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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Mystique Body Studio might have new owners but they're not new to the slice of Kam Lake paradise the spa has become.

Alanna Menard, left, Chelsea Kelly, and Kyshia Morris make up the esthetics team at Mystic Body Studio in Kam Lake. Kelly is Mystique's founder and is staying on for one year while the spa transitions to new owners. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

Rachelle and Mark Simmons purchased Mystique Body Studio from the company's founder, Chelsea Kelly earlier this year.

Mystique Body Studio services include customized organic facials, manicures, pedicures, waxing and eyelash and eyebrow tinting.

Kelly founded the spa in May 2010 in a house on the Simmons' Kam Lake property, something Rachelle had always dreamed of doing but she said she needed someone with the time and experience to get it off the ground.

"I sold basically to pass the torch," said Kelly. "I wouldn't have sold to anyone else."

Kelly said she and the Simmons had been discussing possible expansion plans for the spa a lot over the past two years.

While the Simmons family and Kelly had originally envisioned a longstanding partnership in Mystique, family has pulled Kelly back to her home province of British Columbia and she expects to move south in about a year.

Kelly agreed to stay on as manager at Mystique in the meantime and train the spa's two new estheticians and help complete the transition as seamlessly as possible.

"The transition is really important to me," said Kelly. "I'm teaching them Mystique's way so that we're giving the exact same services to our clients."

In addition to training, the two new team members, Alanna Menard and Kyshia Morris, each needed their own rooms set up.

Menard, born and raised in Yellowknife, has had lotions and potions in her hands as early as she can remember, she said. In her teens, she enrolled in an esthetics course through her high school and was ultimately certified by Merle Norman.

"I've always had a fascination for esthetics, make up, hair, all of it," she said.

Morris joins the team from Edmonton and has family in Yellowknife.

July 2 is marked as the grand unveiling of the new team, although Morris is helping out with some services already. Anew outdoor pedicure area, including a screened tent, flower beds and new seating, will also debut at the event.

"We try to shop local as much as much as we can," Kelly said, pointing out decor and construction work completed by area businesses during a tour of the facility.

The tranquillity of the location, situated on a quiet corner of Kam Lake, does a lot to make the spa feel like a break away from harried living, said Mark.

"I think that's why the location has done so well," he said. "It's nice and quiet – people don't always appreciate that about Kam Lake. It's away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, there's lots of parking, you don't have to dodge traffic or worry about feeding the meter."

Kelly said the venue has allowed her to achieve some personal professional goals, including finding a space large enough to carry an expansive line of Eminence Organic Skin Care products, a product line she is passionate about.

"We didn't know this would happen in the beginning but it really feels like its a full circle of giving," Kelly said.

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