a day at ole henriksen face/body spa
Monday, February 4, 2008
At the end of last week, I headed over to the Ole Henriksen Face/Body spa, located in the heart of sunset strip in West Hollywood. I was looking forward to it because I have loved Ole's products for years--I'll never forget how excited I was when I found his hand creams and lip balms with SPF! At the time, no one was offering products like this and of course I've always lost my head for pretty packaging and could never help myself from scooping up his stuff at Fred Segal Apocathery.
Back when I was first starting my business, I took my first real profits and indulged in some treatments at this very spa. It still has a bit of sentimental value for me, a reminder of that early reward for my work/career going in the right direction. This is one of the reasons I love to write about beauty--because so many of us work incredibly hard, whether it's a career, raising a family, or both--and a truly great way to celebrate life is by taking care of our bodies and treating ourselves to the occasional spa day...
I also want to quickly mention that for those of you in Europe, Ole Henriksen has recently opened the spa at blue bird on the ever-hip Kings Road in Chelsea, London. So it's now possible to enjoy all of this without crossing the pond!
The spa itself is a treat, and Ole told me that I would see that it had changed quite a bit since my last visit. The minute I entered, I felt instantly calmer. The decor is an elegant melding of Japanese and European. The furniture has the minimal lines of Danish Modern with warm wood accents, and Japanese Shoji screens line the corridors. It seems almost impossible that it could be a 5,000 square foot spa because it feels very intimate, but the spa offers two hydrotherapy soaking tubs set in a candle lit room, two state of the art wet rooms, two massage rooms, a hydrotherapy soaking room, eight facial rooms, a wax room, Eucalyptus Steam room, a gorgeous meditation room featuring a rock wall water feature, men and women’s changing rooms, and a brand new hypnotherapy room.
People who know that I'm a beauty editor always ask me to refer a great facialist. The thing is, I have very sensitive skin and so I usually focus on body treatments--but when Ole generously offered to have me try a facial as well as a body treatment, I could hardly refuse. For those of you who have not yet read my interview (posted below) with Ole Henriksen, he has worked on the faces of celebrities and local devotees alike for over 25 years, while developing his unique line of products based on the finest botanicals at his West Hollywood spa. Favored by celebrities, including Charlize Theron, Renee Zellweger and the gorgeous skin of countless super models, Ole’s products and services are always in demand.
I was led to the women's changing room, and given a robe and slippers. My facialist met me in the Meditation Room and led me to a room where I slipped under the sheets of a massage table to experience the 60 minute heavenly "8-step calmative complexion treatment" recommended for sensitive skin. The treatment includes an African Red Tea Facial Compress, Lympho-Energetic Drainage, Soundwave Therapy, Thermodyn Calming/Anti-Swelling Cold Therapy, Black Currant Face Wrap, Grated Cucumber Eye Compress, Custom Blended Mask, Aromatic Face, Neck, and Shoulder Massage. All I can say is that I have now been converted! While facials from others have made my skin break out, this one took away the dark circles and left my skin glowing. I've decided to make a once a month facial at Ole Henriksen part of my routine--now you know where I'll be refering my friends for a great facial--I've already convinced a few friends to join me!
And there's more...between treatments I sipped warm tea in the meditation room, my favorite room in the spa, enjoying the beautiful sculptural piece dripping water lightly on the stone wall. Finally I received the 6 Step Body Treatment, a blissful hour and a half of indulgence that starts with a fantastic therapeutic body massage that includes hand and foot reflexology.
What follows is hard to describe; it's a tightly orchestrated sequence of warm and cool ingredients, followed by rinses, that require you to do nothing but lay back and enjoy the cleanse. My session combined the African Red Tea body cocktail that begins with an organic brown sugar scrub and tropical rain rinse, followed by the tangy juice from fresh oranges that were squeezed directly on my body. Yogurt and African Red Tea is then slathered on to work as an anti-oxidant exfoliating/toning mask. After being annointed with fresh orange slices, I was wrapped to release the active ingredients in the African Red Tea. It truly smells fresh and wonderful as well. After a final rinse, I had a moment to take a quiet warm shower and emerge a new person!
Ole Henriksen Face/Body is located at 8622 A Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90069
To book an appointment or for more information: (tel)310-854-7700; or go to www.olehenriksen.com
Labels: ole henriksen face/body spa
posted by Mary Jo at TrustYourStyle at
Monday, February 04, 2008
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