• Urban Retreats: The New Luxury in Fast-Paced Cities
  • Tracy Anderson: The Method That Sculpts the Body

Now we're starting to hear that urban retreats are a trend to escape stress. But, when María Casado (Málaga, April 4, 1978) decided to leave everything behind to create her Spa Day concept in the coolest neighborhood of Madrid, there was not a single one of the wellness businesses that today proliferate like mushrooms in the Salesas. "We toured the whole city and this place is the one that gave us the most beautiful energy. There's a multicultural environment here," she says, surprised that it has become what it is today.

Seven years ago, concepts such as the "ruedo, therefore I am" by Síclo, who came from Mexico, were still unknown. Nor was there so much movement of fitness people at Roots Lamarca, which brings together the most interesting brands for exercise and healthy coffee. Nor was there the Tracy Anderson method, of the famous dancer, which was only found in London and the United States, and which is attended by celebrities such as the model Nieves Álvarez. "Without a doubt, it is the trending neighbourhood in terms of well-being. So our intuition led us to the right place! We love it because it's just like us: cosmopolitan, modern, open, different...".

WELLNESS EXPERTISE

Services always begin with a personal interview, as they understand well-being as comprehensive care.

Always linked to the world of personal growth, Casado had 16 years of experience in luxury hotels, as director of regional spas. "The Wellness Boutique Experience was created by Romian, my husband, and I. He was a hotel manager," she says. It all came about one day, sitting in a restaurant in San Sebastian, watching the surfers on the beach of Zurriola. "That's where the visualization of this beautiful adventure began, joining forces."

They fused quality protocols and five-star details together with the closeness and care and care and well-being. "We've lived abroad for many years and it worked there."

This is how a space at street level emerged, to live the experience of disconnection offered by a boutique hotel in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the capital. "I consider myself a very restless woman. And I'm passionate about all things preventative and holistic health." Over the years, he says, he has realized the importance of understanding ourselves as a whole. "It's the only way to look good inside and out. Something that I started practicing myself and decided to share it and train myself thoroughly to ensure that everything was informed and based on tangible experiences."

PERSONALIZED SERVICE

Wellness Boutique Experience is located at 5 Campoamor Street. It offers facial and body treatments.

The most important thing is the prior consultation they carry out. Even a facial cleansing requires a personal interview, and that sets them apart from the amalgam of beauty centers. A 100% personalized service. "We are interested in knowing how our clients feel, how they sleep, what diet they follow, the stress levels they are subjected to, if they practice sports, how they prioritise themselves, how they talk to each other... And we try to extrapolate it to all treatments."

Casado looks like an alchemist. "There's nothing standardized." It has a wide variety of clients. From internationals looking for this New York experience to people who travel regularly or local audiences hoping to disconnect from the madding crowd.

"Beauty for me is everything that makes us shine with our own light, it is doing things with passion, having life purposes and achieving them. Because when we're happy and well, we radiate it." He believes that after the pandemic we need more moments of dedication to oneself like the ones that arise here. "We are living in an incredible rise in cortisol that invites us to stop and breathe. In the past, the dynamics created peaks of stress but, currently, we are constantly subjected to it, producing alterations in our body. We're inflamed."

You can see it in how your customers are doing. "There are more issues with sensitivity, rosacea or acne breakouts than ever before." Its mission is to educate so that we can understand our body, its needs and accept ourselves as we are.

THEIR ROUTINES

View this post on Instagram

Every morning, Casado starts the day very early by meditating for 10 minutes. She practices physical activity three times a week, does not snack between meals, eats healthy, supplements with active ingredients such as Ashwagandha root extract, rich in probiotics, hydrates well and uses Lyma, a cold laser device that she herself has introduced in Spain, for 15 minutes a day. He explains that it penetrates deeper layers of the skin by working at the cellular level. "Creating your own habits is important – it makes you happy with yourself."

What calms him down is looking at and listening to the sea. But, as you can't do it in Madrid, there are many other things that you can use to pause and contemplate, an exercise that she recommends. "I've been practicing mindfulness for a long time and that practice has made it easier for me to connect with myself at any time of the day. Listening to music and reading are also habits that give me peace on a daily basis."

Many comments on the internet focus on praising the close treatment. "The skin is one of the pathways most closely linked to our feelings. That's why I believe that, in addition to dealing with what they come to us for, it's necessary to connect with the person, understand them and get closer to them." Hence, the best part of his job is meeting so many people and knowing that with his services he can improve their quality of life. "I have no limits. But my husband and I don't have enough time to be able to do so many things that we would love to do in terms of projects."

Because, in addition to Wellness Boutique Experience, they have two other companies dedicated to wellness. Wellness Hospitality Consulting, where they offer consulting in luxury hotel spas and, on the other hand, WellSens, which is the official distributor of Lyma Life in Spain. "Well-being is here to stay," Casado reasons.

He believes that one of the problems is that we want everything: "And not everything is going well for everyone. We are allowing ourselves to be influenced by trends without focusing on our current need and real situation. We are people with particularities and that must be amplified to all areas of our lives." The unfinished business, according to this care specialist, is to know how to listen to each other and look at each other. In sports and supplementation, he also believes that we lack a more professional criterion. "It's possible that, for example, to improve sleep quality or hair loss, the first thing we need is a blood test."

The medical point of view will give us a lot of information about how we are inside and will provide us with the keys to solve what affects our beauty, she concludes. "By addressing everything in an integrative and preventive way, we will solve the cause."

  • beauty
  • HBPR