A client having a pedicure and manicure at the Oceanique Foot A Fish Spa. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
A session lasts for between 15 minutes to half an hour depending on what the client needs and has no known side-effects either on the fish or humans.
There are numerous benefits for getting a manicure or pedicure and key among these is removal of dead skin. Beauticians normally soak the hands and feet in liquid concentrates or crystals that are added to water to make the solution used to soften the cuticles before they are removed.
There is, however, a new way in town for getting manicure and pedicure without using soaks. Foliation is done using small fish called Doctor Fish which nibble around the feet and hands immersed in an aquarium.
Oceanique Foot A Fish Spa recently opened in Westlands and Hurlingham to offer clients a natural alternative to cuticle removal that leaves their skin rejuvenated and petal soft.
Doctor Fish, scientifically known as Gurra rufa are originally from Turkey and have been integrated as spa treatment since the fish feed on dead and dry human skin. “The fish give a sensation of champagne bubble-like massage, while removing dead skin and dry cuticles, leaving your skin rejuvenated and petal soft,” says Abigail Wakesho, a director at Oceanique Foot A Fish Spa.
A session lasts for between 15 minutes to half an hour depending on what the client needs and has no known side-effects either on the fish or humans. The 15-minute session costs Sh1,500 while a 30-minute session is Sh2,000. Additional costs come with nail art and polish application.
Cuticle
Ms Wakesho says the fish do more than what soak solutions would do as they help open pores, aid in blood circulation, tenderise skin and are more effective in cuticle removal.
“While the fish do not bite because they have no teeth, they use their suction like mouths to remove cuticles in corners a beautician would not reach,” she says.
Aquarium
For the treatment to be effective, however, customers must ensure they have not come into contact with nail polish or remover within a period of 12 hours prior to the manicure/pedicure session.
Those with open sores or wounds are requested to come back after they are healed. It is mandatory that clients are washed with an anti-bacterial solution before they dip their feet or hands in the fish aquarium.
“Clients are also forbidden to feed the fish and perfumes are not encouraged when coming for the sessions as these tend to distract the fish,” she notes.
Since the fish pedicure/manicure is the first of its kind in the country, Ms Wakesho says she is looking to tap into the upper middle class, tourists, hotels and resorts that own spas.
Denmark
She explains that she first heard of this treatment in 2008 at a mall in Denmark, a fascination that quickly turned into passion and now a business.
