Our ability to be across the country in less than six hours is quite extraordinary. Whether we are visiting relatives or taking a dip in a mud bath in South America – we are traveling more than ever. There are some downsides: TSA’s 3 fluid ounce liquid restrictions, security lines, the strip-searching of unsuspecting elderly women, and jet lag. Switching time zones can really throw off your sleeping routine. The Spa at Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara has  introduced new eco-conscious signature treatments that have just the cure. These treatments include H. Gillerman Organic products. Hope Gillerman is a leading holistic practitioner and aromatic healer.

The four massages are intended to specifically address health problems brought on by a stressful lifestyle, such as jet lag and flu symptoms. Enjoy all these treatments with spa’s oceanfront views that are sure to relax anyone, even after driving in LA traffic.

The spa’s four organic aromatherapy massages include:

Pure Breathing: Helps you ward off cold and flu symptoms with a Sinus Remedy (eucalyptus, orange, petitgrain), which clears breathing passageways, decongests, and relieves swollen glands. The Chest Remedy (spruce, fir, cardamom) reduces aches and pains, allergies and fatigue.

True Relaxation: Induces deep muscle relaxation and eases stress  with a Stress Remedy (lavender, tangerine, sandalwood), which soothes the nerves, while the Muscle Remedy (basil, birch, vetiver) relieves muscle pain and chronic tension.

Natural Rest: Helps you get back into your regular sleep routine. The Travel Remedy (litsea, cedarwood, palmarosa) relieves jet lag and helps the body adjust to seasonal shifts. The Sleep Remedy (bitter orange, clary sage, lavender) helps with sleep quality and insomnia.

Clear Mind: Improves mental focus (so toss out that Smart Water!). The Tension Remedy (peppermint, lavender) relieves headaches and revives mental focus and alertness. Jaw Clenching Remedy (chamomile, vetiver, patchouli) calms mental activity, allowing one to slow down and shift gears to help alleviate tense facial muscles and night grinding.

The eight H. Gillerman Organics exclusive formulas  are made from the highest concentrations of the finest quality, unprocessed, undiluted, unaltered, organic essential oils from around the world. They help in aiding the natural healing process by acting as probiotics and eliminating toxins. The entire H. Gillerman Organics line is produced and use environmentally-friendly packaging.

Take these products home with you after your treatment with their line of retail products. All eight remedies are packaged into two options: 100% essential oils applied to prescribed points on the body throughout the day; or a roll-on body oil blend applied directly to areas of discomfort. Both  can double as personal scents or even can be used as soothing bath oils.

Spa Week and Keri Glassman want to send you to enjoy this luxurious resort – ENTER TO WIN 4 NIGHTS HERE plus spa treatments and more!

Spa Week is over, but the memories and benefits are everlasting! One of the greatest rewards for us is hearing about how Spa Week has touched your lives. We asked for your Spa Week stories, and this is the week you get to read the 5 winners, who will all receive $50 Spa Week Gift Cards to use for their next spa treatment.

New Yorkers are busy people, so sometimes they have a difficult time relaxing and unwinding at the spa. This is not one of those stories.

Right off the bat I felt at home walking into Mezzanine Spa in SoHo. If only my home was as relaxing and serene! But hey, that’s why some ingenious person invented spas, to give us crazed city-folk a rare and much needed chance to step out of our hectic norms and let our troubles melt away. This is exactly the environment the owners and staff at Mezzanine have created with a feeling of peace in the air, the cleanest of clean lockers, waiting and treatment rooms and a very helpful and smiling staff. I was taken in promptly for my appointments, something I really value as a time crunched New Yorker.

During Spa Week, I had the best facial I have ever had here. And although they did not recommend I have a facial before a massage, there were no other appointments left and the process was very gentle (yet thorough) and non-invasive, so there really was no problem. My skin is still glowing weeks later! I am so glad I went in to Mezzanine or I would have never known that facials do not have to hurt! And I really appreciated the descriptions of what products my facialist was using and the procedures she was doing along the way. I don’t know about you but I love being an educated consumer, especially when it comes to people working on my money maker! It just makes me feel more comfortable and be able to enjoy the entire process more.

Then on to the massage, which was much needed! Don’t get me wrong, I am kind of a massage connoisseur – my favorite ever has been at the Wynn Towers in Las Vegas, so please consider that fact when reading my review!  It was good. That is about all I can say. Not best I’ve ever had, but far from the worst. My massage therapist started me face up, which I found to be a little unusual, but hey I am not traditional so I went with it. She made me feel very comfortable right off the bat and was very friendly and not too talkative. Something I enjoy in a massage therapist is them holding off on the small talk and really letting me enjoy what I paid for!

The overall experience was awesome and I definitely would recommend Mezzanine Spa, especially for the facials.

Submitted by Brooke Grossman

Mezzanine Spa
62 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
212.334.8100

Fourteen stories above the vast, dry Arizona desert prevails the highest spa in the state, a contrasting 13,000 square foot oasis of hydration and relaxation: The Spa At Talking Stick in Scottsdale, AZ. Stunning red mountains and expansive flatland views add a soothing touch seen from the spa’s terraces, Jacuzzi, showers, changing rooms, relaxation rooms and from the nail/hair salon and fitness center. Yet with all the beauty surrounding it, the real beauty started where it always should – from within. The spa’s facilities were excellent, and I was truly blown away by the treatment I received: The Desert Lavender Massage.

But first, a few hours by the pool.

From way up in the spa, you’d never know that downstairs in the Talking Stick lobby is a swinging casino, and outside a lively pool filled with people playing pool football and drinking beer.

The “pool” situation upstairs looked more like this:

And the lounge chairs like this:

And the treatment room like this:

And then the bliss began. My massage therapist Marcia left me in this beautifully appointed room to remove my robe and slippers and lay face-up on the soft, warm massage table.

When she returned, the first part of the treatment began with a dry body brushing exfoliation. Gentle bristles “scratched” up and down the right side of my body, then the left, then I flipped and they made their way up and down my backside. My boyfriend Ray received the same massage as me (in a different room), and this was the part of the treatment he couldn’t stop raving about afterwards. The bristles were invigorating more than they were exfoliating, and certainly left you wanting more.

The body brushing ended (noooo!), and the massage began (okay, fine), using desert lavender and wild chaparral oil. A hot rolled-up towel cradled my neck. What I found particularly interesting about the style of massage was that rather than doing the traditional back first, then legs, arms, etc., this massage started on the right side, covering all body parts, and then shifting the towel and massaging the entire left side. First laying face down, and then I flipped and Marcia did the right-left switchoff as I laid face up. Ray’s massage was the same right-then-left style – it wasn’t just Marcia – it was the spa’s signature style for this particular massage. A hot towel cocooned my feet at the end too. And it was INCREDIBLE – so incredible that I paid Marcia the biggest complement a massage therapist could be paid: I fell asleep.

Lavender + amazing massages tend to have that effect on people.

In a haze of half-slumber spa ecstasy, I felt the third part of the treatment begin, my personal highlight. Using ever-so-soft tufts of raw Pima cotton, Marcia lightly brushed my body using feather-light strokes. Up and down the right, up and down the left. My memory jogged back to a post from a few months ago about that tickling spa in Spain, and solidified to me that tickling spas must be opened in the United States as well. And they must invest in very large quantities of raw Pima cotton.

And then the final touch: a spritz of Cucumber Hydrosol Mist on my face. I breathed in the misty veil as it awoke me with a refreshing dose of hydration, in my new beloved desert oasis.

I slowly levitated (got up) from the the table, took a sip of water, re-robed, and floated out to meet Marcia outside the treatment room. She recommended I spend some time in the steam room, because in addition to the massage she had also done some energy work on me and that the steam would help relax my joints and muscles, and I was supposed to let the energy work sink in. Unfortunately I had a rehearsal dinner to be at in 45 minutes, but I can imagine the relaxation would have been taken to even greater heights.

Speaking of heights, I snapped some photos from all the pretty viewpoints (shower, lockers, etc). There’s no place like Arizona to spa, especially when you can look out over it.

Even the hallways are luminous!

The Spa at Talking Stick’s Spa Week extension is over now, but they’re working on their holiday specials as we speak. Check out their spa menu for all their carefully crafted treatments to rebalance, restore and elevate your well-being.

The Spa at Talking Stick Resort
9800 E Indian Bend Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
877.724.4687

Disclosure: All treatments were comped for editorial consideration.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association, low-back pain is one of the most common complaints of consumers in the country. I’m sure you and I can both name a handful of family and friends who have been taking perscription medication for pain management for a while now. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much a drug regime like this could cost over a prolonged period of time? A $20, $30, $40 co-pay? Once a month or more? Or how much it would cost without health insurance? And what about side effects? What are the long-term effects of potent prescription drug use (even when taken properly in accordance with doctor’s orders)? These are some heavy questions that (literally) weigh on the shoulders of thousands of Americans. In honor of National Massage Therapy Awareness Week, we would like to share with you a newly published study that tested the effectiveness of traditional pain therapies.
Courtesy of the American Massage Therapy Association, a study conducted by Dr. Daniel Cherkin, Director of Group Health Research Institute, examined the effectiveness of massage versus more traditional therapies like painkillers and muscle relaxers on lower back pain. According to Dr. Cherkin, “Chronic back pain is among the most common reasons people see doctors and alternative practitioners, including massage therapists. It’s also a common cause of disability, absenteeism and ‘presenteeism,’ when people are at work but can’t perform well.” Here is a quick look at the parameters of the study and the very interesting results:

The study comprised 401 patients aged 20 to 65 years old with nonspecific chronic low-back pain and compared the effectiveness of either relaxation or structural massage versus usual care, including medication and physical therapy. Participants were asked about their abilities to perform daily activities and then randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments.

One group received full-body relaxation massage, often called Swedish massage, and another received focused deep tissue massage, where specific pain-related tissues, ligaments and joints are targeted. The third group received therapies including painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants or physical therapy. Those receiving massage were given a one-hour massage once a week for 10 weeks.

After 10 weeks, the researchers again surveyed the participants about their symptoms and mobility, and again at six months and one year. The two groups of patients receiving massage therapy reported their back pain was significantly improved or gone altogether. “We found that patients receiving massage were twice as likely as those receiving usual care to report significant improvements in both their pain and function,” explains Cherkin. “After 10 weeks, about two-thirds of those receiving massage improved substantially, versus only about one third in the usual care group.”

Although previous studies on massage therapy and low-back pain have concentrated primarily on the effectiveness of deep tissue massage, researchers are hopeful about the success of relaxation massage modalities offering significant benefits. Two reasons are that relaxation massage is oftentimes more widely available and more cost-effective.

We at Spa Week have been saying this for a while now – trips to the spa can help make you healthier and happier. Now we have even more proof that there are safe and effective alternatives to “fix-it-all” pills and paying for expensive physical therapy sessions. We’re not saying never go back to your doctor again, but do consider a full-range of health options with your physician and start a dialogue with your doctor discussing the risks before undergoing any new health regime.  And don’t forget – it’s National Massage Therapy Awareness Week so go out there and book a Spa Week Extended appointment and celebrate, pain-free!

Long before my Spa Week days, I had a gig interning in the Public Relations department at Saks Fifth Avenue. One of my jobs was to help coordinate any filming production that went on in the flagship store, from news segments to movie scenes. (And psst, that was when they were filming the first Sex and The City movie!) While that was fun and all, I’ve never enjoyed a filming at Saks quite as much I did the other week, when I received an hour-long Aromatherapy Massage from Victor at Halcyon Days Salon & Spa, nestled quietly beneath the hubbub of the famous department store.

But before I introduce you to Victor, let me introduce you to the spa. Halcyon, which translates from ancient Greek to “calm, peaceful days”, has some of the most elegant spa destinations in North America, 13 of which are participating in Spa Week this season. The particular one I visited at Saks Fifth Avenue is a sweeping space with an enormous salon, a spa cafe, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a few different lounge areas, and 10 treatment rooms. Beautiful plush blankets, rather than just towels, added a rich touch to the decor and comfort.

Now, Victor: The man was built to give massages. I liked his demeanor, his accent, the cup of orange-flavored water he poured me, and most of all, his big strong HANDS. Using a variety of techniques, Victor kneaded the stress out of me from top to toe. Penetrating deep into my muscles, he dug his fingers into just the right body parts. My neck and my calves were particularly memorable. This aromatherapy session used a variety of different scents. As you see in the video, when it got to my neck and head part, he asked which essential oil I preferred: Chinese Jasmine or Organic Ginger. I chose ginger, which really helped open up my sinuses. It was an outstanding massage that hit all the marks, knots, and shopping kinks.

So, as I found out upon leaving, this particular Halcyon location booked up for Spa Week next week within just a couple days of the $50 Directory launch! (This is not uncommon.) However, they had said they were working on getting more therapists and estheticians in for Spa Week to accommodate more clients! So give them a call and see if anything is open for next week. Seriously.

If you’re located elsewhere, here’s the rundown on the other Halcyon locations:

There are six Halcyon Saks Fifth Avenue locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, and Michigan. You can also find Halcyon Days Salon and Spa at Neiman Marcus NorthPark in Dallas, Texas. The company also goes under other aliases: Kiva Day Spa in Chicago, Illinois. Philipes Day Spa & Cosmetique in Indiana, Indianapolis. Essentiels Day Spa in Boulder, Colorado. Charles Grayson Spa & Salon in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stonewater Spa & Boutique in Missouri and Florida.

$50 Spa Week treatment options include:

50 Min Aromatic Well-Being Facial
50 Min Therapeutic Full Body Massage
70 Min Featured Pumpkin Manicure + Pedicure Retreat

The Salon & Spa at Saks Fifth Avenue
611 Fifth Avenue at 50th Street
New York, NY 10022
212.940.4000