It's a Tuesday night, and things are hopping at Elase Medical Spa in Sugar House.
This is the evening of the spa's weekly Girls Night Out. Women of various ages enter the spa, sign in and fill out a questionnaire about which of the spa's services they're interested in receiving. Each guest is given a personal consultation and can choose one of three free services: a 15-minute laser hair removal treatment, a minifacial or a minimakeover.
Vikki Adams of Holladay said she thinks having an evening out with other women is beneficial.
"What feels good is knowing you're with a bunch of girls, which I think is important," she said.
Adams was returning to the spa to have her underarm hair lasered off. She likes the perk of a 10 percent discount on treatments offered at Elase's spa nights.
"The great discounts on (treatment) packages are also nice," she said.
Elase Medical Spa began offering their spa parties as a way to introduce both prospective and current clients to the services they offer in a fun environment, said Carrie Brinton, one of the spa's founders.
"Our services are fairly unknown. We feel like if we can bring people in, with no pressure and no need for them to buy anything, they can come in and learn about it and experience it, and they're much more likely to come back," Brinton said. "Probably two-thirds of our clientele comes from these parties."
Elase offers a variety of services from laser hair removal to Botox injections to anti-aging services. Their newest, and most popular, treatment is laser skin resurfacing, which uses low-power, long-pulse laser energy to target red spots, brown spots, rough skin texture and other skin problems by heating up water and oil in the skin," Brinton said.
"We brought (this treatment) on back in November and it, by far, other than hair removal, is our most popular service," she said. "Keeping up with the demand is pretty overwhelming."
The main treatment Elase specializes in, however, is laser hair removal. Emily Thompson, Brinton's sister-in-law and the other founder of Elase, said laser hair removal has the reputation for being a painful procedure, but with creams and coolers, it has become much more comfortable for clients.
It was Thompson's interest in laser removal that eventually led to the founding of Elase. In 1998 Thompson's father, Dr. James A. Brinton, was providing laser hair removal treatments out of his OB/GYN office with Thompson's assistance. In 2004, she and Brinton decided to take the concept of hair removal and turn it into a medical spa and provide other services such as skin resurfacing and lightening, injections and the like. Dr. Brinton is the resident doctor for the spas and provides some of the treatments.
Brinton feels there are two main benefits to laser hair removal. The first is the convenience it provides. The second is more problematic.
"Because of hormone imbalances, some women grow excessive hair on their face, back or chest," she said. "It provides solutions for people in embarrassing situations (like these)."
Brinton loves seeing the confidence clients gain.
"I think the best thing (about running Elase) is the rewards you get from seeing people happy," she said. "They come in with an issue that's making them self-conscious, has bothered them and is taking up a lot of their time ... We get to see how thrilled they are about the way they look and how it makes them feel better."
Thompson said there's nothing more rewarding for her than satisfied clients.
"(I enjoy) seeing what we're able to accomplish in the treatments we give and the results we've seen," she said. "We watch (our clients) come out of their treatments and they're so thrilled. ... We really focus on clients. We never want to offer a treatment that doesn't work. Most of our success comes from the fact that we're believers in what we offer."
Participants enjoy the exposure to Elase treatments they receive at spa parties. Annie Lynch and Julie Barrios of West Jordan attended a recent Elase party. Barrios heard about getting her lip filled and had the service performed that night. She was anxious to see the results.
"My friend works here, and she told me about (the laser resurfacing treatment)," Lynch said, noting it would help with some problem areas on her skin. "I'm excited to see if it works."
Beth Floyd brought her friend Meredith Cragun to the spa party. Floyd has been receiving hair removal treatments at Elase for several months.
"They're really friendly here and knowledgeable if you ask a question," she said. "They make sure you're informed."
Cragun enjoyed the atmosphere.
"It's important for a girl to be able to pamper herself," she said.
Elase now has four Utah locations, Sugar House, South Jordan, Orem and St. George, as well as several in other states. The Sugar House Elase office is located at 1010 E. 2100 South. Spa parties are held Tuesday nights in Sugar House, Wednesdays in Orem and Thursdays in South Jordan. Anyone is welcome to attend. All they need to do is RSVP to the spa. Prices range from $300 to $5,000, depending on the treatment. For more information, visit www.elase.com.
E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com