Holly Labow of Polished Spa

Feb 08, 2017

When Holly Labow moved her spa business out of town to her home north of Grafton a few years ago, she was concerned that she may lose business being north of the 401, and in the country.

“That didn’t happen. People made the trip for the services I provide and the atmosphere I created,” she said last week from her new home on Pine Lake, on Brown’s Lane off the Ardoch Road in North Frontenac.

Being a few minutes north of Grafton, and just 15 minutes from Cobourg, is not exactly the same as being located off the Ardoch Road, especially in the winter when even permanent residents are planning southern getaways.

Holly and her husband Michael bought their lakefront property a few years ago, and once he retired, they moved in last summer on a full time basis. They had a new building designed and built for Polished Spa, for Holly to start up her business in North Frontenac.

Since then they have continued to work on their house and have built Polished Spa for Holly to start up her business in North Frontenac.

Polished Spa has one main room with a treatment bed and plenty of room to work, and a foyer/waiting room at the front. It is clean and comfortable and has views of Pine Lake and the surrounding woods.

In it, Holly Labow offers a range of services, including: manicures, shellac manicures, pedicures, facials, makeup,  and waxing and trimming. She also provides hot stone, aromatherapy, and exfoliating massage treatments.

Holly is also a certified foot reflexologist and provides reflexology treatments in the spa.

“By manipulating specific reflexes in the feet to remove stress, a parasympathetic response will occur in the body,” Holly says on her website about reflexology.

Reflexology treatments include a foot bath and the use of essential oils. First sessions can last 90 minutes and subsequent sessions are not as long.

“I love my work in the spa, and even if we are in a new location, far off the beaten track, I wanted to get  started up as soon as I could after we moved here. I opened in mid-August, and caught the tail end of the summer. Since then I have been learning about the community, and introducing myself and my services to people in the area, many of whom have never had a pedicure, never spent an hour in a spa like this,” she said.

So far, even in the dead of winter, she feels pretty good about how the business has gone.

“The summertime is more about the esthetics part of the spa and the winters are more about healing and wellness. I’m happy to create this kind of peaceful atmosphere, to help my clients relax and serve their needs.”

So far so good. While the spa has not been overwhelmed with business this winter, there have been clients coming in on a regular basis, and Holly is as optimistic as ever about the future.

“I kind of took the philosophy that if you build it they would come, and so far it is working out.”