Christina Hartmann Jenkins saw her dreams of having her own business come true when she opened a small spa in Montrose. As the years passed, her original Bare Necessities Spa & Boutique expanded to the entire building, and she opened up another location in Tanglewood in 2018. But, everything changed when her Montrose spa caught fire last year. She spent the next 17 months picking up the pieces. In September, she opened a new location, boasting a menu of massage, wax, facial, and spray tan services in the Greenway/Upper Kirby neighborhood.
What sparked your interest in opening a spa business?
“I did go to college for a little bit, but I actually didn’t go to school. I wanted to work instead. My mom was like ‘You’re not going to waste money going to school if you’re not going to school. You need to figure out what you want to do.’ She was like, ‘Your cousin is an aesthetician. Why don’t you take a look at an esthetics program? My first day of school, I was like, ‘This is where I’m supposed to be.’ I freaking loved it. It didn’t ever feel like school. I completed school and then worked at one of Houston’s top Brazilian waxing places. From there, I decided I wanted to branch out on my own.”
Your Montrose spa caught on fire in 2023. What was that like?
“We woke up that morning to a bunch of alarms going off. The first thing that popped in my head was ‘We’re getting robbed.’ We don’t live that far from the Montrose spa. We get to the street, and I see all these fire trucks. And I’m like, ‘What’s happening?’ Then, we realize it’s our spa. At first, they thought it was a wax pot, but over months of investigating, we came to realize it was faulty wiring either from the house or a towel warmer [that caused the fire]. So, it has been a very long journey dealing with insurance and our landlord. It gave us the opportunity to take a look and see what else was out there. It made my husband and I realize, ‘You know what, why don’t we expand a little bit?’ Now we’ve added a massage, a really nice big spray tan room, and, of course, are doing waxing and facials, too. There was really no option of not rebuilding.”
What’s one of your favorite treatments that customers can get at your spa?
“My all-time favorite is the dermal infusion. It’s a diamond-tip wet dermabrasion that simultaneously infuses a serum into the skin, cleans out your pores, and then exfoliates. It leaves you with a beautiful glow. Our dermal infusion facial is to die for. You get the full facial, all the bells and whistles, massage, mask, and then, of course, that great exfoliation. It’s really good before any events, parties, holidays, or if you just want to feel better about yourself.”
