All skin types and individual conditions benefit from rejuvenating facial treatments that involve cleansing, toning, exfoliation, and customized masks.Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Arden
For pure indulgence and total relaxation, go for the spa experience. Just imagine it. Spas offer the ultimate break, a chance not just to relax but a blissful opportunity to renew body, mind, and spirit to vitalize your joie de vivre and, if you wish, even reinvent yourself.
Spa, an international word understood worldwide, comes from the Latin salus per aqua, meaning health through water. History supports, mineral springs (healing waters) burst from the ground at a village in Belgium that adopted the initials, calling itself Spa. It would happen over the past two centuries, the word spread across the world and spa came to mean a place where waters lavish therapeutic properties, a center where people go to rest and repair.
Today’s spas are light years away from their austere 18th-century forebears known for strictly medical and pseudo-medical treatments. Our spa innovators bypassed the 18th-century model and went further back in time to draw inspiration from the opulence of the Roman baths, the wondrous hammams of the Ottoman Empire, and the traditions of ancient civilizations such as India, Indonesia, and China.
The current global revolution in spas is making headway, welcoming guests who may never before have seen the inside of a treatment room. There are spas for specific purposes and special interests—destination and resort spas, urban hotel and cruise ship spas, and day spas. As the more available option, day spas are attracting the greatest number of guests. Day spas provide pampering experiences in a short period of time, with individual treatments that may last for as little as an hour or a package of treatments that may take up to a whole day.
In the Mid-Atlantic region, day spas are expanding their presence, whether freestanding or located in health clubs and hotels, as our metropolitan population seeks relaxation more than ever. We want to feel better about ourselves, our bodies, and our lives. More and more, we are opting for state-of-the-art treatments to escape the strains of modern life, to chill out, and to relax. It is about living in the moment. Have it now. Nourish the body. Sooth the soul.
Veiws of the Elizabeth ARden Red Door Salon and Spa in Bethesda, Maryland
Day spas offer skincare and body treatments, as well as massage and hydrotherapy services, complimented with manicure and hair services to keep you at your best all year long.
Typically, skin care services range from classic facials to customized care extending to collagen masks, oxygen therapy, phytocosmetology that uses select organic plant extracts to enhance the skin’s natural ability to renew itself, and microdermabrasion to minimize wrinkles, sun damage, acne scarring, and superficial age spots.
Body treatments such as polishes, body masks, and therapeutic wraps that combine advanced products enriched with vitamins and special oils with healing techniques address a wide range of conditions and needs. The menu of services may include body bronzing and anti-cellulite treatments for the lower body.
Massage services melt away stress, providing benefits such as relaxation and pain relief for you to become newly energized. Among the various spa practitioners, certified massage therapists often attract the most loyal of clients who may return regularly for gentle, nurturing aromatherapy treatments that use a customized blend of essential oils, or perhaps classic Swedish therapeutic massage to improve circulation and relieve muscle tension.
Indulge in massage, just 50 or 80 minutes of massage would reenergize you.
The options for specialized massage services are numerous. A hot-stone Native American treatment has recently gained wide popularity. This ancient treatment uses heated stones to dissolve muscle tension and induce deep relaxation, and it is often combined with Swedish massage.
Other types of advanced massage therapies include deep muscle, sports, pregnancy, craniosacral, and reflexology (for feet), as well as old Oriental healing alternatives such as shiatsu and reiki. In considering massage, it is always worthwhile to do a little investigation and ask questions in order to identify the most promising treatment for your specific requirements.
Select day spas offer hydrotherapy services as the perfect accompaniment to any body treatment or massage. At Elizabeth Arden, the European hydrotherapy tub uses up to 100 underwater jets to gently massage your body while you relax, and your hydro bath may be customized with special additions to the water. Elizabeth Arden’s luxurious hydro baths are available in such healthful categories as aromatherapy, milk bath, sea spa, and green tea.
Day spas are popular destinations for specialty manicure and pedicure services that go far beyond the capabilities of the average neighborhood beauty parlor. And services at the most comprehensive day spas include hair design by expert talent to offer you every opportunity to renew your style or get a new look.
The best spas are inviting places distinguished by stylish interior design. These sophisticated, relaxing environments have a natural, easy appeal and inspire us. With soft lights, scented candles, tranquilizing sounds, and supreme comfort, today’s luxurious spas spoil, sooth, and smooth, indulging our every whim.
What is not to love about spas? No wonder a new generation of spa guests keeps growing, attracting more men (now representing 24 percent of all spa goers), teenagers, and even the family pet. Yes, pet treatments are among the new breed of services at many upscale spas.
Everyone needs balance. Spas appeal to the sybarite in each of us. Indeed, with rewarding spa experiences, we feel happier about ourselves and our lives.
John Francisco Andreu is an art historian, furniture designer, and freelance writer focusing on interior design and the decorative arts. John is a member of the ChesapeakeHome Editorial Advisory Board.
