With a striking red interior, comfy gray couches, a winding staircase and the background sounds of hip-hop, Tantastic is the brainchild of Canada’s Peter Larocque.
Given the general indifference of Chinese gents to glowing tans and the vampiric reaction of the nation’s fairer sex to UV light, the major market is expats. Tanning is available at RMB10/minute; alternatively, 50 minutes for RMB350 can be split over several sessions – five minutes to start with for the pasty untanned, seven for those with a base or 10 to 12 for the already bronzed.
Tantastic extends its market positioning with several products and treatments that are either hard to get or otherwise unavailable in Shenzhen. With a growing following among the ladies, for example, its Aquatherapy range is imported from Jordan and comprises a range of home-use skincare products from the Dead Sea’s rich and unique mineral and mud resources. Also unique in Shenzhen as far as we know, Tantastic offers a detox spa bio-energizer therapy (RMB100/30 minutes).
Leveraging superior British design, manufacture and technology, this foot spa includes an electromagnet placed in low-sodium salt water that relieves the body of its gunk through the 4,000 pores of the feet. How dark the water becomes after half an hour indicates the amount of released toxins. Testifying to the waste removed, the saline liquid ends up smelling like something that rhymes with kiss.
Extending the wellness series is Teapigs tea from the UK, which comes in the quirky flavors of chocolate flake, lemon and ginger, superfruit, peppermint and camomile (RMB65). Keen gym-goer himself, Larocque also imports and sells BioX power whey (RMB600/2.27 kilograms), reflecting the fact that local supplements are of, ahem, dubious quality.
Another – and surprisingly popular – Tantastic bro-vanity offering comes in the shape of waxing. Though of course popular with the ladies, one of the strongest client groups is men seeking to liberate their backs and shoulders of hair (RMB180-250), which is completed upstairs with Spanish wax by Hungarian Aniko. Stand-out shops tend to be ones that strongly reflect the personality, taste and vision of an individual owner.
With something for both the ladies and gents, Tantastic does this with a range of wellness treatments and products, complemented by English-language lifestyle and fitness mags to relax with pre- or post-purchase.
// Sea Taste Garden Mini Mall, Shop 136, 1088 Wanghai Lu, Shekou, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 深圳市南山区望海路1008号海韵家园蛇口外贸第一街中136号 (0755-2686 7079)
