New Business In Newtown: A Medspa For People Who Don't Want To Age

NEWTOWN, CT —The target market for new Newtown business Golden Aesthetics is very specific: people who don't want to grow old.

The Main Street medspa's services include fitness and weight management, hormone replacement therapy, intravenous therapy, and "aesthetics," which runs the spectrum from facials and manicures to neurotoxins, Botox and lymphatic drainage. All manner of chemical peels, chiropractic services and body sculpting is also on the menu.

Golden Aesthetics' edge is that it is a "one-stop shop" for all health, beauty, functional medicine and rejuvenation treatments, according to co-owner Michelle Santucci.

"Things are very scattered, when you talk about natural medicine," Santucci told Patch. "If you want to do functional medicine, you go to this guy for that. You go to another guy for IVs. If you want to do laser treatments, you can find somebody else."

Santucci and co-owner James Manoyan, a Mr. Universe-qualified competitive bodybuilder, have been on the road, hosting pop-up IV drip events throughout the state to drum up interest for their new brick-and-mortar business. The couple have just spent the last year transforming a children's play space at 125 South Main Street into their new luxury medspa.

It's tough to argue with the business plan. The medspa industry has been experiencing double-digit growth since 2010. That year, there were about 1,600 medspas operating in the United States generating about $1.1 billion in revenue, or about $700,000 per medspa on average, according to industry analysts at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. By 2018, these numbers increased to over 5,000 medspas generating about $7—8 billion in revenue. The number is expected to grow to over 10,000 medspas by the end of this year, with about $18—$20.7 billion in revenue.

The staff of certified nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants at Golden Aesthetics all have one thing in common.

"We perceive aging as a disease," Manoyan said, "rather than seeing it as an inevitable part of life that is natural."

But even if you eat right, exercise regularly and get enough sleep, the longevity deck is still stacked against you, according to Manoyan:

"Foods, deodorants, a lot of the substances we use on a daily basis, are tainted with all sorts of endocrine disruptors and heavy metals, which build up in the body."

Those toxins can be shown the door through IV therapies offered by Golden Aesthetics which incorporate glutathione. That's an item on a menu of IV cocktails which also incorporate vitamins, minerals, peptides and amino acids, all compounded for specific effects. The "Socrates' Tonic," for example, purports to improve neural function and eliminate mental fog, and "Aphrodite's Elixir" promises to burn fat, boost immunity and rejuvenate hair, skin and nails.

Don't fret if you don't know your proteins from your peptides. New customers at Golden Aesthetics receive a consultation which includes prescribed blood work. And the standards for a passing grade are higher than most doctors, as the medspa looks to address more deficiencies.

Some of the insights applied in the client's regimen won't be found in any biochemistry text book or general practitioner's manual, according to Manoyan. Golden Aesthetics marries medical sciences with knowledge gained from body building, a discipline where "correcting or improving body composition is more advanced than that of … a lot of kinesiologists and medical professionals."

Those medical professionals are playing in their own league and not really her medspa's competition, according to Santucci.

"A lot of Western doctors aren't really trained as heavily in the more functional medicine," Santucci said. "They're focused on Big Pharma and having 'lunch-and-learns' about new prescription medications, pushing those on people who get side effects that then require more medication. We're just trying to break that cycle."