Eclipse Spa Salon helps clients weather summer
Eclipse Spa Salon owner Connie Stephens offers tried and true methods to ease the impact of summer heat on hair and skin, and she backs it up with 22 years in the business.
Stephens starts with the most basic advice: “Just drink a tremendous amount of water,” she said. “It makes all the difference in the world, and it hydrates your hair as well.”
She suggests following in the footsteps of one client who recently gave up sodas, revealing head-turning clear and smooth skin that caught Stephens’ attention, too. “I talk to my clients all the time about drinking water,” she said. “So many people still don’t drink enough water. It makes a big difference in your hair and your skin.”
For really radiant skin, come to Eclipse for face and body exfoliation routines. Stephens said she mixes light body oil and moisturizers to treat skin as old, dead cells are rubbed away, giving skin a glow. “The stimulation to the skin actually makes it healthier as well as making it look healthier,” she said.
Facials, too, help hydrate and condition skin. Stephens recommends one every four to six weeks.
“That’s how soon the cells reproduce themselves,” she said. Wait and go after a trip to the beach, not before, for the most noticeable improvement, she advises. Last but not least, a traditional summer manicure or pedicure helps reveal younger skin, she said, especially a heel-buffing pedicure.
“When it starts getting to be warmer and prettier and they’re going to be out wearing sandals, they’re more conscious of their toes,” Stephens said. She said her clients opt for brighter, lighter pinks and corals in the summer before burgundies take over in the fall.
Eclipse’s summer must-haves include:
POST-POOLSIDE: Use Eclipse’s Sun Source hair and body wash, an aftersun and after-chlorine detoxifier and conditioner that rids delicate strands and living skin of chemicals and replenishes their moisture. Step two: Spray on Damage Control protectant after shampoo for thermal and UV protection that reduces hair breakage after sun exposure or drying blowouts.
The full arsenal: Go beyond with Aveda’s Sun Care Protective Hair Veil, a very light but powerful layer between hair and harm that’s not oily. Finally, smooth on an after-sun mask, a powerful antidote that restores and repairs sun-exposed hair.
NON-POOLSIDE: Stephens suggests sunless tanning instead of a visit to the tanning bed. It takes a little more than one hour for an Eclipse pro to exfoliate and moisturize skin and then apply a sunless tan or bronzer. “It gives you just a nice, healthy glow,” she said — never “dark” or “golden.”
“They can get up and put their clothes on right then and it doesn’t come off on your clothes,” she said. And, she added, this is a radiance you can keep past summertime.
A SPECIAL WORD TO BRIDES: The beginning of Eclipse’s wedding season has been full of wedding parties having their hair and nails done, and Stephens said she’s been giving the same treatment to out-of-town wedding guests referred by nearby hotels. It’s smart for brides to schedule a series of facials and microdermabrasion appointments to prepare for their big day, too, she said.
Stephens opened in 1990, right after the Tennessee Aquarium opened just a few blocks away.
Eclipse has grown with the area, and now clients consist of tourists, out-of-town business people and high school cheerleaders in town for conventions. Stephens said it’s easy for local professionals to visit her during their lunch breaks and therefore keep their weekends free. Stephens said no matter where her clients come from, they’re all particular about what they want, and that’s where Eclipse shines.
“We like to do what we do well,” Stephens said. “They have our undivided attention while they’re here and I think that is one of the greatest things that we try to do.”
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