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Issue link: https://dayspamagazine.epubxp.com/i/210402
Style By the Inch Cox employs statement pieces such as mirrors and chandeliers to enhance the spa experience. Pampered People | Los Angeles Date opened: 1999, with the current location in 2004 Owner: Stacy Cox Size: 475 square feet (excluding outdoor space) Number of employees: Four (Cox, who performs esthetics, and three rotating massage therapists) Services offered: Facials, waxing, massage, makeup applications Product lines: Bioelements, Environ, Epicuren, GlyMed Plus, Yon-Ka Paris Stacy Cox's first job was in a large, bustling day spa that employed five estheticians, three massage therapists, two manicurists, 10 hair stylists and a reception staff. She still remembers the day the spa owner pulled her aside and confided in her: "The most challenging part of my job is dealing with the cross fires between staff members… it eats up 70% of my day." That confession set Cox, an esthetician, on her own path to create the "perfect" work environment. "I love doing facials but I knew that if I was stuck managing a big business my treatments would suffer," she says. "Creating the right balance was my goal, so I could maintain quality and happiness in my personal and professional lives." Thus, when Cox set up her jewel-box-like spa nine years ago she relied on time-tested, small-space enhancers that would make each design aspect count. For the spa's tiny entry space, she created a dazzling focal point: "I picked one oversized, dramatic piece to impact clients right as they came through the front door," she explains. "It's a huge white mirror from Z Gallery. To this day, it 42 DAYSPA | DECEMBER 2013 draws compliments." Similarly, a strategically placed fountain, well-chosen music, aromatherapeutic candles and incense all enrich the spa experience. Cox didn't stop there: exposed beams visually lengthen the rooms, while glass-paneled windows positioned right above the treatment room doors flood the space with natural light. Sensory experiences also play a big role in enhancing space perception—thus, dimmer switches on the lighting fixtures allow practitioners to control the mood of the rooms. Cox decidedly sweats the small stuff: "Attention to detail is everything," she says. Chandeliers punctuate Pampered People's atmosphere with glamour and surprise. Cox also uses hand towels—not paper ones—in the bathroom, and real glasses and tea cups. Niceties such as jewelry boxes to stow clients' personal items, and bathroom amenities like hair spray, cotton swabs and makeup remover help infuse this modest venture with the feel of a five-star spa. In other words, carefully chosen details add up to a more luxurious and memorable—read: bigger—visit. Cox is also fortunate enough to have outside space, which she has fashioned into outdoor relaxation "rooms." The spa's charming French doors lead out to a hammock, an outdoor fireplace, a day bed, fountains and lush landscaping. "Clients have a space to relax before and after their treatments," she says. Has she ever had reservations about having a small space? "Never," Cox replies. "Clients value their privacy and solitude, and we can provide that because there will never be more than two of them here at any one time."