Ronit Raphael seeks to teach Americans about beauty
Israeli businesswoman talks about plan to take US by storm with her medical-cosmetic empire. 'The American consumer is very conservative about some things and must learn how to change,' she says
Seriously? You really feel that you have changed the global cosmetics market?
"Absolutely," she says without flinching. "When I began, all the beauticians worked at home. I was the first to bring a doctor into a beauty parlor. When I spoke about combining cosmetics with technology, no one would listen, and today it's the industry's future."
If Raphael, 44, sounds detached from reality, you better take another look at her resume. The beautiful "moshavnikit", who opened her own beauty parlor in Tel Aviv in her 20s, has since turned into an international cosmetics empire said to be worth tens of millions of dollars. Today she controls the Israeli Ronit Raphael company with six branches (two more coming soon) and the international L. Raphael company, together with Dr. Raphael Gumener, a Geneva-based company operating in France and Russia as well, and soon in the United States and Hong Kong.
In the past year, Raphael signed an agreement with the Four Seasons hotel chain, and is gradually entering the management of hotel spa systems worldwide. She's married to businessman Jonathan Leitersdorf, 46, a successful high-tech entrepreneur, and has three children: Lee, 16, her son from a previous marriage; Julie, 5.5; and Sarah, 4.
Raphael of 2010 – with her designer clothes and neat appearance – seems miles away from Moshav Pedaya, where she was born and raised as part of a family of seven members. The trauma she went through during her military service seems to have waned since then: Raphael underwent a chemical peel at the age of 18, which left her face scarred and burnt. After a long and painful physical and mental rehabilitation process – during which, she recounted in the past, she went to sleep with her make-up on every night – she recovered, got up and began moving forward.
At the age of 24 she bought the tanning salon she worked in, took a loan, expanded, began making money, and opened more and more branches, all with great determination combined with inexhaustible Israeli chutzpah.
'I won't undergo chemical treatment'
In May, Raphael's cosmetics company workers settled in an elegant suite in Cannes. As part of the company's cooperation with the Chopard jewelry manufacturer, they were asked to give beauty and cosmetic treatments to the film festival's guests – including actresses Meg Ryan and Michelle Rodriguez, and Queen Noor of Jordan. Raphael applied the treatment on some of the celebrities herself, taking advantage of the opportunity to thoroughly discuss her business.
"Everyone asked me why we weren't coming to New York," she recounts. "It strengthened my thoughts that I should do it, that if I want to break into the wide world, I must get to New York, because it's a global center. They gave me confidence, which is exactly what I need today. After emerging from the Israeli bubble, I now have to emerge from the Geneva bubble and deal with the real bubble of the US."
Raphael packed her family, moved to New York, rented a luxurious house on Central Park West for nine months and began working on her new mission.
How did you, a moshavnikit from Pedaya, manage to adjust so quickly to the glamorous world of celebrities and members of royal families, who are among your clients? Doesn't it feel strange?
"Not at all. After all, we're all human beings, with the same anxieties and a slew of problems."
The American cosmetics market generates $18 billion. Do they really need Ronit Raphael?
"It is a terrifying market of people who know everything, and it appears they can't be taught anything, but there are things the Americans must learn to change too. Take the developing world of food additives, for example, which aim to improve the facial appearance – Europe comprises 55% of this market, Japan 41% and the United States only 3%. There are things the American consumer is very conservative about."
What are you planning?
"First of all, I would like to check the market before deciding on my next move. When I moved to Switzerland I knew that I wanted to open a building with all the treatments we offer, so that a lady walking on a luxurious shopping street would know that just like she buys a purse she could buy new skin. In the US I'm still deliberating whether to open a similar building – we're in negotiations with a building on Madison Avenue – or to do it all through the Four Seasons chain, which operates 54 hotels in the United States.
"We are in advanced negotiations with the chain's hotel in New York in regards to two options: Selling them our machines and knowledge of the treatments, like we did with the chain's hotel in Paris, or running the hotel spa ourselves. It's all a matter of price.
"By the way, I checked out the New York spa myself – it's very nice, but can't be compared to Paris in any way. In Europe everything is more classic and elegant, the process is much slower. In America everything moves fast. If we run the spa, we'll design it in a more elegant and European way and train the employees to work in a different manner."
Why does the Four Seasons need Ronit Raphael?
"Because we bring something new. A traditional hotel spa is usually comprised of a swimming pool, a gym, a few massage treatments and some facial care, all manual. We bring the technological world. It still doesn’t have the new generation of oxygen therapy, ultrasound, weight loss."
With her husband Jonathan Leitersdorf. 'He says I'm the guinea pig of modern cosmetics' (Photo: Rafi Delouya)
In light of Raphael's enthusiasm when it comes to technological treatments, I decided to try the ultrasound, muscle exercise and oxygen injection myself. There were no miracles – after all, you can't expect a miracle after one treatment – but I did come out with one clear conclusion: I enjoyed the simple, manual facial massage the most.
Raphael isn't surprised by my conclusion. "People usually prefer the human touch over the technological treatments," she explains. "So do I. But what can you do, the human touch doesn't always work. In the technological world of cosmetics you can reach much better results."
Oxygen facial treatments, which are aimed at repairing the skin's loss of elasticity, have become a global hit. But some dermatologists say that although oxygen can make one's skin glow, it's not very effective over time.
"I don't like generalizations. I like to base my conclusions on research, and most studies have determined that oxygen treatment is helpful," Raphael says. "You must remember that oxygen treatments come from the medical world. They help treat serious skin problems experienced by diabetes patients. What helps with such problems will definitely help the problems of healthy skin.
"We, who have been applying these treatments for years know what it does to our patients. The fact is that we have patients who save money which could have been spent on furniture and clothes, but won't give up on the oxygen treatments, which have personally helped me too. The scars on my face have not disappeared – you can't conceal scars – but they have faded away, as has the pigmentation. Not every dermatologist who criticizes a certain method is authorized to do so."
What treatment would you never recommend?
"Chemical peel. I wouldn't do it myself and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I experienced great suffering because of that chemical peel, which I went through when I was a soldier, and as a result my skin will never be normal again. This treatment may give you a smooth face without any wrinkles, but it doesn't treat the neck and the eyes – those wrinkles remain – and going out in the sun creates pigmentation. In short, you have a good chance of getting scars and ending up looking like a monster.
"In my clinic we offer the treatment because it's out there in the market, but we warn our customers against it. In my entire career I've applied a chemical peel treatment only three times, and only on customers with white skin and many wrinkles, who insisted on the treatment despite our warnings. In general, I don't recommend treatments involving chemicals."
'Plastic surgery? Absolutely'
What treatments would you recommend to a 40-year-old woman?
"First of all, it's important to exercise and engage in fitness training, because it creates a balance in the body and releases the growth hormones. Physical activity is the first rule in anti-aging treatments. Then it's important to maintain a healthy diet, and the treatments are only the third stage.
"From the age of 20, every girl must treat her skin to regular facial care. At the age of 30 it's recommended to add special ampoules, and at the age of 40 it's time to bring in the world of technology, because hands are not enough. With today's technology substances can be infused deeper, working on the muscles. From the age of 40 you must undergo treatment once a month. The rest depends on the individual: If the customer has gone through a trauma or lost a lot of weight, she'll need more treatments, and if she's cubby and looks good, she'll need fewer treatments."
What do you think about plastic surgery?
"It's an excellent facial repair method. If a woman's face is completely drooping, her skin is filled with wrinkles and she has bags under her eyes, she should definitely consider facial surgery and a return to cosmetic treatments.
"My parlors in Israel used to offer plastic surgery, but we stopped that activity once we opened the business in Geneva, because opening a plastic surgery department in Switzerland, like in any other country, would have forced us to deal with different laws and would have slowed down our global development."
Will you have plastic surgery?
"At a certain age, absolutely. There's a lot I would be willing to do to look good. I wake up early in the morning to exercise, I try to run, ride the bicycle, I've already completed half a triathlon. I eat right and try to avoid pressure. I am a stressed person, but I know how to take one step backwards. I take dancing classes, boxing, and I'm involved in a lot of activities."
Do you try every single treatment you sell?
"Yes. This moment, as we speak on the phone, I'm trying a new home use ultrasound machine I bought for $129 after seeing it on TV. Jonathan says I am the guinea pig of the entire world of technology of modern cosmetics.
"One day I wanted to try vein treatment, so I went to a doctor who's one of my competitors. He gave me a laser treatment which left burns on my skin for four months, but it was important for me to try it. The only thing I'll never try is a treatment which includes a chemical component, like phenol."
'Not an expense, an investment'
How much are women willing to spend on cosmetic treatments?
"I have customers – and I'm not only talking about women but also about men – who spend hundreds of thousands of shekels a year on all possible treatments. So what? How much money do people invest in changing their furniture? And how much money does a man invest in a stupid car, when one which costs half the price will take him to the same place? I don't see cosmetic treatments as an expense, but as an investment."
You have one cosmetic series which is extremely expensive: Twelve ampoules for NIS 1,488 (about $410), 30 ml of facial serum for NIS 968 ($267). Why is it so expensive?
"The reason for the price is the substance developed by Prof. Meir Shinitzky, the head of our research and development department, who has also registered it as a patent. It's a very expensive substance. Most companies use a tiny amount of the main active substance – about 0.5% to 0.75%. In our products it reaches 2%, and 3% in the ampoules. As a result, the cost is higher."
I used a day cream from the expensive series and it didn't smell good. You pay a fortune and get such an odor?
"It's the LEC 40, the main component which originates in eggs and has been registered as a patent. When we had focus group before launching the project, the participants did comment on the unpleasant smell. You must understand that the pleasant scents of cosmetic products come from perfumes, whose purpose is to hide the odor of the active substances.
"Prof. Shinitzky told me it was possible to hide the smell, but that we would have to reduce the quantity of the active substance, and I wouldn't accept that. But there is no smell left after seven minutes."
Is the expensive chemical preparation necessarily the most effective?
"An expensive cream and a cheap cream will do the same thing. The secret, I believe, is combining treatments at a beauty parlor and treatments at home. This is the reason why I refused to sell my creams in pharmacies: I couldn't find a way to combine the treatments with cream sales.
"One of the biggest chains in Europe, Douglas – which has 5,000 sales points – asked to market our products, and we're still deliberating. It's easy to be tempted to say yes and be on the map in one second. The question is how you want to see yourself 20 years from now."
And how would you like to see yourself 20 years from now?
"Well connected in the world, after making a change. I wish all companies would open a place like ours and realize that instead of investing 35% in advertising, they should invest in building centers like ours, for the customers.
"And there's something else: I would like to see women buying cosmetics without having an 18-year-old girl stand there and promise them that their wrinkles will disappear within 14 days. I'm outraged by such promises."
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
