What Black Women Want From Their Spa
Like many women, I can spend hours talking with my friends about hair, vacations, and beauty treatments. Especially skincare. As a former esthetician, when it comes to spas I admit that I’m very particular about my facials.
I have no problem requesting a skincare professional who has experience with people who look like me. Why would I want less? While all luxury spas should have highly knowledgeable therapists, often that is simply not the case.
So here are the qualities that I look for prior to recommending a spa to my friends and other people of color:
I want to be engaged in conversation and be seen as an individual. I want your therapists to be knowledgeable enough to answer questions about issues particular to my skin and know what they are talking about. I want to be educated and delighted with information about some new advancement, product, or offer. I want them see me.
I want more than a perfunctory peep through the loupe at my skin. As an esthetician, I learned that skin can reveal a lot. I could tell during analysis how much stress my client had been under, how much water they’d been drinking and junk food they’d consumed. I knew if they’d been hanging out at the beach lately and how much sleep they were getting. I could tell how life, in general, was treating them. I want someone to know what they are looking at.
I want the correct products with the appropriate pressure used on my skin.
I want to leave your spa with my skin glowing and beautiful, not hyper-pigmented or damaged. Using inappropriate tools or aggression could result in your becoming a trending topic on my Twitter feed.
I want to receive the right facial. Sometimes I’ll select a treatment because it sounds fun and exotic. That doesn’t mean it’s the best treatment for my skin. I want a therapist who is confident and sharp and knowledgeable enough to tell me. I want her to recommend what is best even if my original selection costs more. This is a sign of integrity, and she’ll have my loyalty for life.
I want a home care regimen. I want to hear your recommendations after my treatment. I don’t want to go to checkout and see other women’s products waiting and I have nothing. Suggesting homecare means that you care enough to advise me on what to use to continue looking and feeling good. You’re confident enough about the treatment outcome that you feel it’s worth maintaining at home.
And finally, if you really want to shock me, follow up on how I feel with a call or e-mail. I’ll probably shout you out on social media.
Linda Harding-Bond
