The Woodlands’ New Beauty Retreat Started With an Unexpected Mission — Now The Only Facial Shuns Upselling

A frantic search for a last-minute Christmas gift while visiting family in St. Louis set Leslie Blix and her husband Nick Doneff on an unexpected path to opening The Only Facial in The Woodlands.

Last Christmas Eve, the couple realized they were one gift short, so Doneff stopped by a St. Louis location of The Only Facial to purchase a gift box. As luck would have it, the franchise’s founder happened to be working that day. A conversation at the front desk quickly evolved into an opportunity that would eventually bring the fast-growing skincare haven to The Woodlands.

“Jill (Alaimo), the founder, is the chief experience officer, and she’s an esthetician,” Doneff tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “She had built this incredible business by herself and was booked six to nine months in advance. She created a signature facial that was truly a game changer.”

Doneff learned that the company’s other co-founder — CEO Andrea Schwenk — had been one of Alaimo’s longtime clients before becoming her business partner.

“Andrea kept telling Jill, ‘You really need to turn this into a business,’ ” Doneff notes. “Jill knew the treatment inside and out, but she also knew she needed someone with a vision for building the business. She finally said, ‘I can’t do this without you. Let’s do it together.’ That’s really how The Only Facial was born.”

That straightforward philosophy continues today — not only in the company’s expansion model, but also in its approach to skincare.

The Only Facial does away with the upselling that has become common in the spa industry. You pays one flat fee for a one-hour facial, with the gratuity included. There are no membership requirements, no product sales and no menu of add-on services. Instead, every treatment includes a comprehensive lineup of services—including dermaplaning, microdermabrasion, LED light therapy and other advanced techniques. With all of it wrapped into a single appointment.

Leslie Blix th0ught something like that would work in The Woodlands.

A Quick Debut In The Woodlands

Blix moved to The Woodlands area when she accepted a teaching position at Sam Houston State University about 10 years ago, and Doneff followed shortly after. Doneff had worked in real estate so finding a location for The Woodlands’ own The Only Facial turned into his job and the first mission.

The couple found a space that was perfect for their vision for The Only Facial on Research Forest Drive and got to work. The corporate offices in St. Louis turned out to be a big help, and the spa opened just six months after that Christmas Eve gift seeking panic.

“It’s called a store in the box, and the box literally shows up,” Blix says of The Only Facial starting kit. “It’s two trucks, one has the beds and one has everything else you need. And then they give you like the paint color and how many coats they recommend.”

The franchise also trains new clinicians in the unique way that facials are done in an hour.

“We send them to St. Louis where they did nine day intensive training,” Doneff says. “They teach them The Only Facial way.”

Giving back is part of Blix and Doneff’s plans for their new business in The Woodlands. This husband and wife both lost their fathers to cancer.

“We did 120 complimentary facials for all the Canopy (Cancer Survivorship Center) members,” Blix says. “So I feel with like all the serendipitous stuff that had happened, we just wanted to get back to the community.”

Blix is now an advisory board member for Canopy. And The Only Facial is already becoming part of The Woodlands’ community.

The Only Facial in The Woodlands is located at 2520 Research Forest Drive, Suite 400. It is open from 8 am to 8 pm daily. Facials costs $155, with teen facials (for ages 13 to 17) running $115.