So living in Massachusetts as a schoolteacher, I don't exactly have a million extra dollars to spend. Spas are those places that celebrities and wealthy people go to get pampered, right? I mean, the closest I had been to a spa until today was a Mary Kay birthday party my best friend Katie had for her thirteenth birthday. It was one of those deals where the middle aged saleswoman comes and shows a bunch of preteens how to put on thirty dollar lipgloss...
So for my thirtieth birthday my friends bought me a treat. It was actually in a basket full of nailpolish in crazy colors. I was in awe by the $1 bottles of chartreuse and teal polish, and had no idea what the envelope behind them contained. When I finally got around to opening presents, I opened that envelope. It was a card signed by my closest fellow faculty members. Inside was a spatech gift certificate in the amount of $85, the equivalent of a half-day of beauty.
So, knowing that I am the ultimate procrastinator I called and booked an appointment for 6/26 at 9:30. Yesterday somebody called me at 10 am to confirm, and ended her conversation with "We require a 24 hour cancellation, do you need our number." I bit my tongue and held back the urge to say "Ummm...then shouldn't I have called you like a half-hour ago?" Instead I reassured the girl that I would be there.
I arrive at the spa and go into the wrong entrance. Just so you know if you happen to venture out that way, the aesthetics institute is to the right and massage is to the left. Once I was redirected to the correct location I was prompted to answer a short questionnaire.
A smiling blonde came out dressed in all white...actually all of the people were dressed in white. It was like I was in heaven. Perfectly made-up estheticians in white uniforms massaging people draped in white...heaven is right.
First she gave me a large collapsible basket that she said was "my basket." She had a faint accent that I couldn't quite place. She showed me the disposable spa panties that were in a saran wrap-esque wrapper and the "spa robe." I went into the bathroom to change. Putting on the panties, I glanced in the mirror and realized I definitely resembled a sumo wrestler getting ready for a match. They were a three inch strip of papery material with elastic strings on each side. I honestly couldn't figure out the front from the back.
SO I WAS READY!! Donning my white spa robe I laid on the table while my tech started brushing me with a soft brush. She brushed all of my skin and explained that it helped improve circulation and it would tickle a little. Then she started the "salt glow" treatment. I now know why they call it that...it so makes you glow. So now I am glowing and surrounded by pretty people in white...heaven? YES!! She gently massaged the salt all over and then removed it with a series of hot towels. It felt amazing. I am happy at this point and I am only $35 into the treatment.
She had decided on a seaweed wrap for my skin, they allow you to choose but since I have no idea I told her to pick. She said it will help moisturize. She paints me with seaweed and in the meantime is folding the sheet under me to reveal a shower curtain on the table. So now I am sliding all over the table in gooey seaweed bliss as she gently pulls the sheet out from under me. I am lying on plastic. So, silly me...I thought that the "wrap" part was figurative. NO. It's literal. They wrap you up like a mummy or a caterpillar. In my multi layered chrysalis I lay. First there was the shower curtain. Then the giant insulated foil blanket. Then the wooly blanket, and I think it was topped off with a sheet. And then I decide I might have to pee. Or not?
So as I lay there I am nervous at first and my nose starts to itch and twitch until my tech starts to do my facial. AMAZING!! I have no idea what she did, because my eyes were closed. However it involved lots of massaging with some substance and something that felt like tea bags was over my eyes. Then a hot towel would massage it off for the next layer. While my mask was setting I felt warm oil drizzle over my feet and then that part that always hurts from wearing flip flops is being gently and skilfully massaged. I was in heaven. Apparently I was really relaxed, because I woke myself up with a little snore. Okay, probably a big snore. All I know is that I never wanted to emerge from my cocoon. I was completely unaware of time or place as I listened to the most stereotypical spa music ever...waves crashing and different xylophoney type music. (I will never make fun of Dani's mom for the orca tape again).
I felt numb and full of endorphins when I was finally unwrapped and once again bathed with a hot towel. Do I really have to leave??
So I give SPATECH an A for cleanliness, comfort, price, and the heaven effect. The opportunity to have a stress free day was definitely priceless!!
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