Alive and Well on Warren Street: Meet Poppi
The Hudson Valley has always drawn its fair share of healers. Masseurs, acupuncturists, yogis, and more dot the region. So why then, is there a dearth of wellness centers devoted to the pursuit of this noble and championed local cause?
The newly established Poppi, a “wellness and bio-optimization” clinic in the center of Hudson, NY’s business district, seeks to bridge this obvious gap. But one step into this chic, airy space signifies that this is not your average hippie-dippy, granola-laden makeshift health outpost.
The high-ceilinged ivory walls boast original paintings and art. Decadent cream lambskin, kidney-shaped mid-century modern Weiman sofas, a grand tortoiseshell acrylic credenza, and various sophisticated coffee table books signal that the Catskills wellness scene has decidedly received an upgrade.
Do not be alarmed by the tomb-like, sci-fi-esque hyperbaric chamber resting nonchalantly on the floor. Favored by professional athletic teams for sports recovery, its purpose is for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, a treatment that will make you feel about 10 years younger. Scared of needles? Don’t be. The various vitamin IV-infusion cocktails on hand—which can remedy ills ranging from low energy to hangovers—make for clients that, according to proprietor and Clinical Director Sara Buchan, have feeling so transcendent they’re literally “giggling on their way out the door.”
Like so many city refugees, the ex-model-turned-nurse found herself at odds with NYC during the pandemic and fled upstate. “I didn’t want to remember New York that way,” she explains, referencing the darkest days of city quarantine. After choosing the town of Hudson on a map and making an exodus with her partner, they arrived and ultimately embraced this new business venture of “personalized alternative wellness”—a true “Covid baby” if ever there was one—which opened in the fall of 2020.
As a dedicated wellness aficionado, it wasn’t a far stretch for Buchan to open a health center. And her personal passion for design clearly resonates throughout the space. Previous roles in both a working hospital and a top plastic surgeon’s office lent her experience in the arts of venipuncture and injectables. But as an innately curious—a self-described “nerd” who reads scholarly papers for kicks—a person with a Master’s in psychology from NYU, she has managed to create a decidedly forward-thinking alternative to the traditional med-spa with a focus on cellular biology.
Her offerings are more modern and unique than some of the most serious wellness spots in Manhattan. In addition to HBOT, intramuscular injections, and IV-therapy, there’s also an infrared sauna (a passive and detoxifying cardiovascular workout that “really makes you sweat”), and most exciting for some locals who have traditionally schlepped to the city for cosmetic tweaks: neuromodulators and dermal fillers are on the menu. For those residing in the Botox desert that is the Hudson Valley, it’s pretty exciting stuff.
Besides the menu of treatments, Buchan is available to all clients for personalized wellness plans like a detox protocol, genetic testing, and more. On tap? Lithiated sparkling water from Third Element “everyone needs lithium—it’s an anti-aging wonder drug,” she observes, and Kin Euphorics, non-alcoholic tonics, neither of which you’ll likely find anywhere remotely near the area. Novos Core supplements and Auqasana filtered water bottles are for sale alongside skincare products from Buchan’s own line, eponymously named “Poppi,” which boasts efficacious, clinically favored ingredients such as peptides, niacinamide, and time-released hyaluronic acid.
In the meantime, Buchan has been settling into the neighborhood, and cites favorite local businesses such as Furlong (for antique furniture finds), Proprietor’s and Look (vintage clothing), Swoon Kitchenbar (“for the best salmon”), and The Quiet Botanist for floral arrangements, among others.
So, what does Poppi’s next chapter look like? Buchan has plans to incorporate fitness classes—think a Peloton ride boosted by oxygen infusions and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) taught by Buchan, also an ex-athlete. All in all, the future is looking quite well.
Photos by Harrison Lubin for Inside+Out Upstate NY
Poppi Wellness + Bio
711 Warren St, Hudson, NY
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