Skin boosters offer ‘snatched’ looks with little downtime
MANILA, Philippines – In a market already flooded with skin clinics offering facials and sundry treatments for a few hundred pesos, one has to look beyond the low prices and unsubstantiated claims.
Some research is required, which can easily be done with a cursory online search. Who are the people behind it? Is it a doctor or dermatologist-led facility? Are the doctors the ones doing major treatments or are aestheticians calling the shots?
Clinique Le Marais is a neighborhood beauty clinic located near Eastwood City that has been open for several years. “We have three doctors who are assisted by trained aestheticians,” said CEO Jacqueline Lozada.
She and her nephew recently took over the clinic that used to be owned and managed by her brother.
“Customers seeking facial treatments now are more knowledgeable. When they see ads from clinics that seem too good to be true, they ask why. They ask how many units per dose, and how many doses per session,” she said.
The menu of services at Le Marais ranges from Korean “glass skin” facials and body contouring sessions to laser treatments and injectable fillers. Botox and the more targeted “Jawtox” are also available.
Lozada, however, has noted that many of their more mature clients prefer treatments that involve few or no injections.
“They say they don’t want any pain. Our skin boosters are doing very well because they help stimulate collagen production and there is little or no downtime involved,” she said.
Another factor that has made them more popular is the fact that the effects are instant — tighter-looking skin, “snatched” is the term now used — perfect for those with big events to attend.
Their HIFU (High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound) treatment is a favorite because visible improvements in one’s skin are obvious from the get-go. After a few weeks, the jawline is more prominent, the cheeks are lifted. HIFU is a procedure that uses focused sound waves to heat deep layers of tissue without harming the outer skin.
“At Le Marais, we see a growing demand for skin boosters, UltraCool, PRX, and Thermage… treatments designed to support collagen, improve skin quality and address visible signs of aging,” Lozada said.
Despite being equipped with many of the machines required to perform these treatments, they still have to battle it out with other clinics that offer similar services.
“We believe in premium service at honest prices. We want to offer services that can keep up with the level offered by the big names in the industry but without having our customers feel the need to burn a hole in their pocket just to look their best,” Lozada said.
The clinic has come out with a series of promotions in time for the holidays with discounts of up to 50% for their machine treatments, and up to 20% on doctor-led procedures.
“That’s one thing we are very proud of. Even if we offer discounts, we maintain the same level of effectiveness in our treatments. We don't cut corners,” Lozada said.
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