Relax at Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa

Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa is located on the ground floor of the USL Building along Middle Road in Gualo Rai. (MARK RABAGO)

Tired of the holiday hoopla brought about by last-minute gift shopping, back-to-back Christmas parties, never-ending reunions, and visits to niños and niñas?

Then saunter down to Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa and pamper yourself for a change.

One of the newest salon and spa businesses on the island boasts of expert and professional staff and an interior that immediately transports you to South Asia.

Owner Laarni Zapanta said she and her business partners opened Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa to give Saipan a totally different take on what the usual parlors and beauty salons offer on the island.

“Like most women I have been a customer of different salons on the island which is also how I met my business partners Mercy Garcia and Aimz Quito-Weiss. I’ve always searched for a salon with a quiet environment, no loud music, and no sharing gossip or personal problems (even if I was told that people go to salon for latest gossip). My partners and I wanted Namaste Beautiful to change that perception of beauty salons. We aimed to create a place for a total relaxation experience away from our daily responsibilities and worries, and just soak in to taking care of yourself, even just for a few hours,” she said.

From left, owners Laarni Zapanta, Aimz Quito-Weiss, and Mercy Garcia. (MARK RABAGO)

And since opening in October 2021, Zapanta couldn’t be happier how business has been thriving at Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa.

“The business is doing great. We are grateful for our customers’ support. We currently have a Holiday Savings Promotion where our customers can save up to 15% on their total bill when they come in this month valid until January 15.”

Zapanta owes Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa’s upward trajectory to starting slow and steadily building up its services.

“We started with just hair removal services and facials at our current location while waiting for our salon furniture shipment to come in from India. Our customers were very understanding of our situation and still came in to support Mercy who was the only staff we had at that time.”

More than a year since opening its Middle Road location in Gualo Rai, Zapanta can proudly say Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa is now a full-service salon and spa.

Aside from the aforementioned hair removal expert Mercy, Zapanta has since hired more staff ready to pamper the beauty needs of Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa’s customers.

“We have hair removal done by Mercy. She is famous on the island for this service and brings in many years of experience in this field. We also have facial and skin care services performed by Girlie [Castil]. She has 10 years of experience as a facialist in the Philippines from Dra. Macatangay. We also do hair and makeup which is done by the talented Mark [Villapa]. He also brings in 10 years of experience in this field. Lastly we have Analie [Paguio], who does foot spa, manicure, and pedicure services with five years of experience,” she said.

Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa fortunately wasn’t at all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were not open during the pandemic. We opened when the majority of the population on the island was vaccinated and boosted.”

As for the business’ name, Zapanta said she’s always been an admirer of yoga, the posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique.

“I love practicing yoga. I feel grateful for life after I practice yoga and I also feel beautiful inside and out. Namaste is a mantra that the class says after a yoga session. I want our customers to feel the same way after they visit us. I want them to feel grateful (namaste) and beautiful. That’s how I got the name and luckily my two partners agreed.”

Namaste Beautiful Salon & Spa is located on the ground floor of the USL Building along Middle Road in Gualo Rai. It is open everyday from 10am to 7pm. For more information, call (670) 233-9642 or you may also contact them through Facebook and Instagram.