Spa Consulting and Communications
for the International Day, Resort, Health Spa Industry

Sample Article

From Beauty Salon to Spa - what are the considerations?

Firstly, I believe, that spa is the future of professional beauty.

What are now most common are 'beauty salons' - then we have specialists within the group ie: salons/clinics that specialise in electrolysis, advanced skin care with laser, just wax and nails, etc. The future in my opinion will be Salon Spas and Day Spas with the same specialists groupings within or out of the category - some may decide to specialise in advanced skin care, some in hair removal and some in pre & post op skin care, etc. These may not sit within the spa category but define their point off difference by what they do. What are now specialist 'spa' services will be absorbed into the current standard offer and we will at last have a new title that has removed us, at the least, from that awful stigma - the 'beauty' word. Fluffy slippers and lace curtains image begone!

I believe we are moving quite well into our adopting our new role. So what does this mean for the average salon. Does it mean you need to change your name from Jenny's beauty salon to Jenny's Day Spa and that's it. Definitely not!

To add the word Spa to your name a lot more needs to change than just the name. No salon should call themselves a Spa unless they have some form of Hydrotherapy - SPA is drawn from either Salus Per Aquum or Siena Par Aqua - ancient phrases with a similar meaning - Healing Through Water. To be even a Salon Spa you must be able to do this one way or another - a shower down the back, or even in the room, is not it!

However, the up to date salon is offering spa style services and will continue to do so without hydrotherapy. If this is what you are able to do, or decide to do, then you are on par with trend, you simply adjust your name if you wish to be more in keeping with the new trends, and your offer, without the word 'spa' ie: Jenny's Retreat, Jenny's Sanctuary, Jenny's Face and Body, etc. On your menu you can quote - Spa-Style Services, or Spa-Style Body Treatments. This does not say that the treatment will be the same as they will receive in a spa but it will be similar, the best you can do without the hydrotherapy!

This way your salon grows into the new format, you are less likely to lose your clients to a true Day Spa and your investment is rational, or you don't have to move premises etc - whatever your personal situation is, and, most importantly, the client is clear what to expect. We can damage all the benefits that the Spa movement holds for us as an industry if we misrepresent ourselves to the client. Far too many salons which have changed almost nothing in-house, and have no more than a standard shower to offer as 'hydrotherapy', are calling themselves a spa. The media hype has built the image of a spa as an amazing place of renewal - as we all would love every spa to be. When our clients book themselves excitedly in, only to discover they are in a standard salon experiencing a very average treatment - spa is ruined for all of us. That client tells another and so on. The quick bucks you may get by attracting the new client will cost far more in poor word of mouth. It will be far better to pull back on the name - work on your offer to create as close to a spa experience as you can (if this is the direction you want to go in) and market exactly what you have! As Liane Scior wrote in last edition - we also have a problem with average salons and spas giving the impression of a 5 star environment with 6 star service in their marketing material - again the client is disappointed and the word spreads.

So, how can you add Spa Style Services or become a Salon or Day Spa?

Firstly, my recommendation is to undergo substantial research before you do anything, and to seek out professional advice wherever possible. The Spa Australasia magazines from day one have provided much useful information on all levels, read them all again! Visit as many businesses that promote themselves as spas as you possibly can - as an unannounced paying client! You will then experience for yourself what the client is experiencing. You will quickly discover the disappointments - and there will be many - we are all still learning how to build spas and how to deliver true spa service and treatments. Write it all down - what did you like - what was unacceptable to you -in your perspective of what a spa should be? This is the best way to work out what not to do, and to inspire ideas on the best ways to achieve your own goals. And indeed to work out what those goals should be. You may find in this process that you totally change your direction.

So many 'spa developers' advise me, as they are designing their spa, that they have never been to another spa , or never had spa treatments with vital pieces of equipment that they are about to invest heavily in. They employ architects and plumbers who have no idea of the spa environment and, as one would expect, they end up with an environment that even if it looks right , has hydrotherapy, and can consequently bear the name 'spa' - doesn't work as a therapeutic spa environment.

Talk to spa product and equipment suppliers, they are working with businesses in the same position as you every day - they know all the pitfalls but , be wise, remember they also want to sell you what they have - so sieve through the information received for what is right for you.

Definitely seek out Australia's one Spa Specialist Architect to date - Guy Tulloh if you are undertaking any building or refit work at all - even if this is only seemingly minimal hydrotherapy inclusions. Ie: even a portable wet table still needs a non-slip area to step on and off to avoid an accident !

Use a spa consultancy service but make sure the credentials are there - ask for references from other people the consultant has assisted before trusting that they know what they are talking about. Some consultants have jumped into the industry from allied sectors and don't really have across the board experience yet that you need.

A summary in brief -

Adding Spa-Style Services

Analyse well how to evolve your menu to include the body treatments and wellness services that you can deliver well within your limitations. What additional equipment and staff skills will you need?

Investigate portable wet tables (ie: temporary dry bed conversions)

Remove wraps and body masks with hot towels don't expect clients to hobble to a shower wrapped in plastic and get the mud off their back themselves!

Investigate non-plumbed and (plumbed-in) steam options.

If you include a shower in your delivery, make sure its special - add a fabulous hand held massaging shower head or have the cubicle completely converted into a steam / affusion shower.

Invest in staff training - you can't offer spa style services if none of the staff have undergone any training in technique and treatments, and have never experienced a true spa.

A spa is a cut-above the average salon - your ambience, environment , service level and comfort need to mimic 5 star as best you are able.

Becoming a Salon Spa

You must have hydrotherapy in some form and staff who are trained in its delivery to be able to classify your business as a spa.

Exactly what classifies hydrotherapy is a subject of much debate itself but basically you must have some items of equipment or genuinely therapeutic ways of using water. This could be a hydrotherapy bath, a vichy shower, a steam environment within which you can perfom treatments, an enclosed steam/shower unit, or you could study Kneipp and deliver true hydrotherapy using still baths and compresses, etc. The point is that hydrotherapy is 'Therapy using Water' not just a lovely soak in a domestic spa bath full of rose petals! (Unless you are a tourism based spa - which is slightly different again - then clients are seeking an exotic escape experience - the urban environment requiring long-term loyal regular clientele needs to be offering much more).

The service standard and facilities must be of a much higher standard than the usual salon.

The client must be able to change into a robe and slippers - leave their clothes in a locker or even a locked away 'suit bag', in order to get the experience of being in the hallowed inner sanctum of a spa.

You must focus on body treatment and wellness programs, not just the aaah one-off experience, alongside a strong skin care menu, in order to survive .

Your staff need to understand what the difference between a spa and a salon is in terms of service, every treatment needs to be a cut above the average.

Becoming a Day Spa

A Day Spa is a large facility, or a highly specialised small intimate situation (which by necessity would need to have low overheads).

A Day Spa needs to have all of the above items a Salon Spa has, ideally in abundance, plus a relaxation area where clients can enjoy a foot bath and herbal tea pre-treatment, and lay back and relax afterwards with no being rushed away .

For clients to be able to lounge after a treatment - relaxation and locker space must be more than adequate.

The changing rooms and bathrooms need to be substantial and comfortable - not necessarily brass and marble - but every care taken for them to meet all of the clients needs. A spa's reputation can be sullied by its changing and bathroom facilities alone.

The service standard has to be superb.

You should offer highly effective client consultation, assistance with wellness and lifestyle management.

It ideally will incorporate a gym and yoga / meditation room.

A substantial wet experience area in which to relax and energise the body with varying temperatures, and types of showering, bathing and steaming, to some spa savvy overseas clients is essential for a spa to be ... a spa!

Refreshing light meals are able to be served for clients on long packages.

Visit the Day Spas with the reputation of being true Day Spas and you will know the difference!

So much more to write on this subject but that is all the room we have for today.

Until next time......

By Kirien Withers

Kirien is the founder of the Beauty Trade Guide and the Professional Beauty Magazines.

She founded the Spa Australasia magazine in 1999 to support and direct Australia's budding spa industry.

Today she is
Editor and Advertising Manager for Spa Australasia.
Regional Editor for the new Spa Odyssey international consumer magazine. Director of Spa Guru Consulting & Communications - consulting to spas in development, product and equipment manufacturers, and writing for international and national magazines.
She is President & Spa Industry / Media Coordinator for the new Australian Spa Association.