A New Approach to Wellness
The Tox Philadelphia – Rittenhouse Square offers life-changing treatments to support the body’s natural rhythm and flow, leaving clients looking and feeling refreshed.
by Matt Cosentino

Like many people during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kerri Austin spent a lot of time locked down at home consuming content. Little did she know that a TikTok video she came across during that period would send her down the path of owning a business that would change her life.
 
The 30-second clip featured The Tox, an aesthetic and wellness studio in New York City founded by Courtney Yeager in 2019. Blending lymphatic and digestive body sculpting, the salon is rooted in The Tox Technique, a method applied by a technician that combines purposeful movement and bodywork in a natural, restorative process that helps clients feel and look significantly better.
 
Austin, a native of Northeast Philadelphia, eventually recruited her best friend for a getaway to New York specifically to visit The Tox and to undergo the massage-like experience. They both became instant fans. Austin, who has been a nurse for three decades, was especially intrigued by its health benefits.
 
Fast-forward to 2023, when Austin received an email asking her to become a franchise owner of The Tox, which had just started expanding its footprint nationwide. She watched multiple webinars, conducted extensive research into the brand, and met regularly with the corporate team before deciding to take the bold step of becoming an owner.
 
Her business, The Tox Philadelphia – Rittenhouse Square, opened in November 2025 and has been welcomed with open arms in her hometown. Clients have fallen in love with the ultimate relaxation that accompanies any of the several treatments available.
 
“I still can’t believe this happened,” Austin says. “I think I always wanted to work for myself, but I never thought of owning a business. I just connected with the whole wellness aspect of it; it’s not an invasive process at all, and it works so well. I aligned very well with Courtney when we met, and we had a lot of similarities. She’s a young entrepreneur, and I was excited to come on board with her vision.”
 
Despite still working full time as the director of nursing at a retirement home for Catholic priests, Austin has jumped into this new venture with both feet. She is happy to have help running the salon from her son Patrick, who recently graduated from college. Together they have created an inviting, soothing space for anyone looking to make a commitment to self-care.
 
“Whether you walk into our store, the Beverly Hills store, the Princeton store, or the New York store, they all have the same vibe,” Austin says. “The aesthetic is black; all of the employees wear black, the towels and sheets are black, and the marketing for our products is in black and white. Our store is in a historic building and it’s beautiful. People feel at ease here.”
 
Guests have multiple options to choose from, starting with The 60-Minute Master Tox, which aims to sculpt the body and promote overall wellness by increasing metabolic rate, ridding the body of excess toxins, and assisting with water retention by focusing on the arms, legs, and abdomen. The 90-Minute Master Tox is longer and incorporates attention to the waistline, backside, and love handles.
 
The Pregnancy Master Tox emphasizes the arms and legs, is gentler in terms of tissue manipulation, and is available to women between 13 and 37 weeks of pregnancy with physician approval. All of the techniques are administered 90 percent by hand and 10 percent by equipment known as The Tox Machine.
 
“The whole idea about getting the body rid of waste really works,” Austin says. “It’s a cleansing experience; it really gets the circulation flowing, and all of the impurities are detoxified from your body.”
 
Each of those treatments can be paired with a Sculpting Facial, which removes muscle tension, naturally sculpts the face, and rids it of excess toxins and bloating.
 
“The facials that we do are not cleansing facials that you would expect anywhere else,” Austin says. “They are lymphatic drainage facials, so somebody can look really revived within one treatment by getting rid of a double chin or getting some definition in the cheek area.”
 
The Tox has an entire line of wellness products, available online and in the salon, to carry over the self-care to someone’s regular, everyday routine at home. These include lymphatic and de-bloating gummies, facial masks, patches that help rid the body of toxins, detox tea, supplements, and more.
 
Since opening in the fall, The Tox Philadelphia – Rittenhouse Square has attracted clients of all ages, though the most common customers are women between 24 and 35. Austin says several male clients have become regulars, too.
 
She hopes to eventually open a second salon in the suburbs. For now she is content with changing as many lives as possible at the Center City location.
 
“It’s so relaxing, and the visual results are mind-boggling sometimes,” she says. “I just saw before-and-after shots of a woman who had a Sculpting Facial, and she had higher cheekbones and her chin looked less puffy. Somebody with a flat abdomen can get a six-pack without exercise, just from the Master Tox treatment. The change can be pretty dramatic.”
 
The Tox Philadelphia – Rittenhouse Square
1921 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(267) 772-1676
thetoxtechnique.com
 
Photo by Alison Dunlap
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life, April 2026
 

View PDF Version