How skin rash spurred woman to business venture

**Timeless Medical Spa Chief Executive Peris Mbuthia. [PHOTO: ELVIS OGINA/STANDARD]**

While most Africans are battling the dark spots and other skin complications, Westerners are tackling the issue of skin wrinkles. The need for Africans to fix their skins has created a cosmetic market that has attracted multinationals.

With a population growth expected to hit 2.5 billion by 2050, according to the UN Habitant Report of 2015, Africa is indeed a gold mine for the cosmetic business.

Some of the international players are L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, who have developed expansion strategies to capture the beauty and personal care market in the African continent.

Spending on cosmetics per capita on the continent is 10 to 20 times lower than in developed markets, according to market strategy consultants Roland Berger, and marketers are increasingly eager to tap into this potential for future growth.

In Kenya, the beauty industry has created jobs for many as women spend fortunes on skin care products. One such individual is Peris Mbuthia, a mother-of-two and founder of Timeless Medical Spa based in Nairobi.

“I was on holiday in Mombasa when I developed a rash which really affected my face and I needed it fixed but I could not find a trained beauty aesthetician,” says Ms Mbuthia.

From this, she saw a business opportunity and flew to Canada to strategise on her new business venture. She then enrolled for a diploma in medical aesthetics, which focuses on improving cosmetic appearance through the treatment of skin conditions.

“With Sh15 million, I purchased the required equipment and shipped them to Kenya not knowing where I would set up the business,” she remembers.

She later got space at the Lavington Mall where she spent Sh3 million on an interior designer who did not meet her expectations. Being one not to easily give up, she tried another designer who also disappointed.

“This was more than just business gone wrong. I needed to make an impact and do something for my community and for my country. It was all about me not giving up on my dreams,” Ms Mbuthia says.

After many false starts, she set up Timeless Medical Spa in June last year. The spa focuses on the growing middle class, seeking beauty and wellness.

It offers services like skin relaxing, renewal and revival of one’s beautiful skin to perfection, using safe, effective and non-invasive cutting edge technology.

Skin type

The spa also deals with acne, skin tag removals, laser/electrolysis hair removals, non-surgical face lifts, lumicell non-surgical body contouring and photo rejuvenation.

The services are only offered after a detailed skin analysis where one is checked using a specially-designed machine to determine their skin type, the damage and its cause.

Timeless Medical Spa is the sole distributor of La Cure Range of products in East and Central Africa.