East Meets West at Byrde + the b 

By Clementina Verge

Imagine leaving your local salon not only with spectacular tresses and a fabulous manicure, but with glowing skin and a rejuvenated body poised to heal itself. You can experience this at Byrde + the b, which recently welcomed an acupuncturist and an aesthetician to the team, as it continues to expand services and affirm its status as a leading full-service luxury salon equally focused on beauty and health.

Joining the award-winning Washington Depot staff are Fon-Lin Nyeu, a practitioner of Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and Danielle Occhialini, a former beauty advisor and resident artist at luxurious labels including Lancome and Chantecaille. Using acupuncture, Gua Sha massage, and customized facials in tandem with medical-grade Celluma light therapy, a lymphatic drainage suit, and the salon’s superior skin care products—such as the Vitamin A-infused Environ line—“the two talented women offer treatments that are different but complementary,” enhancing overall skin health rather than merely concealing superficial signs of aging, notes owner Scott Bond.

Occhialini’s interest in beauty began after high school when she started doing make-up, and shortly after, she realized her passion for skin care. Advancing in corporate settings, she learned the business aspects of the industry, but also the practical side involving ingredients and skin conditions.

Harmonizing such knowledge and experience, she provides personalized facials and a tailored plan for each client, infusing skin with vitamins and hydration.

“I custom-blend peptides and create individual serums for each client, in front of them, and allow them to take it home to continue treatment between visits,” Occhialini explains. “I don’t know anybody else who does that.”

Skincare becomes particularly important during the cold and dry winter months, something recognized in Chinese medicine, which urges preparation for next season, this season. “For skin to be good in spring and summer, you need to work on it in fall and winter,” shares Nyeu, who also treats clients in New York City, where she resides.

After studying biology and women’s studies at Cornell University, Nyeu realized she wanted to be a doctor, but not work in hospitals or research labs. Drawn into a different direction, she pursued alternative medicine, earning a doctorate while also becoming a licensed herbalist, yoga and pilates trainer, and certified doula.

Bridging such holistic practices, she uses the skin as a way to evaluate what is happening throughout the body. Used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine, facial acupuncture is not just a beauty regimen that covers appearance, but a genuine medical procedure that promotes health and skin rehabilitation from within. By stimulating sensory nerves under the skin and in the muscles, acupuncture produces natural substances, such as pain-relieving endorphins, and helps even post-stroke patients with facial paralysis, she explains.

Its benefits are numerous, Nyeu notes, citing brighter tone, reduced sagging, restored muscles, decreased wrinkles, increased collagen and elastin, improved lymphatic drainage, and even balanced digestion.

“We stand for more than just great hair and nails,” assures Bond. “We are committed to all-over health.”

byrdeandtheb.com
10 Titus Rd, Washington Depot
860-619-0422