Mala McAlpin caught up with seasoned global brand educator for Guinot, Sandrine Carliez, on her lifelong journey and passion for skincare training.

After being influenced at a young age by her grandmother who worked in the spa industry, Sandrine Carliez is now a practiced global educator, and has spent the past two decades alone training for Guinot across the world. Like so many others, her deep passion for skincare has taken her from a little girl constantly playing with creams and lipsticks to a lifetime as a top educator around the globe, based in Paris and heading up Guinot education across Europe as well as Asia and the Middle East.

Tell us how you came to be with Guinot?
My grandmother had a beauty salon, so I spent my childhood playing with creams, lipsticks, and watching my grandmother taking care of others’ skin. It was evident for me that I had to work in the cosmetic field, and I loved to watch my grandmother give her advice to these ladies. She was the one who taught me how to take good care of my skin. I was just 13 years old and I already had my own cleansers, masks and moisturisers. I later studied cosmetics for 3 years, but it became obvious to me that I needed to work for a skincare brand which can really take care of all different varieties of skin and provide real results. Here at Guinot, we call our beauty therapists ‘skin doctors’.

What do you find most rewarding about your career as an educator?
To have the chance to meet women from all around the world with different cultures and knowledge, and to learn from each other. This is a job of exchange and a job in which we are learning every day, especially in cosmetics and beauty where the market is improving every day.

What is your favourite treatment and product?
Of course I love the Hydradermie Youth treatment with the Hydradermie Cellular machine, as it is exactly what the skin needs in order to stay in perfect good health. We are able to provide energy to the cells, so they can function again like young cells.

What should practitioners receive from a good training session?
A good trainer should pass on the passion and the motivation to use the products or treatments!

Are there any aspects of training in France that are more advanced than the training provided in Australia?
The way to take care of the skin tissue is very important in France, and it is a part of the education. In Australia you have the American influence, which has a different approach (more peeling/surgery). All these extreme treatments provided to skin often have negative side effects. This is probably the difference between the French way to take care of the skin and the American influence.

What do you think are the biggest trending/focus areas in skincare internationally right now?
Anti-ageing is still the biggest concern of all women no matter about the country, the second largest at the moment is the body slimming market.

Your best advice to skin therapists wanting to stay leaders/progressive in their field?
To stay open-minded, to be able to question themselves, because the market is improving very quickly, and it is important to stay updated and trained all the time.

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