Posts Tagged ‘mspa’

Last week I continued my quest for soothing the mind, body and spirit through my new “high-maintenance” beauty regimen by heading to MSpa in West Palm Beach for a facial microdermabrasion treatment, which is apparently best to do twice annually — end of summer and end of winter — to remove dead skin cells and refresh your complexion.

Whatever.

I have to say at this point I don’t really care what’s being done to me when I’m all nestled into that cool, comfortable chair, under a soft sheet and blanket with wind chimes whisking my mind off to grassy Japanese mountainside meadows… Lisa speaks to me in hushed tones about organic this and hibiscus that as she treats my face with all her lotions and potions, stopping to massage my neck and shoulders, my calves and feet.

My skin looks better than ever and I’m ridiculously zen. Color me addicted!

Of course being “high maintenance” is relative. My definition of the term involves heading to the spa once a month instead of squeezing in a quick cut and color every quarter or so. I did pop in for a pedicure during a visit to Ormond Beach in August, but dare I say that today I’m still rocking the same polish from that very pedicure nearly 2 months later.

Meanwhile, I am surrounded by people who get twice-daily salon blowouts, weekly mani/pedis and spray tans, and fly to New York every month or so for fresh highlights and a haircut — at two separate locations.

I am not there yet. But doesn’t it sound dreamy?

In the meantime, I’ve proudly switched from bar soap and sunblock to an organic skincare line out of Hungary called Eminence and I’m loving it. I start with the Citrus Exfoliating Wash ($38/4oz), and follow up with the Tropical Vanilla Sun Cream SPF 32 ($68/2 fl oz) for daytime or Sugar Plum Oil-Free Revitalizer ($62/2 fl oz) at night. Both creams are light and clean, and the entire line is made using organic botanicals, no harmful chemicals and no animal testing.

For more information on MSpa or the Eminence line, call 561.837.9595 or friend MSpa Palm Beach and Eminence Organics on Facebook!

Violet the Schwinn @ MSpa, West Palm Beach

As part of my foray into self-obsession, I fished out the gift card to MSpa that I received in February from the lovely gals at Spark PR and made an appointment for a Purity Facial. The timing was perfect, given that for whatever reason my face exploded into teenagerdom on Wednesday.

So after yoga on Friday morning, I hopped on Miss Violet the Schwinn and cruised over to 2511 S. Dixie Highway, just a few blocks from our house. We received the warmest of welcomes, given that Voilet matches the chic purple decor at MSpa (aka Palm Beach’s Completely Bare in its former life). The front desk in the intimate space faces the glass front door, so I was barely inside before I heard a squeal from owner Michelle Crace: “I LOVE that you rode your bike!” Me too! Except I probably didn’t look very much like a spa-goer in my workout clothes and visor. No matter, Miss Voilet stole the show. Her little basket really is fab.

ANYWAY… As I undressed in the treatment room and wrapped myself in a cocoon of terrycloth and heated blankets, I wondered how, in nearly 10 years of writing about luxury real estate, food and wine, travel, beauty, fashion, architecture and design, have I not become a spa monger? I could get used to this.

Bare in mind this is not my first rodeo. I’ve been slathered in seaweed and grilled with wind chimes from Aspen to Mykonos. But my mind has never been in the right place to receive this peaceful energy. I’ve always twitched my way through, thinking of all the things I could be checking off my list if I weren’t laying around in a towel with some lady rubbing goo all over me.

I doubt I’ll ever be able to shut off my spastic mind, but now that I’ve made time to take care of myself, I like the goo. And I like the lady. Skincare specialist Lisa Ciampa’s soft hands massaged my face, neck and shoulders. She exfoliated, moisturized, extracted. She flashed various shades of age-defying LED light energy in my face while she massaged my feet and soothed my soul. I wasn’t sure flashing lights in my face would make me look younger, but I didn’t care. I drifted further and further into the zen buzz that is my new drug. The woman could have had her hands on my first born if I let it go on much longer…

And get this: The reason my face exploded, Lisa said, was likely due to artificial sweetener. Huh? I don’t like anything sweet, and I certainly don’t add sweetener to anything. But not too long ago, I asked my Facebook friends which green tea to buy, as I was looking to wean myself off the Diet Crack. WELL, nearly a dozen social networking divas replied with resounding support for Arizona’s diet green tea, and I’ve been drinking it like mad ever since. Sure enough, I took a look, and it’s sweetened with Splenda!

Know what else? There was cheese in my forehead! Ok so it wasn’t really cheese, but there were tiny stores of body fat as a result of eating dairy products. Guilty as charged. I may not go out of my way for sweets, but mama loves her Humbolt Fog goat cheese. And Stilton. And Epoisses… And apparently, under a magnifying glass with high beams, it shows!

Oh, and I have to step up my skincare regimen from bar soap and sunblock to some more serious business so I don’t look like an old bag before I hit 30. I brought home some samples of Eminence, a handmade organic skincare line out of Hungary, so we’ll see how that goes. I also made an appointment for microdermabrasion next month to help combat sun damage and reduce pore size.

I almost sound like I know what I’m talking about, don’t I? Yeah! Violet and I are on the high-maintenance super highway, and we’re going to ride it all night long…