Even before she worked as a chemical engineer, Erica Breining had always been fascinated with health and beauty.
Between her own interest in wanting to help people look and feel their best and her entrepreneurial spirit, Breining finally took the plunge and opened Bellava MedAesthetics & Spa in Bedford Hills last month. Now customers–men and women–can come to her 3,000-square-foot location if they want to take a much needed respite and pamper themselves without going broke.
“You can come, relax, chill out, forget the stresses of the day even if it’s just for an hour,” said Breining who has also operated a high-end online handbag business since 2002. “Maybe you can’t afford a weekend getaway but you can afford a $100 massage. If that gets you through, that’s great.”
Bellava offers a wide variety of spa and medical services at every price. Breining’s two aestheticians and massage therapist provide facials, massages, body treatments and services for eyelashes and eyebrows. One of the most unusual spa treatments is the Shirodhara massage, a simultaneous scalp and foot massage. Bellava is one of the few spas in the area to offer the Shirodhara.
On the medical side, Breining contracts with Dr. James Lyons, a highly respected plastic surgeon who practices cosmetic medicine and specializes in non-surgical procedures. He offers SlimLipo, laser body sculpting that tightens skin in all the vulnerable places such as the chin, neck, abdomen, back and buttocks, laser hair removal, botox and dermal fillers and skin resurfacing.
As greater emphasis has been placed on how looking good equates to feeling good, there is a growing demand for spa services, Breining said. Skin treatments are also popular and go a long way to maintaining a person’s youthful appearance, especially if a customer can return periodically.
“A lot of the skin care that we’re trying to promote, it’s about skin health for life,” she said. “So a lot of the treatments that are older we encourage you to come at least monthly for the facial.”
Of course, helping some of the older clients retain their youthful appearance is one of the best attractions for Bellava.
“We’re trying to tap into the baby boomer market,” she explained. “That’s a huge population of people focusing on anti-aging. That’s a huge industry and I think with the way the industry is going people are getting away from surgery and going more and more toward cosmetic medicine.”
Roughly 70 percent of Bellava’s clients are women. One of the reasons why Breining chose her location at 182 Route 117 Bypass Road was because the shopping complex has a number of other businesses that cater to a female clientele. That doesn’t mean, however, she’s abandoning the gentlemen. Messages and the Gentleman’s Tuscan Facial, designed specifically for a man’s needs, are also offered.
Although a spa may be seen by some as a luxury expense, Breining said that today the services provided may be more important than ever before.
“I’ve been asked in an economy like this are you afraid that people won’t be able to afford your services and I really think that with all of the stresses and pressures right now, people are still budgeting some money for themselves,” Breining reasoned. “Whether it’s a massage or a facial at $100 or one of the cosmetic medical procedures for $1,000, there’s a big gap in there so I really thing we have something for everybody.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, Bellava will be holding its grand opening party from 6 to 9 p.m., complete with wine and hors d’oeuvres, at its spa. Guests can meet Dr. Lyons and also receive special prizes. The event is free and is open to the public.
Bellava MedAesthetics & Spa is open Monday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is closed Wednesdays and Sundays. For more information, call 914-864-2140 or visit www.bellavaspa.com.
