Maya Banks followed her “green sun” into the world of skincare. The owner and lead esthetician of Kiwi Spa – located on Grand Avenue – oversees the latest skincare treatments while touting rich, organic, handcrafted skin care products void of environmental toxins, parabens, sulfates, pesticides and carcinogens.
Sporting an atmosphere of peace and harmony, the everything kiwi-designed spa promises to deliver the “best ultimate results and impeccable customer service.”
Banks offers a comprehensive list of unique and skin-proficient facial care treatments that use only vegan and organic ingredients. Sidestepping stock that prolongs shelf life, nothing is artificial in either her treatments or products. “Commercial products, like moisturizers, often have ingredients the prolong their shelf-life,” she said. “These creams don’t dissolve to penetrate into the skin. After a while, little microscopic pieces build up and block the entrance of oxygen. Your skin begins to age from the inside. We, use only natural, organic and vegan-based products.”
Banks listed rose water, coconut butter, witch hazel, cocoa butter, raw organic honey, white clay, chamomile and green matcha tea, and coffee among the ingredients used in her treatments as a “path to healthy, glowing skin.” Arriving in a roundabout way from her birthplace of Ukraine, Banks has traversed the globe learning everything skincare along the way. Beginning with her grandmother, an “organic esthetician” who ventured into the forest to “pick roots and plants to help those that the doctors’ couldn’t,” she moved to Israel to work as a cosmetologist at the tender age of 18.
“I learned the art of skincare and beauty advice from my grandma,” she said. “She used nature’s best treasures to make organic mixes she called her special magic youth elixir.” Banks continued to travel to acquire as much knowledge as she could. Within five years, she moved to Croatia to manage a spa while working as its lead esthetician. Cyprus and the Dominican Republic followed suit. The elegant beauty then married a “regular customer” who moved with her to the United States.
Taking stock from the many “secrets she’s learned along the way,” Banks opened the Kiwi Spa, her “dream come true.”
Inspired by the ocean and surrounding mountains, San Diego – “my favorite city ever,” – and the Kiwi Spa – her “special little oasis” also features the newest skincare technologies, including its exclusive, state-of-the-art Jet Peel machine purchased from the shores of Israel. This “touch-free, needle-free transdermal infusion” technology fuses oxygen and saline water into a high-pressured, “extremely” fast jet stream that penetrates deeper than any needle. Serums to stimulate collagen and elastin are also included in the “micro droplets” that exfoliate the skin’s surface. The results are instant with no downtime or skin irritation.
The Hydrokiwi Facial is another machine-based procedure that combines micro-dermabrasion with oxygen to offset sun damage, acne, rosacea and the effects of aging.
In lieu of Botox treatments, Banks uses the starfish infusion, a unique, non-medicinal serum that pumps up the skin without making skin muscles look “dead.”
Banks sports the Kiwi Spa within the realm of her kiwi lifestyle.
“Kiwi is my happy fruit,” she said. “A sliced kiwi has a special, organic energy.”
True to form, the kiwi really is a super food, loaded with vitamin C and powerful antioxidants known for boosting one’s immune system. Research also highlights the kiwi as a fiber and potassium-rich fruit high in serotonin. Touting a wide of physiologic attributes for aiding heart health, appetite, digestion, learning and memory, the kiwi is also known to help with depression and mood disorders. Kiwi Spa customers are treated with the utmost care. “I invest time in my customers, because I really love what I do,” she concluded. “The Kiwi Spa is a special place designed to make everyone leave with a smile on their face and radiant skin.” Kiwi Spa
1919 Grand Ave., Suite 1L Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
kiwi-spa.com, 619-621-1177.