Updates to Cancellation Policy

One of my least favorite parts of the business to manage… is the dreaded cancellation policy.

I hate enforcing it and am a bit of a pushover. We are all so busy, and I know things come up last minute! It is especially hard in the days of covid when we are all trying our best to be safe.  

That being said, we are just once again having an overwhelming amount of last-minute cancellations, and the only way I can think of to keep this from happening is to strengthen our policy. To this end, please note our new policy effective immediately will be $90 for your first late cancellation… and the full fee of the appointment thereafter.

So, please… if you think you cannot make your appointment, cancel with 48 hours notice. We have a long waitlist and need this time to rebook from it!

And if you are unable to cancel with 48 hours notice and earn the fee, please understand this is not a punishment but a pre-established business agreement regarding your therapist's time. Your therapist works on commission per treatment… so if you do not show, they do not get paid. Our practitioners limit the number of clients they see each day to ensure a high level of quality in their work with you. We prepare for the session before you enter the door. This is why last-minute cancellations significantly impact our practitioners and our ability to provide support to other clients hoping to work with us.

Finally, the update to our policy is pretty much in line with similar businesses and is the industry standard. My hope would be that in increasing the fee, more thought will be given to appointments made. We take our time with you very seriously and hope this will encourage the same sentiment in return.

Thank you as always for your patronage and support… we will look forward to seeing you this Autumn.

Adrienne

In order to reserve a place in our schedule, we require all clients agree to our cancellation policy as follows:

 1. You must provide at least 48 hours notice if you need to cancel or change your appointment. This means if your appointment is for 4pm Friday, you have until 4pm sharp to cancel on Wednesday. We strictly adhere to this boundary.

 2. If notice to change or cancel your session is provided less than 48 hours before your appointment time, you will be charged $90 the first time. The second time and beyond will be the full appointment fee.

 3. Please note our appointment confirmation and reminder emails are a courtesy. Not receiving either of these does not exempt clients from the late cancel/no show fee.

 4. Unexpected events can and do occur in one’s schedule. We understand that things like illness, work, emergencies, and delayed flights are out of your control, but they are also out of our control – so they are not exempt from the last minute cancellation policy.

 5. If you are more than 20 minutes late to your appointment, it will be considered cancelled…which earns the appropriate fee. Or you may arrive and keep the session, but you will be charged the full price for the time and the session will end on time.

 6. In order to schedule, we must have a credit card number kept securely on file. In the event of a last minute cancellation you agree that this card will be charged for the fee. If the card doesn’t work your file is marked with the outstanding balance we will not treat you until this balance is settled.

 7. You may cancel/reschedule your appointment without assistance from us, through the online scheduler linked on adrienneshostak.com. You may also do it from the mind/body app. These methods for rescheduling are preferred, as you may see full availability this way!

 8. If you feel sick, are exhibiting covid symptoms, or have had exposure to a person with covid, we will require negative test results before you are able to schedule to visit us again. We need to keep the office a safe space! So any last minute cancellations due to illness will require a bill of clean health to receive treatment from us. 

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

The Meta-morphosis

The Metamorphosis of Motherhood

I, like most people - was always under the impression that for a caterpillar to transform into a butterfly they simply encase themselves in a cocoon, sprout wings and poof! They are now a butterfly. The reality is much more gruesome…caterpillars completely liquify in that cocoon. Their cells melt, then reassemble…and build a butterfly from scratch. It is a complete physical metamorphosis, though they retain memory of their former caterpillar self.

I can think of no better metaphor for motherhood.

Being pregnant is hard. Physically it feels like carrying a sack of heavy groceries around with you 24/7. Weird things happen to your body…I was vomiting from acid reflux and had extreme carpal tunnel in my hands until the day I delivered. Pregnancy is hard…but in a tangible “I have a big bump bc I am carrying a tiny human who has displaced my organs” kind of way. It’s cute. People smile at you, and you feel special.

And..then baby comes out and you realize the smiles were at the unborn baby, not you. The baby comes out in an explosion…contractions literally are like that. A focusing of pain and energy in the core of your being, that climaxes in your own personal Big Bang. A new world is created, and the pieces of you you have spent your life putting together - your sense of self and identity, your sense of order, how you eat, how you walk, how your day starts and ends - explode. It is both physical and emotional, this explosion. A Mother emerges from the cocoon, alongside the baby.

Your job as a Mother is now to try to pick up the old pieces of yourself and put them back together into your new incarnation…and carry a baby while you do it.

Physically, I thought I knew my body. I delivered Leo at 41. I had never had cellulite. I had awesome abs. I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight. But now my body is completely different. And the most confusing and mysterious part of this puzzle is what happens to my pelvic floor.

For two years I have felt “loose’, and confused as to what has happened to my insides. I have a mummy tummy crunches won’t fix. I have had lower back pain, neck pain…full body pain. I pee myself a bit about ten times a day. I visited various doctors in the beginning of this postpartum journey, and was told I have mild prolapse…this means my pelvic floor and transverse abdominus have been so stretched out that now my guts rest in a pile in my pelvis creating downward pressure. “Do Kegels!” I am told…”Youtube it!” And I do. But no progress…I resign myself to this is the way life is now. I will always feel something is off.

I was finally directed by a yoga teacher friend to ourfitfamilylife.com for a postpartum program. Another great program is by mutumamas.com . In 10 to 20 min a day you can fix prolapse over time…but honestly, just the visual explanations provided by these programs were enough for me to get 50% improvement in my back pain in a week. Just having it clearly explained to me what had happened, and given a few exercises has allowed me to make more progress in fixing my issue in 6 weeks than I had in 2 years. 

Why this information is not printed on a page and handed to you when you leave the hospital with your baby literally boggles my mind. The fact that millions - probably billions - of women are out there with their insides sloshing around needlessly is a tragedy, in that it could be easily fixed with just a bit of support.

And yet…even taking 15 minutes a day for myself now seems impossible. The Mom Guilt owns me…somehow now biologically I am programmed to put myself last. And society supports this idea that motherhood = sacrificing yourself constantly…that it “comes with the territory”. The people who decided that are not mothers, and don’t know what it’s like. So do yourself a favor and ignore those constraints.

So, if I have two bits of advice for Moms and aspiring Moms out there it would be:

1. Invest in a good pelvic floor rehab program or therapist pre and post baby. You can not fix what happens to your body without this so don’t waste your time trying.

2. Make time to take care of yourself and guard it with your life…and do NOT feel guilty about it.

Easier said than done I know. I struggle with Mom Guilt every moment of every day. But just taking fifteen minutes a day to fix my prolapse with pelvic floor exercises has made me feel exponentially better. Looking good matters…feeling good matters. Guard that space with your life. It will take a lot of effort to do so. We all know what the pandemic has done to us. How we have held it together…only a mother could understand. You deserve to make a bit of space and time to fix yourself, don’t let anyone make you think otherwise…especially yourself.

Mothers run the world. It is a new dimension to existence…look to other mothers for support and understanding. Wishing all the moms out there an amazing day, a day to celebrate for ourselves that metamorphosis into Mother. 

Going up…

Like many women, I struggle with my self esteem. What does this look like? Chronic people pleasing, feelings of guilt (mom guilt anyone? More on that in my upcoming Mother’s Day blog) are two common symptoms. It may also look like always putting myself and my own wellness last. Ironic isn’t it? As this is precisely what I aim for us to provide for you from Bespoke…a safe place to turn your trust over to another woman who gets it, and who is here to help you feel and look your best.

Regardless, with the recent addition of medical esthetician Erika Davison (who worked with us on a limited basis in the old office, and has joined us again here in the new one about a month ago) this defect I continually struggle with has been gently brought to my attention repeatedly by her…and now I can’t unsee it! Being as that she is such an experienced esthetician she has encouraged me to look at other local businesses…and having finally space and time to pull my head out of the Covid sand its become clear to me that we are noticeably underpriced. And when you factor in that gratuity is included…well, then we are CONSIDERABLY underpriced.

I’ve done that because 1. I am so grateful to have regular business throughout covid I just didn’t have the heart to raise prices as we occasionally must, owing to inflation of materials etc 2. I want so badly to be able to provide affordable services to those who really need them I didn’t want to exclude anyone who couldn’t afford a slight price increase. I realize that taking care of yourself isn’t cheap, and that many of our clients have been through the ringer trying to solve their issues. They are spent, literally. I want everyone to feel safe to come to us and let us help them.

That being said, upon deeper reflection I’ve realized that for me to be continually setting a precedent for my team that we as women must overwork and underprice is not really serving them to the best of my ability…nor is it serving you the client. It might actually undermine what we offer to you and your ability to trust us. To this end, now that we are beginning to see the end of Covid and I have a stable, lovely staff…it’s time to gently bump prices by 10% across the board, which amounts to about $20 per treatment. $180 treatments are now $200, $200 are now $220 etc.

You will see on this updated menu that in addition to a slew of new services, there is a significant amount of new language/naming of our treatments. The greatest of which is that our beloved Osmosis based Bespoke Facial is being renamed as “Facial Infusion”. And our new “Bespoke Facial” will now be exactly that…a flexible session of modalities such as peels, high frequency, massage, microcurrent, gua sha, and botanical and/or alginate masks. More of a typical facial (but with our signature customized, “feel good” twist!) , that leaves you fresh and glowing after treatment. We will offer that in 60 or 90 minute sessions with your choice of cosmetic modalities. Or, better yet let your therapist choose your modalities! And just lie back and enjoy what we cook up for you.

These changes will take place May 1. Please note the changes to the menu noted here: Most important I think is the change in language, in that Osmosis treatments are now “Infusions” and not “Bespoke Facials”. I’m pretty happy about that change in verbiage, as typically our Osmosis facials are viewed as our “basic facial”…when they are anything but basic! Osmosis facials are skin revision from the deepest level, and I think the term “Infusion” better communicates their value.

Anyway, there you have it…new menu, new prices are live on our menu page. If you have questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to let me know! And as always, thank you for visiting us. Your support means the world to me, and we are thrilled to have you by our side for what is sure to be a beautiful spring and summer, and a new phase of growth here at Bespoke. 

In Bloom

I love this time of year…probably it’s because it’s when my son was born. So when I see the cherry blossoms start to bloom I can’t help but remember that time, and feel the anticipation of a new season beginning. And this year it is especially true…the end of Covid in sight and so many new services on our menu.

In this spirit our newness for April are two lovely peels, to help you to swing into the warmer weather fresh faced.

For Face:

Lunchtime Peel: A little “pick me up” peel, to get you glowing in less than an hour! A gentle exfoliation with our most hydrating acid blend and mask, to brighten and tighten by increasing your skin’s water levels. Forty minutes of treatment, $180

Micropeel: A “little” peel with big results! Micropeel is good for active acne, acne scars, pigmentation, textural issues, as well as fine lines and wrinkles. Minimal downtime…dry flakey skin for the next week is possible as your skin gently sheds. Forty minutes of treatment, $210

For Body Treatments, we’ve added a treatment and reworked our existing menu:

New! Wood therapy uses a number of different wooden massage-like tools to help break down fat and cellulite. The wooden instruments are used to apply direct pressure to “problem areas” and essentially naturally eliminate excess body fat. A deep treatment that is deeply relaxing! Fifty five minutes of treatment, $180

Changes to existing menu:

Brazilian Body Sculpt: Upon discussion with Maria, we have decided to include 20 min infrared sauna with every Sculpt treatment. This will increase price to $220 and time on the treatment to 90 minutes…but we think the result will be worth it! She will wrap your areas of concern after the sculpt and before the infrared…this will keep the areas flushing lymph and greatly enhance results. Ninety minutes hands on, $220

Lymphatic Drainage: We have also decided to simplify the various types of lymphatic drainage massage Maria offers into one category. This treatment is a light drainage, perfect for those seeking Prenatal, Post Operative drainage…or just a lighter touch. Fifty Five minutes hands on, $160 

Bloom with us this spring at Bespoke!

Spring Awakening

As we approach the one year anniversary of the s*** officially hitting the Covid fan, I can’t help but reflect on the last year and marvel. I closed the business March 19 2020, unsure of when it would reopen (it ended up being late June). When we had decided to make the move from the old building to the new, many conversations centered on “it’s a risk, but what’s the worst that could happen?” “Pandemic” wasn’t even a possibility mentioned. And yet here we are a year later, steeped in Pandemic Fatigue.

Have you cried this month, inexplicably? Me too. So much was lost last year…and before you can fully recover another loss another occurs. The climax of my Covid story has to be losing my sweet friend and member of staff Rachel Fazio suddenly October 19…not to Covid, but a shock nonetheless. I definitely considered closing the business. It just seemed believable, so insurmountable. We has already been through so much, and now this. Surely it was a sign? Add to all this parenting my baby Leo…there was nothing to do but shut down and soldier on. And now I find myself crying nearly in relief as the vaccines roll out, finally feeling safe enough to let the losses be acknowledged.

I consider myself lucky…the business is still standing. My family is well. Not only that, but somehow we are entering the spring as a business reborn…sparkly new staff, and somehow a slew of new treatments to offer. The initial vision I had moving into this office at 3233 P St is beginning to crystalize, and I find myself (like you) emerging from a pandemic hibernation, ready to shake the dust off and start putting myself back together…physically, emotionally, spiritually.

So! In that vein please join us at Bespoke 2.0:

What’s new for March?

Meet Lexi! Our wonderful new esthetician will be seeing clients starting March 14, and working Wed, Thu, Fri and Sun.

Radio-Frequency Skin Tightening with Maria, for face and body $180 A nonsurgical method which utilizes energy waves to heat the dermis and stimulate collagen production, firming the skin. Painless, no downtime. Great for crepey, sagging skin..and necks!

Bespoke Body “Flex” $180 A flexible session, choose any two body modalities! Or…let Maria choose for you, creating a truly tailored treatment. She also has 30 and 60 minute add ons, for $60 or $90…which means you could potentially book for up to two full hours of treatment and up to four modalities! Choose from radio-frequency, lymph drainage massage, ultrasound, infrared sauna.

Meet Erika and her new services! Erika has a medical esthetician background, currently working for a local surgical center.

She is with us Sundays only currently and offering: Dermaplaning ($300), Microneedling with Enzyme mask ($500), Lash lifting/tinting and Brow shape/tint ($150), with optional mini facial add on for an additional $50. For more info on these please check the website!

Coming soon in April:

“Get Glowing” Micropeel by Elaine Brennan $250, a “little” peel with big results! Very little downtime to this one (a few days of minor shedding) but great for textural issues, active acne, age management. An all around winner! Jessica will be doing IPL on Thursdays! To celebrate we will offer a free gift (DMK Melanotech drops, $55) off your first photofacial with her in April. More on this and the benefits of photofacials soon!

Coming in May and beyond:

Permanent Makeup service with Robin Pomeroy.

Microblading, combo and hybrid brows, ombre brows. Price will be $800 with touch up and gratuity included…get it in May and pay $600.

Facial Cupping and Gua Sha facials.

Plasma Pen skin tightening and more!

Books are filling so please book now, and join us for our Spring Awakening. 

Cheers to newness!

Learning new treatments is the most fun part of the job by a mile!  And the last year being what it was, there wasn’t too much space at Bespoke for this…but I do feel that we are turning a corner, and in this vein I am so excited to introduce Bespoke Microneedling, Bespoke Dermaplaning, and Lash and Brow therapy to the menu!

You may remember Erika from the old office…she is a kindred spirit definitely.  Erika currently is the lead medical esthetician for another office, but has chosen to spend Sundays with us in order to offer other treatments she knows and loves.

Here’s an overview of the new treatments:

Bespoke Microneedling a.k.a. the “Cadillac” of Collagen Induction Therapy! Microneedling utilizes a device with tiny needles passed over numbed skin to create channels into the dermis, which not only create collagen and elastin but increase product penetration. Double cleanse, light enzymatic or manual exfoliation (dermaplaning), followed by depth customized microneedling with epidermal growth factors and/or wound healing beta glucan infusion to treat acne scars, smooth fine lines and even texture. Then healing Enzyme mask for forty five minutes to speed recovery, leaving you with significantly less downtime than traditional microneedling! A big treatment with next level results ($500)

I used to perform microneedling daily.  And though I think generally it is too much damage/stimulation for most clients…we at this point have very conditioned clients, with strong skin who can handle it!  Also, we will be using the Enzyme mask after the needling, which helps to repair the skin and significantly reduces recovery time!  I had one myself yesterday and man, what a difference between microneedling as I used to do it.  It’s a perfect combination.

Dermaplaning designed for you. Cleanse and light chemical or enzymatic exfoliation, followed by a full facial exfoliation with a fine blade to remove dead skin and vellus hair (“peach fuzz”). Treatment ends with a potent vitamin C infusion… skin is left bright, tight and smoother, with no inflammation or irritation. A must for those seeking instant results, or aiming to be event ready. Not suitable for active acne ($300).

Dermaplaning is incredible for the instant gratification of perfectly smooth, glowing skin.  Once again we will be pairing it with DMK products…which after the exfoliation can absorb so much better.  

Bespoke Lash and Brow Therapy is a customized facial focusing on eyes. Cleanse, light chemical or enzymatic exfoliation for the face. Followed by brow shape/tint and lash lift/tint! Light lymphatic drainage massage around eyes and transdermal infusion to finish ($250). Alternatively you can choose only brows or only lashes for ($200).

And Lash and Brow therapy is a passion of Erika’s…what a huge difference it makes to your daily routine to have that done!  And in true Bespoke nature she will be performing a basic facial around the treatment…so you get two (or three!) treatments in one.  You should leave the office feeling fully taken care of.

Erika’s first day with us is Sunday…Valentine’s day.  Her availability is extremely limited, so please book your spots now…we are so happy to have such a versatile professional join the team, and bring the fresh air of new services to the menu.

Introducing Bespoke Contour Facials

We are very excited to introduce a new treatment to the menu this month…Bespoke Facial Contour.  Our version of popular microcurrent facials, with a lot of immediate gratification for tired faces!

Microcurrent therapy is a way to stimulate the facial muscles with a small electrical current. That’s it! It is a simple, pain-free method that works with the body’s natural systems to re-energize the facial skin and muscles from a cellular level. The cumulative effect of this process, on the other hand, now that is where things get interesting! 

1. Diminished appearance of fine lines and wrinkles due to toning of facial muscles. The facial muscles have the distinct responsibility of helping us create facial expressions. Because the muscles connect to both the bone and skin, they work to produce countless facial expressions. When we are consistent with microcurrent sessions, we are lifting or "tightening" the muscle, which in turn helps to tighten our skin…and reduce wrinkles and fine lines.

2. Improved circulation and skin tone. Circulation is generally increased from any stimulation done to the surface of the skin. Blood flowing towards our skin brings oxygen and other nutrients that our skin requires to remain healthy. As it continues to circulate, the blood also removes carbon dioxide and wastes that the skin doesn't need.

3. Increase in Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)…and collagen and elastin production. Microcurrent technology results have shown to increase ATP by up to 500%. ATP is the energy of the cell, and is the cellular energy necessary for the production of collagen and elastin in the face. With ATP increased and your cells re-energized, your body’s natural processes of collagen production can get to work, creating skin strength as well as skin structure. Also with a boost of ATP comes an increase in our body’s ability to generate elastin - a combination of connective and fibrous tissue of protein that provides our skin the flexibility to stretch and bounce-back to its natural shape.

Unlike many microcurrent devices Bespoke Contour is very gentle…there is no jumping or twitching of muscles.  Which isn’t to say you won’t feel it!  But it’s a very gentle and relaxing current…you may taste metal when we work around your mouth, or see a bit of flashing around your eyes.

With this treatment we will include a light peel, extractions, transdermal infusion…and massage or gua sha.  Though the treatment itself is very comfortable the results are tangible!  And will increase over time, as they are cumulative.  To this end we will also sell a home microcurrent device for those who want it (and which is very simple to use) for between treatments, to maintain results.

Regardless, enjoy!  We are so pleased to bring something new to the menu, and look forward to continuing to expand services into the future.

Skin Bootcamp

I had a DMK Muscle Banding treatment the other day, and just wow.  The results were so tangible it got me thinking.  I thought “If these are the results after one session…imagine the result if I did this every two weeks?  Or even every week?” 

Which…is in fact the way you are SUPPOSED to do it lol.  In the office we sometimes say that Osmosis is your skin’s nutritionist…and DMK is it’s personal trainer.  Like exercise, the results are cumulative.  Like exercise, the treatment is sometimes uncomfortable…but the afterglow so worth it.  Like exercise, it leaves you feeling bright, tight, toned.  And like exercise, the more often you do it, and with consistency…the better result you will get.  And the better your chances of the result holding.

If you are no stranger to Bespoke you may remember that pre-pandemic we were fully booked for months out.  Just getting a session was tough…but getting a session weekly just impossible.  So, we made sure everyone had the proper home-care, including the foamy lift kit.  It was enough to keep the ball rolling in between sessions, and we were happy for that.

But now, in the tail end of Covid 19 our books have dwindled…that plus post Christmas means we have time and  space in the books.  And so that being said, I am happy to offer something new, and that I have wanted to offer for a long time…the DMK skin “bootcamp”.  We’ve got nothing but time as we wait for the vaccine to hit the generally public…why not take the opportunity to really make gains with your skin?

The package will look like this:  one consult with me, four DMK Enzyme treatments to be had either every week or every other week.  All home-care is included…that’s EFA’s, Betagel, Direct Delivery C, Seba E, Herb Mist, Creme of choice and SPF.

Then, for those applicable and who want it…we will do an add on of Revitosin and Superbright cremes.  And you will be set up for DMK’s Remodeling Procedure…which is actually four treatments over then days.  It is their deepest peel, which remodels the skin from the bottom of the dermis up!

The value on the bootcamp is $1300…We will be selling it for $975, which is about 25% off.   Then the RP add on is valued at $800…We will add it for $600.  Treatments must be with Nichole or Dominique, consult is by me…booking is first come first serve, and in January and February only.

Once covid is behind us it is unlikely we will have the availability to do something like this again.  So join us as we ride the rest of this storm out and get your best skin in the process!

The No Peel “Peel”

I tried out a new peel the other day, that I might add to our menu. Why not I thought, I need a pick me up. I have strong, conditioned skin from using all the home-care consistently. And I don’t have time for an hour or two long treatment…this will take half an hour.

It is now 4 days later, and I am peeling. Which…is what I wanted. But is the juice worth the squeeze? My skin is dry, flakey, tight, uncomfortable. I can’t wear makeup because it flakes off. But in a few days it should look great right?!

People love to peel. We have this idea that or skin is like a floor…and if we sand down far enough we will land at fresh, clean new skin. Which is true…sort of. Rather than a floor, think of your skin like a tree. The epidermis (outermost layer) is the bark…the dermis is the wood. Though the bark is “dead” it is vital to the health of the tree…stripping it off prematurely endangers it.

When we strip our epidermis however, it feels pretty satisfying. There is a tingle, everything feels tight and bright and clean. The skin gets a bit pink and puffy…look, I am getting younger! But in reality this is inflammation at work…all of the skins resources get pushed to the surface, and stripping the epidermis is technically wounding it. After the “wound” is repaired the skin takes a little nap…the dermis is depleted. It needs to recover. But does it have the resources to recover? If not then we are “robbing Peter to pay Paul”…our dermis will eventually thin (not good) and the skin might take forever to heal. Acne marks and such, that we think we can scrape away last ages…because the wound within the dermis causing them is robbed of vital nutrition. So what do we do in response?

We try harder, again and again…until we damage or skin beyond repair. what went wrong? And when we do a big peel…we get that crazy scaley face, because the dermis is not ready to shed…it can’t! It needs at least some protection. We use two lines in the office currently…Osmosis and DMK. Though they bear significant differences they also have significant similarities. Amongst these similarities I would cite the “No Peel Peel”. Or in a sense…the effects of a peel without the downtime, or the stripping of the epidermis and thinning of the dermis.

First, Osmosis. They offer a retinaldhyde infusion, which speeds cell turnover. So, for unconditioned skin, if I put a full syringe on your face…it would speed turnover so much you would look sunburnt and shed. And yet the infusion has no acid! So how does this work?

When your epidermis is ready to shed it does so naturally…so when the retinal speeds turnover it will do so ahead of schedule. The difference is it’s not inflaming the dermis by ripping the epidermis off…it’s shedding because it WANTS to! So leaving a happy, healthy, humming dermis. And in the process this is healing damage within the dermis (old acne and pigmentation)…rather than robbing those wounds of the opportunity. And best yet? Done properly the shedding is undetectable. No downtime, no burnt scaley face.

DMK does something a bit different. Rather than speed cell turnover with retinal, an enzyme treatment does in fact utilize acids to exfoliate. However the difference is in that magic mask… the enzyme mask stays on for 45 minutes, and creates a back-flush of the capillaries. Fresh oxygen and blood flush the dermis, and cellular debris and toxins are swept out via lymph to the lymph nodes. This flushing is true oxygen therapy, and is so healing that it resolves any damage or stripping done by the prior acids. The difference is the peel is just prerequisite to that recovery phase, not an end in itself. The result is fresh, bright, clean, glowing skin. It is the effect of a peel, without the week of downtime I am experiencing now.

So, though the peel I just did only took 30 min…it’s taking a week to heal. That 45 minutes of mask does the work of a week’s healing!

Am I glad I did this peel? Yes, sure…I am all for shaking things up a bit, and challenging the skin. But next time get that enzyme on my face please…there is nothing quite like it. 

Celebrating Rachel Fazio’s Life

We are heartbroken to share with you the passing of our sweet friend Rachel Fazio, on Oct 22 2020. It must be noted that to our knowledge her passing was unrelated to Covid19, as she was at work the day previous with no symptoms. She was 28 years old.

Billy Wilder said of Audrey Hepburn “God kissed her on the cheek, and there she was”. These words come to mind when I think of Rachel now. Not that she had a charmed life…she was, I would come later to find, making a new life for herself in DC after a rough run in the media industry as a reporter for NBC. But God kissed her on the cheek in that she possessed a bright, shining quality which was unmistakeable. She reminded me of a character in a book, as do all my favourite people… a unique and fully formed personality unlike anyone I have ever met before.

The words warmth, dedication, and humor come to mind when I think of Rachel. If I sit quietly in these days after her passing I can feel her presence, that’s how rich these qualities were within her…I can feel her still, comforting me. Rachel would be mortified to be causing me any extra work right now in writing this. She would be apologizing in her flustered and funny way. And she would be smiling at me. Rachel made me feel seen, and seen as the best of myself.

Rachel wrote me an email introducing herself just weeks after the birth of my boy Leo. Despite being sleep deprived and recovering I knew I had to meet her. Her letter was warm, clear, enthusiastic. So sane and present. Her story was unique, but this just intrigued me more. I can only say it was grace that allowed me to recognize her value from just that letter. I knew she would be in my life.

When we met I walked in to discover a beautiful, professional bright eyed young woman, with an open face. At that time I was fully staffed, with not an inch of spare space in the building. And Rachel had not yet even gone to school for esthetics…but it didn’t matter. I told her to go ahead and move to DC, and that I didn’t know how or when, but I would have a spot for her. Little did I know that in the upcoming months I would start a year long process of staff turnover…much of it extremely painful. But throughout it all there was Rachel, unwavering and by my side.

Rachel approached her role at Bespoke with nearly comical devotion and professionalism. If I am the Michael Scott of the office Rachel was somewhere between Dwight and Erin…steadfastly dedicated but also with a contagious enthusiasm and innocence. I remember meeting her outside the new office one day, for one of our first meetings. She was wearing heels, full makeup and a business casual dress. I was in leggings with no makeup and a backpack and bun. We went and had an ice cream (she had one little scoop which mostly melted, I think I had a pint and then ate hers), and when we parted ways I asked her where her car was. I walked, she said…she had rented a flat nearby so that she might be close at hand if I ever needed her. I watch her walk away on the cobblestone street in those uncomfortable shoes, and was grateful for the help I hadn’t known that I needed.

I took her up on her offer of help…she helped me with every little thing, and joyfully. She babysat Leo. She did laundry. She waited for handymen at the building. Any request was met immediately with enthusiasm and precision. I asked her once how did she get to be like this? How was she just so damn helpful? She told me it was her mother…that her mother was an amazing woman (an accomplished Doctor) and that she wanted to be a true support to women like us. I’ll never know how scouring the internet she set her sights on me and Bespoke, but if I had to guess I’d say maybe I reminded her of her parents. I hope she felt like she could find a home with me, and I would have her back.

I grew to lean on her, in every way. And in her last days at Bespoke she had added a fifth treatment…so she was working twelve hour days. She worked Friday Saturday and Sunday in a row as well…”I have no life” she would scoff when explaining her dedication. In reality, she was determined to really support the business, and to be of service to myself and our clients. Her last words to me (via text) were “Oooh how fun! I am excited!”. This was in reference to some training we were going to do for a new therapist that week…she was finally making the leap from “trainee” to “trainer”. It was a big moment.

I could always make Rachel crack up, and took it upon myself to try for this as often as possible. She got the joke, always. When we first met I asked her what kind of movies and tv she watched…”How I Met your Mother” was her favourite show she said. I thought that was a weird choice lol, but getting know her it made sense. She had an ever present readiness to laugh, and a dry slightly sarcastic sense of humor. Very self deprecating and a bit deadpan, very much the tone of the show. I think of her like a character in it, she would have fit right in.

Rachel didn’t have a mean bone in her body, which made her somewhat fragile, vulnerable. She had a horrible time in esthetics school, being bullied by her peers (adults, mind you). To give context as to who you might find in an esthetics school (sometimes but not always), upon orientation she told me “they stressed repeatedly that you NOT come to school high” and then listed the many ways to NOT get high before school. No pills, no weed, no etc etc. “Are people coming to school high?? I guess so!” she said, and we laughed for about a week straight about how spelled out that needed to be for her classmates. Regardless the bullying was so ridiculous and severe I wanted to pull her out of school…it seemed unbearable to me and I was angry for her. But she stuck with it and got through it, without any fuss. It was incredible, her persistence.

She was the kind of person who at her angriest would probably huff a “no thank you!” Once when we were setting up an alarm system in the building it went off during treatment…in her room. The actual alarm was in there and was blistering loud…and she attempted to carry on with treatment. Afterwards she texted me (I hadn’t heard it) asking if she could comp the treatment…I didn’t realize what the big deal was. When I found out I couldn’t believe how much she underplayed the issue…I’d have been furious. I was also told later that she picked up the alarm, marched out of the room and handed it to my stepdad (who had been setting it up) with short “here!”. That was it. Her frustration was palpable, but she got on with it. Not a mean word.

In her last days with us we spoke often of her progress as an esthetician. Her book had finally filled with regular clients, what she had always wanted. She was giving me her all, and I knew that I could count on her for it. No matter what happened I could count on Rachel. So Wednesday morning when she wasn’t at work we all knew instinctively something was very wrong.

I told Rachel in her last days how proud I was of her, and how smart she was to see extra clients. How this would make her so much better so much faster. This is what she really wanted, just to be of use in the office and to care for people. To care for me too. She told me that I was doing a great job handling navigating the business during covid…with no prompting. And she meant it, and it helped me. She was very perceptive. Sometimes I worry that when I am seen as who I truly am - human, flawed - that the therapists or clients will lose respect for me. And that has definitely been the case before…but not with Rachel. She had a way of seeing all of you and making you feel loved anyway. Her own light shined on you and made you shine back.

When I interview new therapists I play a game where I ask them what their “spirit animal” is, just to get to know them. A platypus, she said. What?! We all exclaimed. Why? You are much more elegant than that! She said a platypus was cute and unique and quirky and who knows, she just thought a platypus. And she was right. She was unlike anyone else I have ever met. In the last few months I have been on a meaningless decorating kick in the office, constantly moving furniture around. I’d walk into her room and move a plant to a different shelf wordlessly and she would crack up. I would text her pictures of weird furniture from facebook marketplace and as if she could run and pick it up RIGHT NOW and she would say yes of course! And hop in an uber. We joked that I was making her room into a “nautical library” and we laughed about how unrelated to esthetics that was but she said she “trusted my vision”.

I had a vision for Rachel. Early on I asked her what her dreams were, what her long term goals were. She said this was her dream. I pushed her further, and she coyly joked that she would take over the business for me one day. And I can’t tell you how much that meant to me…I love the business like a child, and the thought of giving it one day to someone who loved it like I do brought me a lot of joy. I could picture it for her. I could see her, one day a time, working towards that. Her work was measured and persistent…I could see her daily grinding away at moving forward. She was planning on moving to Georgetown in December, so she could walk to work. I have come to find out she had a serious boyfriend, with whom she was likely going to settle down with here. I can see her having her life here…a life not unlike my own. House, child, work, all in this little village…I could see her growing, and becoming a fuller realization of who she was always meant to be. And I thank God that I was included in that plan for her. I thank God for my time with her. But mostly I just fucking miss her…as does everyone in the office.

Rachel I love you. Sleep well sweet girl, I am holding your special chair for you in the office.

Condolences may be sent to Rachel’s mother,

Ellen Schaeffer 6825 Holliston Circle, Fayetteville, N.Y. 13066

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