Spas in Brooklyn are opening up and
expanding at a feverish pace.
Pilo Arts in Bay Ridge and Studio 19 in
Midwood are undergoing facelifts and major renovations. Cavale
Tonuzi’s new spa, Tantra, is breaking ground on Third Avenue;
Tapestry in Brooklyn Heights is expanding; Home Spa in Carroll
Gardens is opening a second location; and Providence Day Spa
in Park Slope is moving to bigger digs on Union Street. Shibumi,
in Brooklyn Heights, is building a second facility in the Marriott.
So what’s behind this explosion of facials,
body wraps and massages in a working class borough like Brooklyn?
Some spa owners say Brooklynites have finally
become hip to the benefits spa services offer for their state
of mind, their skin and their general well being.
"People are better informed now,"
said Robert Cavale of Tantra Spa. "They are eating better,
exercising and treating themselves better overall."
Another reason for the jump in number of
spas and spa clients here is that men are jumping on the bandwagon
as well. Glenn Ferris, manager of Studio 19, said as many as
40 percent of his spa’s clients are men.
"There’s no stigma attached any longer
to men taking care of themselves," he said. "Everyone
wants to maintain a youthful appearance."
Tapestry’s Vincent Kolb says that though
men have historically embraced "sports massage," he’s
now finding a spike in the number of men who want facials and
manicures.
All of these spas offer treatments that
will help you year round, and some that are particularly essential
for melting the winter blahs from your spirit and skin.
Even in winter it’s important to use a
moisturizer with sunscreen, explained Sheila Brody of The Spa
in Bay Ridge. Brody says in the winter, the spa uses a special
cold weather cream in all of their facials and body treatments
to protect clients from UV rays.
"People tend not to wear a sunscreen
in winter, but rays are just as strong now," she warned.
Read on for more tips and therapies to
help you take the chill out of winter.
Area Treatment Center
Known for its restaurants, trendy Smith
Street is also home to an unusual brownstone spa dedicated to
a holistic approach to relaxation.
Area Emporium and Treatment Center, owned
by Fort Greene resident Sophia Fonseca and Williamsburg resident
Loretta Gendville, has been open for just over a year, and offers
a calm, quiet ambiance in which to be pampered with massage,
body wraps and facials. Leg waxing, manicuring, or hair drying
won’t be found at this spa, which, Fonseca said, is "all
about you." Area specializes in massage and skin care.
The center is divided between two locations,
a block apart, on Smith Street. The storefront is housed at 252
Smith St. and the services are performed at 275 Smith. One of
the staff members will walk you from the store to the spa – a
block away and on the other side of Smith Street. Clients pay
in advance of treatment, so they don’t have to backtrack to the
storefront.
While it may seem inconvenient to walk
from one location to the other, especially in the rain or snow,
there are distinct advantages to Area’s setup. In the second
location, there are no jangling telephones or credit card machines.
The longer treatments, over an hour, begin
with an aromatherapy footbath. The staffers call this a "grounding
experience" for the clients as they fill out forms about
their health and their skin care regimens.
The center features Dr. Hauschka Skin Care,
a German line of products and treatments that tout the use of
natural botanicals and a relaxing touch.
While more women than men use the spa,
massage is popular with the men, and some go for the skin treatments,
too, said Fonseca. The massage therapists can do a combination
of Swedish, shiatsu and deep-tissue massage, customized to the
client’s needs or wishes, Fonseca said. The most popular treatments
are one-hour massages ($90) and one-hour Dr. Hauschka facials
($100).
Fonseca recommended wraps, such as the
Moor wrap, ($130 for 90 minutes, or $170 for two hours) a mud-like
treatment of herbs and minerals that is warmed, applied to the
skin, then wrapped in warm towels, for healing dry winter skin.
The two-hour rhythmical body massage treatment
($165) is a kind of body massage developed by Dr. Hauschka that
is performed with a light touch, using oils on the body and brushes
on the face.
After a foot soak, the rhythmical treatment
begins with warm, aromatic compresses on the face, followed by
brushes swept across the forehead and from the nose out to the
cheeks. On the body, Fonseca does a light massage in broad strokes.
While two hours may seem a long time for a treatment, the rhythm
of the strokes relax you, and can easily lull you into a nap
in the allotted time. After the treatment, moisturizers are applied
to the face.
Don’t expect to do any serious thinking
or a workout after a treatment; I ended up a bit dazed. Though
it was relaxing, for $165, I would like to have some clean pores
to show off, too. (The two-hour classic Dr. Hauschka treatment
does include a cleansing clay mask, pore extraction and 15-minute
light massage.)
However the center is different from several
I have been to in Manhattan that run clients through quickly.
Perhaps they clean every pore, but they fail to tend to the spirit,
or at least to relax the mind as does Area.
The cost of the treatments reflects the
high quality of the oils and the length of time dedicated to
each client, according to Fonseca. Every room is clean, with
soft lighting and relaxing aromas of lavender, rose, sage and
other soothing scents.
-Wendy Froede
Home Spa
The Home Spa on Court Street, which is
going into its third year, piqued their customers’ interest when
they announced the opening of a second location – in a Victorian
bed and breakfast.
Currently the spa, which just underwent
some cosmetic surgery inside its lobby and hallway, transforming
it with a Tuscan feel, has four treatment rooms and offers facials,
massages, waxing, scrubs and wraps.
Home Spa, which uses Dermalogica and its
own line of products, also offers series discounts and services
for kids and teens. Occasionally, the family pet, a small Jack
Russell terrier named Cookie will show you some affection upon
check-in.
The second location is inside the Baisley
House, at 294 Hoyt St. between Sackett and Union streets in Carroll
Gardens. The merger is the brainchild of two Carroll Gardens
residents, Home Spa owner Debra Townes, formerly of the Susan
Ciminelli spa in Manhattan, and Baisley House proprietor Harry
Paul.
This second location offers an outdoor
rose garden (in season) as well as a fully restored 19th-century
interior.
The Baisley House, built in 1853, is a
brownstone row house, featuring three guestrooms. The home has
been carefully restored by Paul, an interior decorator and landscape
designer.
Though Paul does open the house to Brooklyn
Center for the Urban Environment tours, a Home Spa experience
in the bed and breakfast would be a rare opportunity to check
out this work of art.
Home Spa is installing a treatment room
(which will be open in the next week or so) in the house, but
clients can also opt to have the treatments done in one of the
guestrooms – depending on room availability and type of treatment.
For me, the master bedroom with its Oriental
carpet, four poster bed, fireplace and dark paisley wallpaper
offered a pleasant alternative ambiance for a 75-minute Swedish
massage ($75).
A massage table with towels in a color
complementing the decor was inserted at one end of the room.
My massage therapist, Julie, with a homey apron tied over her
clothes, gently manipulated my body from head to toe, incorporating
a scalp massage, too. Home Spa uses a massage gel with essential
oils to ease tension and relieve pain; the soothing scents of
cinnamon and spruce lulled me during the treatment.
At the end of the massage, Julie wrapped
the blankets snugly around my whole body – head to toe – and
though I felt like a restful mummy, she says her less macabre
clients liken the feeling to being a papoose.
Townes recommends the hot stone massage
for easing the aches and tightness of winter muscles. The 75-minute
massage ($115) incorporates the use of more than 50 heated and
oiled "pond stones" to enhance a head to toe massage.
Townes promises they will turn your muscles into "cotton
candy."
The spa and the Baisley House have created
a day package at Baisley, perfect for us locals and visitors.
The "Day at Baisley" ($400) includes meals and teas,
a body massage, a facial, hand and foot treatments and a spa
product sampler.
One-night ("The Overnight Sensation")
and two-night packages ("The Holistic Absolution")
include meals, teas, services and lodging in a range of prices
for singles, friends and couples.
And with the added bonus of a Victorian
rose garden in the backyard, Townes says, "Clients can truly
stop and smell the roses."
