SKINSTATION recently celebrated the opening of its 100th clinic in High Street South Bonifacio Global City (BGC).
While BusinessWorld was not present at the gala celebrating that milestone, we were at the doctors’ training clinic they held at the Philippine Stock Exchange building in BGC, Taguig. Volunteers were under the care of SkinStation’s doctors, who number from 55 to 60, according to the count of SkinStation Chief Executive Officer Gerard Cedric Reyes, son of SkinStation Chair and Founder Fred Reyes.
The 100th clinic, SkinStation Elite, is also the first clinic in their luxe category. The SkinStation Elite branch offers its members first access to high-end and innovative procedures such as 4D Laser Hair Removal with four frequencies, Pico Laser treatment for hyperpigmentation, RF Fractional Laser microneedling for rejuvenation, and Hip & Butt Lift with Rose Glam Filler and Tesslift. In fact, the doctors they were training on April 12 (the clinic ran from April 9 to 16) were there to train on how to use the Black Rose fillers and TessLift, under the supervision of Dr. Vincent Wong, one of the London’s top beauty doctors, featured in Vogue, Tatler, and the BBC.
SkinStation Managing Director Francis Carl Reyes (another son) said that the new fillers they’re working with, made with cross-linked hyaluronic acid, last longer than the current fillers in the market, estimating the effects on the face last for a year and a half.
Gerard Reyes made a point on how they’ve managed to open 100 clinics — the first one was opened by their father in 2004, and their reach has expanded to areas such as Tagaytay, Bulacan, and Cebu. “Beauty is one of the top needs of Filipinos, even during crises,” he said. He noted that while clients couldn’t come to the clinic during the pandemic, their skincare orders still continued. “It’s better (for them) that they at least still look good — I guess it’s one of the things (they use) for them to overcome crises in itself.
“Our main strategy and goal is to democratize the beauty industry. We want to correct the prices in the market but at the same time, still maintain quality skincare services to Filipinos in general,” he said.
Location also has a lot to do with it — a lot of their clinics are located in malls for easier accessibility. “We try to go where the people are naturally, which are the malls,” he said. “This also made us thrive over in provincial areas. The center of activity in a lot of major cities are the malls themselves.”
Of course, we hear many stories about botched beauty procedures, but as Francis Reyes said, “That’s why we’re doing all these trainings, to make sure that not only are we teaching them how to use the product; we’re also teaching them how to handle the product in case something goes wrong.” Gerard Reyes said, “If something goes wrong, which is very rare, then it is easy to correct.”
The company behind Tesslift and Black Rose, Zishel, is based in Korea where the Reyes brothers said that getting beauty procedures is already normal. “It’s in their culture to look good,” said Francis Reyes. His brother said, “It’s already a normal thing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with looking good,” said Francis Reyes.
“And you can do it over lunch,” his brother added. — Joseph L. Garcia
