Guinot’s head of training & developments Sandrine Carliez talks to bd about her career path, the brand’s success and its philosophy.
What is your professional background and how did you come to work at Guinot?
I have worked in cosmetics for 20 years and started out in department stores. I worked my way up to management and ended up doing a lot in terms of marketing beauty brands within department stores. Then I decided to move into the beauty salon industry and start to teach therapists.
Working for a salon brand was attractive to me because in France we really do believe in salons giving clients the best kind of cosmetic advice and service. There is a much greater foundation of trust within a salon.
I moved to the US and became a trainer for the whole east coast with another French brand but took the decision to move home after September 11. I have worked for Guinot since 2002. What I like about the brand is that the people within the salons are professionals who are able to properly diagnose conditions and prescribe products. You cannot get this level of attention from a brand sold over the counter in a department store.”
What is unique about the Guinot brand?
So much is about the quality of the product. We don’t advertise or spend on marketing, so our faith is in our product and our treatments. That is why people come to our salons, because they can see the result in their skin.
We also invest heavily in improving service and the knowledge of the therapist so that we can give the best service, skin diagnosis consultation and follow-up.
The follow-up is very important in terms of the overall effect – the treatment is only 50 per cent. The rest is about using the right products afterward to build on the treatment and keep improving the skin. After one month, clients should have their skin re-diagnosed in order to determine again what is necessary.”
Do you recommend clients change their skincare regime throughout the year?
Of course! It is necessary to rebalance the skin all the time. You don’t eat the same thing all year round, do you? You change your food to be seasonal so you should also change your skincare products to keep giving your skin what it needs at that time. It is like a balanced diet for the skin! That is why we recommend that every few months you have a skin diagnosis so we can see what your skin needs and then change the products you are giving it accordingly.
You should always be able to see positive effects on your skin. Otherwise your product may be inefficient and it may be time for a skin diagnosis and new prescription to balance the skin.”
How many salons does Guinot now have in France?
We have over 1500 salons in France now. We actually closed down a few salons last year because they didn’t meet our quality guidelines. We do not want to have too many salons just for the number alone if it means that the service is not good enough.”
What is the newest innovation at Guinot?
I am here in Australia to train our therapists in the new ‘Double Ionisation‘ Hydradermie Treatment. The treatment has three phases. The first is application of serum gels chosen by the beauty therapist after skin diagnosis using treatment electrodes that ionise gels on the face to allow for the penetration of both positive and negative ions for extra effective treatment and deeper clean. The second phase is oxygenation achieved through applying static electricity to revive the complexion and increase radiance via subcutaneous circulation. Finally the treatment finishes with a relaxing massage – the part all clients love.”
What do you have in the pipeline for Guinot in the coming year?
The most exciting thing at the moment is preparing to open our own beauty school in France. We want to increase the level of education for therapists so we will be opening the school in September 2012, in time for the start of the French school year. Guinot has always been a leader in education and this is something salons definitely do the best so I think it is a really big step for us.
France has a good culture of going to salons for skin consultation so I think this initiative will do very well. It is something we are busy educating different countries about, where the salon culture still lags behind wanting to run into the department store, even though you cannot get the same attention and access the same knowledge as if you go to a salon. It is why regular salon visits are so important.”
Guinot's head of training & developments Sandrine Carliez.