Making an appearance

A MANILA - based medical oriented beauty clinic, Flawless Face and Body Center (Flawless), announced they are in negotiations with mall operators for their planned expansion here.

Flawless chief executive officer Rubby Sy, in a press conference yesterday, expressed the firm’s intention of putting up branches in malls like SM Seaside City at the South Road Properties, SM Consolacion and Ayala Center Cebu.

Sy said this move signifies their confidence in Cebu’s thriving economy and its growing beauty and wellness market.

“We have plans to make it big in Cebu,” Sy said, anchoring her optimism on the acceptance the firm got in the Cebuano market since its entry some six years ago.

Drew Mendoza, the firm’s business manager, said the firm wants be part of the development of Cebu, particularly in delivering “beauty innovations” to the market.

He said Flawless will be putting up company-owned branches here. The average investment is estimated at P3 million to P4 million, depending on the clinic size.

Flawless has about 35 clinics nationwide, 11 of which are franchised. Last year, the company opened three clinics. Three to four new clinics are being targeted for this year.

Aside from strengthening its presence in the local market, the firm run by professional doctors is also eyeing expansion in Asia. Sy said they have been getting franchise inquiries from Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Bangkok and Malaysia.

“The opportunities are everywhere, given that the beauty industry is rapidly growing.

The international expansion would allow other countries to try our strong brands,” said Mendoza.

Sy also announced they will soon launch human stem cell therapy following the success of the stem cell product line (from fruit stem cell) they launched last December.

Skin experts have described stem cell therapy as an intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue to treat disease or injury.

Cosmetic and beauty firms have started offering stem cell injections to rejuvenate the skin.

Sy said the firm has partnered with a medical institute in Russia for the human stem cell supply. She stressed this partner institution works like a blood bank that conducts stringent screening on human stem cells extracted from Russians 20 to 25 years old.

They intend to offer the human stem cell treatment through intravenous and intra-dermal administration, which costs $25,000 and $6,500, respectively.

Sy is confident the stem cell treatment would be widely accepted in the community given its medical and beauty benefits. “Judging from the performance of the stem cell product we launched last December, customers, both young and old, have accepted the product because of its immediate effects,” she said. 

Mendoza said the firm’s stem cell product line is the only stem cell product approved by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and is the first in the Philippine market.