Get personal with Philip Douglas & Doug Olsen, owners of Philip Douglas® & Co. in beautiful Naples, Florida.
Philip Douglas is a renowned celebrity makeup artist and hair stylist from Boston, MA who has been serving celebrity clients for years. Philip has made appearances in the Bloomingdales flagship NYC store as a cosmetic national beauty expert and has had numerous guest appearances on Designing Spaces, Beauty Spaces, airing on the Style and Home & Garden channels.
Doug Olsen is a Manhattan native and originally an actor/model in television, theater and runway. He has worked for corporate cosmetics companies as director of training, sales, marketing and product development. After gaining corporate experience, Doug pursued an esthetics license out of his combined love for the beauty business and spa industry.
Read on to find out how loving what you do can catapult your career.
How did you get started in the beauty industry?
Philip: I have 5 sisters. My older sister was going to her prom, I was 17 at the time, and she wanted her hair to look like Ginger from Gilligan’s Island. She came home from the hair salon looking like an old lady. So my mother said, “Well your brother is creative, maybe he can do something.” I grabbed the hairspray and bobby pins and got to work. The next day, her friends were all calling me to do their hair.
Doug: I got into the beauty industry while I was in college. I originally started a Christmas job in Bloomingdales working for Estée Lauder, and I guess I did such a good job that after Christmas they offered me a permanent position!
What brought you to Naples, FL?
Philip: I am originally from Boston. I moved here 27 years ago to live in paradise. I was tired of the grey snow, sleet and cold weather and needed a change! Plus, Doug was already living here, so it worked out perfectly.
Doug: My parents actually moved to Naples years ago from NY. I was living in Ft. Lauderdale as the Elizabeth Arden Account Executive at the time, and would visit them on weekends. I thought it was the most beautiful place to live. Soon, I decided to relocate to Naples and have been living here happily ever after since then!
Philip, I know you have a lot of celebrity clients; do you have any tips for up and coming professionals on how to break into this clientele?
Philip: Educate yourself, take advantage of every opportunity, read all of the fashion magazines and stay current. Stay extremely professional. High profile celebrities can afford the best, but you should be giving your clients your best no matter who they are. You should always be doing your best work.
My first celebrity client was Stephanie Zimbalist followed by Nancy Reagan. Other clients have included two New York Times best-selling authors, two former First Ladies, a famous country singer and TV actress, an Oscar winning actress and many other television and film personalities.
Why has Repêchage® been the right fit for your salon/spa?
Philip: There are a lot of reasons! First of all it’s very effective. The company is great to do business with — they’re all about education and promoting their line. They have a great marketing team, and they help us grow our business and provide consistent products and marketing.
Doug: It’s been 20 years since we initially launched Repêchage®. Repêchage® is not just a vendor or a brand, they are real people who really care — everyone has become family to us.
We’ve come to know you so well, Lydia, that we know we can ask you technical questions about esthetics and your products. And we love to send you fan letters from happy clients! But one of the most important things, and I think Philip will agree, is that our clients love Repêchage® – because it works.
What is your personal favorite Repêchage® treatment or product?
Philip: For me, I’d have to say Rapidex®. It’s one of my favorites. And I have a second runner up – Mineral Face Shield® — it’s a great product!
Doug: My number one service is the Biolight® Miracle Facial. It really helps to fade discolored skin and skin tone, and leaves you glowing. That’s by far our number one Repêchage® service.
What has been the reaction since introducing the new Repêchage® Vita Cura® Gold Collection and Repêchage® Mineral Makeup?
Doug: People are LOVING the new Perfect Skin Mineral Makeup! We’ve had so many clients that have stopped buying their previous brands to switch over to the Repechage® line. They’re saying “I love this so much, I’m staying with this!”, especially the foundation. In Florida, we have two seasons – warm, and hot. People need a foundation that withstands the hot temperatures, and that’s exactly what the Repechage® Perfect Skin Liquid Foundation does. Many of our clients own two homes, so they’re actually buying more than one foundation to keep one in their Florida home, and another to bring back to the colder weather with them. It’s a great weather-proof foundation, regardless of the climate!
For the Vita Cura® line, the serum is definitely our number one seller. Our clients have noticed immediate long-term benefits, and they’re loving this product.
Philip and Doug: The new Repêchage® Vita Cura® Gold line has been a big hit for our business. Our clients are always extremely excited by the prospect of something new from Repêchage® and Vita Cura® Gold really delivers. This line is a game changer for your skin: smoother and more firm skin, even tone, and texture and pore size are improved. The serum is our best seller thus far. Our loyal Repêchage® users love the serum because they can use it under their favorite products like Vita Cura® Triple Firming Cream and Biolight® Day or Night Cream. We are thrilled with Vita Cura® Gold and we see nothing but greatness ahead!
Do you remember your first experience with the Repêchage® Four-Layer Facial®?
Doug: I have a funny story about that actually! I think you’ll remember it. Shortly after Repêchage® was introduced into our spa, we had an open house.
One of our clients happens to be Janet Evanovich, the New York Times best-selling author. She had heard about the Four-Layer Facial®, but never had a chance to try it. Lydia, you were also attending our open house, and you immediately offered to do the facial for Janet as I hadn’t performed one yet. This definitely wasn’t planned, because you were dressed in a suit, heels, and jewelry! Janet was on board, but she wanted me to be in the room. So I had the really unique experience of having, the founder of Repêchage®, perform a Four-Layer Facial® and teach me the Four-Layer Facial® on someone that’s extremely well-known. We kept Janet’s Mineral Mask on the shelf in one of the treatment rooms for quite some time!
Philip: All I know is I had it, and it felt wonderful! I fell asleep, and for me to fall asleep during a treatment is unusual. For me to go to “Never-Never Land” for about 45 minutes was quite special.
As business owners, how do you keep yourself motivated and energized every day?
Philip: I love what I do. I get up every morning and I can say I love this profession. I love doing hair and I love helping people feel good about themselves.
I LOVE the beauty business. I just can’t picture myself doing anything else. On my “days off” even, and during our travels, we will look around to discover new things we can implement into our business and bring back to our clients.
Doug: I think the beauty industry is self-motivating for me. It is always growing and changing with a lot of newness and excitement. I am also an actor/model, so I love how our industry is very entertaining and theatrical in a really good way. My energy comes from swimming forty laps every morning.
When you get a real day off, what is your favorite thing to do?
Philip: I like to work in my garden, get my hands in the dirt and take in nature and all the beauty that’s there. I particularly love orchids. There is nothing more rewarding than when an orchid starts to bloom.
Doug: A real day off is never totally off for me. I love art and traveling, especially to Europe. There is always one eye open to catch some new product or treatment that I have never seen before! Poor Philip, I have dragged him into more spas, perfumeries and salons in places like France, Spain, and Germany to get a close up of something new. He joked that if I am ever missing in an international airline terminal, look in duty free first!
How do you balance a personal and professional life?
Philip: Every day is a new day. Just be open to whatever happens and you just learn from what happened yesterday. There are days where it is all work, others its play. I don’t want to call myself a “work-a-holic”, but my work is play for me a lot of the time.
Doug: Balancing a personal and professional life can be a juggling act for any couple, even more so if you are both in the same field. I think it is most important not to bring work home with you, and on the flip side, don’t bring the home life to work. It has its advantages too; we can be at a conference or show and look at each other and say “We need to do this;” or on vacation where we see some idea when we are ‘off duty’ and say to each other, “This would work for us if we tweaked it the Philip Douglas way!”
Philip Douglas® & Co. is an exclusive Repêchage® Partner Spa in Naples, FL. Most recently, Philip Douglas & Co. has launched the new, clinically proven, dermatologist tested and plastic surgeon recommended Repêchage® Vita Cura Gold Collection, in addition to offering clients the award-winning Repêchage® Perfect Skin Mineral Makeup Collection.
For more information on Philip Douglas® & Co. visit www.philipdouglas.com
For more information on Repêchage® visit www.repechage.com
