Life & Work

Pampering treatments for your beauty needs

spa

D’vine. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA

For any city dweller, fatigue resulting from daily hustles including traffic gridlocks and prolonged mental load is all too familiar.

While sufficient rest can remedy this, topping this up with a massage and facial treatment will not only make you feel better but boost your confidence and leave you with a glow.

Tucked inside the heart of Lavington is D’vine, a one-stop spot where one can get a range of beauty essentials.

As if having fruity, sweet-smelling scents made locally is not enough, this little haven has a studio spa where clients can enjoy massages, deep cleansing treatments as well as waxing.

At D’vine, no prior arrangement is needed since customers are on the go, with most having dropped in at the Arbor restaurant for a bite.

Locally manufactured

Situated in the main building at the Arbor, D’vine has been fairly busy since its unveiling some eight years ago.\

“We initially found that clients were reluctant to try Kenyan products but all that has changed for the better,” said Jasneel Dhanjal, the manager at D’vine.

Her aunt, Deepa Sohan, a trained beauty therapist who is passionate about healthy skin, founded D’vine and opted to locally manufacture her own line of beauty products due to high importation costs.

All treatments at the studio spa begin with a thorough consultation to assess individual skin concerns—including acne, sun damage and razor bumps to provide the most appropriate remedy.

D’vine has four products range including a skin care line, a body range, spa line and guest amenities. These are available at its outlets at The Hub, Garden City Mall, The Arbor and at Aromatic Spa on Manyani Road.

The body care line has lotions and body mist while the skin care one comprises products specially made for different skin types.

The amenities

Guest amenities include miniature packaged products that are given to customers to try out while the spa line range includes products supplied to salons and hotels.

Jasneel says each one of the product lines has a different story and purpose. For instance, the luxury spa and body care products are designed to promote ingredients indigenous to Africa.

These are made with ingredients like shea, extracts of tea, coffee and hibiscus and nourishing oils of almond, avocado, baobab, macadamia and, marula amongst other ingredients.

The skincare line on the other hand, is designed to treat different skin concerns using active ingredients that are clinically powerful.

These use willow bark extract (salicylic acid), sugar cane extract (glycolic acid), saw palmetto extract, and oils of sesame, argan and neem in synergy to treat problematic-acne prone skin.

In the anti-ageing products D’vine uses collagen, hyaluronic acid, and anti-ageing peptides to achieve skin firming and skin rejuvenation.

Beauty industry

“To ensure that the products are as natural as possible, the team at D’vine that includes lab technicians keeps up with developments in the beauty industry,” says Jasneel.

A Swedish massage, ideal for first timers at the spa looking to relax muscles and improve blood circulation, lasts for 60 minutes at a cost of Sh3,000.

A deep cleansing treatment ideal for problematic skin with acne, breakouts, sun damaged skin, lasts 45 minutes at Sh5,500.

The foot and lower leg massage lasts 30 minutes at Sh1,000 while the Thai foot reflexology lasts 60 minutes at Sh3,000.

Jasneel say plans are under way to launch a product line for men in the course of the year.

The Arbor sits on just over an acre piece of land and aside from hosting D’vine, it has a garden restaurant, a furniture shop—Yellow Ocre— as well as a clothing and jewellery shop called lkarashi.

On a normal day, the Arbor serves up to 60 guests, a number that doubles over the weekend due to the numerous private events it hosts including bridal showers and birthdays.