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Nue Electrolysis, located at 69 Church Street in Suite 4, is now accepting patients to help remove unwanted hair.
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Owner, Kristen Fontaine, recently opened the space around July 15th.
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It takes multiple sessions to help get rid of the hair

New Permanent Hair Removal Option in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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LENOX, Mass.— Nue Electrolysis, located at 69 Church Street in Suite 4, is now accepting patients to help remove unwanted hair.

Owner, Kristen Fontaine, recently opened the space around July 15th.

What she does is use electrolysis to zap the hair out of your body. Electrolysis is the only FDA approved method for permanent hair removal.

"Basically what you do is you take a fine probe and use it to get into a particle, and it goes down to the base of the root and use that with electricity," she said.

Fontaine went to the Electrology Institute of New England becoming licensed in Massachusetts.

Electrology has three methods: Galvanic, where she uses a direct current to create a chemical reaction to remove the follicle; Thermolysis, which uses an alternating current to generate heat coagulating the follicles cells; and the Blend method, using both of the first two methods to destroy the follicle which is best used for coarse or distorted hairs.
 
Fontaine said she was inspired to get into the field from another electrologist.

"I find electrology to be very detail oriented, which I love. I like getting focused in on something and just working towards a goal and I like helping people," she said.

It takes multiple sessions to help get rid of the hair, with the range varying based on hair growth. However Fontaine recommends having appointments at least once a week. 

"You need a series of sessions to really get results with this kind of thing. It's because of the hair growth cycle. Once the hair comes out, another one's going to come in. Keep going until you keep zapping that one bulb eventually it will grow finer and finer."

Fontaine grew up in Pittsfield wanted to open her business in Lenox because this part of the county was lacking in the electrology field. 

"I specifically wanted Lenox, just because there is somebody in Barrington doing electrology, somebody in Pittsfield who is also in Williamstown doing it. So, I wanted to be able to kind of serve this area of Berkshire County."

Fontaine hopes to help people feel better in their skin and make their life easier when it comes to their hair on their body.

"I want people to be comfortable in their skin and I want people to not have to shave every day and tweeze and pluck or go through 'beauty is pain' even though that is the process here, but it'll end eventually," she said.

Fontaine is planning to go to school for aesthetics at the Aesthetic Science Institute, where she can hopefully provide services like facials.

"I'm going to start going to school for esthetics very soon, in a couple weeks, hopefully I can add on some basic esthetic services. I definitely want to keep my focus on hair removal," she said. 

Hours are by appointment and can be made here or by calling.


Tags: new business,   Business,   hair removal,   

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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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