THE HERRINGTON MILK & HONEY REVITALIZER
Where: The Spa at the Herrington (Geneva, IL)Time: 180 minutes
Price: $220
Products: Babor, Farmaesthetics
To begin, the client is treated to an aromatic footbath and foot massage, followed by a full-body Milk 'n Honey Body Polish. After the client rinses off, the therapist performs the Herrington Massage, which blends local buttermilk, honey, and chamomile oils and integrates reflexology with Thai stretches and lomi lomi massage strokes. Next, the So Swedish Facial rounds out the marathon treatment. The client chooses the final segment: either the Chamomile Body Wrap (with whipped milk) or the Buttermilk 'n Honey Manicure. After the treatment is complete, the client is offered a complimentary dish of berries topped with Herrington ice cream.
 Apuane Spa at the Four Seasons Punta Mita offers the Mystical Temazcal as its signature treatment. |
REVITALIZING AROMATHERAPY BODY TREATMENT
Where: The Anara Spa at the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa (Koloa, HI)Time:80 minutes
Price: $175
Products: Aethereal Essences
This energizing therapy is designed to help weary travelers recover from fatigue or jet lag by using lush island influences. First, the therapist uses a round, flat loofah and lemon-lime cleansing gel to remove excess oil and surface impurities on the client's body. Then the therapist exfoliates with a cedarwood-lavender salt glow to clean and stimulate the skin.
Next, ginger-ginseng oil (with apple fiber powder and gingerroot extract) is gently massaged into the client's skin to boost respiratory and circulatory systems, promote digestion, and remove waste via the lymphatic system. As an added bonus, a local ginger spice oil is diffused into the air throughout the treatment.
PUMPKIN DREAM WRAP
Where:The Huntington Hotel and Nob Hill Spa (San Francisco)Time: 50 minutes
Price: $115
Products: Custom
According to spa director Genean LaRouche, pumpkin is an excellent antioxidant that minimizes fine lines and wrinkles. "Getting wrapped in this mixture-along with warm honey, cinnamon, and cloves-is the perfect Bay Area antidote to [winter] chill," she says. After a dry-brush exfoliation, a pumpkin mask is applied to the client's entire body. Next, the therapist wraps the client in Mylar to create heat, then adds a solar blanket, a sheet, a wool blanket, and a hot-pack on the client's abdomen. While the client relaxes in the wrap, the therapist customizes either a face and scalp massage or a foot massage for 10 to 15 minutes. After the wrap is removed, the client takes a warm shower before the therapist performs a spiced oil Swedish massage. The finale is a cup of hot tea and a pumpkin cookie.
GREEN COFFEE BODY WRAP
Where: The Spa at the Essex House (New York City)Time: 60 minutes
Price: $120
Products: Pevonia
Containing such active ingredients as chlorogenic, caffeic, and phenolic acid, green coffee has gained the reputation of fighting cellulite. This treatment is said to eliminate toxins, stimulate fat-splitting lipolysis, convert fat into energy, and super-hydrate the skin. To begin, the client lies on a heated blanket while the therapist applies a Green Coffee powder body wrap, specially concentrating on the lower body's fat-prone zones. A plastic sheet, cloth sheet, and blanket complete the cocoon. The client stays wrapped for 20 minutes. Once the wrap is removed, the client is rinsed off. Next, the therapist massages a Body Svelte Cream and moisturizer onto the client's body. To finish, the therapist applies a slathering of Pevonia's Tension Relief Gel to ease tight calves and lower back.
NEROLI NIRVANA
(aka The Orange Blossom Body Buff)Where: Alvadora Spa at the Royal Palms Resort and Spa (Phoenix)
Time: 60 minutes
Price: $115
Products: Kerstin Florian
"The scent of orange blossoms wafting across 64 acres is intoxicating," says spa director Amy Wilson-Moghina. "We created a way for guests to enjoy the romance of citrus blossoms any day of the year." Neroli not only hydrates and oxygenates dry skin, it's known to reduce anxiety, according to Wilson-Moghina. The treatment begins with the client lying face down, inhaling neroli fragrance floating from the scented face cradle. (When the client is lying face up, a warmed rolled towel cradles the neck.) First, Turkish salts are applied to the client's entire body with long strokes.
For exfoliation, the therapist applies a thermal mineral bath gel with two loofahs. After a quick shower, lotion is applied.
To finish, the therapist wraps the client in warm towels and performs a scalp and neck massage with neroli oil.
MARGARITA KEY LIME PEDICURE
Where: Spa Terre at Little Palm Island Resort and Spa (Little Torch Key, FL)Time: 40 minutes
Price: $115
Products: Custom
Clients can begin this treatment by sipping the resort's complimentary signature Key Lime Margarita while the therapist combines ingredients into a mixing bowl and applies the homemade scrub to legs and feet. Next, the client's feet are wrapped in hot towels and the legs and wrapped feet are submerged into a pedicure throne infused with a citrus lime soak. The therapist files and buffs the client's nails before applying a softening marine mud mask to feet. The mask is removed with hot towels and the treatment ends with a leg massage, moisturizer, and a coat of polish.
CITRUS AVOCADO BODY POLISH
Where: Bacara Resort and Spa (Santa Barbara, CA)Time: 50 minutes
Price: $125
Products: Mountain Body
Since avocados are renowned for their healing properties due to high levels of vitamin E, they are ideal for treating skin that is dry, sun-damaged, or generally inflamed. This vegetal homegrown therapy begins with a gentle exfoliation on the client's whole body using sea salts blended with orange peel, avocado, and jojoba oil. This is followed by a Swiss shower and a massaging application of avocado and almond oil to calm and nourish the client's skin. According to spa director Shawn Hallum, jojoba oil contains an anti-inflammatory agent and can be beneficial for clients with skin conditions such as dry scalp, psoriasis, eczema, sunburn, acne, and chapped skin.
RAINDROP THERAPY
Where: St. Regis Spa (Los Angeles)Time: 80 minutes
Price: $180
Products: Young Living Essential Oils
The St. Regis Spa offers Raindrop Therapy, an earthy trademark that powerfully combines reflexology, aromatherapy, Reiki, and Swedish massage to promote healing, boost immune function, and increase energy flow. The client lies face-down while pure, organic oils are dispersed like droplets of rain along the spinal column. Oils of oregano, thyme, basil, cypress, wintergreen, marjoram, and peppermint are used, and a warm compress is also placed along the spine, creating a soothing effect. These "raindrops" are interspersed with gentle stretches and massage strokes to detoxify and balance all systems of the client's body.
ORGANIC APPLE AND PAPRIKA EXFOLIATING FACIAL
Where: R Spa at Renaissance Clubsport (Walnut Creek, CA)Time: 60 minutes
Price: $105
Products: Eminence Organic Skincare
First, the client's face is cleansed with a lemon or eucalyptus concentrate, depending on skin type. The skin is toned with Wild Plum Tonic, followed by an application of alpha hydroxy acid and a layer of Paprika Herbal Therapy to increase purifying effects. While products stimulate cellular repair, the esthetician massages the client's hands and feet with honeydew lotion before slipping them into warm mitts and booties to intensify penetration. After products are removed, extractions are performed and the Seven Herb Mask is applied. The treatment ends with a facial massage to stimulate blood circulation and a serum application.
GODIVA CHOCOLATE BODY WRAP
Where: Ajune, The Center for Beauty Synergy (New York City)Time: 90 minutes
Price: $175
Products: Ajune, Sothys
Nothing enriches the New York experience like a chocolate spa bonanza. This opulent therapy begins with a full-body exfoliation using Ajune's Mochachino Body Scrub (a salt-based scrub with a sweet scent). Next, clients rinse in a personal shower within their deluxe room. A mixture of Godiva cocoa, healing mud, and sea salts are applied to the client's body, and he or she is wrapped in Mylar foil to insulate and heat for 20 minutes under warm lamps. The therapist performs either a neck and upper back massage or a foot rub-client's choice. After a Vichy shower, vanilla-scented shea butter is applied.
MYSTICAL TEMAZCAL SPA TREATMENT
Where: Apuane Spa at the Four Seasons Punta Mita (Nayarit, Mexico)Time: 90 minutes
Price: $155
Products: Custom
Guests receive a kit the evening before their treatment containing therapy information, a colorful pareo to wear, bottled water, and herbs to rub on their bodies as instructed. Four to 10 guests slowly gather at sunset, at a site overlooking the ocean, while the on-staff Temazcalero (a medicine man trained in the Huichol way of indigenous Mexicans) prepares an ancient mind-body-spirit ritual. (The word Temazcal is derived from native languages and means house to bathe in.) As each guest enters the Temazcal adobe hut, they pass through sacred incense and sit on the floor. During the next 60 minutes, the dousing of new stones creates a geyser of herbal steam to boost detoxification with native plants and herbs such as aloe, rosemary, and Mexican chamomile. Throughout the process, the Temezcalero invokes deep meditation and chanting rituals. Guests embrace the profound sense of well-being and freedom afterwards, while seasonal fruits and outdoor showers await.
APPLE PIE A LA MODE
Where: The Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch (Beaver Creek, CO)Time: 60 minutes
Price: $135
Products: Custom
The therapist vigorously applies the fruity rub to the front and back of the client's body to remove dead skin cells and improve texture. After a cascade waterfall shower, the client is dried off and returns to the table for a massage using fragrant, natural vanilla body butter. Muscles are relieved of aches and tension while the mind is recharged. Next, the client is wrapped in hot towels for 10 minutes and a final application of body butter is reapplied for further nourishment.
DESERT HEAT BODY WRAP
Where: Le Merigot Beach Hotel and Spa (Santa Monica)Time: 50 minutes
Price: $130
Products: Pevonia
According to spa director Noemi Garih, copper is considered an optimal heat conductor for skin repair, muscle soreness, and wound healing. "People exercise hard and have sore muscles in [southern California]," she says, adding that it is a desert. The treatment begins with the client lying face up while the therapist mixes warm water with Desert Heat powder, which contains copper, magnesium, zinc, iron oxide, sodium silicate, citric acid, and lithothamnium calcareum-all taken from the Arizona desert earth. Once the mixture forms a smooth consistency, the therapist applies it to the client's entire body by hand. It is a naturally self-heating mixture, and the skin is hydrated, nourished, and toned while the minerals seep into the skin. The client is then cocooned in a Vellux blanket to add more heat, which encourages aches, pains, fatigue, and stress to flow freely out of the body. While the client is wrapped, the therapist performs a scalp massage and facial acupressure. Next, the client is slowly unwrapped from the heat, and steamed towels are used to remove product before lotion is applied.
THE SINGLE SHOT
(aka Coffee Body Scrub and Polish)Where: Duque Duque Wellness Spa and Salon (Seattle)
Time: 60 minutes
Price: $85
Products: Body Coffee
Awaken your client's senses, Seattle style. This indigenous Pacific Northwest treatment revives tired muscles with a scrumptious blend of nature's own micro-cellular stimulants, dead sea salts, and coffee. While the java and salt slough away dead skin cells and rough patches, the invigorating aromas of rosemary, mint and citrus oils permeate the air. A warm shower rinses away tension and leaves clients stimulated and glowing.
FLORIDA C FACIAL
Where: Spa Palazzo at Boca Raton Resort & Club (Boca Raton, FL)Time: 80 minutes
Price: $190
Products: Kerstin Florian
This treatment, perfect for sun-damaged skin, begins with a cleansing of the face and a light lavender steam. Next, the esthetician performs a skin analysis and a pressure-point face massage, which includes the neck and chest. The esthetician targets tight jaw muscles, tired eyes, and throbbing temples and applies an amino acid-rich spirulina mask to the client's face. (Icy cotton pads protect the eyes.) Next, the client's hands and feet are massaged and placed in heated herbal mitts. The mask is removed and toner is applied. Finally, the esthetician applies a 7 percent pure vitamin C mix to help purify and lighten the skin's appearance and restore tone and balance.