Massage therapist Suzanne Campbell works on a customer at Radiance Medspa, which opened Feb. 9. The new business, at 2870 E. Skyline Drive, blends non-surgical enhancements along with wellness spa services.

Lindsay A. Miller / Arizona Daily Star

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Take two well-proven concepts — a plastic surgeon's practice and a wellness spa — and put them together. The result is a new business that offers services provided by licensed medical practitioners in a spa-like environment.

Radiance Medspa opened Feb. 9 at Plaza Colonial, 2870 E. Skyline Drive at the southwest corner of Skyline and North Campbell Avenue.

"The concept of a medspa is relatively new, having started about 18 months ago," said Jane Bakos, a partner in the business.

"While there are physicians in Tucson who have expanded their practices by adding a cosmetic component, we've set up a freestanding medspa that offers state-of-the-art non-surgical enhancements performed by licensed staff under a physician's direction in the comfort of a spa."

Dr. Jerold J. Olson, who has a facial plastic surgery practice in Tucson, is Radiance Medspa's physician partner.

"The medspa takes the best elements of a spa and combines them with the advantages of a physician's office," he said. "It's more relaxing and the client feels more pampered."

The third partner in the business, Laura Cole, will serve as its business manager.

Olson said he will perform some of the procedures, while others will be done by nurses, aestheticians and physician's assistants.

Services include intense pulsed-light skin rejuvenation treatments, intense pulsed-light hair removal, microdermabrasion procedures, facial peels, personalized facials, and dermal fillers such as Botox. There are also more usual spa services such as facials and massages.

"We're very client-oriented here," Bakos said. "Clients don't have to sit around in a waiting room with other patients. In this environment, we're responsive to their needs and schedules."

Many of the procedures would usually be performed in a doctor's office, Bakos said.

Tucsonan Alison Kristensen chose to use Radiance Medspa because "I was familiar with the concept of medspas and comfortable with the staff, especially Dr. Olson, who has a very good reputation in town."

Kristensen said she used Radiance Medspa for a cosmetic procedure and likes its relaxed tenor.

"This concept is so much less intimidating than going to a doctor's office," she said. "And it's like one-stop shopping for skin-care needs all the way up to medical procedures."

Samantha Aronstein, another Radiance Medspa client, got a referral from a nurse at the medspa.

"I toured the facilities, which are absolutely beautiful and very comfortable, so you don't feel like you're in a cold, sterile environment," she said. "I had Restylane injections done, and the staff was wonderful — they get to know you as a person rather than just as a patient. I really appreciated that."

Andrew Gooderson, owner of Avanti Medspa at 6867 N. Oracle Road, predicts medspa businesses will grow in popularity, though it may take some time here.

"A new medspa is a good thing because competition will increase awareness and ultimately, use of services," he said of Radiance. "It seems to take Tucsonans a little bit longer to latch onto something new, unlike people in cities like Los Angeles or New York."

Avanti has been open for 18 months and is one of four medspas in town, according to Gooderson.

Bakos said she expects to see men in the medspa as well as women.

She thinks the market as a whole has changed in that consumers are more educated and know what's available to them. "They want things quickly, accessible and of high quality."