Since 2001, Spot Spa owner Nell Rueckl has been leading the charge in the Twin Cities for natural skincare and spa services—even launching her own line of bath salts and scrubs, Nell’s Remedies, in 2014. With this week’s opening of a nail salon, Rueckl is set to tackle her next frontier: natural nail care.
The airy, new space is located downstairs from Spot Spa’s Uptown location on Lake and Irving, in the former space of Winston’s Barbershop (which moved to a bigger space next door). It consists of five pedicure stations and four manicure stations, as well as a wall of retail space featuring organic, natural skincare and well-being products, including Sun Potention Transformational Foods, One Love Oganics and Arcona skincare, RGB Cosmetics nail products, RMS Beauty, and of course, Nell’s Remedies. Green vegetation adds an organic pop of color to the otherwise minimalist, white space.
When scheduling an appointment, be sure to allow yourself plenty of time. Suffice to say, this isn’t your typical nail salon; Spot Spa takes a holistic approach to nail care, going far beyond painting your nails. My lovely and knowledegable specialist, Keilani, started my pedicure soaking my feet in a bucket of hot water (instead of your traditional jet-stream tub, which harbors bacteria). She then wrapped my feet in hot, damp towels after applying Arcona Cranberry Gommage, a spa-grade exfoliator that has a potent blend of salicylic acid, volcanic materials, sucrose, and fruit enzymes to purify skin. After a brisk pumice-stone exfoliation, she applied One Love Organics’ Vitamin C body oil and then shaped my nails, and painted them with the traditional base layers and topcoat. One thing’s clear: This is no ordinary mani-pedi.
The manicure treatment was similar, with the same exfoliating gommage hand-wrap treatment. Beauty buffs should note that, while the salon does offer gel-nail treatments, they don’t do acrylic nails—we’re talking natural beauty, here. I opted for a traditional nail treatment, and three days later, there’s not a chip in sight.
Check out the spa’s new space for yourself this Thursday, when they host an open house to celebrate the new addition.
4–8 p.m. Thu., Nov. 19, Spot Spa Uptown, 1600 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612-823-7768, spotspas.com
photos by Jahna Peloquin
