Splashadello
Tempe Marketplace, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Suite 1070
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Information: (480) 966-9184 or www.splashadello.com

In Rita Lewis’ previous life as a registered nurse, she specialized in treating infectious disease, wound care and chemotherapy with in-home treatment. She decided “the more-natural things worked better” and began researching holistic products.

About five years later she’s “chief mixologist” at Splashadello, the bath and skin care company she founded at Tempe Marketplace with her husband, Gary, and two daughters. “We’re the ones who mix everything,” Lewis says. One daughter even designed the store logo and labels.

You won’t have trouble finding the store: Follow your nose. The store’s fragrance stock wafts out through the open doors.

“People accuse us of putting (scents) in the misters to lure them in,” Lewis says with a laugh. Once inside, shoppers can peruse everything from handmade soaps to lotions, potions and … poppy seeds?

(The seeds can add visual interest to salt and sugar scrubs — but only when used for showers, Lewis says. “They don’t dissolve, so if you try them in a bath, they leave a beautiful mess.”)

But Spashadello’s main draw is the DIY factor: Pick your product, pick your fragrance, and the staff will custom-blend it to your liking. (Out of the more than 250 available scents, the top-selling scents are peppermint, rosemary, lavender and rose. “Everybody has some memories with those smells,” Lewis says.)

Don’t know what specifically you’re looking for? “Seventy percent of our customers are just discovering what they like,” Lewis says. “We’ll ask them: ‘Do you like flower scents? Do you like something more masculine?’ They find what tickles them.” And just in case, Splashadello has created 20 custom blends like Desert Heat (vetiver, jasmine, grapefruit) and No Black Clouds (black pepper, ginger, sandalwood, ylang ylang).

High price point: Eye Dew anti-puff serum (left), $26, contains peptides to “help move water around,” glycoproteins and yeast, “which makes bread rise but smooths skin,” Lewis says. A 1-ounce bottle should last about 6 months.

Low price point: Tubs of Purrrrrr Fizzy bath salts (right), $4.50.

Core customer: Is label-conscious in a different way: instead of caring about the brand, they’re concerned about preservatives, artificial ingredients, parabens or animal testing or products. (“I don’t even use beeswax,” Lewis says.)

In the window (at very top of post): Fizzy Balls bath bombs ($5.50 each), which come in more than 250 scents and can be custom-blended.

Best seller: The custom-blended salt and sugar body scrubs, which let customers unleash their inner perfumer. (Left: a scrub with turbinado sugar.) “We learn a lot from our customers,” Lewis says, like one woman who asked for a mix of frankincense and vanilla.

She’s excited about: Kits that include cleanser, moisturizer and other products designed for each skin type. “For about $65, they’ve got everything they need — and they’re educated about their skin,” says Lewis , who calls the kits “recession-proof.”

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 7/10/08
The shirt: Slim-cut cotton polo (Old Navy)
The pants: Relaxed khakis by Chip & Pepper (Last Chance)
The shoes: Stan Smith sneakers by Adidas(Last Chance)
The scent: Odeur 53 by Comme des Garçons
Listening to: “Crash and Burn Girl” by Robyn

sammit

Posted in: What's in Store |

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