Summer is here, and that means your clients are scrambling to get bikini-ready for their summer vacations, beach days and poolside afternoons. Do you have all the right treatments to get your clients prepared for the season from head to toe?If not, here is a sampling of what some spas around the country are offering to get their bikini-clad clients in tip-top shape, including sun protection hair treatments, hydrating facials, wraps for body contouring and slimming, exfoliating scrubs, sunless tanners and even a service for “beach feet.”
Beach Ready Spa in Seaside, FL offers their clients treatments that are literally head-to-toe, starting with a Hair & Scalp Treatment (25 minutes, $35) that acts as a natural UV filter, made with argan oil, Dead Sea minerals and seaweed. “It’s a leave-in treatment that we put on wet hair to give them that beachy wet look, and it has the added boost of UV protection. Our clients love it!” says Lead Esthetician Lindsay Eberhart.
Moving onto the face, the perfect summer facial menu includes ultra-hydrating facials, cooling facials and facials specifically for those who had a bit too much sun. (See our article on sunburn facials, page 81). The most popular summer facial at Voda Spa in West Hollywood, CA is a combination of all three. Their Antioxidant Fresh Fruit Facial (50 minutes, $145) helps fight damage caused by overexposure to the sun with a chilled mask of berries, yogurt and honey. When they do have summer specials, they promote them via an e-blast to their clients and on a “Summer Specials” tab on their website.
Offering your clients many options to get their body in shape is a great way to increase summer numbers as well. Consider adding slimming, firming, body contouring and/or cellulite reducing wraps to your summer specials. (For a complete rundown on cellulite treatments, see the article on page 74).
The Spa at Oak Haven in Sevierville, TN is introducing a few innovative body treatments using the additional talents of their staff. For instance, they are combining a slimming body wrap with a fitness consultation to capitalize on their esthetician, who is also a licensed fitness trainer. “This is a holistic approach to treating your inner and outer self. For the wrap, we’ll take their measurements before and after, and while the client is burrito-ed up in a detoxifying body wrap, the therapist will do a consultation and ask about their diet, exercise, lifestyle and goals, and create a customized fitness plan for them to take home,” says Spa Director Emily McBrayer.
The 90-minute initial treatment ($109-$129) includes a 20-minute personal goal evaluation, body fat analysis and measurements, a 50-minute body wrap with exfoliation, and a 20-minute personal kick-start plan with exercise and diet goals. Clients take home the exfoliating gloves used during treatment, their personal exercise and diet plan, a copy of measurements and a wellness journal. The follow-up series ($69-$99) includes a 60-minute treatment, journal review and a 30-minute coaching session. McBrayer is also creating a treatment around her massage therapist who is also a yoga instructor. “They’ll get a personal yoga class customized for what the client’s body needs. They’ll get stretched out and then get the massage. It’s a great way to really get the most of our talented staff and to give our clients something unique,” she says.
For those who do not want to actually work out to slim down for summer, consider adding an electric muscle-stimulating machine to your list of spa essentials. The Cellulite Clinic in Studio City, CA uses this in their Body Tone Sculptor Series, which is geared toward a client who is already at their ideal size or weight, but wants to tone, tighten and define their muscles.
“This is great for getting bikini ready. It’s the lazy man’s workout because you’re sweating and your muscles are moving, but you are just laying there watching reruns of Sex and the City as the machine does all of the work,” says The Cellulite Clinic owner Dae Flesher of the series, which runs 45 minutes and is sold in series of as few as four sessions ($390) and up to 16 sessions ($1,050). Clients can also target their most troubled spots, such as their mid-section, with a target area add-on ($25).
Another pre-poolside pick me up offered at The Cellulite Clinic is the Anti-Cellulite Coffee Mud Wrap (45 minutes, $99), which is very popular with celebrities and models for reducing cellulite and tightening skin. “This is one of our most popular summer treatments. A client will call up in a panic saying, ‘I’m going to be at the Vegas pool tomorrow, get me in today!’ It’s because this is the one treatment you can do in one session where you see the difference instantly,” says Flesher.
The next step for getting a client in beach body shape is an exfoliating scrub that readies the skin for spray tans or self-tanners. “Tanners stay on better when the body is properly prepped by getting rid of that dead skin and making way for new skin,” says Eberhart of their Beach Ready Body Scrub (50 minutes, $95; 80 minutes, including a 25-minute massage, $245). “We update this treatment for summer by adding our seasonal scents, which are pineapple-orange and coconut this year. We also use these scents in our manicures and pedicures,” she adds.
Of course, another body treatment that clients love for summer is a firming treatment, such as Beach Ready Spa’s Seaweed Firming Treatment (50 minutes, $115). “It uses mineral rich seaweed to give a more toned, tightened look to your skin, and it improves texture as well. We finish this treatment off with an antioxidant green tea hydrator because it’s important not just to hydrate the face, but the body as well,” says Eberhart.
Bikini and Brazilian waxes are also great services to push for summer, but some spas have interesting add-ons for their waxing services. The Spa at White Barn Inn in Kennebunk Beach, ME, for instance, offers the Bikini Smoother (30 minutes, $85), which is recommended for 48 hours after a bikini wax to help prevent ingrown hairs, breakouts or bumps.
Last but not least, offer your clients something to either get their feet ready to look good in sandals and flip-flops, or to care for those “beach feet” after a hard day of barefoot beach volleyball. Calming Waters Spa in Kingsland, GA hits the nail on the head with their aptly named Beach Feet (30 minutes, $35) treatment, which features exfoliation, massage and a foot mask.
Voda Spa takes their clients’ feet seriously with their Heal Your Heels (60 minutes, $75) treatment, which includes a healing soak, moisturizing exfoliation, a hot stone massage and a soothing, hydrating butter blend massaged from knees to toes. This is topped, of course, with the perfect polish.
As with any new season, summer packages are a great way to get clients to sample a variety of your spa’s treatments. La Samanna Spa in St. Martin offers the Sun Preparation Package (150 minutes, $345), which includes their French body polish, a Swedish massage with avocado oil and a purifying facial. Beach Ready Spa has five summer packages to get their clients ready head-to-toe, including one of their most popular—the Get Beach Ready package (three and a half hours, $295), which includes a 50-minute Beach Ready Body Scrub, 25-minute relaxation massage, custom facial and spa pedicure.
The Spa at Oak Haven had success last summer with their Summer Sampler Massage Package (60 minutes, $99; 90 minutes, $119), which included a combination of two of their most popular massages, the Spa Rock and Bamboo Massage with a body brush exfoliation. Guests were given the body brush as a take-home treat. “This was a great way to get clients to sample a few of our treatments in the hope that they’ll come back and book one as a full treatment, and it worked,” says McBrayer.
The treatment menu is not the only part of your spa that needs summer-izing! Go through the retail area and make sure that you have items that are beach-ready. Hot summer sellers include tinted moisturizers and lip balms with SPF, self-tanners, sunscreen for the face, body and lip, and hydrating mists to bring to the beach. And thinking outside of the box by adding some beach items in fun, bright colors, such as broad-brimmed hats for more sun protection, sunglasses, swimwear, cover-ups or flip-flops can add to your retail sales.
“We’re right on the beach so our customers don’t wear a lot of makeup. But the tinted moisturizers with sun protection that we sell are great so they can have a little bit of coverage that’s appropriate for the beach,” says Eberhart, who says a popular retail item for them is their oil-free, sheer tinted moisturizer with SPF 20.
And most importantly, spas need to keep their clients (and media) consistently informed about what they are up to every season. In addition to announcing your summer specials, treatments and packages to the media via a press release, your newsletter, website and e-blast, have some fun with social media this season to help spread the word. Consider creating a summer-themed pinboard on Pinterest or use Instagram to show off your seasonal products, beautiful photos of your spa and inspiring summer images. Do not forget to fully utilize your blog, newsletter and Facebook to offer clients useful summer tips on skin care, hydration, sunburn prevention, healthy eating, fitness and more.
