Spa Canada Magazine
Surgery, Cosmetics … Or?
By Jim Carr
Surgery or cosmetics? For Odile Mennechet, international trainer for Maria Galland, it’s not an either/or proposition.
“It’s a combination. You can do botox injections or undergo surgery but you still have to apply a product and still care for your skin daily.”
Odile, who trains Maria Galland’s distributors all over the world, was in the Toronto area recently to update trainers at Nauchman Professional Beauty Products in Markham.
“It will still be necessary to remove your makeup, nourish and moisturize your skin, no matter what you do. It’s one of the reasons why I see cosmetics and the medical field working even closer in the future.”
Maria Galland, she notes, has been in Canada since 1970. In fact, Canada was the first country to sell Maria Galland outside Europe. Maria Galland’s products are now distributed in 44 countries. It has seven subsidiaries in Europe, including Germany, where the company’s head office is located; Spain; Italy; France and Belgium; and operates research laboratories in Switzerland, Germany and France.
Odile is based in Paris and trains distributors’ trainers, who in turn train beauty therapists in the use of the company’s products. The company’s philosophy was created by Maria Galland, herself. That was in 1963, when she came up with the idea of creating a specific hot modeling mask, in which she combined metallic powders and a mask that could be removed at one time like a print.
“She liked to say that each woman was unique,” said Odile, “and that there was no skin type. She went on to develop a treatment, which is personalized each time.”
It’s not just one facial care but one that enables the beauty therapist to personalize each treatment. Not a package but a system in which the beauty therapist goes through a consultation and creates a specific treatment for that client.
“It’s what makes us different from other brands and why the training is so important. It’s also,” she says, “to add value to the therapist.”
In the 1970s, two of Maria Galland’s creams were listed in Vidal, a French medical dictionary. The creams are designed to help the skin regenerate after being burned. Maria Galland’s connection with the medical field was recently reinforced with the launch of its new Système Dermatologie (SC) line, designed for pre- and post-operative care for surgical facelifts. It also prepares the skin for enhanced results for IPL, laser, RF and injectible treatments.
She describes it as a complete modular system that activates skin renewal, including reducing pigmentation marks and cutting cell renewal time down to 12 days, even in the case of aged skin.
“SD treatments,” she explained, “are not really concerned with the age of the client but with the original condition of the skin and helping the skin regain maximum activity. It’s like helping the skin to help itself.”
Effectiveness and quality have been critical factors for Maria Galland – from the creation of the company. “Mme Galland was very innovative and was constantly searching for the best quality ingredients with high performance.”
The results, she adds, are visible immediately – instant as well as long term.
“Yesterday, I did an SD treatment and when I met with her at lunch today, we met one of her friends, who asked her what did you do?
“The effect on the skin depends on the individual. Mostly, the luminosity or radiance of the skin is different. It has more color and is full of vitality. We have a specific treatment that acts in three dimensions. It’s quite exceptional – immediately after the treatment. You can see that the skin has regained volume and density.”
Odile expects to see more and more natural products as we go forward – to extract what is really powerful from nature, products that are really powerful in a natural way,
Maria Galland’s SD line is made up of 13 retail products and 14 professional products. Its regular line, offering ranges for face, body, makeup, sun care, is far more extensive – more than 100 products each for retail and professional.
“We try to create a three-way win/win situation, in which the end user gets the right treatment and the right product their skin needs,” says Bonnie Chan, Nauchman’s business development manager.
“And we don’t just sell products. We follow through until our customers – the estheticians who use our products – are comfortable with their understanding of each product and treatment.”
They also get up-to-date marketing information and know-how and raise their sense of professionalism by using Maria Galland products, says Bonnie.
“Maria Galland feeds us with information on the latest European trends and what’s going on in the industry there to help our customers keep a step ahead of the market.”
Nauchman’s customers are spas and salons in Canada’s mutli-cultural market. They include mainstream as well as Chinese and Indian customers across the country.
“The brand is very well known in Russia, where Maria Galland is considered top of the line. We’ve been able to piggyback on that awareness in Canada. “
In addition to Markham, Nauchman has a sales office in Vancouver, which covers Western Canada. The Markham office is managed by Angel Lam.
