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You want to put seaweed on my where?
I’m not one to pamper myself too much with things like hippy dippy body wraps, rejuvenating face masks or “body detoxification” treatments and the like. If I’m looking for a little pampering, just give me a good old fashioned massage or a pedicure and I’m a happy girl. However, I had a chance recently to visit The WoodHouse Day Spa, a new full-service spa that just opened up in our hood here in Funky Town.
With this opportunity to get what had been a gifted spa treatment, I decided to try something different than my usual massage. The Wild Lavender and Seaweed Sugar Glow sure sounded nice. (Cue: Oooooooooo Ahhhhhhh.) But, I did wonder a little bit about the seaweed….where exactly and how would it be applied? Hmmmm… The amazing owner told me it would be well worth it because they had something called a Vichy which would provide a water experience like nothing I had ever heard of before. At first mention it sounded like a made-up word and I wondered could it really be better than a massage…I mean, I’ve got some serious shoulder tension going on these days. But, eh, I figured it was time to indulge myself a little here and check a seaweed thingy-majigger off my bucket list.
First impression: For those who grew up watching Blossom, I had a bit of a “Whoaaaaa” moment. In a good way.
Upon first walking in, I was greeted by the front desk and escorted to the waiting room where I was given a robe, a warm scented neck wrap, a cup of tea and a fireplace by which to relax. The fireplace and the neck wrap were the nice but simple touches that really had me at hello.
When the esthetician came to escort me back to the room, I walked in and thought I was looking at something from Fifty Shades of Grey. “OK, self, this really could be interesting.” That was the Vichy, he explained. “Self, this really was worth waiting for…hahaha” (inside chuckle).”
I kid, I kid.
Alright, so here’s for the details on the treatment. The body treatment was made up of four phases.
- Phase one was a brush down of my arms, legs, back, chest and abdomen. The purpose of this was to remove the top layer of dead skin.
- Phase two followed shortly thereafter with the application of the lavender and seaweed scrub. If you’ve ever used a sugar scrub, it was similar in texture to that. This was applied all over my body (minus the lady parts which were covered at all times). This phase of the treatment was amazing because it was both a scrub but slightly like a massage; the therapist did sort of a massage-scrubbing action to apply it and really work it into my skin. It was a two-a-day I certainly wasn’t going to complain about.
- Phase three was the Vichy. The Vichy is the Medusa of shower heads. This thing is solid, ladies and gents. Really solid. The vichy was used to scrub off and wash away the scrub as I continued to lay on the massage table (still always under a towel, but with arms and legs exposed). Apparently this is unlike many spas where they don’t have the multi-head Vichy. Imagine yourself lying on the beach under a warm rain shower and the sand slowly and ever so relaxingly melts away from you. That’s the Vichy. Soaked, hot and soft. It was nice.
- The fourth and final phase was perhaps my favorite because it left my skin feeling so soft and my muscles a little less tense. With the fourth phase of this treatment, you do get a massage, and it’s one with amazing lotion (not oils). Skin rejuvination – check. Neck tension relief – check. It was a win-win.
Taylor Shanklin, aka T-Shank, is a project manager, turned full-time mom, turned start-up lady. In 2015 she took on a new role of full-time mommy-hood and started blogging. After a few months of learning to deal with all-new encounters with both the joy and lunacy that comes along with raising her littles, Taylor took on a role as marketing director for a technology start up. She now spends half her days, podcasting and writing marketing plans, and the other half at the playground and cooking up fine bowls of macaroni and cheese. She spends her “me time” drinking insane amounts of coffee and diet coke while writing about the ups and downs of raising a family.
