Customer Comments and Articles


"I had really given up on massage therapy, but she [Yevgeniya] cured the headaches. It's just amazing what it can do. It was so good, and it really did help with those [accident] symptoms. She's always interested in you. She 's even called me at home to see how I was doing." -Candace Valentine

"It's a luxurious type of setting. They've really done a good job at creating a nice, relaxing atmosphere just to get away from it all." -Lina Duman

"It was awesome, It's a beautiful, beautiful place. They have these chairs with the tubs that are built in (for feet), and have a 25-way massage that goes up and down the back of your legs while you're getting the edicure." - Alisha Smith, radio personality for KVUU's (99.9 FM) "Coffey and Alisha in the Morning"

"She [Yevgeniya] is very knowledgeable about what she does, and she can determine which type of massage will better the patient."
- Dr. Faraq

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Articles

Massage therapist draws on Russian nursing experience
BY GINA GRATE The Slice

Chris and Yevgeniya Brazy are celebrating the success of their Russian Day Spa in Chapel Hills Mall by giving guests a world tour — via the Black Forest. Their spa recently reached a milestone many small businesses never see — its third year in operation. Certain they’re poised for continued success, the couple opened a second retreat-style day spa location Nov. 29. They plan an open house Feb. 13.

    They bought a 6,000-square-foot building on Shoup and Black Forest roads and remodeled it with international-themed décor.

    The regime sounds international, too: "River Nile Lymphatic Facial," "Tsar’s Massage," and "Rejuvenating Moor Wrap." The spa offers massages, body wraps, ear candling, waxing, pedicures and manicures. There is also a hair salon where services include highlights, cuts, color and perms.

    Prices for massages range from $39 for the foot "reflexology" to $145 for a massage for two. Half and full-day packages can be $399, although some customers will break up the treatments into separate visits.

    Chris emphasized the spa is as well-known for facials as it is for massage. Clients can choose from 15 kinds of facials, and the spa’s skin-care product line.

    Medical knowledge

    The world-tour theme is appropriate: Yevgeniya was born and raised in Russia, where she attended medical school and studied nursing.

    "I was a massage therapist in my country," she said. "To do that in my country, you have to be a nurse."

    Yevgeniya applies her medical training to her massage therapy work. Some of her clients are referred by Dr. Azmi Farag, a general practitioner at 5455 N. Union Blvd.The Brazys are working to form a medical advisory board made up of physicians and specialists who will answer medical questions and offer advice to spa staff who might notice health-related problems when working with clients. The Brazys also want to refer clients to members of the board.

    "If we see a skin concern or a suspicious mole during a facial, we can send (the client) to a doctor," Chris said.

    Farag agreed to serve as an advisor and thinks combining medical expertise with massage therapy makes sense. For example, massage therapists might make a back injury worse if they don’t understand what treatment will heal and not hurt the patient. Yevgeniya’s background in medicine makes her more effective, Farag said.

    "She is very knowledgeable about what she does, and she can determine which type of massage will better the patient," he said.

    More than a year ago, Farag recommended Candace Valentine seek massage therapy treatment at the couple’s Chapel Hills Mall spa. Valentine, who lives north of Pueblo, has suffered from degenerative disc disease since 1991, when she injured her back in an automobile accident. She has had multiple surgeries and various massage treatments, as well as physical therapy and rehabilitation. Nothing eased her pain.

    "I had really given up on massage therapy," she said. But her results with Yevgeniya were different. "She cured the headaches. It’s just amazing what it can do. It was so good, and it really did help with those symptoms."

    Valentine said Yevgeniya relates well to her clients.

    "She’s always interested in you," Valentine said. "She’s even called me at home to see how I was doing."

    Valentine gave almost everyone on her Christmas list a gift certificate to Yevgeniya’s. Some have since returned to the spa on their own, she added.

    Farag also sent Joyce Johnson-Rushing, of Cheyenne Mountain Ranch to the day spa. Johnson-Rushing, in pain after an automobile accident, said she visited every other week, starting in August 2002. Farag told her to try hot stone therapy, which Yevgeniya touts as her specialty. It’s the spa’s most requested treatment at $75. A massage therapist places warm, smooth stones on the client’s skin. The warmth seeps into the muscles, loosening them, making the following massage more effective. Yevgeniya also holds the stones in her hands when she gives the massage.

    "She was very good, and both treatments were helping me " Johnson-Rushing said.

An international retreat

    The Black Forest day spa boasts multiple rooms designed to reflect international cultures, from Egypt to the Greek Isles, and Western Europe to Russia. Designers covered the walls in rich, dark paint shades and hung matching curtains and art. For example, the Egyptian room, used for facials, has gold-finished walls and papyrus-style pictures with ancient Egyptian figures. Treatments in the Egyptian room include the "Cleopatra Anti-Aging Facial."

    "We wanted the feel of European luxury, like where the royalty would live," Chris said.

    The couple tried to create an atmosphere different from the average combination hair salon and spa with a couple of rooms for massage in the back, Chris said. Instead, they designed a day spa getaway, with a couple of hair stylists and manicurists in the front.

    Although Black Forest might seem out of the way to many Springs’ residents, Chris said the mall spa drew many clients from Black Forest, Monument and Falcon. By adding a second spa in Black Forest, Chris and Yevgeniya said they are more central to many of their clientele.

    Others drive from the west and south sides of Colorado Springs because Black Forest feels like a relaxing getaway, and the drive time is usually no more than 30 minutes, Chris added.

    The drive from Garden Ranch is worth it to Rob and Lina Duman, who have been to the Black Forest spa twice. Longtime mall spa customers, the Dumans visit Yevgeniya’s frequently for everything from couples massages to bikini waxing for Lina.

    "It’s a luxurious type of setting. They’ve really done a good job at creating a nice, relaxing atmosphere just to get away from it all," Lina said.

    Alisha Smith, radio personality for KVUU’s (99.9 FM) "Coffey and Alisha in the Morning," visited Yevgeniya’s in the Black Forest after the spa donated a year’s worth of free skin and body services to the station’s Christmas giveaway program.

    "It was awesome," she said. "It’s a beautiful, beautiful place."

    A Springs Ranch resident, Smith said the spa’s luxurious atmosphere reminded her of going to The Broadmoor hotel.

    "They have these chairs with the tubs that are built in (for feet), and have a 25-way massage that goes up and down the back of your legs while you’re getting the pedicure. That’s where I’m getting my next pedicure, just to try out the chair."

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Top: Yevgeniya Brazy, co-owner of Yevgeniya’s Russian Day Spa in the Black Forest, gives a hot stones treatment to Mike Morley. The treatment is her most requested massage.



Above: Bonnie Fox gives a facial to Regina Cowles. Photos by Molly Hauxwell/The Slice