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Yearly Archives

2012

News

New Flagship milk + honey Location Coming in November

July 2, 2012

We are excited to announce a new flagship spa and salon located in downtown Austin’s 2nd Street District to open November of 2012.

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The new milk + honey flagship, located at the corner of Cesar Chavez Street and Guadalupe Street, will consolidate both our current downtown spa on Colorado Street and our salon on 3rd Street. The new spa will have 12 treatment rooms, additional and more comfortable nail stations, two luxurious lounges (one co-ed, and another within the women’s locker room), and private steam showers in the locker rooms. Overlooking Lady Bird Lake, it is sure to become an iconic destination in Austin.

“In 2006, when the original milk + honey opened, we were a small spa with five treatment rooms,” says Alissa Bayer, founder of milk + honey. “Since then we have grown, opening up new locations throughout the Austin area and expanding to include salon services through the fantastic support of the Austin community. We’ve experienced so much growth we have now outgrown our original locations. We decided to take what we have learned over the last six years and build a new spa and salon that we know our clients will absolutely love.”

milk + honey is a family affair for Alissa. Her business partner and husband, Shon, joined milk + honey two years ago after leaving Enspire Learning as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. milk + honey’s gorgeous branding and graphic design is created by Austin designer Michelle Bayer, Shon’s sister. Michelle’s design collaborative Olive and Otis will be designing textile-based installations for the new milk + honey location. Michelle’s husband, Brian Bedrosian of Baldridge Architects, is the lead designer for the new flagship. However, Alissa and Shon’s 15-month-old twins, Hudson and Sloan, are not currently working for the company.

Austin architecture firm Baldridge Architects is designing the new location. “We began this process with careful research into the needs of the clients and staff of both the spa and salon and have worked to create a design strategy that can grow as milk + honey adds future locations” says Burton Baldridge, principal at Baldridge Architects. “The design creates a sense of intimacy and calm for milk + honey’s growing number of clients. We have also worked to silently and efficiently accommodate the needs of the staff and therapists behind the scenes to further enhance the milk + honey experience.” Kasey McCarty is the interior designer who has worked on many milk + honey projects over the past few years, including designing SALON by milk + honey Arboretum Market. Structura, Inc. will serve as the general contractor for the project.

“Our new location will provide a beautiful experience in the front of the house and back,” says Alissa. “We’ve spent countless hours ensuring that our clients will have a better experience during treatment or while relaxing in the lounge and locker rooms. We’ve also made sure that our employees will have a more comfortable experience in the back of the house. Details such a larger employee lounge and kitchen, more employee bathrooms, and better foot traffic flows may not be noticed by our clients, but it will make our employees happier. And that will make us more successful as a business.”

We can’t wait to share the new flagship location with our clients. We’ll keep you posted in the months to come with all of the exciting updates.

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New Seasonal Treatments: Mojito Scrub, Mojito Manicure + Pedicure

July 2, 2012

Photo courtesy of TheCulinaryGeek

Mojito Scrub + Steam + Massage
Beat the heat this summer with our new seasonal Scrub + Steam + Massage. Introducing the zestfully refreshing Mojito Scrub! This sweet citrus treat uses a house-made scrub made from raw organic sugar to exfoliate the skin. Lime essential oil is used to restore and uplift, and mint is used to vitalize and ease muscle and joint pain. This is followed by a 45-minute massage with warm oil, you’ll leave refreshed, soft, and glowing!
75 minutes for $140 Buy Gift Certificate

Mojito Manicure + Pedicure
In addition to the scrub we are offering a refreshing Mojito Mani + Pedi to cool down and embrace the sunshine.
100 minutes for $95 Buy Gift Certificate

Events

Join milk + honey for Girls Night Out at Estilo

June 25, 2012

milk + honey will be on hand for Estilo’s VIP Event and summer sale on Thursday, June 28.

Join us from 6 to 9 p.m. as we’ll be bringing some of our favorite “summer essential” products. There will also be champagne and cupcakes from Delish.

Save money with great discounts, enjoy some food and drink, and get out of the house with your girlfriends.

Estilo is located at 234 W. 2nd Street.

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NEW: Schedule milk + honey Appointments Online, Anytime

June 12, 2012

There are now more ways to schedule an appointment at milk + honey spa.

You may now schedule an appointment online, any time of the day!

You’re going to want to bookmark this page —
http://milkandhoneyspa.com/request-appointment/ 

Click which location you would like to schedule an appointment.

2nd Street District
Hill Country Galleria
Arboretum Market

There are many benefits for clients to using milk + honey’s online system.

  • • Schedule appointments online
  • • View your milk + honey VIP points
  • • See upcoming and past appointments online
  • • View past purchase and in some cases reorder online
  • • View series and membership information

There are some treatments that we are not able to schedule online because of timing, multiple rooms, clients and employees. You’ll see the message, “At this time, this service is not available for online booking. Please call 512.236.1115 to schedule your appointment.”

Let us know if you have any questions or requests for the new online booking system.

 

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Glossing Treatment + Haircut

June 11, 2012

We are thrilled to offer another fabulous treatment at all of our SALON by milk + honey locations.

Glossing Treatment + Haircut
The glossing treatment and haircut is the perfect way to give your hair a shine boost. The gloss adds wonderful shine and is a quick way to enhance your color. You will be sure to turn heads with your silky, shiny, smooth, styled hair.
$100

Call SALON by milk + honey to schedule an appointment.

512.236.1115

Schedule appointments online. Click which location you would like to schedule an appointment.

2nd Street District
Hill Country Galleria
Arboretum Market

Employee of the Month

June Employee of the Month: Helen

June 11, 2012

We are so excited to announce Helen is the June Employee of the Month.

Hugs. Smiles. Band-aids. Light bulbs. You need it, Helen’s got it and she’ll giggle while she helps you find it! Helen has been a valued member of the milk + honey team since 2008 and she brings a certain kind of sunshine to the 2nd Street District spa. Helen’s helpful nature and cheery attitude brighten the days for all that come in contact with her. Be sure to visit Helen in the 2nd Street District housekeeping department. Her glow will most definitely rub off on you too! Without her hard work and sneaky lightning fast ninja skills our spa would not be as beautiful and efficient. Please give Helen a high-five or salute when you see her around and congratulate her on being June’s Employee of the Month.

Specials

milk + honey Father’s Day Retreats

June 4, 2012

Father’s Day falls on June 17, are you ready? Show Dad he’s The Man!

Our gift certificates are available for any service or increment and are accepted at all locations. Click here to mail a gift certificate, or if you can’t wait, you may purchase an instant gift certificate by clicking here, to print or email it right from your computer.

You may also place your order by giving us a call at 512.236.1115 or dropping by our 2nd Street District, Hill Country Galleria or Arboretum Market locations.

These Father’s Day Retreats include specially designed treatments for our manliest Spa Partisans to alleviate their unique physical and mental stressors. Each retreat is named after a famous father connected intimately with Austin.


Robert Rodriguez Retreat

Rodriguez gets down and dirty when directing films like Sin City and Machete. Nothing a Buff + Go Manicure can’t fix along with a Deep Tissue Massage.
60-minute Deep Tissue Massage
Buff + Go Manicure
$115
Buy Gift Certificate


Drew Brees Retreat

Brees might not play his home football games in Texas anymore, but we don’t forget where he came from. Plus, as a quarterback he needs to stay light on his toes. Our Manly Pedicure and Sports Massage fit perfectly.
90-minute Sports Massage
Manly Pedicure
$179
Buy Gift Certificate


Lance Armstrong Retreat

With all that biking, there’s bound to be some skin damage. Make sure your dad takes care of his skin with a Men’s Deep Clean Facial and he’ll get those muscles fully relaxed with a Sports Massage.
60-minute Sports Massage
Men’s Deep Clean Facial
$179
Buy Gift Certificate


Matthew McConaughey Retreat

No need to leave your shirt on (for half of this retreat). Enjoy our two-hour Lux Massage along with a haircut + style. That sounds all right, all right, all right.
120-minute Lux Massage
Men’s Haircut + Style
$199
Buy Gift Certificate


Stephen F. Austin Retreat

The mother of all Father’s Day Retreats is appropriately named after the Father of Texas. Your dad will get a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure sure to make him feel as famous as our namesake.
90-minute Lux Massage
Men’s Facial
Buff + Go Combo
$249
Buy Gift Certificate

If you don’t see something Dad will love, give us a call, and we’ll help you create the perfect retreat. Or, click here to purchase a gift certificate online for any service or amount.

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Feel Good Health

June 3, 2012

Matt is one of our fantastic massage therapists at milk + honey spa 2nd Street District.

When speaking with my clients concerning their goals for our session, many of them specify distinct musculoskeletal concerns they would like me to address, while others simply shrug and answer with,  “I just wanna relax and feel good.” Almost inevitably they wind up getting a little of both.

I have a definite scope of practice as a massage therapist that focuses on stress relief and relief from myofascial dysfunction.  I cannot avoid working with individual’s health and fitness goals. As such my clients consistently expose me to new practices related to those goals. I’m a curious person and I do my own research too.

Should you poke around in cyberspace for answers to your health or fitness goals, you will inevitably encounter marketing motivating you to take up behavior XYZ for the sake of health, happiness, and feeling good. I think the underlying narrative suggests that if you’re not healthy you won’t feel good, but what about the other way around? Does feeling good promote health?

Photo courtesy of Colin Gray

The short answer, turns out, is yes.

Surely you’ve heard that laughter is the best medicine. According to helpguide.org laughter boosts immunity, lowers stress hormones, decreases pain, relaxes muscles and is even good for your heart. It’s like a whole body internal massage. Of course laughter also improves mood. Similarly, behavioral psychologists have famously experimented with and confirmed the relationship between acts such as smiling and the mental and emotional state of their subjects. Many have measured their results in the relative abundance or absence of stress-hormones and neurotransmitter levels. They advocate a certain fake it ’till you make it approach.

Laughing with friends is even better because it engenders those feelings of safety, connection, and community that allow us to step away from our stress triggers. Leisure, and respite from routine also allows us to normalize our stress levels. Sun on the skin (protected by a high SPF of course) elevates moods and increases vitamin D production. Hearing the gentler sounds of nature, breezes through the trees, and the soft lap of water on the shores lowers the heart rate and connects us with something bigger than our problems. Touch produces the feel good hormone oxytocin, so even spending time at the petting zoo can be rewarding. Hearing your favorite music produces all kinds of feel good neurotransmitters and activates ecstatic centers in the brain. In fact, preemie babies have shown to thrive when their care takers play soothing music.

So is this really news to you? In this day and age we all know that the body and mind influence one another. Though stress effects allow an organism to overcome extreme threat, the correlation between prolonged stress and illness, including myofascial dysfunction, are well documented. We all know that the effects of stress correlate positively with disease. Feeling good promotes health, and it does so primarily because it combats the effects of prolonged extreme stress.

I constantly hear people in our culture defend their behaviors of overwork. They delay their private time and feel-good time, citing obstacles and goals. People brag about how much they’ve done and how little they’ve slept, or how much time they don’t have. I do it too. It’s a feature of our culture. We feel we must continue our efforts even when our physical and emotional well being suffer. Truly, life without challenge would feel empty. But there’s another side of the story that describes an optimal balance for health, and even productivity. Salon.com has an article about this called “Bring Back the 40-Hour Work Week.” That balance requires the phenomenon of making sure you feel good.

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Arboretum Market Mother’s Day Makeover Winner with Before and After Pics

May 31, 2012

The response to our makeover contest was absolutely overwhelming. We want to thank everyone for taking the time to write us and tell us why their mom should win.

Each winner received the following: m + h Manicure/Pedicure, Cut + Color, Makeup Application, and a goodie bag filled with our favorite milk + honey products.

Arboretum Market Winner
Rebecca (Entered by her sister Noemi)
“My sister is the strongest woman I know. She left a difficult relationship to raise her beautiful two-year-old daughter, in a safe and happy environment. She is a single, working mother who struggles every day to provide the best she can for her sweet baby girl. Because she works so hard to take care of everybody else, I think she deserves to be pampered with a milk + honey makeover to remind her of how beautiful she is, inside and out.”

Rebecca — Before

Rebecca — After

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Hill Country Galleria Mother’s Day Makeover Winner with Before and After Pics

May 31, 2012

The response to our makeover contest was absolutely overwhelming. We want to thank everyone for taking the time to write us and tell us why their mom should win.

Each winner received the following: m + h Manicure/Pedicure, Cut + Color, Makeup Application, and a goodie bag filled with our favorite milk + honey products.

Hill Country Galleria Winner
Mary Lisa (Entered by her daughter Ashley)
“My mom is graduating college on May 11, 2012. She has been a single mom with two kids working two, sometimes even three jobs to put us through college and pay for my wedding! She has done so much and deserves pampering after working and being a full-time student (at 47 years old, it’s really amazing). I am so proud of her and would love to be able to treat her to this. She is truly the best mom, and would never ask for this on her own, but would soak this up! She never has the time to do this for herself, but she deserves this.”

Mary Lisa — Before

Mary Lisa — After

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