Truro café serving healthy coffees and smoothies opens
Luxe, run by Leeann Griffith, specialises in natural skin and body treatments and has now expanded with a ground-floor bar.
The café puts an "adaptogenic and nootropic twist" on hot and cold drinks.
Adaptogens, found in plants and fungi, are said to help the body manage stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
Common examples include ginseng, turmeric, and ashwagandha.
Nootropics such as ginkgo biloba and fish oils, often referred to as cognitive enhancers, are believed to improve thinking, learning, and memory.
Leeann has been working from the first floor of the building in New Bridge Street since March last year, offering natural and medical-grade skin treatments, as well as food intolerance and hormone testing, especially for fertility and menopause.
Her interest in natural skincare began while working as a dental nurse.
She said: "My boss sent me for training in Botox and fillers, but by the time I'd qualified, he'd changed his mind about offering them.
"I didn't particularly like Botox, but had started to research natural treatments, did more courses and found a new job with a surgery that wanted to offer aesthetics."
Having decided to go solo after the pandemic, Ms Griffith settled into her new premises and created a menu of hot and cold drinks aimed at boosting physical and mental wellbeing.
These are available to all customers, not just those receiving treatments.
Shakes include the high-protein Choc-o-Luxe, containing banana, avocado, nut butter, collagen, and raw cacao nibs.
There is also the Matcha Power with blueberries and Clean Green with kale and mango.
A range of adaptogenic black coffees and superfood lattes contains ingredients such as collagen, lion's mane fungi, beetroot, and peppermint.
Leeann borrowed £4,000 through a Start-Up Loan for cashflow and to cover the cost of an employee to staff the bar.
She said: "I'm a single mum-of-two, so I needed a bit of extra help.
"Bank interest rates were really high.
"SWIG was a good experience.
"Jo was lovely and it was nice to have a more personal approach, rather than an algorithm."
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