MOMMY BLOGGER
REBECCA ECKLER
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2006
"I was blown away by one 4-year old. She wanted a French manicure. She knew exactly what shade of pink and what shade of white for her tips", says Yvonne Osondu, owner of Seta Wellness and Skin in Toronto.
"This girl said, 'Not pinky pink, please."
Call it graduation from Pampers to pampering. The latest trend in BYOB (Bring your own Babe) is visiting the esthetician.
"It's definitely a trend," says Kimberly Critten, who own Bloom Essentials in Vancouver. A lot of girls come in with their grandmothers. It can really be a bonding experience."
Bloom offers nail art, like daisies and ladybugs. For boys, there are skull and crossbone or spider web designs for their toenails.
Osondu, who studied early childhood education, says her young clientele "get right into" manicures and pedicures. She even gives hand and foot massages.
"They feel mature and sophisticated. They flash their hands and pose. It empowers them. They feel part of something. They're not getting shooed away. They know when it's mommy's turn, they have to sit quietly."
Divas in the making? Not necessarily.
"They're so polite. They say 'Thank you.' The mommies give the girls money and they tip," says Osondu. "They understand the protocol."
Sophia Filippetto, who owns Just Nails in Toronto, has clientele as young as two. "They always want to do just like their moms do. It's a good way to introduce them to grooming."
While some may think it's too much, Filippetto says, "I had a customer who brought in the standard poodle and wanted red polish for its nails. I prefer three-year-olds."
Toronto's Fabulous Manicure/Pedicure Bar hosts mani-pedi birthday parties for the four-year-old clientele. "They've done the movies and sleepovers." says manager Olivia Underwood.
"It's a sign of the times," agrees Jennifer Fineberg, who runs exhalemobilespa.ca. She's visited more than 100 homes for birthday parties since she started her mobile-spa business a year ago.
"They have over 40 colours to choose from. They get an exfoliation pineapple scrub. We shape their nails and then they get apple cinnamon lotion. The girls are up on it. Even five-year olds know within two minutes what they want." (For a party of 10, it costs $275.)
"The polish lasts," she says. "They don't have to do dishes."
Rebecca Eckler's mommy blog is ninepounddictator.blogspot.com
NATIONAL POST
FEBRUARY 19, 2005
DEIRDRE MCMURDY
Too busy to go to the spa? Let it come to you: In-home beauty treatments take off
After a long day at the Standard Life office in Ottawa, Carmen Veres looks forward to heading home for a glass of wine, listening to some music - and sticking her feet into plastic boots filled with hot paraffin wax.
As the working mother of two young children, Veres doesn't have time for regular appointments at the spa to groom her hands and feet. Instead, Carolyn McNairn of Mobile Beauty come to Vere's house once a month to tend to her aesthetic needs.
"I don't have to race around to keep my appointment. I don't have to worry about parking or children, and I don't have to run out of the spa with Saran Wrap on my wet toenails," says Veres. It's a small bit of pampering that allows me to just sit and relax for a bit."
Veres is one of a growing number of time-pressed women fuelling a demand for in-home spa services. A 2004 study, cited by Tourism Canada, found that Canadians make about 20.2 million spa visits annually, and the main clients (96.6%) are working women with university degrees who have household incomes of $80,000 to $120,000 a year. More than half are married and almost a third have one or two children.
Their desire for beauty treatments at home has reached the piont where Jessica Taylor of Taylor's Mobile Beauty Service in Calgary isn't taking on any new regular clients and McNairn in Ottawa has developed a CD-ROM ($79.95) that gives other aestheticians all the pointers they need to take their business on the road.
Jennifer Fineberg, who started Exhale Mobile Spa in Toronto four months ago, says that putting clients at ease in their own homes is critical. "There may be some initial reluctance, but people get hooked on it very quickly." She says she has been overwhelmed by the demand for house calls, and is currently working seven days a week on regular clients, as well as doing spa parties.
She offers basic manis and pedis, facials, mud and seaweed wraps, and exfoliating treatments. "There's quite a bit of schlepping around because you have to bring everything and be careful about hygiene," says Fineberg. "But it's what people want - and are willing to pay for."
A mobile spa visit costs about the same as a trip to a day spa or salon. Taylor charges $80 for a basic manicure and pedicure. She says the average tab per visit runs $60 to $80, with regulars booked every two to four weeks for treatments.
At the upper-end, Sharon Horton-Brown of Banyan Spa in Vancouver, charges $140 for a 90-minute rose-petal pedicure, $50 for a 40-minute citrus manicure and $115 for a 75-minute Virtual Meltdown Massage.
Most of these mobile spas are expanding their roster of services. Horton-Brown also offers in-home yoga instruction and services that can be delivered while you're in the dental chair. Patients with appointments at the Fifth Avenue Dental Centre in Vancouver show up a few minutes early to choose a relaxing aromatherapy scent. While they're in the dentist's chair, they get a 40-minute stress-busting foot wrap and massage for about $50.
Fineberg recently joined forces with a massage therapist to extend her appeal. Taylor in Calgary has teamed up with a hairstylist and makeup artist.
Parties are a hugely popular part of the business. Ron Weingust of Spa Party in Toronto does nothing but organize spa parties for wedding parties, private groups and corporate clients. "Our huge advantage is that we can cater to a group and completely customize everything" he says. "You aren't in separate stalls or rooms. You're all together eating, drinking, chatting. It's a very social experience."
Spa Party charges a flat rate of $60 per hour for esthetic services and $100 per hour for massages from registerred therapists. Weingust has also partnered with a catering company that provides spa-themed foods for an average tab of $15 to $40 per person.
By far the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-spa party sector is children's parties. "I had no idea how wildly popular spa parties are with little girls, " says Fineberg, who offers a Spa Princesss package for girls from five to 12. For $20, each child gets a manicure or pedicure, nail decals, temporary tattoo and a gift of lip gloss or other item from her "treasure chest." Spa loot bags are $7 each.
In Calgary, Taylor adds a makeup lesson to the list of kiddy services and skin-care tips for older girls. "From an early age, little girls see their mothers getting all these treatments and they want to copy that," she says. "There's nothing new in the fact girls love to play with hair and makeup."
What is new is that, like Mommy, they can have it all delivered at home.