We take you to another beauty salon, which takes care of all bodies

Have you ever gone to a salon for a facial or massage? For budgetary reasons and/or for fear of being judged because they have a physique that does not correspond to the dominant beauty standards, many people will answer “no”: they never go to beauty salons.

This can be the case, for example, if you are overweight, a woman who does not wax, or even a trans person: receiving derogatory comments can ruin everything, even turn out to be traumatic. But you still have to be able to get there, as you can also be turned away from the entrance…

As if I already have to be beautifulneither too big, nor too hairy, nor too marked, nor too masculine to be entitled to a treatment, which we pay, with these places built like so many machines to conform to the white, thin, cistern-regulatory vision of THE beauty. And to complicate those who escape it.

Maison Bergamote, an inclusive wellness institute at the other end of the beauty market

It is particularly against these reasons that Yann, who more willingly introduces himself as ” Tata Bergamote, the pedal with a soft hand and a firm grip “, he launched his space, as he explains in a presentation video:

” This is an inclusive and politicized institute of massage and aesthetics. I go against the tide of what is practiced in the field of well-being.

This environment is aimed primarily at an affluent clientele who respond to the stereotypes of the “feminine” white cisgender woman, with no hair, no fat, no scars. People who don’t meet these criteria are often disliked or rejected.

Politicized, because I fight to open up this sector to people who are excluded from it. I propose a space as free as possible from systems of oppression such as sexism, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and fatphobia. »

At Maison Bergamote, human and personalized care that is never intrusive

After working in very standardized environments such as HR and banking, Yann underwent a professional retraining in aesthetics and massage, and worked at a spa, then a salon. By dint of noting to what extent this domain can be an excluding machine to conform to, he has developed the idea of launch your own benevolent and inclusive space in Paris.

After opening an Instagram page where he listed everything that was wrong and that could be avoided or improved in the area, he first tested his concept by going to the people who had reserved a service for him himself. . And since the beginning of 2021 he has been renting an apartment in the 18th arrondissement of Paris which he has changed in a warm Maison Bergamote.

Ideally via Instagram (or even Messenger, phone or email in case of urgent need) you can then easily choose one or two services, all at a free price (which you will pay after the treatment). We then receive a mini-questionnaire to find out the minimum for everything to go well: our pronouns, our allergies, and any areas of the body not to touch.

How does a treatment take place at Maison Bergamote, the inclusive wellness institute?

On D-Day, Yann welcomes you with a tea, coffee or water, calmly explains to you on the sofa how your treatment will go, then lets you change and sit on the the massage table without looking at you.

This turns out much wider (more than 90cm) than the average and supports up to 1250kgwithout squealing.

Yann then takes care of you with vegetable oils, floral waters and clays grown and produced exclusively in France, and also organic for the most part. These ingredients are chosen and blended according to the needs of your skin and a scent that suits you well.

Personally, I chose “Dimanche Descente”: a facial treatment, followed by a hand or foot massage, then a back massage, for a total duration of one hour.

As a survivor, I have long been reluctant to get a massage from anyone, especially an unfamiliar person, let alone a man. But me especially appreciated that Tata Bergamote took the time to describe how it was all going to happenwhat he would have touched and not touched, so that there were no misunderstandings, no (nasty) surprises.

Taking care of those excluded from conventional beauty institutes

Tata Bergamote then explained to me the importance of so much pedagogy:

“In the institutes where I worked, I’ve already had people who didn’t want to be massaged by a man. But the people who come to see me have no particular reservations about my gender. Because maybe they see me less as a man than a “faggot”.

Many of the people who come to see me are part of the LGBTI+ community. ¾ of the people I massage have never been massaged in their lives. They felt excluded from the world of traditional aesthetics. So I do my best to make their first time the best it can be. And that’s probably why they often come back afterwards. »

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the nice quarter of an hour of preliminary explanations wasn’t deducted from the scheduled treatment hour (and no, it’s not because I was a journalist: appointment timeslots are desired that way, so maybe plans to stop there for about fifteen minutes in addition to the time slot booked).

So, since Nanny Bergamote took the time to get me comfortable before the show officially started, it only increased my well-being tenfold. After that, I was able to dress in complete privacy, then pay what I could and wanted (cash, Lydia, checks or wire transfers). This the free price policy allows even the most precarious people to access this type of aesthetic parenthesis which can lead to a lot of self-esteem.

Soon a collective of committed aesthetic masseuses and masseuses?

It is therefore a great initiative that deserves to be made accessible elsewhere than in Île-de-France. Tata Bergamote also thinks so:

“I would like to be able to open the first LGBTI+ spa, but this would require having a team and therefore no longer being able to apply the free rate in order to be able to reward everyone fairly and regularly.

On the other hand, what might be easier to create would be to form some sort of collective with other committed masseuses and aesthetic masseurs. Like a cooperative where everyone would be alone, but would respect the common principles of inclusion, so that in a wider part of France or more, we can bring the Bergamote experience to life. Really take care of everyone, of every body. »

Front page photo credit: pexels-daria-liudnaya-8166408