Drip bar Reviv restores, rejuvenates, and replenishes
29 Mar 2018
I was recently invited to receive and experience a complimentary IV treatment at Reviv, a so-called drip bar facility in Sea Point, Cape Town. Naturally, I was curious about the hydrating effects the drip would have on me since I never seem to get enough water into my body.
© African Star Communications.
But besides the hydration effect, the Megaboost infusion, which was the one I received, promised to replenish essential minerals and vitamins, to deliver a high dose of vitamin C and antioxidants, boost my immune system, detoxify my body, and add an additional energy boost. All of this in one drip bag, I was so ready!
I arrived at the Reviv facility nervous and excited all at once. I have never been particularly fond of needles, but the nurse who administered the drip soon set my mind at ease as she took my blood pressure and heart rate in the private inoculation room; to make sure I am healthy enough to receive the treatment.
In no time, I was half-sitting, half-lying in a massage chair, sipping on a cappuccino with a blankie covering my legs and feet, admiring the beautiful view overlooking the mountain through the big windows of the chill room.
Soon I was on my way, all bushy-tailed and bright-eyed. I could already feel the effects of the IV as my energy levels slowly climbed. That night I felt wired. I slept a few hours but was up bright and early the next day, ready to conquer the world. I felt way more focused and confident. No yawns from me throughout the day as I happily worked, feeling rejuvenated, and surprisingly stress-free.
Usually, on a Friday, I can feel all the week's stresses weighing heavy on my shoulders. Instead, my energy levels were at 110% and I felt I could cope with anything that was swung my way. On day three, I was glowing. My skin and hair felt super soft. I continued to drink water throughout. I wanted this feeling to last for as long as it could. After a week and a half, I could feel the effects subside. But wow, it was so good while it lasted.
Before I received my treatment, I caught up with Reviv South Africa CEO Sayed Mia who spoke to me about why and how he brought the Reviv franchise to South Africa, why it is so successful, and what differentiates Reviv from other IV bars that have also popped up in the country.
DR Shaheen Kader, owner of the Cape Town branch with CEO of Reviv South Africa and owner of the Joburg branch, Sayed Mia. © African Star Communications.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into the IV therapy business.
I lived in London for 15 years and a friend of mine told me that he had this treatment and it was really cool and it was healthy and it helped clear his hangovers and I thought that sounds really interesting, maybe I should look into it. And I came back to South Africa and I approached a very good friend of mine, he is the South African cricket team's manager and doctor, Dr Mohammed Moosajee because I needed some medical advice on doing something like that.
We contacted Reviv Global, based in the USA, and fortunately, at that time nobody had enquired for South Africa. So we tried one of the treatments out and we loved it and we signed a franchise in time. This was in 2014. Reviv actually did have plans coming to South Africa around 2017/2018 because we're a third world country they thought it was going to filter down to us a bit later. But we obviously wanted to be rather bringing this great idea to South Africa.
And how has the South African market reacted? What has feedback been like thus far?
So the flagship spa is in Johannesburg, in Sandton. And I own the franchise for South Africa so I started branching out. I have one in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal and one in Sea Point, Cape Town. We're also working on a few others, like one in Pretoria, Bedfordview and then perhaps another one in Cape Town as well. But I am only going to have two in each major city because it is quite an exclusive brand and I wouldn't want to jeopardise a brand or prostitute a brand. It has taken off way beyond our wildest dreams.
So when we started there was nothing like this in the country. We were the first drip bar in the country. Our clientele is all the major celebrities, local and international, like French Montana, Laurence Fishburne, Orlando Jones, David Harewood. And then all the local celebs from Cassper Nyovest to DJ Fresh, Lalla Hirayama, Leigh-Anne Williams.
Leigh-Anne Williams from Expresso receiving one of the IV drips. © African Star Communications.
But it's not just for celebs, it's for everyone. Everybody gets burnt out in their daily lives with work, kids, school, running around. We don't realise what it does to our bodies and what the IVs do is, it replenishes your system with all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, electrolytes, antioxidants and picks you up. And that's the fundamental aspect of it.
We've got doctors and nurses that do the administrating of the IVs, so it's all done by medical professionals. The facilities are run by doctors, so it's in line with all the regulations for that matter. And it's not just you coming in for the IV. You are coming in for 30-45 minutes of relaxation, getting your IV, enjoying a cappuccino and the free Wi-Fi. You can do this during your lunchtime.Tell us more about the process clients go through from the moment they enter the facility and what research have you done to ensure that the procedures are safe?
The minute a client comes in we go through a questionnaire to identify if they have any chronic illnesses or if they are on any chronic medication of some sort if they are allergic to anything. Once we've gone through that, we will then mix the IV according to that specific client, so the IVs are not pre-mixed. And if something is pre-mixed, it has a 12-hour shelf-life. Then we take them to the inoculation room where we check your heart rate, your blood pressure to make sure the client is healthy enough to have the IV.
So if health-conscious people can incorporate this into their lifestyles, how often do you recommend they get one of these IVs?
So the three IVs are the vitamin-infused one, the recovery infusion, and the deluxe infusion. We don't recommend that you do it more than once in three weeks or once a month. Because the ingredients in there are designed to last in your system. Whatever your system doesn't need, it passes through your system. So there is no chance that you will ever overdose on anything or something of that nature.
The anti-ageing treatment is for aesthetic purposes - people want to see the results fairly soon. This one is safe to do once a week. As well as the weight-loss injection that we have. But there is no miracle cure. You still have to eat right, you still have to exercise. But this aids you in reaching your goal. So, it depends on the IV, but for the main ones we'd say not more than once a month and for the aesthetic ones you can come in for that once a week and for the weight loss one.
What differentiates us from everybody else is that our formulas went through a two-year research and development process before we came to market. So, a lot of the other companies that do this tend to just put a lot of things together not realising that if you mix a lot of things together it defeats the purpose. So we had to go through this process to find out if what we putting into these IVs is not useless. Because sometimes you put too much of something or too little of something and it doesn't work. And we are continuously working on how we can improve formulas and come out with new products.
The Megaboost IV therapy treatment I did is priced at R1,999, the Hydromax for hydration is priced at R999 and the popular deluxe treatment, Royal Flush will cost you R2,999. For a complete price list for the Cape Town Reviv facility, click here. For more on Reviv, click here.
