|
Home, sweet home >> Lapping up spa luxury without leaving the nest by NAOMI BLOCH
For the scores of others who feel as I do (and I know you're out there), do not despair! Thanks to a wealth of products available on the Internet and at stores in your own neighbourhood, you can treat yourself like royalty in the comfort of your own home. Everything from mud facials and exfoliators, to soothing bath treatments, to foot spas are yours for the picking. Bombs away The strong smell of Lush may already be familiar to those who've passed even innocently by their stores out West or in Toronto. Montrealers have to rely on www.lushcanada.com to order their handmade array of body products that come wrapped deli-style in wax paper complete with a price-per-gram sticker that only heightens the impression of buying tasty gourmet victuals instead of deodorant sticks or bubble bars. Lush's selection of bath bombs are super-sizzling, ueber-explosive balls filled with any number of floral and otherwise soothing ingredients. Consider the smaller, Waving Not Drowning lavender-scented bath bomb ($3.35 for 90g), touted by the Lush folks as giving "strength and courage to the weak and fatigued." At the top of my list is the All that Jasmine bath bomb ($4.40 for 200g), which set my bathwater rippling like a tropical sea at high tide and turned it an algae-green hue. At this point, my pencil-necked geekery must be revealed: the most exciting part of the bath bomb experience for me was the endothermic reaction of the sodium bicarbonate and citric acid in the water, so that if you pick up the bomb in mid-explosion, it feels incredibly cold to the touch. This bit of egghead wisdom might help some women lure their perfume-wary male counterparts into the bath, where you can follow up by oiling up your partner with the Choco La La massage bar ($5.45 for 50g). The main downside of the Lush product line is that most items are odour-intensive, which makes mixing and matching products a dangerous path to tread. However, I found that the Dream Cream hand and body lotion ($16.95 for 250g) was less pungent than many of their products and worked well after a hot bath. Foot folly For the weary urbanite seeking to ease the pain of ill-chosen footwear, a full foot treatment is the way to go. Consider splurging on Canada's own Obus Forme Deluxe Massaging Foot Spa ($115). This sleek appliance offers three different settings: vibration, vibration and bubbles, or vibration, bubbles and water jets. The Deluxe model also includes interchangeable spinning attachments for scrubbing, buffing, and massaging your beleaguered sole. Fill the foot bath with warm water to the line indicated, then turn the switch and let the foot fun begin. A trial run at the pressure-sensitive, spinning scrub-brush sent my partner into gales of laughter and hysteria. Be forewarned that if you're hoping to vege out to your favourite chick flick while using the higher settings, you'd better have close captioning on your TV because the noise of the spa will eclipse the volume on your home entertainment unit. Obus Forme products are available at Jean-Coutu, Uniprix, Pharmaprix and Brunet. Check out www.obusforme.com for a full range of therapeutic products for your body and soul, including a selection of massage devices and sound therapy products like their Personal Calming Pond ($45.99), a fountain that trickles over rocks in a ceramic basket designed to bring a little bit of nature's serenity into your metropolitan lifestyle. Girls' guide To get a complete taste of spa home products and related info, check out http://spas.about.com. The site will guide you by geographic location, product type or a myriad of other options. There you'll find links to sites like www.magnoliaspa.com, a Canadian-based online spa centre that sells products from around the globe and offers sage advice on the ins and outs of home spa treatments. Choose your treatment by skin type (dry, normal, oily) or by brand name. If you've got dry skin, as I do, take a whirl at Peau Vive's Soothing Moisture Mask ($27.75 for 50 ml). Colleagues assure me that the day after using one of Magnolia Spa's mud masks my skin was "positively glowing." If you're more of a Betty Crocker type, you might forego all of these pre-packaged goods and brew up your own pamper products. A good place to start looking for recipes is www.herbalaccents.com for bath bombs and lotion bars among other things, or try www.beauty.about.com/style/beauty/cs/maskrecipes/ for a wealth of do-it-yourself beauty masks. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from heading out into the real world to find your home spa treatments. Check out the aromatic world of Bella Pella (3933 St-Denis) where you can find all the ingredients and recipes to create your own nourishing skin treatments or pick up some of the store's handmade, Italian-inspired concoctions. It doesn't take a Herculean effort to find the treatment that's right for you. At the very least it takes a credit card and the touch of a button, at the most it takes an afternoon of pounding the pavement. In the end you'll get all the pleasure of an afternoon at the spa--100 per cent willie-free. d
|
