ABOUT DERMALOGICA

The Dermalogica skin care line is phenomenally successful around the world and can count A-List celebrities amongst its avid fans. Despite its stellar success, it has its roots in humble beginnings in the early 1980s. Its young founders, Raymond and Jane Wurwand, shared a vision of formulating and selling a technically advanced yet natural “no junk” skin care range, and providing qualified skin care education to an industry that placed higher priority over attractive packaging rather than science.

With the combination of their pioneering spirit, industriousness, determination to succeed and sheer hard work, Raymond and Jane Wurwand have created a ground breaking and innovative high-end skin care line and educational system. Dermalogica products have grown from a fledgling business funded with a very small loan to an ever expanding and evolving worldwide skin care business whose International Dermal Institute (IDI) continues to serve as a benchmark for international postgraduate aesthetician training.

Dermalogica's use of professional skin therapists plays a key part in its brand identity. Through the education provided by IDI, Dermalogica focuses on training its representatives in Dermalogica specific skincare techniques and a thorough knowledge of the product line. Rather than focusing on fancy packaging, luxury and indulgence, as many of their competitors do, Dermalogica provide their customers with concept stores which are targeted towards education and skin health.

Another major part of Dermalogica’s ideology is Raymond and Jane’s visionary and focused approach to skincare and their imperviousness to the ephemeral trends which are rife within the skincare business.

THE VISIONARIES BEHIND DERMALOGICA

Jane Wurwand has always been captivated by the beauty business. As a 13 year old schoolgirl she lied about her age so that she could get a job working in a local hair salon on Saturdays and after school. Her mother had been widowed at the age of 38 and was left alone with four young girls to raise who were all under the age of 14. She sensibly instilled in her daughters that the most essential thing for them to be able to do for themselves in their lives was to learn to do something that would enable them to put food on the table at any time in the future. Jane quickly absorbed her mother's message and she became determined to follow her passion for the beauty business and her mother’s practical approach.

Most people would not find working laboriously picking hair pins out of hair clippings swept up from a hair salon floor, sterilizing the pins, placing them into boxes and trolleys and returning them to the salon for the hairdressers to continue their work appealing but for Jane, who was so fascinated by the beauty business, this exposure to the atmosphere and workings of day to day life in a salon was a life changing and inspirational experience. She not only enjoyed the work, no matter how tedious it could be, but she felt dynamized by it. She continues to experience the same dynamism and energy to this day despite having worked in the beauty business for over 30 years. This sheer enthusiasm, zest for and love of the beauty business is what has driven her, along with her husband Raymond, to create Dermalogica and to turn it into a thriving, and hugely successful business worldwide.

Jane qualified to become a licensed skin care professional in England which is a country that has far higher and more stringent criteria for becoming a skin therapist than the United States. Upon realizing that her chosen industry was not particularly well-respected or stringent in its licensing standards, she started teaching weekly classes in skin care techniques.

During the recession in 1983, Jane flew out to America to join her South African boyfriend, Raymond, who had gone out there ahead of her and had been living in Southern California for a few months already. He and Jane had each flown over to America on a budget airline with a suitcase each, hoping that they could figure out a way to make a good living and realize their ambitions.

Once he was in America, Raymond started working as a sales representative for a company which sold equipment to the skin care industry. The job was a major step down for him because he had previously worked as a top marketing executive with a company based in South Africa. In his new job in America he was finding it challenging trying to sell advanced skin care equipment to an industry which was focused on clever, enticing packaging rather than scientific fact. Because nobody knew how to use this advanced equipment nobody was buying it and Raymond was finding it hard to make a living. Raymond asked Jane, in her role as a licensed instructor, to go to the company’s showroom and do some classes. They subsequently spent six months holding a class every week and due to the success of those classes they managed to start selling a large amount of equipment. Positive word of mouth ensured that very quickly the classes became a huge success.

CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DERMAL INSTITUTE

Jane and Raymond were able to borrow a small amount of money in 1983 with which to try to get their fledgling business off the ground. They took a lease on a 1,000sq.ft space and set up a school for skin therapists near to their apartment because Jane had no car at the time and had to be able to get there on foot. They had done a lot of research and had recognized that they needed to begin with education because this was where the greatest need was.

Jane quickly realized that there were no products available to her students which were suitable for the curriculum she and Raymond had created. The products that were available tended to cause as many problems (such as irritation and dryness) as they solved. She was unable to find product lines that placed an emphasis on skin care as a health issue, rather than as a cosmetic concern. Because of this, she began the process of creating products which she wanted to be able to use in her classes. Chemists told her that what she wanted was impossible to achieve because she wanted to create formulations which were free of additives such as artificial colors and fragrances, lanolin, mineral oil and S D alcohol, which were all things that were present in every other skin care product at the time and which are still present in many beauty products today.

However, with her ambitious, risk taking nature and enthusiasm for the skin care business, and by listening to her own intuition, Jane was unaffected by all of the well-meaning advice that people would give her and focused on the opportunities and not the challenges. She was constantly told that her ideas would never work, but the more she faced this resistance the more determined she grew and the more successful she became. She realized that people telling her she was crazy was usually a good indication that she was doing something right and that what she was doing was the right course for her to pursue.

Jane’s weekly classes in Marina Del Rey, Southern California, became so popular that she and Raymond put together a business plan and in 1986 they launched The International Dermal Institute (IDI), a post-graduate school which trains licensed skin therapists. With the help of a chemist, Jane developed the first additive free products that would become the foundation stones of the Dermalogica skin care line.

This “no junk” approach means that Dermalogica’s products are able to be tolerated by many people with skin conditions such as eczema and chronic dermatitis. Jane herself had suffered with skin problems when she was young and this was one of the reasons behind her aspiration to create a range of skin care products which were free of artificial ingredients and which were as natural, gentle and good for the skin as possible.

As well as the benefits derived from using skin care products which are free of unnecessary and unhealthy additives, Dermalogica’s results oriented products have been developed for professional use and are then recommended by their staff to clients to use at home. This means that Dermalogica products are formulated at an active level that can achieve results on the skin. They are not designed to be picked off the shelf and used without prior recommendation. However, Dermalogica also now officially sells its products online and their website (www.dermalogica.com) has introduced Speed Mapping (an interactive form of its in-person Face Mapping) to assist first-time customers in selecting Dermalogica products that are specifically suited to their skin type.

Justifiably proud of the exceptional ingredients contained in its products, Dermalogica rigorously tests every batch of products for absolute purity, avoiding comedogenic and substances which are known to cause allergies and, whenever possible, they use ingredients from renewable sources. None of the Dermalogica products are tested on animals.

DERMALOGICA’S PROFESSIONAL SKIN THERAPISTS

A core component of Dermalogica’s brand identity is professional skin therapists. Through the International Dermal Institute’s continuing education, training of their representatives is focused in Dermalogica specific skin care techniques and a thorough knowledge of the product line.

Dermalogica also maintains an online Education Center, through which qualified employees of Dermalogica endorsed companies can take classes in technique and product knowledge.

THE EXPANSION OF THE DERMALOGICA EMPIRE

Dermalogica now has its headquarters in Carson, 18 miles south of Los Angeles. Over 44 million products each year are shipped from this Southern California base. In addition, aside from expanding its customer base by selling products online, Dermalogica's skin care line is distributed through over 6,500 skin care shops in the United States. Worldwide, Dermalogica has become a skincare phenomenon which has outlets in over 50 countries, including “concept stores” located in cities such as London, New York, Los Angeles, Dubai, Auckland, Berlin, and Mumbai.. They have launched a succession of large, successful programs including the teen brand ‘Clean Start' and an organization called S.K.I.N.

S.K.I.N. works with pre-teen and teenage girls and boys in the Foster Care Group home system. They are taught the basics of taking care of their skin and are given products for daily skin care and health. Dermalogica help them improve their skin and also mentor and discuss with them possible careers they might pursue in the professional skin therapy industry. Having gained the training and knowledge provided by this pioneering scheme, the boys and girls are equipped to go on to have successful careers within the beauty industry.

Dermalogica's ever expanding and devoted customer base includes numerous A-List celebrities, including Jessica Alba, Liv Tyler, Hillary Duff, Vivica A Fox, Amanda Bynes, Minka Kelley, AnnaLynne McCord and Robbie WIlliams.

Over 75,000 professional skin therapists utilize Dermalogica products worldwide.

Dermalogica is committed to protecting the environment and continually looks for new ways to be ecologically aware. All packaging and shipping containers, for instance, are now either recyclable, biodegradable or photodegradable.

Today, Jane is recognized internationally as a pioneer of postgraduate training. She has produced nine training DVDs, a series of business CDs and is a monthly columnist for industry magazines on three continents. Her monthly column reaches more than 50,000 skin therapists through her articles, podcasts, webinars and online blog. There is also an online Education Centre through which qualified employees of Dermalogica sanctioned companies can take classes in technique and product knowledge.

Dermalogica also plays an active role within the community. The Dermalogica Foundation champions this work by providing support, both financial and volunteer, to local, grass-roots organizations that benefit women and children in need, are non-denominational, and which are not supported by any other major source of funding.

Jane's huge amount of expertise and success in the skin care profession means that she is a much sought after and influential guest lecturer and keynote speaker around the world. Along with many awards she has received, she has been voted ‘The Most Influential Industry Leader’ by the readers of American Spa magazine.

Experts have estimated that, to date, Dermalogica's earnings from worldwide sales are well in excess of $100 million.