Baldan Group is making strides in the UK market. GEORGIA SEAGO pays a visit to the manufacturer’s Milan HQ and asks UK general manager BRANDO BALDAN about the challenges of setting up in an export market, and what UK salon owners can learn from the Italians

The Fibra DFA hair removal laser in action, machines in the Milan showroom, Baldan Group’s skincare and nutrition retail products

You’ve been in the UK for two years now. Who is your core customer?

At the moment, we have roughly 30 accounts in the UK. It’s not a huge number but they’re very high-quality clinics and medispas. We’re not ruling out salons, because we come from that part of the industry, but the UK does the medispa concept really well. It’s a great combination of salon and clinic that doesn’t really exist in Italy, so we’re trying to propose the concept there. The format is perfect for a company like us: clinics that focus on delivering results with high-end equipment, rather than offering services like nails or brows. I think it’s the most profitable business format I’ve seen in the market.

What’s your goal for UK accounts?

In Italy we have more than 6,000 active clients who are reordering product and buying new machines. In the UK there are more beauty businesses in general, so a similar number would be the goal. We’re also looking at introducing our skincare and diet products into the UK in the future, [Baldan Group also manufactures skincare including the BM Glycolic Plus line, and a range of dietary products, as well as make-up brand Art Director Pablo GC, developed with make-up artist Gil Cagné] but for now the machines are the focus here until we have a good client base.

Which of your machines does best in the UK?

It varies a lot in each market. We really believe in the capabilities of the Hifu Lab for lifting and skin rejuvenation, but in Italy it didn’t have great success. In the UK though it’s already popular. There are very strict regulations in the Italian market and hifu [high-intensity focused ultrasound] can only be used by doctors. Salon therapists can use the technology, but at a very low power, and you don’t get the same results. In Italy they’re very strict with legislation – ultrasound cavitation isn’t legal for salons to perform either anymore. Our main focus is the T-Shape though; it’s delivered the best results so far [T-Shape combines low-level laser, radiofrequency and vacuum for body shaping and facial toning] and we’ve sold more than 1,000 across Europe. It’s our first machine that offers three technologies simultaneously. We’ve seen clients get great results from the first treatment doing it this way, comparable to five or six sessions with individual tech.

What are the key differences between the UK and Italian salon markets?

There’s a huge difference between clients in Italy and the UK. In Italy, clients visit a clinic with a specific problem and ask for a solution. They know vaguely which kind of technology would be helpful, such as laser for hair removal. In the UK, though, the customer has a much greater knowledge of the market because of the strong marketing that companies do here. Even with companies like us who market business to business, the marketing is still strong enough to reach the customer. So, a British person will go into a salon and not just ask for laser, but for a specific brand or type. It was hard for us at the beginning because the first thing clinics were saying to us was, “I like your machine but it’s unknown, my clients ask for specific machines”. That was the first barrier.

The T-Shape, Hifu Lab and Fibra DFA machines

As we’ve gradually increased our marketing, it’s become easier, and in two years we’ve done a lot. A UK company setting up in Italy would find it easier to penetrate the market than the other way around, but we do have an advantage around the world because we’re an Italian company, so even if we’re relatively unknown, because we manufacture all of our skincare and make-up products in Italy, customers afford you a higher level of trust than you’d otherwise get.

What can UK salons learn from their Italian counterparts?

Clinic owners’ knowledge of ingredients and technologies in Italy tends to be higher, whereas In the UK salons tend to be a bit passive. They’re driven by the brands and generally purchase whatever they advertise. In Italy, salon owners and therapists are more independent from trends; they have their beliefs in certain technologies or products and they stick to them. Here, if a big company launches something new, salons are more likely to follow the trend. It’s more commercial here. PB

TRIED TREATMENT: Baldan Hydralift FX

The lowdown: While visiting the Baldan showroom in Milan, I had a facial with the brand’s new three-in-one facial system, Hydralift FX. It has three hand pieces – infusion, mesoporation and diamond grain microdermabrasion to deeply cleanse, exfoliate, rebalance and hydrate. A peel, chosen depending on the skin’s needs, is also performed midway through the treatment.

The experience: I was suffering from a particularly inflamed, spotty face so my therapist Cinzia Tondi decided to skip the mesoportation and focus instead on exfoliating and feeding my skin with the right active nutrients. She began with a water-based peel with mandelic and salicylic acids, delivered via the infusion hand piece. She then used the medium-action diamond-grain microdermabrasion head – ideal for spots and blackheads.

Typically, the appropriate peel from the brand’s Dermakléb line would be applied at this point, but Tondi wanted to give me a proper peel with the 35% glycolic acid from the BM Glycolic Plus line, having tested my skin’s tolerance with the earlier sequential acids.

Next, she infused my skin with low-molecularweight hyaluronic, then massaged in Dermakléb Correcting Serum to address the sebum imbalance in my skin. To finish, Tondi applied the Oxy Plus Mask, an active oxygenating gel for three minutes before removing.

Business benefit: Machine-based facials don’t have to focus on anti-ageing, and the Hydralift FX would appeal to a broad range of clients. Signs of ageing can be addressed with the microdermabrasion application and the right peel, but this is more for the large proportion of customers who are after a deep cleanse and exfoliation that leaves them with nourished, healthy skin