A new skin care business is set to open in Cortez this week.
Kerri White, who operated Serenity Skin Spa in Arizona for several years, plans to open a Main Street business of the same name on Thursday. She, along with fellow skin specialists Tamara McCoy and Karen Maxwell, will offer a wide variety of beauty treatments, including spray tans, Botox injections and microdermabrasion. The spa is at 1823 E. Main St.
White has worked for hospitals in Durango and Cortez for about two years, but she said she wanted to run her own skin care business again. When she met McCoy and Maxwell, who have part-time spa jobs and full-time careers, they decided to start one.
“We decided to open a spa and basically get back to what I love to do,” White said.
She has spent several months renovating a house that her husband, Peter Singleton, originally used as a rental property. In August, it become one of the last residential properties in the area to be rezoned as a commercial building.
Now, the building has a fresh coat of paint on the outside and three rooms equipped with skin care machinery on the inside. When the spa first opens, it will offer traditional facials, chemical peels and various injectable skin products, but eventually White wants to expand to other services, including acne treatments and moisturizing methods specifically designed for a high desert climate. She hopes to compete with similar businesses in town by offering “all-encompassing skin care,” she said.
White, McCoy and Maxwell hope to make the spa their only source of income eventually, but right now they still have other jobs as well.
“Until I can make a living, I’ll have to stay there for a while,” McCoy said.
White plans to leave her other job in December, which she said will probably result in longer business hours at Serenity. Right now, the spa’s walk-in hours are 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, with other times available by appointment.
The grand opening starts at 5 p.m. Thursday. White said everyone who attends is eligible for 10 percent off any service, and to enter a drawing for a skin care package.