Ultheraphy is not just for women
ACCESS TO technology and information has been beneficial in educating ourselves about beauty and skincare. Articles and knowledgeable beauty gurus now advise that one should start investing on anti-aging products as one approaches 30 — to delay the aging, not totally prevent it. This applies for both women and men.
The Merz Group was founded in Frankfurt, Germany in 1884 by pharmacist Frederick Merz who developed a water-soluble base topical skin cream. In 1953, Merz developed the first anti-aging cream. As a company, it evolved to do active research and development of products and services in aesthetic medicine and dermatology.
“With the rise in usage of dermal fillers and non-invasive lifting and tightening treatments, I can confidently say we’re in the perfect position to make sure our patients get top quality products,” Christian Baatz, a member of the Merz Shareholders’ Council & Supervisory Board, was quoted as saying in a press release.
During The Merz Agenda forum on Sept. 27 at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel in Mandaluyong City, company executives discussed the benefits of advancements in technology in the beauty industry and its best-selling treatment, ultherapy, its flagship service when the aesthetics company arrived in the Philippines in 2015.
NO NEED FOR SURGERY
Ultherapy is “a non-surgical procedure that uses micro-focused ultrasound to lift and tighten skin on the brow, under the chin, neck and chest.”
Depending on the treatment area, the procedure takes 60 to 90 minutes. No downtime required. Results appear within two to three months, with further improvements in six months as the collagen-building process continues.
The procedure helps in restoring collagen, the most abundant body protein found in skin, muscles, tendons, and bones.
“Collagen occurs naturally in your body under the skin. When we age, we tend to lose it. Then there will be laxity. [Skin] laxity means your skin is not as firm as it was before,” Merz Asia Pacific’s regional commercial director Conway Rappa told BusinessWorld.
“Instead of injecting a substance, you are actually making your own natural body mechanism work again. The skin cells will start bringing out quality again and it will tighten and lift your skin,” Merz CEO Phillip Burchard explained during the forum.
Mr. Rappa stressed that Merz Aesthetics focuses on enhancing features that people “like about themselves.”
“Rather than fixing something they don’t like about themselves, they could enhance the portions that they like. It is not possible to try to look like someone else. Instead, we can try to gain back some years and feel like a better version of ourselves,” he said.
ULTHERAPY FOR TWO
In August this year, Merz expanded its services by introducing Ultherapy For Two, a campaign that allows scheduled treatments with a companion.
The campaign was introduced after Merz Aesthetics found out from market research that men only undergo treatment upon the recommendation of their wives.
“Men do not actively go for treatments for themselves. Men do have purchasing power but they like to buy gadgets for the boys like cars and devices,” Mr. Rappa said.
There remains a stigma when it comes to aesthetic treatments which the beauty and aesthetics industry seeks to debunk. Mr. Rappa noted that the stigma exists due to the invasive type of treatments available in the past.
“In the Philippines, [similar to other countries], there will be a segment of the population who feel that there is a stigma to treatments. Since [ultherapy] is non-invasive, we want to make sure that people understand it,” he said.
For more information, visit http://locator.ultherapy.com/philippines, www.ultherapy.com, or www.merzaesthetics.com/merz-aesthetics. Merz Aesthetics Philippines is located at the 10th Floor, Ore Central Building, 9th Ave. corner 31st St., BGC, Taguig City. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
