I have never been a fan of health spas. Perhaps, because everything that I can see in a spa, I have it in the comfort of my own home. Thus, I do my manicure, pedicure, foot spa, body scrub..name it…I am doing it just by myself. My belief was I can do it better than the staff in a spa. I know when it hurts… I know my pain threshold… I know the pressure I need to put on… I know everything about my own body…plus the fact that I don’t have to pay for my own services…talking about being frugal.
My sister is my exact opposite when it comes to this. (Well, not only to this. We’re opposite in a lot of things. Lol. I should do a different post for that!) She’s a spa lover. If she has extra time, you’ll know where to see her, in the spa having a good massage..literally, almost every week!!! Not to mention the times where she would call her personal masseuse for a home service. She can’t get enough of it. 5 hours of massage, she can handle it; she can be massaged forever actually!!! At first, I can’t get it..I can’t understand why is she addicted to it? What I do know is that she’s tired from work, that’s reasonable; she’s an ER physician having 48 hours of duty. Nevertheless, is that a reason to overindulge yourself into so much pampering?
Well, I really can’t identify with her not until she brought me with her in a spa in West Ave. named “Humanessence Spa”. It is located in the 3rd flr of a certain building near Caltex in West Ave. She availed of……what else? Body massage + body scrub + footspa with pedicure which is in a promo that month which costs 1,050 all-in-all. She forced me to avail of a body scrub as well and a footspa with pedicure, that’s 680.00. Being the frugal person that I am, My jaw dropped big time and my first reaction was “grabe naman, ang mahal..” (Oh my God…it’s expensive.) and my sister said..”ako na!! worth it naman eh.” (My treat. Don’t worry, it’s worth it.) I conceded. Her treat. Who won’t say no to a free service?
(http://www.google.com.ph/images)
Then my journey to wellness starts….Before you can be allowed to walk in the lounge area, you will be required to leave your footwear in the reception area, a staff will put your footwear in a shoe locker and will give you another set of rubber slippers which is the only slippers allowed in walking around the spa and a key to your personal locker to those availing of the body services. The lounge area is divided into 4 parts, there are 5 lazy boy’s chair towards an approximately 50-in TV. There are two sofa sets adjacent with each other. From here, you can also watch TV There is a bar area but it is not functioning as such, it only functions as an area for preparation of coffee and tea and last is the 6 super comfortable chairs for the footspa, pedicure and manicure services. The lounge area is shared by both men and women but of course, the massage and shower areas are separate. I am not aware if there was a couple massage room, I am single so don’t ask me. (bitter?)
For those who are availing of body massage and body scrub services, you will be asked to take a shower (you can opt not to take the shower if you just took a bath) and you can also use the steam sauna if you want to. After which, a towel, shorts which can fit all sizes (so to my fellow plump ladies, don’t fret) and a cotton bathrobe will be provided.
For those who don’t have the luxury of time and always in a hurry, you might be disappointed with the long waiting hours before you can be accommodated. If you arrived there at 11pm, expect to go home at around 2-3am. Although you are free to take a nap in their comfy chairs (I do it all the time). Anyway, if you fell asleep, they will call your attention if it is your turn. If you are not sleepy, you can also watch TV while sipping a cup of coffee or tea. They serve coffee or tea upon request until supply lasts. And if you are lucky, possibly, you will be left alone in the lounge area and you can watch the TV and treat it your own. Grab the remote control. Browse channels. You can do anything you want actually.
As for the service, it was great! The downside of it, you will have to be naked, (although I haven’t seen a spa that will not require you to take your clothes off) but don’t be bothered, the lights are so dim; the staff can only see your silhouette. So I guess this treatment will not be a relaxing experience for the conservative types. Initially, they will let you lie down on your stomach then on your back. The scrub consists of the actual scrubbing starting from your feet up to your neck. Following that, you will be required to take a shower (this time it is mandatory). Next, your whole body will be applied with honey…as in pure honey mixed with a small amount of hot water. When the staff is applying the honey, I feel like I am a pancake. I can smell myself. I almost wanna lick myself, kidding! The honey will stay for 15 minutes. Shower again to rinse off the honey and it’s done. The service took about 30minutes. The effect fascinates me considering this is my first time. I have done this way back when I was 18 but this was different, my skin was the smoothest. My skin had never been that smooth. The foot spa is also good but nothing extraordinary if you will compare it to other spas. Perhaps, the great thing is the pedicure because I didn’t feel any pain. I nearly fell asleep when they are doing my toenails when I am expecting it to be really painful since I have deep in-growns.
Right after every service, they will give you a tip envelope with their name if in case you want to give them a tip for their service and it is your discretion if you want to give it directly to the staff or leave it in the tip box.
When we got home, I feel the need to avail of these services twice a month or at least once a month. My sister grinned, as if saying..”I told you so..now you understand…” and I immediately defended myself saying “It’s not that I am getting addicted to it…My skin needs it…” ahahahahaahhahaha….
Before, I thought I can do it better myself but I was wrong, it’s a good feeling that you just have to lie down or sit back and relax and let somebody else do it for you. In view of all of these, I highly recommend Humanessence Spa for everyone who is so stressed out (just be sure you have a lot of time to kill). I though this was expensive but upon research of all other spas, it’s cheaper. (That’s what matters to me the most…lol) So check it out guys!
Who would have guessed? Now, this is my bonding experience with my total-opposite sister! Aside from eating, by the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment