First let me say that I LOVE this thread - all 7 pages of it!!! Secondly, I am glad to see that the dermalogica stockists of the UK are seeing what we've been seeing in America for several years now - dermalogica is talking out of both sides of their mouth! Or, in other words, two-faced.
I don't know if you all have the same problem with internet sales like we do here, but if you go on ebay.com and search for dermalogica there are over three-thousand listings! They are selling the professional sizes AND the free samples - yes, selling for say five dollars the samples we get for free!
Then, there are all of the other supposedly legitimate sites selling dermalogica, some at deeper discounts than a brick and mortar salon can. And, dermalogica is now in the open-to-the-public beauty supply chains like Pure Beauty and ULTA. Dermalogica is actually sending their educators into those stores to teach the unlicensed sales clerks Face Mapping (or what used to be skin analysis - our domain!).
Personally, I have had this problem with dermalogica and finally decided to get out. Never mind the clients who had never heard of the line before I educated them about it who are now choosing to go online to buy it because it was "cheaper". But after working with a new client for 45-minutes telling her all about dermalogica, how it's "different" and why she needs professional-grade products, she literally turns at the front door and says, "Can I just get this online?" So, in other words, I sold one product to her and her repeat sales will go to somebody else. Then I realized, "Dermalogica doesn't care that I am spending my time promoting their product." In fact, they are grateful to those of us who do this free of charge for them. The more I talk it up, the more products they sell, and they don't care if I'm the one making the sale or if it is from an online source or beauty store chain. A sale is a sale to them. Long gone is the loyalty to our profession. They are now a "retail skin care company" and that's all.
In fact, I read an interview with Jane that was utterly shocking.
Felicia C. Sullivan: Interview: Entrepreneur Jane Wurwand, CEO of Dermalogica
Have a look for yourself and see if you agree that it appears Jane is turning the consumer away from the professional salon to more retail focus.
It's all about GREED. They will obviously sell more product through these distribution methods, than just through the efforts of a salon professional. But one can't help but feel used and betrayed. They used us to get their product into the popular stratosphere it is now enjoying, and now they don't need us anymore. I've been deeply disappointed and have finally moved on. Luckily, there are good choices in professional-grade lines that haven't saturated the market (yet).
I don't know if you all have the same problem with internet sales like we do here, but if you go on ebay.com and search for dermalogica there are over three-thousand listings! They are selling the professional sizes AND the free samples - yes, selling for say five dollars the samples we get for free!
Then, there are all of the other supposedly legitimate sites selling dermalogica, some at deeper discounts than a brick and mortar salon can. And, dermalogica is now in the open-to-the-public beauty supply chains like Pure Beauty and ULTA. Dermalogica is actually sending their educators into those stores to teach the unlicensed sales clerks Face Mapping (or what used to be skin analysis - our domain!).
Personally, I have had this problem with dermalogica and finally decided to get out. Never mind the clients who had never heard of the line before I educated them about it who are now choosing to go online to buy it because it was "cheaper". But after working with a new client for 45-minutes telling her all about dermalogica, how it's "different" and why she needs professional-grade products, she literally turns at the front door and says, "Can I just get this online?" So, in other words, I sold one product to her and her repeat sales will go to somebody else. Then I realized, "Dermalogica doesn't care that I am spending my time promoting their product." In fact, they are grateful to those of us who do this free of charge for them. The more I talk it up, the more products they sell, and they don't care if I'm the one making the sale or if it is from an online source or beauty store chain. A sale is a sale to them. Long gone is the loyalty to our profession. They are now a "retail skin care company" and that's all.
In fact, I read an interview with Jane that was utterly shocking.
Felicia C. Sullivan: Interview: Entrepreneur Jane Wurwand, CEO of Dermalogica
Have a look for yourself and see if you agree that it appears Jane is turning the consumer away from the professional salon to more retail focus.
It's all about GREED. They will obviously sell more product through these distribution methods, than just through the efforts of a salon professional. But one can't help but feel used and betrayed. They used us to get their product into the popular stratosphere it is now enjoying, and now they don't need us anymore. I've been deeply disappointed and have finally moved on. Luckily, there are good choices in professional-grade lines that haven't saturated the market (yet).
