For a luxurious spa experience follow the
gilded railings to the entrance of Fort Greene’s Cynergy Spa.
This little sister of Harlem’s Cynergy Spa was opened in 2003,
but there’s nothing small or diminutive about the Brooklyn location.
Owner Cynthia Grace says customers from as close as downtown
Manhattan and from as far as Long Island are making pilgrimages
to Cynergy.
"Fort Greene is an artistic sort of place, it has a little
bit of a bohemian feel," said Grace. "Practitioners
in the community work here, too, and they bring an earthy, spiritual
sort of feel. They have great hands and great energy.
"Our staff is multicultural: European, Asian, Latino, African-American,
South American – it’s like a little United Nations."
In April, Tendrils Hair Spa, which owner Diane Bailey bills as
a "wellness salon for hair," will open in Cynergy’s
basement. Bailey’s hair salon burned down last year after 16
years on Vanderbilt Avenue between Myrtle and Willoughby. She
brings 30 years of experience toiling over the heads of Brooklynites
to this hair spa, where, in addition to manipulating hair through
twisting, natural cuts and braiding, she said she’ll be "focusing
on treatments – scalp treatments, aromatherapy, a lot of steam
treatments, shampoo massaging and herbal treatments."
But don’t look to Bailey’s hair spa for chemical treatments –
it’s all-natural. Tendrils will use products by Carol’s Daughter,
Afro Diva Collection and Eternal Bliss, a line by Bedford-Stuyvesant
resident Eddie Simpson.
"Cynthia and I are providing very similar services for the
same person," said Bailey. "She’s doing one part of
the body, and I’m doing the other part."
Among Cynergy’s architectural highlights are two floors of spacious
treatment rooms – some large enough to accommodate couples or
friends for side-by-side services; a Jacuzzi; a sauna; and a
large, elegant second-floor lounge with cafe tables and chairs,
animal print decorative accents and branches for curtain rods.
"I tried to bring a little of the outside, inside,"
Grace explained of her efforts to bring nature’s elegance to
her urban oasis. She has even managed to capture sunshine (with
a skylight), and that other precious commodity, square footage.
"I wanted to keep the rooms as large as I could. [City dwellers]
have gotten so used to cramped, small spaces," she explained.
Queens artist Ingrid Van Shipley created a mural alongside the
staircase and left other evidence of her Midas touch throughout.
Whether the Cynergy client prefers a room with a fireplace flickering
with candlelight or a room with exposed brick walls aglow with
natural light, this spa offers both a variety of treatments and
settings.
"We know a lot about skincare for African-Americans; they
have unique needs," said Grace. "There aren’t a lot
of folks in the field with that focus. But we provide services
for everyone’s needs."
Cynergy’s menu offers facials, microdermabrasion, massages, manicures,
pedicures, body treatments and waxing. And Grace says she’s pretty
handy with the makeup brushes, too, for women who’d like a dramatic
transformation for that big night out.
Nature’s bounty is also employed in Cynergy’s treatments.
"We hand-make our scrubs using avocado, honey and mango,
a lot of fresh fruits, especially in the summer," said Grace.
"I love avocado. We use it in a mask and body scrub. It’s
delicious, moisturizing, conditioning and it smells great. The
scrubs are made per use. We tailor what we do to what the clients
like and need."
But Cynergy doesn’t stop at the shoreline in its search for healing
treatments.
They use a packetful of France’s sea salt for a "sea bath,"
and, said Grace, "I have the best seaweed you can get from
Phytomer, which means ’plant of the sea.’ It produces very intense
treatments and the wrap takes a little over an hour."
But the rewards are more than skin deep, says this clinical psychologist,
"You go in, in a funky mood and you come out, feeling much
better."
See the Spa Directory for
more information about Cynergy Spa.
