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Over the past twenty years, Environ has become synonymous with providing beauty professionals worldwide with innovative and effective skin care products. This month, we uncover the brand’s origins and reveal its plans for future success…


The story of Environ begins in Cape Town, South Africa. After treating two young patients formelanomawho then subsequently lost their lives to the disease, plastic surgeon Dr Des Fernandeswas profoundlymoved. Fromthis deeply personal experience he realised that the illnesswould no doubt affectmanymore individuals in the future, and so decided to embark on studying themechanismof skin cancer.


Itwaswhile treating patients for acne that Dr Fernandes firstwitnessed the positive effects provided by vitamin A acid (Tretinoin / Retinoic acid) and thus began incorporating the ingredient into his own skin regime. “By 1986, I had uncovered all


Environ Fact File


• The company was originally founded by South African plastic surgeon, Dr Des Fernandes.


• The brand is now available inmore than 60 countries worldwide.


• Celebrity fans include Elle Macpherson, Kelly Brook, Kate Winslet and NaomiWatts.


• Environ products have won accolades ranging fromtheMarie Claire ‘Prix D’Excellence’ to Stylist ‘Product of the Year’, and the innovative vitamin facial has featured in Harper’s Bazaar’s Top Ten Treatments and The Times Top 100 Beauty Products.


1987 - The formula for the first cream was conceived by Dr Des Fernandes in Cape Town, South Africa.


the positive facts about vitamin A and the antioxidants and I started to promote the use of Tretinoin for the prevention of skin cancer,” he reveals.


“At that time, people laughedwhen I spoke about free radicals as theywere then not the householdword that they have nowbecome.Meanwhile, I had approached two South African cosmetic companies and advised themtomake creams using vitamin A and free radical scavengers. Theywere not interested so, initially, I used to prepare vitamin A creams myself inmy kitchen!”


In 1987, Dr Fernandes developed the formula for his first cream(which is now equivalent to AVST 2). The following year, he began offering his homemade vitamin A products to his plastic surgery clients. “I hunted for a chemist andwe then created the creamswhich I offered tomy patients. [They] became so popular that people made appointments to seeme just to obtain them. And itwas then that I decided to start a company to sell the creams.


“I truly believed that these creamswould keep people’s skins healthy. In fact, I believed that these creamswere essential to keep their skins healthy.My concern for people’s health has always been the guiding reason for the development of these proactive creams.”


In good company


As the popularity of his product offerings grew, Dr Fernandes formed Tretintech in 1990 (which later came to adopt the Environ name). The businesswas initially operated fromsmall premises comprising


1988 - Dr Fernandes begins offering his homemade vitamin A creams to his plastic surgery patients, which became known as Dr D’s Creams.


1990 - Tretintech – the company whose name was later changed to Environ – is formed.


of a fewrooms, a chemist and a handful of staff. Itwas here that the team manufactured only two creams under the name Tretin-Care, yet itwasn’t long before the product range soon expanded to include a full skin care line.


Two years later, the brand began to first export its goods and appointed its initial international distributors including Belgium, UK,Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Namibia. In 1994, the creamswere rebranded as Environ and during that same period, the rangewas introduced to eager British and Irish beauty professionals by Tracy Tamaris,whowas inspired to approach Dr Fernandes having experienced the transformation of her own skin through using the products back home in South Africa, before emigrating to the UK. Initially, Tracy started the business fromhome and visited salons and spas around the country to encourage themto stock Environ,whichwas virtually unknown at the time.


Thanks to the brand’s dedicated and ongoing commitment, Environ is today a familiar sight in over 60 countries across Europe, America, Australia, NewZealand, Africa, theMiddle East and Asia. “There are currentlymore than 60 retail products across seven ranges – plus professional


1992 - Environ’s RAD is introduced – the first sunscreen to combine conventional sunscreens with a complex of antioxidants to protect from free radicals caused by UVA.


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Dr Des Fernandes


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