Month: June 2020

Our COVID19 Risk Reduction Plan (last updated 3/8/2021)

We’ve spent the last 3 months learning everything we could to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID19 to our guests and employees. There is no perfect solution and every service will come with risks, despite our best efforts. We feel confident that, short of staying closed, we are doing everything within our power and we’re confident our guests will serve as our partners in risk management.

We’re dedicated to staying up-to-date on the latest developments in COVID19 research and following safety guidance from the CDC to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID19 to our guests and employees. We are also working to learn how we can best serve guests who are struggling with longer term effects of COVID19.

Masks Required

We continue to require properly-worn masks for guests in the spa except during facials, lip, and chin waxing services. Masks are required during all other services without exception. We are happy to provide you with a surgical mask. We have seen thousands of guests wearing masks during their massages with no complaints of discomfort, most guests are surprised how easy it is. For tips on how to be most comfortable in a mask during your massage, click here.

All service providers are wearing masks, in many cases high filtration masks like KF94 or double masks. Estheticians are wearing masks and face shields during facial services where guests remove their masks.

We are monitoring guidance from the CDC and will modify our policy as it is safe to do so. Thank you for understanding.

HEPA air filtration and plexiglass barriers

All of our treatment rooms are equipped with a HEPA air purifier to filter particles. Room air is completely exchanged about every 2-5 minutes. Our guests can be confident that in our treatment rooms they will not be breathing the same air as the guests before them.

We’ve installed plexiglass barriers at the desk and in the nail room at manicure stations as an added barrier in addition to masks.

Hand hygiene and reducing surface contamination risks

We use hospital grade Rejuvenate antiviral and antibacterial wipes that disinfect surfaces like head rests and our hot stones in one minute. As always, we soak all of our nail and skin care tools in barbicide and we never, ever double dip a wax stick.

As we always have, we wear gloves when it makes sense (during waxing, facial extractions, or when there is a risk of contact with blood borne pathogens, for example.) Our employees always use good hand hygiene via hand washing and sanitizing.

Table coverings: We’ve added waterproof coverings to all pillows including body pillows, and to our table warmer. All can be thorougly sanitized . We switched out heavy blankets for heavy towels so we can launder them after every service.

We’ve got hand sanitizer everywhere you turn and guests will be expected to use it before and in some cases, during services. We will do the same!

We’ve always had an amazing evening cleaning employee, she’s back and continues to deep clean our treatment spaces each night. Our landlords have increased cleaning of common building spaces including restrooms.

Employees won’t work sick, please don’t visit us when you’re sick (or have been exposed to COVID19!)

I can’t stress this enough, we’ll need guests to cancel when they are even a bit sick. We’ve always asked clients to do this, but it is a matter of utmost importance now. We are waiving cancellation fees for any amount of notice if guests cancel for COVID19 reasons.

If our employees are at all under-the-weather, we will cancel or reassign their services until we have more information. We will follow CDC guidelines in determining when an employee needs to quarantine for an exposure. We error on the side of caution, so please understand if this impacts your service.

We’ve got a detailed plan for testing, tracing, and notification if an employee is suspected of having COVID19 or has been exposed.

All guests will be reminded of our wellness policies at booking, in their confirmation, and upon arrival via signage. Guests with any COVID19 symptoms will be asked to reschedule.

Understanding long-haul symptoms of COVID19

We are eager to see how we can help the many people who are experiencing long term challenges after COVID19. While this is an emerging area of research, be assured we are learning everything we can. If nothing else, we are eager to help with the stress that comes along with chronic illness.

Thank you, if you’ve read this far, you’re probably as concerned as we are about health and safety. If you have any questions before or during your session, please let us know. We’re eager to serve you and we are sincerely grateful for your patience as our policies evolve with our understanding and guidance from leading scientists.

TEMPORARY: COVID19 Changes for East Village Spa Guests

Updated 8/5/2020

We’re so excited to welcome our guests back in a limited capacity. In order to operate during a pandemic, we had to make changes. We thank you in advance for your patience with us as we figure everything out in our first weeks back. Our guests are our partners in risk management. Some of these are state requirements, some are due to professional best practices and CDC guidelines. If you don’t feel you can adhere to these policies, we understand that you might choose to wait to schedule with our spa until a later date.

1. Guests must wait in their cars until we call or text to let you know your provider is ready. 

This is fairly standard for salons and spas right now, it enables us to adhere to our capacity limitations for social distancing and helps your provider have the time they need between services. Please be ready on time. As we are still learning our new systems, we promise, you will still get your full service time if you arrive on time, even if we’re not able to bring you in a few minutes before like you’re used to!

We can’t wait until we’re able to relax this because one of our favorite things is chatting with our guests at the desk.

2. All guests and providers must wear a mask throughout the duration of your visit.

If you don’t have a mask, let us know before you come up and our receptionist will have one waiting for you on a table outside the spa. We are temporarily unable to provide facials, lip, chin, and nose waxing because of this requirement. We’ve all had massages in our face masks when training to reopen, it isn’t bad! If you think you’ll be uncomfortable laying face down, book the side-lying massage instead.

Masks protect those around you which is why both providers and guests need to wear them for them to be effective. Because of the amount of time droplets linger in the air and the high percentage of asymptomatic people, we can’t waiver on this policy as it isn’t fair to our providers or the guests in the room after you. Even if you feel fine, many people are PRE-symptomatic and highly contagious for several days before they know they’re sick.

The only exception: if you’re receiving a facial or lip/chin wax you can remove your mask as needed in the treatment room and replace your mask when your service is over. Consider bringing a clean mask to put on after services.

3. We require a credit card or gift card on file to charge at the completion of your service to minimize contact at the desk.

You’re welcome to add a gratuity to a credit or gift card. We do accept cash as well, but as always, need a card or gift card to hold your spot. A contactless check-out is preferred and it is also a bit quicker to allow us to reduce the number of guests in our lobby so we can adhere to physical distancing guildlines and local gathering rules.

4. We cannot permit guests to bring others to their services

If you are accompanying a guest who requires assistance to get on or off the table or who is a minor, please let us know in advance so we can make adjustments, otherwise only guests are permitted in the spa when we reopen so we can adhere to our temporary occupancy limitations.

5. Please use the provided hand sanitizer before entering.

We’ll be asking you to wash your hands or use sanitizer frequently during your visit. All of our service providers will be doing the same. We always have! But we’ll make sure you see us now.

6. If you have any potential symptoms of COVID19 or believe you were recently exposed, or have engaged in a high-risk activity we need you to cancel or wait to schedule.

This not only keeps our employees and guests safer, it helps prevent another closure of our spa. We are temporarily waiving cancellation fees for illness or COVID19 exposure-related cancellations as long as you let us know. A lengthy and costly closure of a service business would be especially devastating if it could have been prevented by a cancellation. We promise, we will be closely monitoring our employee health status and risks as well and we will cancel in a heartbeat if we worry they could have COVID19.

If you’ve recently flown or have attended an indoor event or visited a crowded indoor space, please consider waiting to schedule for two weeks. We ask this courtesy as a consideration for the health of your provider and the survival of our business.

7. We must temporarily require all guests to sign a COVID19 treatment and release form in the 24 hour period prior to every appointment.

This is a must and is pretty standard practice for any responsible personal service business now. We prefer you to do this form via a link we’ll e-mail to you prior to your session. We cannot provide your service without this form.

8. Please understand that our schedules will be changing

Our schedule is (hopefully) going to be quickly changing based on the local COVID19 situation and employee illnesses or potential exposure. Whether that means more temporary closures or the ability to add additional employees we aren’t sure when and how this will impact our future bookings. School schedules, and daycare availability will also impact our bookings. We thank you for understanding as we do our best to navigate these changes as best as we can.

We missed you, but we understand if you aren’t ready to return!

While we’ve been very deliberate in our safety and risk management plan, no personal service received in a pandemic is going to be risk free. By booking and receiving a service with our spa, our guests acknowledge and accept this risk. If you aren’t ready or able to return, we completely understand. If we can support you virtually or through our web store, please let us know! Please, take the time you need. Don’t feel pressured because you have a gift card or 2020 voucher, we’ll extend the date.

Feel free to e-mail us with questions at [email protected], we are happy to explain any policies or precautions we’re taking. See our temporary limited menu here.