I was in Salt Lake City this past week for a work conference, and noticed that on the first day, I had plenty of time to see the sights and have some time to myself. Since I’d been there several times before and had seen most of what there is to see (big huge temple, check; salt lake, check;) I decided that my time would best be spent enjoying a spa day.
I didn’t know anyone who knew anything about Salt Lake City spas, unfortunately, so I was left to my own devices on Yelp. I narrowed my choices down to three, and decided that since I was acting on some serious short notice (only 24 hours), I’d take what I could get.
Luckily, what I got was Akasha. They were able to fit in two of us at exactly the right time, so we scheduled a deep tissue massage and a pedicure, because my poor feet were looking busted up, as it were.
We were greeted immediately when we walked in and shown to the locker room. A great touch was the personalized lockers with individual keys that could be on the wrist or left in the pocket of the amazing robe that was tucked inside with some slippers. Once my eyes adjusted to the dimness of the locker room and space, I was enchanted by the candles and calmness that enveloped the spa. After we slipped into our robe and slippers, we were invited to go into the meditation room to have tea and wait for our respective appointments.
The tea bar was nicely stocked, with several flavors of mint tea, cold water, and fruit snacks. There was a large water fountain that added just enough soothing sound to the room to kill the dead silence. Jessica, my massage therapist was prompt, and came out to get me just as I was pouring myself a nice cup of tea. She took me into the room, and got busy with asking me questions – did I have any specific problems? areas of concern? I told her about my long flight in crappy airline seats that always made my lower back ache after a few hours, as well as my constant struggle with bruxism (clenching of the jaw, which makes all the muscles in my head, neck, and shoulders hurt), and we decided to focus on the back, shoulders, neck, and head. And focus she did – her massage was amazing. Easily one of the best I’ve ever had – she got in there and eased muscles that I didn’t even realize were sore, and I am not a massage novice.
After being melted down like soft butter, Jessica escorted me back to the meditation room, where I waited for the nail technician to take me to the pedicure room. She was prompt as well, and we headed on into the room where there were large pedicure spa chairs with warm water already running. The nail tech made sure I had not shaved that day, and I picked out my color. The color selection wasn’t extensive, but there were plenty to choose from. OPI was the major player here, with a good selection from CND as well. The pedicure was fairly quick, and the results outstanding.
Afterwards, we headed back into the meditation room to wait for my toes to dry. After helping myself to another chamomile tea, I settled in to enjoy the fountain and music. It was all very soothing, and I could have spent the rest of the day just chilling out.
Overall my experience was excellent, and a special shout out to Jessica for being an outstanding massage therapist. Price-wise, I would have paid anything to have Jessica work on me, but a $50 pedicure was a bit shocking.
Next time, I’ll skip the pedicure, have a great massage, and maybe hang out in the steam room afterwards.
Nail Station at Akasha Spa
As I was going through what I affectionately call my “makeup closet” the other day with a friend, I realized that I really didn’t seem to have much in the way of blush. To be honest, I never really gave it that much thought. Like every other beauty addict, I had my NARS Orgasm, plus one more NARS blush that I loved called Crazed. I had a few limited edition blushes from MAC collections that I liked, including Hello Kitty and Lily Pulitzer. I had one or two cream formulas that I had picked up with “gift with purchase” deals, but that was really it. It just didn’t seem balanced, given the literal bins of eyeshadows, lipsticks, foundations, and palettes I had, and all of this started me thinking: why didn’t I take my blush more seriously?
