May 3, 2007

New owner brings a French touch to Pure Bliss

By Julie Davis Berry
Executive Editor

The accents have changed but the goal is the same at Pure Bliss Day Spa: complete and total pampering. Petite, blonde English rose Laura Hussein has sold the Almaden Valley spa to tall, brunette French-Canadian named Johanne Desjardins.

Petite, blonde English rose Laura Hussein has sold the Almaden Valley spa to tall, brunette French-Canadian Johanne Desjardins. The only regret Desjardins has about buying the spa from Hussein is that they didn’t get to know each other better. “We would have been great friends,” she said. Photos by Julie Davis Berry

Hussein, who owned the spa for four years is packing up next month and moving back to England. “I miss my family and I miss everything about London,” said the former Almaden Valley resident and single mom of two teenage girls.

In a serendipitous turn of events, Desjardins was working out with a trainer at Club One when she mentioned that she was going through a divorce and it was her dream to open a spa and he told her about his friend Hussein who was looking to sell her spa and move back to England.

She called her the next day and the rest is history. The only regret Desjardins has about buying the spa from Hussein is that they didn’t get to know each other better. “We would have been great friends,” she said.

Desjardins said she’s planning on making some decorating changes to the spa to add her own touch and also plans to add electrolysis and spray tanning to her array of services. She will keep popular massage therapist Bonnie Bedrossian and a Korean therapist named Heidi Choi on staff because they draw so many of their own clients.

Desjardins already has a large following of clients from her years of working at local spas such as Let’s Face It. “I am surrounded by wonderful women and they become my friends,” she said. “In fact one of my clients, Pat White is a teacher at Harker who helped me study for my citizenship test, which I passed last October!”

Pure Bliss massage therapist Bonnie Bedrossian works her magic on a client.

The 43-year-old single mom moved here 13 years ago from Montreal, Canada not knowing any English. She became a trained vocational nurse which she says helps in dealing with clients. As a survivor of skin cancer she has a keen interest in spreading the word about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

She is a devoted mom to daughters Jessica, 17, and Melodie, 16, who attend Lincoln High School and her son Max, 8, who attends Hacienda Science Magnet. She is also a licensed electrologist and a massage therapist and says she loves the positive feeling of spas. “Clients love to ask for the last appointment of the day,” said Desjardins, “because with my French culture we have a glass of wine at the end of the day and just sit and chat. I want to have that small family-like atmosphere.”

Desjardins plans to hold a grand opening party in June with fire dancers and a DJ to celebrate her new business. She hopes to invite the whole community to come out. “I want to support my community,” she said. “We will hire contractors to work on the spa who live in the area and I also have a huge network of women where everyone helps each other. In fact my OB/GYN is one of my best clients!”

To celebrate being under new ownership Pure Bliss will give 10 percent off the cost of services in May to clients who mention this article. Pure Bliss Day Spa is located at 6055 Meridian Avenue, Suite 40, San Jose, Calif. Call (408) 268-5300 or visit www.pbdayspa.com for more information.