In 2018, Elisabeth Álvarez, a psychologist and dermo-aesthetic expert, decided to create a concept of a beauty center in Barcelona that was non-existent until then. The place she would go to without hesitation. With treatments that fuse aesthetics and wellness, competitive and affordable prices (she assures that she doesn't sell anything she wouldn't pay for), the latest equipment that she herself chooses in the international market, and her own protocols to make them as effective as possible.
After finishing her psychology degree, she started working as an assistant director in an aesthetic clinic, but the birth of her first child marked a before and after. "I wanted to go back to work, but I needed a passionate project that was worthwhile. At that time in Barcelona, there were only two types of centers: aesthetic ones, with good equipment but economically unattainable, and manual therapy centers, good for relaxing but with limited effectiveness. There was a lack of a space with a lot of technology at reasonable prices that would fuse aesthetic medicine with well-being. They are necessary for each other. "Only medicine is too much, but only aesthetics falls short," explains Elisabeth Álvarez, CEO of InOut in an interview with The New Barcelona Post.
InOut was born in 2018 and, three months after its opening, it already had a four-month waiting list. One of the secrets of its success was transforming the image of the aesthetic clinic of the moment. "They were all white, identical, with haughty medical teams… I wanted to create a different, dynamic, warm space, with doctors interacting on a one-to-one basis. They come in and supervise the skin and treatments without the need to make an appointment with them. Everything very integrated, comfortable, and easy," comments Álvarez.
The old InOut was at Avenida Diagonal 384 (one minute from the new one). They started with two cabins, and grew to 16 with a staff of 25 workers. The new InOut is located at Diagonal 392 and has involved an investment of two million euros. The center has three floors, a surface area of 1,000 square meters, 40 cabins, soundproof windows and walls, two independent entrances for those seeking privacy, individual waiting rooms, and bathrooms with vanities. The center also has a 300-meter area for staff, with rest rooms, training rooms, and large changing rooms. The team, made up of a staff of 50 people, takes care of its clients from the moment they enter until they leave, with personal follow-up included via WhatsApp.
Combined treatments have positioned InOut as a reference center. "All my protocols are personalized and include equipment. At InOut, a facial hygiene is never just that, because I combine it with different types of lasers, radiofrequency, or diamond tip. These combinations positioned us very quickly," highlights the businesswoman.
Álvarez assures that having this cutting-edge machinery is not simple. "Most of the equipment I bring from abroad with all the problems that entails: processing, permits, medical licenses, and many trips to detect what is the latest on the market. The investment in equipment is incalculable. We have nine different lasers and all the technologies you can imagine for both facial and body treatments," she emphasizes.
The founder of InOut also emphasizes the prices, which she considers to be "adjusted." "We have a laser that only one other center in Madrid has in Spain, and they charge 900 euros per session, and we charge 150 euros," she assures. But how does she then make this investment profitable? "With the number of clients and the number of sessions. If they were very expensive, they wouldn't do more than one. I set prices based on the result, and I always think about what I would pay," indicates Álvarez.
Expert in social media management
Word of mouth worked at first, but Elisabeth Álvarez has masterfully used social media. "When we opened, we had great success with Soprano hair removal. Barça footballers started coming with their wives, and the call effect was unstoppable," recalls the CEO. Both from the InOut account (with 126,000 followers) and from her own (with 90,000), Álvarez has become an influencer in her own right, analyzing and advising on beauty routines.
"Our protocols are so different that we had to teach them. But I never thought InOut would grow so much, nor my own account! I don't use social media to monetize anything, nor do I accept collaborations of any kind with brands. It's a way of disseminating information to talk about what I like and the importance of home care. Without that consistency, in-cabin treatments are absurd," she warns. "Furthermore," Álvarez adds, "I am a big supporter of real skin, and now there is a significant obsession with unreal skin. I experience it every day. Our clients want poreless skin, and that doesn't exist. I never post images of very thin bodies getting body treatments or Photoshopped skin promoting treatments. These are the things that harm the sector. We need to change the dialogue and seek healthy skin. That's what I do from my account."
Many celebrities visit InOut and travel specifically to Barcelona to treat their body and face at the center: actresses, singers, models, and the most well-known national influencers. Their most famous treatments? The Harmony lips lip redensification, the award-winning Oxylight, and their latest facial launch, Glossy Skin, which combines cryotherapy technology with a diamond tip.
New growth projects
Elisabeth Álvarez's business acumen leads her to seek new business opportunities. Very soon, she will open four beauty product retail spaces in Terminal 4 of Madrid Airport. "Cosmetics are my other great passion, and when traveling, due to liquid restrictions, you can hardly take anything with you. It's a different space designed for skin needs. Products will be displayed by needs (oily, mature, or spotty skin), and not by brands. We will divide it by skin type, needs, and routine steps. We are starting in Madrid and I would like to reach Barcelona," she anticipates.
And that's not all. She is now preparing the launch of her own cosmetic line under the Elisabeth Álvarez brand. "I've been working on this project for two years, and if I had known how much it costs, I wouldn't have done it. We already have all the formulations approved and the permits done. These are effective products that I believe in. I'm not launching retinoids or sunscreens because I haven't managed to achieve better formulas than those already on the market," she concludes.