Dermalogica recently hosted its first congress in seven years at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
They may have just been acquired by global personal care product powerhouse Unilever, but professional skincare brand Dermalogica are showing no signs of slowing down, recently hosting a multi-national skincare congress in LA, bringing together over two thousand of the world’s leading skincare professionals, distributors and business owners.
The two-day summit, themed Only Connect, which welcomed attendees representing more than 60 countries from across the skincare industry, was an opportunity for guests to connect with each other and hear innovative presentations on topics ranging from revolutionary business concepts, retail insights, consumer trends, advances in digital marketing and technology, and new product demonstrations.
Based on the high volume of attendees, original content and presentations provided, Dermalogica’s Congress is the world’s largest conference gathering of professional skin therapists hosted by a skincare brand, setting the predication of professional skincare trends across the industry.
The brand’s founder and chief visionary, Jane Wurwand provided the opening and closing presentations for the summit. Her opening presentation, Productive Destruction, gave not only a preview of Congress, but shared insights on how creative disruption is crucial to revolutionising an industry.
Wurwand’s closing presentation, befittingly titled Only Connect, emphasised the importance of connecting with the people around us, explaining that with the advancements of technology and smart phones, the idea of connection has never been more essential, and the professional skincare industry has a critical role to play in helping people stay connected through the power of human touch.
“The professional skincare industry, although fluid and always changing, is poised to have the greatest impact on our planet of any industry,” emphasised Wurwand during her speech.
“Because we are really the last industry that reaches out and literally is changing the world with our bare hands. We are touching people with our physical touch, with our emotions, and with our kindness.”
Attendees also had an opportunity to hear from Vasiliki Petrou, SVP of Prestige, Unilever, who presented highly anticipated insights into the new direction of Dermalogica as a result of its new partnership with Unilever.
“The potential we can have together is just unstoppable, unbeatable. This is the unbeatable Tribe,” said Petrou.
Other presenters included Diana Howard, Ph.D., VP of research and development, who presented on the brand’s upcoming new products including Overnight Retinol Repair and Charcoal Masque. Annet King, director of global education, moderated a Q&A with Teen Vogue’s digital editorial director, Phillip Picardi, who spoke on how to effectively communicate with the Millennial generation.
The large-scale event took two years to plan and was the first of its kind to be held in the United States, welcoming guests who traveled more than 18,000 kilometres to attend. The international summit’s presentations were translated into 11 languages, including sign language. For more information on the speakers and presentations that took place at Congress, head to dermalogica.com/congress.