The King of feet - Bastien Gonzalez is finally in Istanbul...

In life, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.  It’s when we are going through some bad times that we sometimes don’t realize that. Bastien Gonzalez was a young alpine ski instructor whose life changed after a ski accident...now he is the most famous medical pedicurist in the world.

His grandfather was an immigrant from Spain who settled in France during the war, like many other refugees. That’s the Spanish influence in his name. He grew up in an alpine region and became a ski racer and ski instructor until a ski accident when he was a teenager. While he was trying to recover he realized that he was interested in the human anatomy, especially knee and leg anatomy. He learned that orthopedic insoles make a big difference in a human’s life, so he was focused on insoles for ski shoes. A year later after a full recovery, he wore ski boots with orthopedic insoles which made a big difference. He won half of the races he entered. So he became more interested in those orthopedic insoles.  He decided to study foot anatomy for 3 years and qualified as a ‘pedicure podologue’.

Foot health became your passion after your accident. You are so modest and you call yourself a medical pedicurist. There are other titles like chiropodist and pedicurist. What’s the difference?
Those names change according to the countries as well as the study. A pedicurist is a person who gives a nice look to your foot nails. Then you have to study for couple of years to become a pedicurist medical. I studied foot anatomy for 3 years, qualified and became ‘pedicure podologue’or a pedicure virtuoso. I’ve learned about all kinds of skin problems, nail problems, the mobility and the bones of the foot up to the knee. If I’d have studied for 5 years I could have become a medicine podologue. In US or UK they call this at proditrice, this not a doctor, but like a paramedic.

How did you open your medical practice? And how do you work now?
When I was 23 years old when I opened my first office in Paris, at Place de Vosges at Marais. I’ve had really tough times in my life, but I overcame this by working hard. Work was my therapy and it was the hard work that helped me become successful and rich. It helped me forget all my personals problems. Emotions make me a hard worker. I used to have 20 clients everyday, 6 days a week. You had to book months in advance. My life was great, I was living in Paris, making good money, and had a very respectable client list. But I still felt I should make a difference. Then one day, I saw my grandmother polishing her nails. They were so shiny. She was 92 years old at that time. She told me at her age it is not nice to have nail color so she polishes them. I asked myself why I wasn’t doing that to foot nails. At that time I started to work with an osteophyte, Dominic Renault. He taught me that it is not only the foot that is important, but the flexibility of the legs. Then I had a new concept for my pedicure. It consists of a treatment up to the knee. I call that the pedicure of BASTIEN. My pedicure is done without water and without any varnish. Nowadays, it is natural beauty, which everybody wants. But I am not against nail polish but nowadays nail varnishes are based on lots of chemicals which causes the nails to break and discolor. I launch a new nail vanish after two years work with a less aggressive formula. I suggest my clients that nail vanish are like make –up, I am against keeping on the nails more than three days. Here in my spa in Istanbul, one of my very trustworthy managers Pierre will treat our clients, as well as a fully trained team.

Where else in the world do you have your spa treatment?
I work privately in Paris, London and New York. My spas are in Mauritius in the One&Only Resorts; Mauritius Dubai; Maldives; Los Cabos in Mexico, Monaco, Cap Town, Barcelona, Singapore, and finally in Istanbul. My name has places but personally I have no place. I pack my tools and travel. One day I was in Sardinia going from one boat to another serving my clients. I can work anywhere. And I love it. The word became so small nowadays.

You have your own beauty product as well? How did you come up with that idea?
A big French cosmetics firm invited me to a lunch and asked what my projects were. I explain I wanted to prepare a luxury foot cream. On the table was the president of the cosmetic department, he came to me after lunch and offer to work with me in the project. I remember I’m the person who did business with 20 years before who created Phyto hair products so we started! And as a passion the rest of the products followed. My products are sold in my spas as well as online. I am not looking for an important distribution channel but great nice shop.

Is it hard to work with so many celebrities?
I am so lucky. I have an amazing selection of customers all around the world. I don’t like to drop names but I treat Hollywood actresses, princesses as well as women who just care about their feet and health. I have very respectful relations with my clients. I also used to do pedicures for homeless people in Paris, 2 mornings every month. It helps me to rebalance from luxury. Now I found a great balance!!

What’s next? What are your future plans?
I have a dream. Change the way people look and treat there feet. So I have two assets. I have a strong name and some idea of marketing. I would like to establish a school to teach the pedicure de Bastien. My plan is to have a school in South Africa, India or Nepal and China. There is an especially big potential in China. Wherever you go you meet people on the street who do foot massage. And one day perhaps manage a Pedi Manicure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez I all the main city of the world…

Is it hard to get appointment with you?
It is almost impossible as I have a very loyal client list and I travel so much. My managers are as good as me even better, so if you stepped in a Bastien Gonzalez Studio, you will have the same treatment.

Can you tell us about your technique and price?
My price is same everywhere in the world, not cheap but worth for my service.
 It is an hour long service and I work in 3 stages. First the skin where we use a scalpel or drill to eliminate corns, thickness of skin, then spet2 the nail we reshape the nails and create a beautifully natural shine it will stay for 4 to 6 week amazing step 3 finally the massage from the toes to the knee. There are 26 bones, 51 muscles and over 100 ligaments in your feet. So with my massage I have to relax every bone and muscle. Feet are a beautiful machine. More than a technique we insist a lot on making client understand how to cure their feet to make all problems go for ever as there is always a solution I will never tell a client not to wear high heel. A woman should wear high heels, but have regular massage to liberate the joint and help the circulation! Take care of your feet everyday and you will have baby feet for the rest of your life.

Tuana Zeynep Bilgin

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