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CNN Live Saturday

More Men are Visiting Spas

Aired June 16, 2001 - 13:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Pampering is not just a girl thing anymore. Men are getting into the action more and more these days. And on this Father's Day weekend, we thought we'd turn our attention to the growing popularity of male pampering. Joining us live here is Sydell Harris, she is the founder of Spa Sydell; and she's brought an aesthetician, who is Alla Fishman (ph); and also a model to help demonstrate some of the procedures, he is Jay Thursby (ph).

Welcome to all of you. It's nice to have you join us.

SYDELL HARRIS, FOUNDER, SPA SYDELL: Thanks so much for having us.

DONNA KELLEY: Sydell, I want to ask you, you know, a couple of folks, you know, were saying they're a little sheepish, guys are a little sheepish about going to the spa. How does that play out when they come into see you?

HARRIS: We have a very relaxing atmosphere when you come in. It's not a female-oriented kind of atmosphere. It's very unisex. And it's contemporary. And for the most part, a lot of women bring men in through like gift certificates. And then they're very comfortable. Once they get in the door, there's not a problem.

KELLEY: Sure.

HARRIS: Plus, every magazine you pick up today, everything you read, tells you how important it is to relax and get massages, get pedicures, manicures. It's a very, very important thing for stress today.

KELLEY: Well, I was going to say, a couple of reasons, one of the people that I was reading about said, you know, this guy puts in 14-hour days. He has a high-speed life. He's looking for a little balance. So he wants to go. And in fact, some of them conduct business when they go and bring along a person with them.

HARRIS: Absolutely. This is what we find. We find that two men will come together. They might have pedicures together. They might have lunch with us. They both might go to separate -- have massages and then have lunch. And it works out very well.

We also do the his and her massage, and very often the men come in that way, and they're very comfortable. They really are. KELLEY: Let's look at some of the treatments that Alla is doing here with Jay. What are we doing?

HARRIS: We're doing -- first, she massaged his skin and exfoliation is the most important thing for the face and the body, because it gets rid of fine lines and enlarged pours and it gives a fresher skin, brings a fresher skin to the surface.

She's exfoliating today. She's doing some exfoliation, which we have a product that the men can take home. It's called "Gentle Exfoliator." They use it in the shower. She's going to show a little brush. And it's so simple to do, just before you get into the shower. And moisturizer and an eye cream is about it.

KELLEY: Well, and let's face it, you know, I hear from a lot of guys, you just want to look good. Jay, how come you go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels great. I think it's part of the overall fitness program. Exercise, massage, is just part of my conditioning program overall. You have to take care of your skin and it feels great and it's very relaxing.

KELLEY: How about the tension and stress? Does that kind of leave you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm half asleep right now.

HARRIS: And in the chair on CNN!

KELLEY: Yeah. What kind of treatments do you find that aren't most popular with the men?

HARRIS: Well, we do reflexology, which is a wonderful treatment for releasing stress and massage. And the hot stone massage is incredible. These hot stones are put on the skin, and they're in some areas they're left on. And the massage therapist massages with the hot stone, and you get to the deeper parts of the muscle and relax the person immediately.

KELLEY: And you have businessmen all the way up to sports figures?

HARRIS: Absolutely, yes, we do a lot of sports people and businessmen. They have their little meetings very often and a great incentive program. Many corporate people buy gift certificates for employees to give them a little treat to help them to relax, but because they have done something good, They were very, very effective in a business situation and they buy them a gift certificate. It works great.

KELLEY: Alla, tell me what some of the men say to you when they come in? Are they a little shy? Are they little embarrassed at first?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, a little bit they feel uncomfortable, but when they leave the salon they feel wonderful. They just smile. KELLEY: What do they say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to come back.

KELLEY: That must be good news to you.

HARRIS: Oh, yes it feels great.

KELLEY: yeah, when you started this, did you think that men would be coming?

HARRIS: We did very few men when we started.

KELLEY: And what's the percentage now? How is it growing?

HARRIS: Well, it's growing every day. It started basically and then we went up to about 10 percent and then 15 percent. It's just -- it's growing all the time.

Sometimes I'll walk into a spa and I'll see the reception area and there's four, five men sitting on the sofa. And it's great. You know, years ago it wasn't like that, but more and more men realize why should the women take all this advantage and not have any opportunity? So they get with it. Plus, the fact men have enlarged pores. They get lines around their eyes and it's just very, very important for them as well to look good.

KELLEY: Here's to a happy Father's Day weekend. Jay Thursby, Alla Fishman and the founder of Spa Sydell, Sydell Harris, delighted to have you all come in. Thanks very much.

HARRIS: Thank you.

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