By Jill Nagy
When Saratoga Botanicals and Healing
Spa opens its doors in mid-October, it will
offer a variety of natural, mostly organic,
cosmetics and beauty products made by the
owners, Franesa Pyle and Nicole Fellini.
In addition, the shop, at 80 Henry St.,
Saratoga Springs, will offer the services
of massage therapists, an acupuncturist, a
medical doctor trained in osteopathic medicine,
an herbalist, a Reiki practitioner, an
aroma therapist, a nutritionist, and estheticians,
as well as a selection of regular and
herbal teas.
The aim is to offer “health and beauty for
people on the inside and outside,” Pyle said.
The owners met about six months ago.
Pyle, who had a marketing and advertising
business in Saratoga, advertised for someone
to share her offices. Fellini, a certified
public accountant with an accounting and
tax practice in Boston, answered the ad and
moved in.
As the women got to know one another, they discovered a similar dissatisfaction with the cosmetic and skin care products available to them on the market.
“We were both a little frightened of the things in skin products,” Pyle said. Both of them wanted to find natural products that they would feel safe putting on their faces and bodies. Eventually, they began to create their own products to meet their criteria.
In addition, Fellini had been training as an aroma therapist and was certified by the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and the Alliance of International Aromatherapists. At the same time, Pyle was completing training as an herbalist and a master level Reiki practitioner.
According to Pyle, the change in professional direction has been “wonderful. It’s interesting when you take a new path. It just takes you down the river,” she reflected.
In addition to selling their health and beauty products, the two “want to educate the public about what’s in the products they buy” on the regular market and the possible harm some of them may do. Eventually, they may add a line of cleaning products as well.
Saratoga Botanicals will be a retail store and a “healing spa.” Supervising the healing spa will be Dr. Heidi Rasmussen, a medical doctor who does osteopathy, according to Pyle, and who takes a “mind, body, spirit approach.”
The staff will also include several massage therapists, one of whom, Sharon Minnick, is currently in Thailand learning Thai yoga massage techniques. There are two more traditional Shiatsu massage therapists already hired and Pyle is looking for more. An esthetician will perform facials, using the owners’ products.
Acupuncture services will include facial treatments that, according to Pyle, will be a safe substitute for botox treatments. The treatments, she said, will stimulate areas where wrinkles lurk and “diminish the lines.”
For clients who need a break from all the pampering, there will be a self-service tea bar, as well as teas to take home.
The shop will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The telephone number for Saratoga Botanicals is 306-4108. The website, for additional information or to place an order for Saratoga Botanicals products is www.saratogabotanicals.com.