| The Body Klinic...An Urban Retreat | |
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"Research!" It's one of Susan Rainey's favorite answers. It's what she did before she decided to leave the corporate world a number of years ago. Her research led her to the spa world. She first trained as an electrologist then as an aesthetician.
"Research!" It's what Susan Rainey did when she was ready to own her own spa. After deciding to locate in Philadelphia, she visited The Body Klinic near Rittenhouse Square (which has been operating for ten years and where she had been a client) to ask them for advice. Fortunately for Susan, they were ready to sell their spa and Susan took over. She has now been at The Body Clinic for over four years.
"Research!" It's what Susan Rainey did to create her own line of TBK skin care products. From the ingredients that go into them to the labs that manufacture them, Susan made sure they met her exacting requirements. Susan creates custom makeup that she ships as far as Nevada. In addition to her own line, she carries an amazing array of other product lines in the cozy spa (DDF, Primacy, Purity, Archipelago, Gunilla, Akta, Alara, Places des Lices, ABRD to name a few).
"Research!" It's how Susan created The Body Klinic's holistic approach to treatments using only environmentally friendly products that enhance the outer and inner well-being of her clients. I experienced a facial, pedicure, reflexology and massage at The Body Klinic.
Susan gave me a great facial using TBK products she formulated. She started by touching my face to determine what cleanser to use, then determined my skin type and what products to use as the facial progressed. Each facial treatment is made-to-order based on individual skin type, but the protocol is basically the same for each treatment.
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Cleanse x2 (I was cleansed with facial cleansing gelee then orange blossom cleansing milk),
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Slough to removed dead skin cells (Susan used rice bran beads on me),
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Mask and massage under steam (She used soft collagen with a frit enzyme peel for me),
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Extractions,
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Refine surface (Susan used azu-zinc gel on me), and
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Mask and compress treatment (for me, she used a DNA ampoule with a silk amino and milk & honey firming mask followed by a compress of lavender and chammomile essential oils). An infrared light was used to keep the ingredients active.
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During my decollette massage, Susan used avacado body lotion.
After the facial, Annette took over for my pedicure. She had me soak my feet in a blue and white speckled basin filled with warm water that had green salts dissolved in it to soften it. She then exfoliated my feet and legs with Hungarian salts, almond oil carrier, sweet orange oil, and eucalyptus oil. It left skin so soft, I highly recommend that treatment for entire body! She stopped short of applying nail polish and handed me to Tamika.
Tamika gave me a half hour of foot reflexology and a half hour massage concentrating on my neck and shoulders (my request). I asked her to identify which part of the body corresponded to the area of the foot she was working on and she was happy to comply. Tamika naturally uses a lot of pressure when she gives a massage. It was very deep. She told me to ask for less pressure if I found it uncomfortable. I didn't. It was over all too soon and I found myself back with Annette to finish the pedicure. It was a great day!
The spa is not large - an entry area with spa reception, two-chair waiting area and retail displays, three treatment rooms, two pedicure stations, one manicure station, and one makeup station.
All that research has paid off for Susan Rainey. The Body Klinic won Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly Awards 2001 for Services, Reflexology and Philadelphia Magazine's Feb 2002 Ultimate Beauty Guide (where to get the best facial).
Photos copyright 2002,
Julie Register
Licensed to About.com
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