LV LifeHealth & Fitness

Day spa uses all-natural remedies

Wild Earth Spa, an all-natural and organic day spa on D Street in downtown La Verne, has been open since 2003. Owned and operated by Rene Tao, the spa offers facials, therapeutic massages and body sugaring hair removal. / photo by Sara Flores
Wild Earth Spa, an all-natural and organic day spa on D Street in downtown La Verne, has been open since 2003. Owned and operated by Rene Tao, the spa offers facials, therapeutic massages and body sugaring hair removal. / photo by Sara Flores

Celene Vargas
Staff Writer

Wild Earth Spa’s dedication to natural and organic treatments has not changed since it opened their doors on D Street in 2003, despite a change in ownership.

The spa offers a variety of services including facials, massages and spa packages for both men and women. Each type of treatment emphasizes natural alternatives, like fruit.

“We love educating people about our services, the products that we sell and just mostly support people,” said Leah Fastrup, a spa coordinator and esthetician for Wild Earth Spa.

The spa was started by Shawn and Gail Hardy. Gail Hardy was an esthetician, who was interested in natural skin care and sugaring.

Sugaring is a natural alternative to waxing, using sugar and other food-based ingredients.

“Sugaring sounds like something I’d try, but only if someone I know tried it first or did it with me,” Kumiko Nomura, a sophomore accounting major at the University of La Verne.

The ingredients do not stick to the skin, only the hair. It is kept at room temperature and warmed using body heat. This eliminates the risk of burned skin.

“We would really like our clients just to feel like it’s an inviting environment and that they can let go and relax,” said René Tao, current owner of Wild Earth Spa.

Prices vary depending on the area of the body requested. Men tend to be charged more because they usually have more hair to remove.

The Wild Earth Therapy Massage is Swedish style, while the Organic Bliss Facial uses fresh fruit to cleanse and exfoliate.

The spa also recently introduced the Arctic Berry Facial, an anti-aging treatment that restores texture and tone to the skin.

“We want to help you feel good so that you can go out and conquer the world,” Fastrup said.

Tao would like to expand the business in the future. She wants to add more treatment rooms to the spa’s current location, but opening other locations is not currently in the works, she said.

“My sister is really into natural substitutes,” said Angelica Calderon, La Verne junior computer science major.

She said she’ll consider Wild Earth treatments as a gift for her sister.

Celene Vargas can be reached at celene.vargas@laverne.edu.

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