Sponsored Post: How To Give Yourself a Fabulous Mani & Pedi at Home
‘Tis the season for baring more skin right? Getting our bodies ready for Spring and Summer, working out more consistently, making healthier choices and getting our skin smooth, glowing and worthy of the warmer seasons. I recently shared with you my introduction to removing hair with an epilator thanks to Philips and over the next couple of months I’d like to take this idea of preparing your body for the upcoming seasons one step further by sharing my tips and tricks for gorgeous nails, smooth and radiant skin and how to get that gorgeous golden glow of summer by faking it. Sound good? Personally I think gorgeous, radiant, smooth skin is the best accessory of the season 
This week, I am going to share my ritual for creating a totally awesome and indulgent manicure and pedicure in the comfort of your own home. Are you ready?
Step 1: Gather Your Favorite Pampering Products
For me, my absolute essential mani and pedi supplies include a cute bowl/tub for soaking, healing sea salts, yummy smelling oils, a great scrub and/or callus remover, a great intense moisturizing lotion, cuticle oil, cute moisturizing spa gloves and socks, a fab nail file, a nourishing base coat and fun seasonal nail polish colors (I am partial to blue and green)
Step 2: Soak, Soak, Soak!
Take a moment to unwind and relax by soaking your hands and feet in warm water infused with aromatic oils and pretty colored bath salts to soften your skin and calm your senses. Lately, I have been loving the combination of lavender and tangerine essential oils to shift my mood.
Spa Week Sneak Peak: Thai Sabai Traditional Thai Massage
Calling all Beauty Luvahs, have you heard the news? National Spa Week 2012 is taking place next week April 16-22, 2012 and all treatments are ONLY $50, WOOT! WOOT! Spa Week is the largest and most anticipated spa event in North America since 2004 and many of the nation’s top spas select some of their best signature treatments for you to experience at a significantly reduced rate, which makes pampering much more affordable and accessible to all, love that! And all that you have to do to take advantage of the amazing $50 treatments is go to www.SpaWeek.com, search for spas in your area, and then call the spa directly to book your appointment.
Well, I confess that I have the best job in the world because I get to test drive all these amazing spa treatments and services and share my experiences with you, so I was delighted when Spa Week reached out and told me that a local Thai Massage Spa had requested that an influential LA beauty blogger come in and try their signature service before Spa Week and they picked me! I was especially excited because I have heard amazing things about Thai Massage for years but have never had the opportunity to try one.
Before I tell you all about my amazing experience, I wanted to give you a little background on Thai Massage. Traditional Thai Massage dates back more than more than 5,000 years to ancient India and China incorporating elements of Ayeurvedic medicine, Hatha yoga and Chinese acupressure. Thai Massage is a unique healing art that combines gentle yoga-like stretching with massage of the muscles, pressure points and energy lines to release tension, relieve aches and pains, detoxify the internal organs and improve circulation. A typical Thai Massage is performed on a floor mat which allows the practitioner to get the body leverage necessary for the stretches and postures performed. An authentic Thai massage normally takes 90 minutes because it is a holistic approach that incorporates a series of integrated, sequenced postures designed to relax and heal the body.
Wi Spa: A Fabulous & Modern Korean Spa in Los Angeles
Have you ever been to a Korean Spa? It is definitely a bucket list, must do experience! I adore Korean Spas because they are SO wonderfully different than your typical Western spa. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good ole fashion American pampering spa, but Korean Spas are on a whole different level. A visit to a fabulous Korean Spa will transform you! And Wi Spa is a shining example of a modern day Korean Spa and I was beyond impressed with the state of the art facility and the top notch services I received.
Wi Spa is large spacious four level 24/7 state-of-the-art Korean Spa in the heart of Los Angeles (although it was so authentic, I felt like I was in Korea.) Wi is a co-ed family friendly spa that offers a variety of spa treatments, male and female only floors with hot and cold baths and treatments, a full-service restaurant, fitness room, open air terrace, and a bustling family-friendly common area called the ’Jimjilbang’ which is known as the traditional center of a Korean spa. Here families and friends can gather to have a fresh Korean lunch, use a computer, play in the kids’ zone, peruse the extensive library and comic book collection, hangout on the rooftop terrace or relax in one of the five specialty sauna rooms. Wow! What an impressive place!
What did I LOVE about my visit to Wi Spa? Everything! I loved how modern and chic the women’s floor and locker room are. And I LOVED that they give each visitor a digitally programmed bracelet key that you could use to open your locker (just flash it in front) as well as purchase your lunch, so hip & cool! I loved how vast, clean, modern and tastefully appointed the women’s floor was
I really enjoyed hanging out with my partner in crime Amber of Beauty Junkies Unite (who was a first timer) and taking advantage of the hot and cold baths. I especially loved getting all heated up in the hot bath and then taking a brisk plunge in the cold bath to wake up the senses, so invigorating and grounding!
Remember how I mentioned that Korean Spa’s are transformative, right? Well, once you enter the the women’s treatment floor you can check all modesty at the door because most of the amenities are enjoyed in the buff and it is so liberating that no matter what size or age you are, we are all just women. And even the treatments are performed by technicians who are wearing a black bra and panties, very different than a Western spa.
