Choosing The Right Skincare Brand

Choosing the brands that get results and best represent your business, and your ethos, is really important - and is not a decision that should be made lightly. Choosing a skincare brand is a decision that should especially not be made in haste.  Skincare is expensive, so it is an expensive mistake to make if you choose the wrong one. It also doesn't look great to clients if you keep chopping and changing brands.  One week you tell them this is the best moisturiser, the next week you are singing the praises of something else.  It is confusing.

 

Also, good skincare provides a business with great profit - both on services and the endless retail opportunities.  And I think, since Covid, Facials have really increased in popularity. Clients want result driven treatments and products and are willing to spend on them.

 

Ideally when you are choosing a brand you need to make a list of what you want that brand and product to provide you with.  It could be that it is result driven, vegan, paraben free, ethical, environmentally friendly, well known, has the best range of colours, is long lasting, is made in Britain etc. As tempting as it may be don't just automatically opt for the most well known, the cheapest or the one that everyone seems to be using on Facebook! Whilst there are advantages to choosing the most popular just because it is well known it doesn't mean it is the best, it may just mean the company have a big marketing budget!

 

Once you have your list of what you are looking for start your research.  Obviously the internet is a great place to start, trade magazines and trade shows are also brilliant - especially shows as you can see the product/equipment first hand. Contact the companies that interest you and ask to meet with their representative,always ask for a demonstration of a facial on you so as you can try the products and the services first hand and see how it feels for yourself. The other thing you must always ask for is samples of their product.....you can't sell, or use, something you have never tried yourself.

 

I had a really good skincare brand for quite some time, the product was superb, but sadly the company was a shambles.  The training was sub standard, every order I ever received was wrong, I had 5 different reps in 3 years and as time went on they just didn't meet my environmental standards. For me, as great as the product was, all of these things combined just caused me too much stress and hassle and it had to go. It cost me a fortune in time, and money, to change brands, the implications are huge.  New training, opening order, updating the website etc is all very costly and not a decision to make on a whim, but it had to be done. The final straw for me was when suddenly the retail prices went up and all products were put in to boxes.  Nobody needed a box and it wasn't remotely environmentally friendly.  I have spent years assessing my protocols, suppliers and so on to ensure I am being as environmentally friendly as possible.  I stopped having leaflets printed, and posters.  I have paper bags, not plastic.  I try to use as little single use products as possible (difficult now with Covid) and much more. So for the brand I had seeming to do the opposite by adding unnecessary packaging it had to go.

 

The skincare brand I have now is more result driven, paraben free, clients have commented that they have noticed a bigger improvement and more instant differences, it is a little cheaper and not only are none of their retail items in boxes many are also refillable.  On top of this, when my delivery arrives (which is always within 24 hour service) it is packaged in recyclable packaging and not bubble wrap and other unnecessary plastics! It ticks all of the things on my list when I was looking for skincare and it ticks all of the things in my clients lists too.  So whilst it was costly it was the right decision.

 

Once you have a short list of brands try and speak to others who already stock it to find out what their experiences are, what they think about the training, what the service is like, how much support they get from the brand and if clients like it.  This is easily done on social media groups and forums.  We have all seen the nail brands that people have bought in to that have caused serious allergies, this is largely down to a pure lack of education on the nail techs part, but nonetheless they are well marketed brands, used by many and long lasting.

 

I would also suggest you do some market research with your clients to see what is important to them. They may not care about the environmental side of it, they may be more interested in cost or whether the brand is vegan, but as they are your target market you need to take these factors in to consideration too.

 

Once you have chosen your brand make a big fuss about launching it.  Have an evening dedicated to it and invite your top 25/50/75 clients to an exclusive launch where they can find out more.  Get the representative from the company to do a presentation, have a demo, offer mini treatments, have a special promotion for the evening, perhaps even do goody bags and include some samples. You only have one chance to launch your new brand so  make a fuss about it, shout about it and really create a buzz about it.

 

Just one last thing. Whilst it isn't ideal to chop and change brands it is important to review things and ensure that the brands you have are serving you well as a business, just because you chose something ten years ago it doesn't mean that product is the best fit for your business now or indeed offering all of the things your clients require. Products advance, trends change and demands become more. If there is something better out there for your clients don't be afraid to introduce it.  If you don't the salon down the road will and your clients loyalty will only stretch so far if she isn't seeing the results she wants.