How do you make a spa more relaxing? Drink, anyone?

Janette Rodrigues Virginian-Pilot. 24 September, 2006

Standing on a pair of comfortable, stacked cork platforms, Christine Tallmadge had just enough height to part a section of Kit Morris' hair and dab on some caramel blonde coloring gel.

The petite hair stylist folded a final foil square around the last lock of hair and then asked Morris if she wanted a glass of wine or water before going under the dryer for 20 minutes.

The choices at Virginia Beach's Spa Phoenix were a fruity chardonnay or a rich merlot.

Morris, 60, is a Bloody Mary woman, but she made do with the wine that a handful of day spas with a special license from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are allowed to serve along with beer.

"It's typical Virginia" to be so repressed, Morris said, after taking a satisfying sip of merlot. "I'm a native Virginian so I can point my finger. It's about time we joined the 21st century."

Having a glass of honey-sweet muscat with a massage, a dry semillon blend with a wash and set or a faintly floral pinot noir with a French manicure has become part and parcel of the pampering to be had at some hair salons and day spas.

The beauty business at the salon level generates $60 billion annually reports the Chicago-based National Cosmetology Association.

There are about 250,000 of the establishments nationwide.

"The business is evolving, and people are looking for a way to differentiate themselves from their competition," said Gordon Miller, association executive director.

"I think you are going to find more and more non-business related add-ons and perks. Salon spas are in a very competitive environment, and they are looking to stand out."

Some owners believe they can do that with a glass of champagne for her and a can of beer for him.

In 2005, the ABC began issuing a new license especially for day spas.

So far, only a few of the state's more than 5,000 salons have tried to take the agency up on the offer.

Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, sponsored a bill that became the day spa alcoholic beverage bill after she was approached by Spa Phoenix, where a five-hour spa package runs $330.

Of the day spas with the special license, two are in Hampton Roads - Spa Phoenix and Dupré's Salon and Day Spa. Both businesses are in Virginia Beach.

Spa Phoenix was among the first to get the license. Dupré's just started serving a tawny port and baklava with its seasonal milk and honey pedicure this week.

Both spas are upscale establishments that cater to clientele who expect more than a cut and curl.

The spas' owners say they went through the laborious application process that costs money and time so they could give clients something extra that is in keeping with an elevated, yet relaxing, atmosphere.

The spas' owners say they went through the laborious application process that costs money and time so they could give clients something extra that is in keeping with an elevated, yet relaxing, atmosphere.

Back at Spa Phoenix, Kit Morris joked about the diminutive drink of wine allowed by the ABC.

But she considers the new license a welcome change from the days when Virginians went "toe to toe" over whether the state should allow single-glass sales of alcoholic beverages.

"I bet you a lot of places don't realize they can get the license," Morris said.

She planned to tell her husband about the beer now available at the spa. That is, until Tallmadge, the hair stylist, told her the spa carries Budweiser in the can as a way to help wives entice their husbands into manicures, pedicures and better haircuts.

"If I could offer him a real beer, maybe he would do it," Morris said.