Professional Beauty sat down with Dr Glen Calderhead in the midst of his busy schedule touring Australia and chatted about his journey with laser and how to help clients see the light.
Dr Glen Calderhead is the vice president of medioscientific affairs at Lutronic, where he helped to create the Healite II laser.
As a doctor, how did you get into equipment?
I was trained as a pathologist and in 1976 I was sent by my hospital in Brighton to study forensic pathology in Japan. The first lecture was on the use of laser to lift fingerprints. Well, who knew what a laser was in 1976, it was only 16 years old. Before the lecture we were given a talk on what is laser energy by Dr Toshio Ohshiro, who was and still is a laser pioneer in Japan. He showed the physical attributes of laser and how he was using it to treat birthmarks. I was fascinated so I asked to speak with him. Afterwards we went and had a drink and from then on I spent every spare minute of my time in his laboratory. At the end of two weeks he said – “how about you don’t go back to UK, stay here, work in my laboratory,” and that is how I started out in the laser field.
What equipment trends are you seeing?
I think with LEDs, the technology will come within LEDs themselves. One thing that we will see is a new wavelength – 830 [on the Healite] is a fantastic wavelength that will do anything. It will help hair regrowth, stroke victims and people who have severe cerebral trauma after an accident. We are venturing into the medical sphere but we will never neglect our salons because this technology is something everyone can use – if you have a salon with IPL, some kind of RF system or even something as simple as microdermabrasion – if you add Healite to any of these, it increases the efficacy.
The most important thing is about being adjunctive – combining technology with other technology or traditional treatments.
A lot of salons have clients who are opposed to or sceptical of laser, what do you suggest salons do to persuade them?
I think it’s simply a matter of education. They need to help clients see that they’re not putting anything on their face more than if they were going out into the sun (except it’s just the good wavelength). They could explain it as a workout for the skin cells – to get them fit, and it works from the inside out, not outside in.
I suggest presenting clients with evidence – case histories, flip charts and before and after photos. These things convince people, but of course, the thing that convinces them the most is when they have their first treatments.
How do you compare the Australia beauty industry to South Korea?
I think the Australian market is coming on very nicely. What makes it particularly interesting for me is the greater medical acceptance in Australia, that’s also particularly good in the likes of a salon/spa who wants something more serious.
South Korea already accepts Healite and similar technologies – a lot of these Asian countries already believe in the likes of holistic medicine. The concept of laser is much more akin to traditional oriental medicine than western medicine, which is why there is a lot of scepticism around the western world and people say “I don’t understand how this works so therefore it does not work”. Here in Australia, I think the approach is to show the clinical gravitas of the system and that will then transfuse into the spa and salon market.
For more information visit http://www.advancedcosmeceuticals.com.au/brands/lutronic/