Behind the brand: HealGel
HealGel is an advanced rescue formula to speed recovery and solve a wide range of skincare problems. It was launched by Heal Care Products in the mid noughties by five of the world’s leading plastic surgeons, and a renowned biochemist. They combined decades of research in skin anti-ageing, anti-oxidants, healing and the nanotechnology of delivery systems to bring a product to the public that actually works. Gill Sinclair interviewed Norman Waterhouse, one of the brains behind this revolutionary product:
There are many ‘doctor’ brands out there. What makes yours different?
Really, we simply wanted to ensure that our patients were taking the best possible care of their skin after treatment. Many of our patients divulged that they were using products that we knew to possess only placebo value. Looking at what was then available, we identified a need that was not being met; a single effective treatment for post operative skin. We spent three years refining the formula, to address all forms of compromised skin conditions. To begin with, it was used exclusively by our patients, but we became progressively aware that it was being applied for all kinds of complaints from blemishes for teenage skin to rosacea, which as you know is often difficult to treat.
How did you form your team?
As five friends and colleagues, we came together at an exciting time to make a difference in an industry. Because we love what we do, and were able to offer a combined industry perspective of over 70 years, we knew we could make a product that could stand out in an already crowded market. We have an unrivalled collective publishing history on a broad spectrum of key areas from free radicals to delivery systems, anti-oxidants, to specialist procedures such as complex wounds.
You describe yourselves as being five of the world’s leading plastic surgeons. Tell me a little more about your different fields of specialism.
I’d like to start with the late Martin Kelly, a great friend and colleague at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. Professor Peter Butler currently heads the UK Facial Transplantation Research Team based at the Royal Free Hospital. Like Simon Withey, he specialises in complex wounds and has produced an extraordinary number of peer reviewed papers in this area. Patrick Mallucci works at an equally international level, teaching, advising, and practicing, and also acting as a spokesman for the profession in the media. As well as continuing to develop my work with Facing the World, I run a private clinic inHarley Street.
So what next?
It has been really encouraging seeing the response to HealGel. We love getting feedback from those that benefit from it, in a really surprisingly wide range of ways. It is great to think that it is as useful for a teenager with spots to a pensioner with dry, itchy skin. There have been some really touching accounts of patients with serious post-op issues, people that have been given immense relief from use of the gel. And of course, girls who just want firmer skin around their eyes for a special event. The anecdotes hale from Hollywood to Hampstead. If we’ve had a single criticism it has been that the jar is too small!