As the chill of winter settles in, clients begin to look for ways to take quick retreats from the cold. By adding a heating element to your service, you can set yourself apart from other salons as a winter indulgence, and maybe even warm your clients up into paying a little extra. There are many ways to add a little heat to a service; you can use hot towels, heating stones, complimentary hot drinks, and more. So if you find your services feeling a bit numb this winter, take a look at what some other techs are doing and see if you can thaw out some ingenuity.

Peponi Nail & Skin Care Lounge
Venice, Calif.
Owner: Scean Ellis
Service: Peponi Pleasure Manicure
Cost of Service: $35
Heating Element: Hot Towels and Hot Oil

The Peponi Pleasure Manicure begins with a soothing eucalyptus/lime hot oil soak. The immediate exposure to heat helps comfort clients who are coming in from the cold, and the soak serves the dual function of moisturizing and softening skin for cuticle maintenance while also making a warm and lasting impression on winter-weary clients.

When the nails have been trimmed and the cuticles pushed back, hot towels are wrapped around the hands to precede a final forearm and hand massage. “The towels are a great way to end the service,” Ellis says. “They can help lock in the moisture from the lotions and conditioners, and they make clients feel so good. It lets them know the service is winding down and they can just savor the experience.”

The Purple Pinkie
Ford City, Pa.
Owner: Rhonda Kibuk
Service: The Pomegranate Manicure
Cost of Service: $15
Heating Element: Hot Towels

The Purple Pinkie’s Pomegranate Manicure is a waterless manicure that uses hot towels to wipe away a scrub that is applied at the end of the service. “We wanted to set our salon apart, and since most salons do soak-based manicures, and because we believe in the benefits of waterless manicures, we thought this would be a great way to give a stepped-up service without increasing the price,” Kibuk says.

After nails and cuticles have been tended to, Kibuk applies a sugar scrub exfoliation to the hands and forearms, wherein heated towels are used to wipe away the scrubs and refresh the skin.

Kibuk uses this rice steamer to heat her towels to the perfect temperature. “We use three 12” x 12” washcloths,” Kibuk says, “one for each hand and one to clean off our own hands.”

Roula’s Nail Spa
Houston, Texas
Owner: Roula Nassar Service: Anti-Aging Collagen Hand & Foot Treatment
Cost of Service: $80
Heating Element: Warming Mittens, Booties, and Heated Herbal Neck Wrap

The Anti-Aging Collagen Hand and Foot Treatments can be done together or separately (Nassar gives $5 off if done together), but both use heat as an essential ingredient. The service is designed to make the skin on the hands and feet look younger using a collagen rub. The heated mittens and booties open pores in the skin to allow the collagen to absorb completely.

The booties, mittens, and neck wrap also enhance the overall comfort and enjoyment of the client. “We tend to see a lot of clients coming in after hurricanes have passed,” Nassar says, “and they like to unwind and treat themselves to a nice service. When they have a neck wrap, heated booties and mitts on, they really feel like they’re being pampered.”

Extremities Spa Salon LLC
Newport News, Va.
Owner: Erin Snyder Dixon
Service: Double Chocolate Raspberry Pedicure
Cost of Service: $65
Heating Element: Warming Exfoliating Scrub

This service begins with a warm soak of fresh milk and double chocolate raspberry powder, that is followed by a warming exfoliating scrub and treatment. The scrub is from the Body Truffles line from Upper Canada. It is called the Warming Fondue Scrub, and it has a unique heat-activated extract that warms up on contact.

Dixon says of the product, “I stumbled upon this brand while attending the Atlanta Gift Market, while I was hunting goodies for the spa boutique. No one in my area carries this line and it has sold well here.”

The service also features a complimentary warm cocoa or chocolate raspberry latte. Dixon builds up demand for this service by only offering it during the winter months.

Natural Beauty Salon & Spa
Twinsburg, Ohio
Owner: Millie Haynam
Service: Rock On Cranberry Manicure
Cost of Service: $40
Heating Element: Hot Stones

Haynam makes customized heating stones each time she performs this service. The stones are initially a powder that becomes hard when mixed with warm water. Once the stones are formed they will generate heat for up to 30 minutes. (Go to page 44 to see how Haynam makes the stones.)

Haynam begins making the stones after she has tended to the nails and cuticles and placed the client in a cranberry mask. While the client’s masked hands are wrapped in warm towels, Haynam makes the customized stones. “It takes about five minutes to make the stones,” Haynam says, “and after I remove the mask, I put cranberry oil on the stones and do a hot stone massage. I smooth them over their hands and forearms and let them hold the stones too.”

M. Lekkakos Salon, Spa and Boutique
Wennham, Mass.
Owner: Maria Lekkakos
Service: Spa Manicure with Paraffin
Cost of Service: $40
Heating Element: Hot Oil and Paraffin

Maria Lekkakos’ Spa Manicure incorporates a nice paraffin dip to help steam off the chill of a Massachusetts winter. The entire service emphasizes aromatherapy, using a combination of mint, orange, and hibiscus scents to create a soothing smell for clients, and the treatment has a massage with hot oils.

“The hot oils are from our Sundari line,” Lekkakos says, “which is an ayuverdic line that promotes skin health and has anti-aging effects. And the final touch is the paraffin dip, which is a great way to end the service.”

ZAZA Nail Spa
San Francisco, Calif.
Owner: Rachel Wong
Service: Refresh-Mint Pedicure
Cost of Service: $55
Heating Element: Herbal Tea

An easy and simple way to warm up a winter service is to add a complimentary hot beverage. At ZaZa’s Nail Spa, clients are served a free hot herbal peppermint tea at the beginning of the Refresh-Mint Pedicure. They sip on the soothing drink while their feet are soaked in an invigorating bath of mint leaves, peppermint oil, and mint tea. The service follows up with a peppermint sugar scrub, a peppermint body butter, and finally a paraffin dip.

Clients like to hold the hot cup in the winter time, it helps enhance the overall effect of the service, and the peppermint fits perfectly into the minty-theme of the service.