Taneesa Williamson SPA+CLINIC catches up with Elly Seymour, Founder of The Louve Skin Clinic & newly released cosmeceutical line, Saint Louve Skincare.
Selecting a product line for your business can be a challenge, from selection based on brand values, ingredient formulations, sustainability or educational support, Registered Nurse and business owner Elly Louve understood this all too well. So ultimately, she decided to research this and formulate her own skincare line.
As we have now begun to understand in the industry the importance of skin health and the connection to injectables, having a skincare line to support your dermal filler, anti wrinkle and bio-remodelling treatments can really amplify your business, treatment results and ultimately, patient satisfaction.
We caught up with Elly to discuss the successes and challenges surrounding formulating her own line of skincare and what aided her in making the decision.
What made you decide to formulate your own skincare line?
Elly: I have spent the last 15 years of my career providing advice on skin.
I’ve worked closely with my clients to help reach their individual skin goals, whether that be through skincare, injectables, treatments or health advice. This time has allowed me to form beautiful relationship with my clients and as a result I have become their go to for information. This is both flattering and a responsibility. I feel accountable to maintain informed with the latest best practise and knowledge, therefore I dedicate a lot of my time to professional development.
I’ve always felt I could offer more to my clients. I went from a Beauty Therapist to Nurse to Cosmetic Nurse but always knew I wanted to offer more services in my repertoire. Even after being a Cosmetic Nurse for 8 years, I had this niggling feeling I could be doing more for my clients than the treatments I provide them with every 3 months.
Initially I began studying pre-med in hopes of becoming a Cosmetic Doctor. For three years I had tutoring in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. After sitting the Medical Entry Exam (GAMSAT), I realised medicine wasn’t the direction for me to progress to where I wanted, but I took this chemistry knowledge and put it to something I knew I would be passionate about given my 15 years in the skin industry. I then went on to study Diploma of Personal Care Formulation and Diploma in Brand Management to better help my knowledge in creating a brand and of course, formulating it.
Elly: Given my extra studies in formulations and skincare, my goal was to empower my clients and beyond through these advanced formulations. During the months where my clinic, The Louve Skin Clinic, was closed, I had on average 150 people on a waiting list to see me as soon as lockdown was over. Without being able to provide them with physical treatments during these times, I began formulating something they could trust and use every single day to see the results they were searching for. I packaged my products in the most innovative packaging I could find, and it was tested and trialed by my clients prior to launching in August 2022.
Saint Louve was created with the people I had come across in the last decade in mind, and looking back now, is the direction I was always supposed to go in.
Elly Seymour, RN
What did you discover along the process of creating Saint Louve that you weren’t aware of prior to starting?
Elly: I’d like to think I am a well organised person and that not a lot of things catch me of guard, but I have learnt so much over the last 2.5 years when creating and formulating Saint Louve and have certainly been taken out of my comfort zone.
I was well informed in areas in terms of formulations, budgets, legalities from my studies, however what I could have never predicted was the enormity of the project I had embarked on.
Initially, I imaged I would sell my products in my clinic and pack the orders from my study in my house.
Never would I have imaged I would I have a warehouse and distributor in addition to 3 staff members and approximately 16 essential contractors who I could not launch Saint Louve without, this absolutely blows my mind to think about and probably not something I was aware of in the early development phases of Saint Louve but the more the project grew so did my goals and aspirations for the brand.
Share with us some wins you’ve had so far, along with some challenges that you’ve faced.
Elly: I am so incredibly proud of the products I have been able to produce. We trialled them on approximately 30 participants for 4-6 weeks per product before launching. This product evolution trial was to test the efficacy of the formulations, gather feedback and most of all make sure everyone loved the products I had produced before our first large production run. I am so proud to say that the results from these trials were so well received. The satisfaction rating was phenomenal, the before and after images truly speak for themselves AND I actually never changed a formulation after the trials- which I had full intentions of doing if the products didn’t reach the needs of the participants.
Some challenges I have faced over the last 2.5 years have understandably been COVID delays. These delays impacted our packaging and raw materials and the interruptions of lockdowns probably added 6-12 months to our launch date. Every lockdown Victora was faced with my clinic would be closed, so I would go and work in Theatre at Epworth Hospital (my other nursing training) and spent every other free hour I had on the formulations and designs of Saint Louve. Another challenge was rising costs from suppliers and creating a price point that allowed Saint Louve to grow moving forward. Given all these setbacks, I am still so proud of Saint Louve and my team to bring something so incredible to market in such a challenging time in all our lives.
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