By Mary Gottschalk "The Rose Garden community newspaper”
Eileen LaPorte is not a sorceress, but she definitely knows how
to cast a spell when it comes to clients.
Eileen, an esthetician, and her husband Tommy opened Being Spa
& Tanning on The Alameda at the end of October this year. The
spa offers facial treatments, massage therapy and two tanning beds.
Lucy Reyes of Morgan Hill followed Eileen from her previous place
of employment to her new business.
"I had to, she's too good," Reyes says. "When you go in there,
she makes you feel so comfortable. She knows what's good and bad on
my skin. She's just a professional."
Julie Valentine, owner of the Red Dragonfly, stopped in to check
out the new business near hers and found the environment "so
gorgeous" that she couldn't resist getting a facial.
"I usually go to spas when I travel," Valentine says. "I think
about facials as a luxury, but when I was in her chair I realized
they are a necessity if you want to preserve your skin and keep it
alive and rejuvenated."
"I'll go back. Now I feel I have to do it. It should be a part of
how you take care of yourself, like exercising and eating right. A
facial should be part of that regime."
Chiropractor Jay Patel and his wife Supriya are such fans of
Eileen that when Supriya's mother, aunt and three sisters come to
visit from New Zealand, they take them to Being Spa.
"They love it, they think it's better than sliced bread." Patel
says. "Every time they come, they want to go."
The spa business is not new to Eileen.
"I'm from Taiwan and my family has 20 spas there," she says.
"I've been in the spa business more than 20 years."
Eileen met Tommy in 1999, when she came to the Bay Area to visit
her brother.
"She was on vacation, we met and nine months later we got
married," says Tommy, an engineer.
Initially, Eileen worked for someone else while they searched for
the right location for their own spa.
"The Rose Garden is an upscale neighborhood and this location was
available," Tommy says. "It's very accessible to the neighborhood
and it has good visibility. A lot of people from the neighborhood
are enjoying the spa. They walk by, check us out and then come in
for the services."
Right now, Eileen has one additional esthetician working with her
and one massage therapist. She plans to expand her staff as business
grows.
The most popular service is the Signature Being Spa Facial, which
Eileen describes as a 12-step process.
It lasts 75 minutes and first-time customers start off with a
skin analysis. The facial includes the use of Alpha and Beta Hydroxy
Acids to exfoliate dead skin cells, a deep pore cleaning and then
the use of a concentrated serum and ultrasound.
It's a $105 facial, with first time customers offered a 20
percent discount through January 31.
Other facials include ones for deep firming and lifting, a deep
pore cleansing and a back treatment.
Additionally, there is a facial designed for men and one for
teenagers, which includes instruction on proper skin care.
Massage services include deep tissue, Swedish, sports, motherhood
and localized massages concentrating on shoulder and back, scalp,
stomach or reflexology.
Although there has been a lot of publicity about sun damaging
skin, Tommy says there is still enough demand for tanning beds that
they have installed two of them.
"A lot of people still like to get that color," he says.
While Being Spa carries a full line of skincare products, Patel
says one of the things he likes about it is the absence of a hard
sell.
"You don't get pressured to buy a product or a service you don't
want," he says. "I've gone to other spas and they give you only the
bare bones and then want another 30 bucks to do more. Here, what you
ask for is what you get."
The interior décor is a purposely tropical one, including a water
fountain in the front.
"We want a warm, cozy type of spa," Eileen says.
That warmth and coziness does not extend to illegal activities,
such as those offered in some other spas.
In February of this year, San Jose police closed Beauty Skin
& Nails on S. Redwood Avenue on orders of a County Superior
Court judge after the owners were charged with prostitution.
"I've gotten phone calls concerning that issue, but I've been
telling them we don't offer those kinds of services. Once I make it
clear, I don't hear from them again," Tommy says. "We want to be an
asset to the neighborhood, so it bothers me they might think that."
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