Jane Wurwand and Raymond Wurwand founded Dermalogica in 1986 as a brand for spa professionals and licensed skin therapists. 20 some years later the brand had grown to a line of consumer skin care products as well as professional, backbar products addressing hyperpigmentation, acne, ageing, and sensitive skin.
Unilever acquired Dermalogica in 2015
When Unilever bought the brand, Dermalogica was available for sale in more than 80 countries around the world.
At the time of the deal, then Unilever CEO Paul Polman remarked, “Dermalogica enjoys an outstanding reputation and incredible awareness among skin care professionals and consumers alike, and has a clear positioning as a superior skin health brand that perfectly complements the rest of our Prestige offering.”
“Importantly, it is a company founded on strong values and a common belief, shared by Unilever, in the role of business as a force for good in society. Dermalogica has great distribution and presence globally; and” added Polman, “I am pleased that Jane and Raymond have retained an interest in the company and will continue to work with us to grow the brand.”
Now, in 2019, Dermalogica is opening a permanent retail space
The first Dermalogica retail shop will open tomorrow at 200 Bay Street, Suite K101 North Tower, an address which is part of the PATH shopping concourse as it passes through the Royal Bank Plaza in Toronto, Ontario.
Skin care treatments will be part of the offering at the new Dermalogica store. And the treatments are tailored to the needs of busy, on-the-go beauty consumers. "The PATH [location],” explains Melissa Daniels, general manager of Dermalogica Canada, “allows easy, daily access for our clients to enjoy a wide range of services – from our free Face Mapping analysis to 30-minute ProSkin treatments.”
“Our clients,” she says, “are constantly on-the-go with busy lifestyles, and it's important to meet their need for quick treatments that require little time and investment but produce professional results for healthy skin.”
Dermalogica skin therapists and treatment options
The 6 skin care treatment options can be booked online or shoppers can simply walk-in and request a free face mapping, a 10-minute FitFace session or any one of the 30 minute Dermalogica treatment sessions.
It of course makes sense for a brand that got its start in the professional space to offer treatments. But at Dermalogica, it’s about the practitioners too: “We launched Dermalogica with a clear and determined mission – to bring respect and success to the professional skin therapist,” Jane Wurwand told the press in 2015 when the Unilever deal was announced. “This mission,” she said, “is as important to us now as it was the first day we started the company….This partnership will provide Dermalogica with the opportunities and resources to take the brand to even greater heights and help us continue our legacy in supporting the next generation of professional skin therapists and women entrepreneurs worldwide.”
A Dermalogica loyalty program is set to launch
Coinciding with this week’s store opening, the brand is introducing a loyalty program. “For the first time, Dermalogica is launching a membership program that will allow clients to enjoy our services while their skin and their pockets reap the benefits of continued loyalty,” says Daniels. “This makes it even easier for us to continue being a part of our client's skincare journey!”
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.