We all need to look after ourselves physically and mentally and a beauty treatment or massage can be one of the best ways to give yourself a boost. Some of us love to visit a spa to get out of the house, but I think the ultimate indulgence is for someone to come to you. We spoke to the founder of at-home spa service USPAAH to find out how she has grown her business since launching in July 2015.
Meet Iglika Ghouse – CEO & Founder of USPAAH
Your idea was to make beauty treatments accessible to everyone, what treatments did you feel were the most important to offer when you started?
Iglika Ghouse – CEO & Founder of USPAAH
I thought of the idea for USPAAH after a long day as I had an insufferable back pain that I couldn’t get treated right away because all the spas in my area closed before I could get off work. Hence we started with Massages but quickly added Nails and Hair as these were treatments we felt busy Londoners needed on-demand.
How do you recruit your therapists and decide who is the right standard for Uspaah?
We have been improving and perfecting our recruitment strategies and protocols for years. All our Sparistas undergo a thorough vetting process which includes interviews, background checks, and trade tests. In addition, each therapist is rated in the app after each booking, so that we can continue monitoring their performance after they’ve started working with us. For us, quality control doesn’t stop when a therapist is live on the app, it’s a continuous process that ensures a high standard of professionalism across the board.
What are your most popular requests for treatments?
Deep Tissue Massages are definitely the most booked treatments on our app. Londoners are busy, active people, and clearly, everyone needs a way to de-stress and wind down.
Have you added any therapies due to popular demand and expanded your menu?
Absolutely. We started with 3 services, we listened to our customers, and now we have over 50 including waxing, spray tans, haircuts, eyelash extensions and more. The latest additions to our menu were 1-1 Yoga and Pilates lessons at home, which we saw demand for as people were increasingly wary of going to crowded yoga studios.
Are there beauty brands that you prefer your therapists to use?
We thoroughly check each Sparista’s kit to ensure they’re working with high-quality professional brands. Some of our favourite beauty brands include Oribe, Demalogica, Darphin, Essie, OPI, Shellac, MAC, Chanel and others. After years of delivering thousands of massages, we even created our own brand of Massage Body Oils. We have 2 blends, USPAAH Sense and Invigorate which either soothe or energise our customers, depending on what they need. Our body oils also have a consistency that absorbs into the skin without leaving an uncomfortable oily residue, while ensuring optimal spreadability for the therapist.
Do you offer organic beauty treatments?
Indeed, our custom Massage oils are vegan-friendly, nut-free and cruelty-free, so one can thoroughly relax in a blissful full body treatment.
Has your company been more successful now people are working from home and want more services at home too?
Certainly, we have seen a great number of new customers discovering just how convenient and safe our at-home treatments are. We strongly believe in a few years time, at-home beauty and wellness services will be the new normal.
Have more of the family been included in your bookings, like couple’s massage or teenagers with manicures and facials?
With such a large variety of treatments, we have definitely seen bookings that include partners, parents and children. On Valentine’s Day, for example, we’re inundated with couples massage bookings, while on Halloween our make-up artists are busy painting faces for small and big children alike. We also see quite a few ladies book “surprise” pedicures for their husbands when summer approaches ;).
Tell me more about your Academy and training school?
We regularly partner with experienced educators from various professional beauty schools to offer courses or short seminars to our therapists who’d like to up-skill. Of course, we weren’t able to continue group classes during lockdown, but we hope to resume very soon. We definitely see demand from our team to learn additional skills as clients are more frequently making multi-service bookings.
Do you manage to get some pampering yourself, what are your favourite treatments to really relax and switch off?
I honestly don’t remember life before at-home treatments. Especially as I have 2 small children now, it’s virtually impossible to find time for myself before 9 pm. Thankfully our therapists work until 10:30 pm every day, so I can book a massage or facial after the kids go to bed and wake up feeling super relaxed. I also get a mani/pedi done regularly, as beautiful nails always give me a little confidence boost.
Do you practise any wellbeing rituals you can share for health and beauty inside and out?
In addition to regular massages which give you a huge anti-oxidant boost and improve sleep, I try to stay active with running, and eating as healthy as I can. I am also a big fan of intermittent fasting, it has transformed my body and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to undergo a physical and mental cleanse.
Website: uspaah.com
Instagram: @USPAAH