Beauty therapist opens clinic with her daughters

A CLINIC offering beauty therapies has opened in Henley.

Ruth Minoletti, Skincare International, has taken over the former Artistry premises in Reading Road, which closed in May.

Mrs Minoletti, 77, has gone into business with her daughters Katrina, 43, and Cristina, 45, and they will offer facial, massage, reiki and craniosacral therapy.

She has been a facial therapist for almost 60 years and is motivated by seeing long-term improvements to her clients’ skin.

Mrs Minoletti said: “I really love doing facial because that brings such a huge emotional reward for me. If you improve someone’s skin, you can see it, the client sees it and their friends see it.”

She grew up in the West Indies and moved to England aged 17. She started training at Henlow Grange in Bedfordshire and went on to work at Harrod’s carrying out treatments for seven years before starting her own business in South Kensington.

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold, she moved in with Katrina, who lives in Shiplake with her partner Ryan Barlow, and would commute to London.

It was during the national lockdowns that she decided to start making her own skincare products.

Mrs Minoletti said: “I asked myself whether I was doing my best for my clients in their home care. I hated all the available toners so that I thought I would make one.

“Then I thought I could make a cleanser as well because I felt, at the time, that what was missing were good amino acid bases.

“I found a supplier that would distribute in smaller quantities and so I got together all the skincare ingredients needed to create the products. My mission statement was to make products to provide the skin with everything it needs to function really well but in the fewest number of bottles. I was so committed to endless research and endless fiddling with my formulas to find the right combination.”

Mrs Minoletti then decided to move her business to Henley.

She said: “I was doing the commute and I just thought, ‘I don’t feel like doing this anymore’. So, I took that decision to move the business.

“My clients just asked me to find somewhere that was accessible, had parking nearby and was close to the station and this is it.”

Katrina Minoletti, who founded Gelato Henley in 2015 and runs the Scoop Room in Duke Street, is qualified in reflexology and massage.

She opened Relax Today in Bell Street above the Ted James barbershop in 2009 and ran it for four years before deciding to have children Although she has continued to
practise massage she looks forward to reconnecting with former clients.

Ms Minoletti said: “Since having kids my work’s been on the back burner a little bit but it would be lovely to see some familiar faces.

“I love the continuity of seeing a client and getting to really know their body and improve things for them. Massage therapy is for everyone, regardless of age.

“We put things down to ageing but when you start seeing people regularly you can really understand that they are doing things that are causing the issue.

“Having regular massage means that you are more self-aware of your body and how you use your body so if something you are doing is aggravating muscles that hurt, you’re quickly aware of it and then I will adjust how you do it.”

Her sister Cristina has moved back to the UK from America where she has lived for 18 years and is trained in craniosacral therapy and reiki.