If you’re preparing to brave the busy holiday season and brutal weather ahead, or just need a quick pick-me-up, retreat to a day spa. In addition to traditional basics, a wide range of exotic treatments have made their way from Asia and Europe. Given the proliferation of these body-nurturing spots, you won’t have to look very far to find one. Here are some highlights of the freshest and most beguiling treatments available.
EXFOLIATE to remove dead, coarse skin, increase circulation and leave skin soft and smooth.
– Ayurvedic exfoliation drenches your body with fragrant essential oils, followed by a fine powdering of ayurvedic body herbs. After absorption, the herbs are rubbed off and a rain shower follows right on the massage table. (25 minutes, $45 at Kiva, Chicago)
– Body buff turns a massage into a hydrating experience using Aveda moisturizers customized with your favorite aroma, followed by two exfoliating treatments: Aveda Dead Sea Salts to soften the skin and Aveda Body Polish to detoxify it. It’s administered in a candlelit room. (1 1/2 hours, $110 at Bailey Hughes Aveda Concept Salon, Chicago)
– Body scrub, a vigorous brushing treatment performed in a steam room on a massage table, will enhance circulation, improve skin tone and relax you. (30 minutes, $25 at Paradise Sauna, Chicago)
– The customized exfoliation bar uses different seasonally selected, botanically based exfoliants specifically chosen for each area of the body. Tender, delicate areas receive a gentle treatment, while elbows, knees and feet get an intense, refining exfoliant. (30 minutes, $55 at Kiva)
COCOON your body in wraps to relax, reduce stress and rid yourself of toxins such as smoke, pollution and the effects of an unbalanced diet.
– Aroma body wrap is a full-body treatment at Aveda Concept Salons. First there’s a dry exfoliation, followed by a light massage with Aveda’s Aromatherapy Oils and a cocoon in several layers of warmed linen sheets soaked in herbs and essential oils. (45 minutes, $60 at Anthony Valentino Salon and Day Spa, Park Ridge; 1 hour, $55 at Everything’s Relative Salon and Day Spa, Evergreen Park)
– Hay detox begins by slathering your body with purified herbs, plants and flowers that contain abundant amounts of essential oils. A wrap with steaming Alpine hay induces the body to sweat, releasing toxins while absorbing the oils to smooth and refresh skin. (1 hour, $75 at Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas)
– A milk paraffin cocoon is a treatment to revive severely dehydrated skin. Warm body butter is applied with a light massage, followed by a layer of warm, creamy milk lotion. Moisture is sealed in with a thick layer of paraffin wax that is molded to the entire body and left on for half an hour for total hydration. (1 hour, $125 at Kiva)
DESTRESS to rejuvenate your spirits and your mood with a variety of ancient therapies.
– Henna painting, a long-lasting dye treatment that lasts several weeks, will enhance any part of the body to lift your spirits. Consider a necklace, arm and ankle bracelets or a traditional Eastern Indian design on your hands, or dictate your own design. (Priced by consultation, $15 to $75 depending on design, at Visionaries, Chicago)
– Hot stone massage teams sensuously smooth, heated stones with a full-body massage to provide an experience with deeper muscle penetration and intensified relaxation as the heat radiates into the body. The heated stones are used in the massage process as well as placed on the back, forehead, palms, feet and stomach so the heat will penetrate. (1 1/2 hours, $85 at Renu Day Spa and Day Escape, Deerfield)
COMBO TREATS roll several nurturing techniques into one to achieve a variety of results. Best of all, most spas will tailor them to your individual needs.
– Ear candling, an ancient therapy to remove wax and pollutants trapped inside the ears, involves inserting the unlit end of a burning candle into each ear canal to draw out impurities. It’s coupled with a 30-minute full body massage. (1 1/4 hours, $70 at Visionaries)
– A Himalayan rejuvenation treatment starts with a series of exfoliation and massage therapies, followed by an aromatherapy steam canopy featuring a personalized blend of Aveda Plant Pure-fume. It ends with a soothing stream of botanical compounds directed onto your forehead, which is considered the third eye in Eastern Indian philosophy and the key to creating a balance between body and mind. (1 1/2 hours, $140 at Michael Anthony’s Hair Salon & Day Spa, Chicago)
– Water therapy is thought to relieve a wide range of ailments, especially when the powers of hot and cold temperatures are thrown in. Alternate between the shower, hot tub, cold tub, whirlpool, steam room and dry room, all with varying temperatures, at your leisure. (No time limit, $13 at Paradise Sauna)
– An usha treatment will nurture and renew all the sore, often-neglected spots on your body. It features a back facial, a customized Aveda scalp treatment coupled with a head massage and heat wrap, hot-stone therapy for chakra balancing, hand and foot massages capped with paraffin wraps, and a five-step mini-facial with cleansing, exfoliating, massaging, moisturizing and masking. (2 hours, $150 at Spa Blue, Chicago)
COLOR THERAPY uses colors that are said to alter, enhance and change mood and maintain the body’s vibrations.
– Chromalift facials cleanse the skin, tone and lift facial muscles, and boost energy by using colored essential oils, colored natural clays, colored lights and vibrational stimulation on acupuncture points and lymphatic drainage on the face and neck. (2 hours, $125 at Day Escape, Westmont)
– A color therapy bath lets you discover the colors to soothe your body. You choose the colors for the tinted glasses you wear, the hydrotherapy bath you soak in while receiving a scalp massage and the colored treatment room for 30 minutes of foot reflexology. (40 minutes, $75 at Tiffani Kim Institute)
FACIALS AND PEELS can clarify your skin, improve texture, soften lines, diminish age spots and rejuvenate dry, sun-damaged skin.
– Five-element facials have five components. First, a thorough cleansing, next a massage, then the application of aromatic plant extracts followed by lymphatic drainage on the face and neck and the application of a specially balanced hydrating cream. (1 1/2 hours, $85 at Day Escape)
– Oxygenating or pumpkin peels are ideal for sallow skin. They combine a light exfoliating solution with acids and vitamins to remove the top layers of cells and use oxygen or pumpkin to brighten, nourish, hydrate and plump the skin. (1 hour, $80 to $150 depending on the strength of the facial, at Natalie Alexander Salon and Day Spa, Bannockburn)
QUICKIES will fit into anyone’s busy day and save time.
– 2-in-1 gives new meaning to the notion of a power hour. Have a manicure and pedicure simultaneously, and order a snack for $10 extra. (1 hour, $65 at Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas)
– Menage massage gives you the benefit of an hourlong treatment in half the time with synchronized massage. One therapist does the upper body, another the lower body, simultaneously. (One half-hour, $85 at Parlor, Chicago)
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Spas featured in this section: Chicago: Bailey Hughes Aveda Concept Salon, 1135 N. State St., 312-915-0010; Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon & Spa, 919 N. Michigan Ave., 312-988-9191; Kiva, 196 E. Pearson St., 312-840-8120; Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas have 15 day spas in the metropolitan area, call 800-874-2624 for locations; Michael Anthony’s Hair Salon & Day Spa, 1001 W. North Ave., 312-649-7725; Paradise Sauna, 2910 W. Montrose Ave., 773-588-3304; Parlor, 210 W. Kinzie St., 312-755-9925; Spa Blue, 2915 N. Sheffield, 773-525-2583; Tiffani Kim Institute, 310 W. Superior St., 312-943-8777; Visionaries, 357 W. Chicago Ave., 312-337-4700. Suburbs: Day Escape, 150 E. Ogden Ave., Westmont, 630-455-0660; Everything’s Relative Salon and Day Spa, 3228 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park, 708-423-2230; Natalie Alexander Salon and Day Spa, 2521 Waukegan Rd., Bannockburn, 847-948-5025; Renu Day Spa, 617 Central, Deerfield, 847-940-9727; Spa de LaCour, 2211 Waukegan Rd., Bannockburn, 847-236-1907.
