Spaaah

It’s Summer And

July 31, 2011 Spaaah, The Beat

…we’re hot on the heels of a new Balzac, two tubes through our favorite Blood Orange + White Pepper, and coming off a sensational in-home massage. We scheduled two hours with Aiko Spa and made it a morning with our good friend J (who came bearing lattes) and those instant cinnamon rolls that come in the pop-open tube (just watch us try those from scratch…er)

We threw the French doors open for some sunshine and converted our office into a temporary massage room. After J’s session, we settled in for the knot-unwinding so dearly needed. Mai-Linh worked out the muscle stress accumulated through our numerous bad habits, reversing the imposition of our desk chair on our strained posture. The hour flew and we were so thoroughly reset, that a frozen Snickers seemed the next prudent decision.

Which, for anyone indulged in chocolate or massage, such sensible choices are well-reasoned.

Bliss Hollywood

July 4, 2011 Bliss, Hollywood, Spaaah, The Beat

Happy 4th of July! Oh my. The brownies, the champagne, the smell of blood orange + white pepper. . . and a luxuriously satiating Elemis Tri-Enzyme Facial from our favorite Hollywood spa. This 60-minute resurfacing treatment brutalizes dead skin cells and restores hydration. The two peels were so swift and results-oriented that we could see a difference right after and overall improvement in skin clarity for nearly two weeks. A side benefit of this facial? The wonderful aromas of Elemis’s famed skincare line, with enough ginger and mint to revive the laziest of holiday afternoons.

It’s Monday Night

June 27, 2011 Bliss, Spaaah, The Beat

…latest crush is the Blood Orange + White Pepper body scrub and body butter from our friends at Bliss. What had started as a spa party favor this spring has turned into a tumultuous, raging Blood Orange habit we can’t pry ourselves from. Each evening the tasks (like shaving) that we stave off until the last possible nude photoshoot moment have become a bloody orange treat. So at this particular juncture in the week we’re settling in to a jacuzzi bath in the double tub, a glass of champagne from our haul of Mumm 187mL, and a satisfying lather of blood orange sugar scrub. Now maybe we’ll just have that lick…

Le Posh Salon

May 25, 2011 Hollywood, Spaaah, The Beat

A visit to a new spa is like a new crush – the rush, the anticipation, the comparison to ones prior. Our curiosity was piqued on many drives down Sunset Blvd. as we watched Le Posh Salon grow out of an unwieldy streetcorner on a frantic rush hour corridor. We hesitated on the bright neon sign outside, but we’re not one to judge on externals alone. The interior is stunning – bright, spacious, full of light, and frosted with the kind of orange you want to paint on your fingernails and wear as dangly earrings.

We were greeted with a glass of Veuve (just our style!) and called leisurely to our appointment with Tisha, the massage coordinator. Music in spas is a topic we’ll cover later, but we were wholly impressed by the ambient music selection during our 60 minutes. Blissful, soothing, but neither too organic or too sycophantic-female-singer. The deep pressure and tension-relieving strokes of Swedish massage had us nearly asleep and our hour felt luxuriously longer.

We followed our massage with another glass of Veuve and a pedicure with Malvina in the brightest pink we could scavenge. Good pedicures in Los Angeles are a dime a dozen, but a truly outstanding one is as rare as Laurent Perrier by the glass. Our feet looked and felt amazing after (“are those still ours?”) and the perfect polish lasted for weeks.

Father Daughter Spa Day

April 14, 2011 Bliss, Hollywood, Spaaah, The Beat

There is nothing more luxurious than a day wholly to yourself in the middle of the week. So when we made plans with our father on his vacation day off, we texted that morning, “Standby, making plans. Text you in an hour.” Of course we were up to no good. After railroading through a cancellation in the Bliss roster, we texted: “Putting you in a Blissage 3pm. Am scheduled for a Triple Oxygen Facial 3:15”.

So father/daughter spa day was on, and we made plans for lunch at the rooftop pool prior. Absolutely nuts over the ceviche in the hotel restaurant, we opted for the ceviche tacos and a Sauv Blanc (indulgence day, remember?) while Dad chose the fish tacos and a Chardonnay. It was a sunny, warm day and the views breezed for miles. “This is so nice,” he said. We agreed. We live in the same city, separated by the gulf of two freeways and a ferocious amount of street congestion. But that’s hardly an excuse.

Lunch was a fast, leisurely two hours, and then we blew in to Bliss. “Checking in,” we said, introducing our father. “Let’s get you flip-flops!” they offered, ushering him backstage. We asked if they might offer him some Youth samples, then headed to the locker room to grab a quick steam shower and sip a glass of their complimentary champagne. Our facial was soothing, leaning on the Porefector gadget for extractions, an oxygen peel, and a blast of pure oxygen from which we kept stealing small huffs.

We met in the hotel lobby, fresh-faced and tension-free. “Thank you sweetie! I feel great.” “Did they offer you champagne?” we asked, the concerned host. “They did!” he laughed. “I didn’t have time to drink it before so I saved it in my locker for after.” (Ahh, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…) And we walked outside for the short drive home, promising to see each other soon, promising that we would do this again sometime. And certain we would.