The Ella Baché story begins with a couple named Edith and George Hallas fleeing Europe on the brink of WWII. Heralding from Hungary, the Hallas’ travelled to Paris shortly after they wed in the 1930s, staying for four weeks with George’s cousin Ella Baché. That visit saw the birth of a significant relationship between Ella, a cosmetic chemist, and beauty therapist Edith. In fact, the partnership would eventually spawn one of Australia’s biggest skincare brands, now in its third generation within the Hallas family.
It was 1939 when the Hallas’ met Ella, and Europe was a tumultuous place to be – particularly for anyone Jewish, as George’s family was. Predicting difficult times ahead, George and Edith applied to emigrate to Canada, New Zealand or Australia. It was during their stay with Ella that news broke of Germany’s invasion of Poland, marking the beginning of WWII. The Hallas’ visa came through the next day, allowing the couple to board the last boat to Australia and arrive in Sydney six weeks later, armed with a small bag of Ella Baché’s unique cosmetic formulas.
My mother’s meeting with Ella Baché in Paris was the start of a formidable relationship,” explains John Hallas, son of Edith and George and current chairman of the company. My mother’s passion was the sell, while Ella’s was for the formulas and raw materials.”
Once in Australia, Edith began working out of her home as a beauty therapist, using a number of Ella Baché’s products. In 1954, she walked into David Jones armed with these products with the hope of winning over the department store’s beauty buyer. Sure enough, the company signed on the Ella Baché brand after Edith waxed the buyer’s leg then and there.
According to Edith and George’s granddaughter (John’s daughter), , CEO of Ella Baché today, the brand’s partnership with David Jones helped shape the brand that is now a household name. It was a fantastic brand alignment. It allowed my grandmother a platform to reach clients on because the beauty industry didn’t even exist at that time in Australia. From there, she was able to supply to salons around the country,” Pippa explains.
Not only is the brand still stocked in 35 David Jones stores nationwide, there are also more than 180 Ella Baché franchise salons around Australia, making it one of the largest locally owned skincare companies in the country. Not to mention one that holds its core values close to heart, having remained in the Hallas family since its inception.
Ella’s mantra was always ‘because no two skins are alike’,” says Pippa. That approach and that philosophy is one we still very much use today. Prescribing the right skincare products accordingly is of absolute importance to us.”
It’s not surprising then, that the company prides itself on the level of training it gives to its therapists. That is our number one,” reiterates Pippa. That is one of our fundamental non-negotiables, to make sure every single one of our staff and every single one of our therapists, whether they work in one of our salons or David Jones, has been trained by us.”
Ella Baché’s high standard of training is one of the reasons its College of Skin and Beauty Therapy is so popular with young beauty therapists around the country. We have approximately 200 students there, plus we have satellite colleges around Australia as well as a distance program,” says Pippa.
Pippa doesn’t shy away from the importance of highly trained staff, having experienced first hand that things can go awry when an amateur gets hold of the waxing pot when she Ella Baché goes undercover for reality TV of Channel Ten’s Undercover Boss. Disguised as trainee beauty therapist Liz Dwyer, Pippa visited several Ella Baché salons around Australia, trying her hand at everything from waxing to point of sale. I was supposed to not know what I was doing … and I did a very good job of that,” she admits.
In terms of product development, Ella Baché is a brand of many firsts. Madame Baché was the first cosmetic chemist Tomato Radiance Cream in 1936, after noticing the effect tomato extract had on the skin in young girls in Hungary. She was also the first to use codfish when in 1936 she created Intensive Recovery Cream and Breakout Treatment Cream , two products that are still bestsellers within the Baché stable today.
In the early 1990s, the brand took a great step in broadening its product range when John Hallas researched and created the first Australian-made suncare protection in the form of Great 30+ Sportsbloc. Tested on lifesavers at Whale Beach in NSW, the product marked an important milestone in the brand’s move into sun protection. I think that’s one of our points of differences, certainly against some of the premium brands that are imported from Europe,” says Pippa. We now have a huge suncare range developed by Australian researchers for Australian sun.”
One sun-loving Aussie the brand has become firmly aligned with is Jessica Watson, whose pink Ella” sailing boat took her around the world on her record-breaking solo trip, and subsequently became and Aussie icon. Pippa describes the sponsorship as a wonderful thing to be a part of”, and one that she can see continuing for years to come. I think Jess is the type of person that will keep on doing extraordinary things – she just led the youngest crew in the Sydney to Harbour Yacht Race.”
Just like its brand ambassador, Ella Baché doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, with a growth plan in place to open 10 new salons a year. The brand will also focus on new product innovations and treatments, and we can expect a relaunch of the brand towards spring this year. While Pippa couldn’t confirm what was planned, she did reveal that the updated look would be very exciting”, which, going on the history of the brand, is simply in keeping with tradition of Ella Baché.