Beauty business with a conscience

MANILA, Philippines - Skincare expert and businesswoman Dina dela Paz Stalder could have been a multi-millionaire had she followed the way of other whitening product manufacturers who add mercury to their products. With pride, she now recalls, “I’m happy I did not share the same fate,” upon learning of the crackdown in the local market on beauty products with this toxic element.

From being a medical representative and an overseas-based worker, who would have thought that she would eventually end up an industry mover and shaker herself? With her dedication, passion and perseverance to succeed, the petite businesswoman has come out big in her own way.     

For 23 years, Stalder worked her way to become the highly esteemed authority she is today in the skincare industry. She has earned the respect and admiration of everybody in the business.In 1985, after she finished a medical technology course in Centro Escolar University, Stalder worked as a medical representative in a leading derma clinic in the country. Three years later, she flew to England to work as a domestic helper. On the side, she took up short courses on skincare. This emboldened her to venture into compounding dermatological products and cosmetics that were sold directly to dermatologists through Beauchamps Pharmacy, when she came back to the Philippines in 1989.

BCP is a formidable market leader with more than 50 percent market share — a position it has enjoyed for over a decade, through hard work, financial prudence and innate entrepreneurial genius.

Committed to self-growth via continuing education, she went back to England to further her studies on skincare in 1994 and 1995. Armed with more expertise and knowledge, she then established in 1996 her own skincare clinic, the Dermaline Facial Centers, now undergoing gradual change to become known as Diana Stalder Face, Body and Skin Care Center. Offering quality products and services, it did not take long for the business to grow. In a span of another three years, it had expanded to 22 strong outlets, both company-owned and franchised.

Seeing the increasing demand for their own products and to support the growth of the business, in July 1999, Stalder decided to put up the BCP Aesthetic Corporation to serve as the trading and marketing arm of the group. Also that same year, another affiliate company, Stalder Laboratories Inc. (SLI), was built to manufacture top-of-the-line products and cosmetics for their own consumption as well as the industry. She eventually ventured into other business pursuits such as the importation and distribution of dermatological machines, and export of quality yet affordable products through Diana Stalder, organized in 2004 as a direct selling entity.

At present, BCP is a formidable market leader with more than 50 percent market share — a position it has enjoyed for over a decade, through hard work, financial prudence and innate entrepreneurial genius. With 20 years of skin care experience, its products and services have gained the confidence and recognition of most dermatologists and, more importantly, its valued consumers, primarily because of its own strict compliance to Good Manufacturing Practices and other related standards and employing stringent quality control ideals.

“We only produce products that are safe, effective, reasonably priced and of superior quality,” enthuses Stalder, president and chief executive officer of BCP. Though she’s a titan of the industry, she still continues to teach her contemporaries, especially those who are setting up their own dermatological clinics, as well as supplies them with quality products and cutting-edge machines.

“I’m not selfish when it comes to sharing my knowledge,” Stalder says. “Almost all of those who are now a big name in the skincare industry have undergone my training. But still, I don’t mind helping those who need my assistance despite the fact that they eventually become my competitors.”

As a 100-percent Filipino-owned company, BCP is a responsible business entity. Apart from employment opportunity, it continues to provide more benefits to its people, like the housing provision currently offered to its plant workers in San Pablo, Laguna.

What’s more, the manufacturing facility operates “greenly,” by controlling its environment footprints with its own wastewater treatment and dumping facilities. Even better, it shares it blessings with the community where it operates by providing the people with environment and livelihood programs.

 Bullish on its business prospects, BCP looks forward to a brighter future ahead.