whatever increase you decided) so you could actually loose clients.

I think when opening a salon you have decide in the beginning what sort of clients you want and can attract if you want well off big spending clients then a decent range is a must if you aren't aiming at that market then by all means get a cheaper range in but I think there will be problems later if the range is swapped for a more effective range. I go for a facial every month and pay £40 if they told me next time they were changing to Elemis and I would have to pay £55/60 I would stop going because I couldn't afford the increase and I don't really want an Elemis facial im happy with what im using at the moment !

Finally I don't believe the very cheap ranges are anywhere near as effective as the premium brands, the quality of the ingredients says it all for me.

Anyway this is all just my opinion and from my experience but one other thing I would suggest is whatever range you choose make sure its something you LOVE and use yourself. Its easier to sell something if you believe in the products.

 

[bombini]

I'm loving academie!

I started off with Liz Earle, its not OTC but is available on Shopping channels and her own website. I used it because I used it at home and I really liked her style.

Once I run out of Liz Earle, I will be only academie.

Did you know Liz Earle will soon be a sort of semi professional range ?

I think she is opening some Liz Earle spas in London like the Elizabeth Arden ones.

 

[hippy-chick]

Did you know Liz Earle will soon be a sort of semi professional range ?

I think she is opening some Liz Earle spas in London like the Elizabeth Arden ones.

I'm not surprised, I wrote to them a while back asking if they were going to do a pro range and they invited me to be a tester. At the time, I wasn't doing very many facials so I declined. 18 months later, kicking myself!

But loving the essential oil facial.

 

[heidi14]

I'm not surprised, I wrote to them a while back asking if they were going to do a pro range and they invited me to be a tester. At the time, I wasn't doing very many facials so I declined. 18 months later, kicking myself!

Has anybody heard if/when a po range will be launched??

 

[heidi14]

I'm not surprised, I wrote to them a while back asking if they were going to do a pro range and they invited me to be a tester. At the time, I wasn't doing very many facials so I declined. 18 months later, kicking myself!

But loving the essential oil facial.

Has anybody heard if/when a po range will be launched??

 

[cabinkel]

I think this is an issue that is a real tricky one! I think without a doubt you should go for the best range that you can afford, as you want your clients first impression to be that you use quality products with proven track records. I dont think that this has to mean £2000 start up costs though, lol. I would say that 65% of my monthly takings are from facials, it is unquestionably my most popular treatment. I use two facial ranges, as I took on a second to give a more results driven facial. I think try loads of differant companies, and go for one that you feel confident in as this will come over to clients when you talk about the facials and what they will do for the client. Good luck with it all, and hope you dont get too much of a headache, lol:hug:

 

[Impulse1976]

I use Eve Taylor and its brilliant. The cost is low to set up, there is no minimum order quantity, they have lots of products on offer, the staff are really friendly and helpful. They do a 1 1/2 day training session in Peterborough which is suppost to be really helpful. They also do their own aromatherpy range too if your qualified in this area. Oh forgot they blend oils to use in your facial massage and they are far better than using a cream. www.eve-taylor.com you can view the web site as an end user but you can register as a trader onces you have insurance and have proved you are qualified. If your not yet qualified give them a call and explain your position and they will sign you in so you can take a look. HTH

 

[oey]

I think this is an issue that is a real tricky one! I think without a doubt you should go for the best range that you can afford, as you want your clients first impression to be that you use quality products with proven track records. I dont think that this has to mean £2000 start up costs though, lol. I would say that 65% of my monthly takings are from facials, it is unquestionably my most popular treatment. I use two facial ranges, as I took on a second to give a more results driven facial. I think try loads of differant companies, and go for one that you feel confident in as this will come over to clients when you talk about the facials and what they will do for the client. Good luck with it all, and hope you dont get too much of a headache, lol:hug:

Which 2 ranges do you use? What is it that makes your second one results driven?

 

[Martin Duffy]

I've used quite a few ranges in the past including Decleor, Dermalogica, Elemis, Aromatherapy Associates & Sothy's. My favourite without doubt is Decleor, and now I have my own clinic it is the range I've gone back to.

A number of ranges now only supply if you have several treatment rooms, such as Elemis & Aromatherapy Associates, which is quite ridiculous but there we are! Aromatherapy Associates have nice body products but their facial range is very limted (basically two lines) & has no professional only products. It all smells nice but if you want results I shouldn't bother with them anyway. The lack of professional only products is also a problem, if you can do it all at home then why go to a clinic is what your clients will be thinking, furthermore for good results you often need specialist products that would be problematic in the hands of your clients who might misuse them, and if a range is missing these it makes you wonder.

I would always go for a reputable name that has longevity, not one that Kylie & Madonna happen to be 'raving about' at that moment as these tend to be here today & gone tomorrow. Your skincare brand should also reflect your business philosophy and agreed it should be the best you can afford. I find facials are one of my most popular treatments & there is excellent retail opportunity even without the hard sell. I often wonder if the reason why people don't get many facial treatments is because they don't choose a good reputable results driven facial brand anyway. Also, bear in mind the reputation of the company - has your client even heard of the range you're using, because if not the chances are they won't be parting with their cash without some effort on your part to sell it to them.

 

[cabinkel]

Which 2 ranges do you use? What is it that makes your second one results driven?

Sorry late reply, busy busy!

My second range that i took on, (susan molyneux) had a more comprehensive range, and great products to deal with people concerned with aged skin ect. Plus they are the new suppliers of Nimue, another range that i like the look of! The Bio collagen masks are amazing!!!! I felt that the range that i already had, (eve taylor) was lovely, but, only in my opinion, it just wasnt touching some of my clients skins, (mainly very dry or dehydrated skins) I found it a beautiful range for maintaining clients current skin, and giving a wonderful relaxing facial experience, but not enough for more problamatic skins. Skin care is my big passion, and where most of my income is from, so I needed to have confidence that i could improve skin. I do a lot of 6 week courses of the SM collagen facials, and the results are fantastic. (plus the firming moisturiser is a huge retail seller as its fantastic)

I love both of the ranges that I stock, but for differant reasons. I offer facials with both ranges, depending on clients skin needs. Hope that helps a little, lol:hug:

 

[crazysaz]

2yr ago i brought in nimue, had read about it on here and i loved the fact that it treated skin problems.
anyway, the starter kit was full of products i never used, so i was constantly buying more meanwhile other stuff was going out of date. the training was poor as well.
plus i have to buy from southern ireland (euro) wheras im northern ireland which is stirling so i really should be buying frm the uk but they wont supply me, so im losing a fortune with the exchange rate plus they're 21% vat- on a bottle of clenser for retail, its a fiver cheaper to buyfrom susan molyneaux. the latest is i now have to pay forstaff training. its 150euro for the basic plus ive then to ive too pay that plus either 3 days train fares to dublin at £30 a time or a hotel.
i never hear from a rep, apart frm the 1 they employed last yr who had never worked in the beauty sector before, she actually sold red bull previously and she had not got a clue. hardly what you want when you've spent over £3k on a 'professional' brand. i have to pay for everything. samples, posters etc
dont do a lot of facials - dont know why this is, i think i do a good one and put a lot of effort into my facials, poss price? im expensive enough and no 1s heard of it. thought about getting another more recognised brand in , eg dermalogica but at the min im so busy with nails and waxing i think i may just forget about facials! no point throwing good money after bad!

 

[lenna]

2yr ago i brought in nimue, had read about it on here and i loved the fact that it treated skin problems.
anyway, the starter kit was full of products i never used, so i was constantly buying more meanwhile other stuff was going out of date. the training was poor as well.
plus i have to buy from southern ireland (euro) wheras im northern ireland which is stirling so i really should be buying frm the uk but they wont supply me, so im losing a fortune with the exchange rate plus they're 21% vat- on a bottle of clenser for retail, its a fiver cheaper to buyfrom susan molyneaux. the latest is i now have to pay forstaff training. its 150euro for the basic plus ive then to ive too pay that plus either 3 days train fares to dublin at £30 a time or a hotel.
i never hear from a rep, apart frm the 1 they employed last yr who had never worked in the beauty sector before, she actually sold red bull previously and she had not got a clue. hardly what you want when you've spent over £3k on a 'professional' brand. i have to pay for everything. samples, posters etc
dont do a lot of facials - dont know why this is, i think i do a good one and put a lot of effort into my facials, poss price? im expensive enough and no 1s heard of it. thought about getting another more recognised brand in , eg dermalogica but at the min im so busy with nails and waxing i think i may just forget about facials! no point throwing good money after bad!

hi
i would not advise you to go with dermalogia after allready spending out a lot off money on another brand, i went with dermalogica but am now currently looking at eve taylor or agologie to switch to aomething reasonably priced yet good. thats just my view anyway

 

[Skyblue]

I'm not surprised, I wrote to them a while back asking if they were going to do a pro range and they invited me to be a tester. At the time, I wasn't doing very many facials so I declined. 18 months later, kicking myself!

Has anybody heard if/when a po range will be launched??

I would like to use Liz Earle in my home salon when I open it, so would be interested in this.
Does anyone use Liz Earle products on their clients just now?

 

[Nicki-Marie]

I have two skincare ranges .. One being MD Formulations and the other Susan Molyneux. Although currently phasing this out to be replaced with a new skincare line ... 3 years ago I started with very basic Natures Way, then moved to Susan molyneux, to now MD and soon a new line to go along side.

Since taking on MD my facials have been results driven. My clients no longer just want a 'relaxing' facial. They want to see and feel a difference.

I totally agree with what bombini says about If you choose a less well known cheaper range that most clients are coming more for the facial and less for the products, that they are happy to have a facial once a month but just as happy to use cheap and cheerful products and not buy your retail. I found this to be exactly the case with my clients.