My stay at The Westin – part 2: time for some pampering

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Karisa

The Westin‘s 19th floor is not only the home of the Westin Executive Club Restaurant which I told you about yesterday. Oh no, there’s far more there to discover.

They have a WestinWORKOUT Gym, where you can burn off some of that buffet breakfast while enjoying some amazing views. They have super fancy equipment which even allows you to browse the web while you’re exercising. Facebook, Twitter, you name it. Just be careful not to lose track of your feet. You don’t want to be flung of the treadmill and end up on a massively popular Youtube clip.

The gym’s equipped with free weights, a TechnoGym circuit, treadmills, stationary bikes, swiss balls and a power plate machine, rowing machine and stairclimber. There’s also some disposable headphones for you to use (in case you forgot yours) and a personal trainer is on duty from Mon to Fri who is available (upon request) and for a complimentary fitness assessment and consultation.

Another pretty cool thing is their Pack Light Stay Fit initiative where they’ve partnered with New Balance to provide hotel guest with athletics shoes during their stay. For only R50 you can rent a freshly cleaned pair of trainers for use while you’re there. They’ll also throw in a new pair of socks, which you can keep afterwards. I personally love this idea. Trainers take up so much space in your bag and it’s just a mission lugging them around. This way there’s more space for your holiday shopping! #perfect

Now let’s talk about the Arabella Spa. Firstly, it’s absolutely beautiful. Secondly, they’re nicely kitted out. They’ve for 15 treatments rooms, a heated infity lap pool, a jacuzzi, a steam room & sauna and a really nice relaxation area where you can chill & take in the view. But let me show you around…

Here’s the reception and relaxation areas:

And this my friends, is probably the coolest indoor pool I’ve ever seen:

The jacuzzi is so much fun, there’s even an emergy shut-off switch in case you just can’t take the awesomeness any longer:

And the sauna might give you a bit of vertigo, but it’s well worth the risk:

Ooooh and then my favourite room was their “Sea of Dreams” sleep room. Here you’ll find 4 rather unique heated water beds for your enjoyment. Once tucked in here, I guarantee you, you will never ever want to leave again:

Just looking at this photo again makes me feel all happy and warm…

To pay them a visit, contact the Arabella Spa on 021 412 8200/01 or 01445.arabellaspa@westin.com – bookings are essential.

You might also want to abuse some of these special offers:

Soul Food Autumn Special
Join them for a delicious & healthy spa lunch, a glass of bubbly and your choice of Dermalogica Microzone Treatment, all for only R280.00 per person.
Heavenly dinner & spa
A 3 course dinner for two in the Westin Executive Club plus a 45 minute treatment each at Arabella Spa at R1050 per couple. (available Mon to Sun from 17:30 to 19:00)
- Dinner selection: Choose from their Dinner with a View menu.
- Spa selection: 45 min back, neck & shoulder massage, 45 min facial, or a 45 min manicure/pedicure.
Secret lunch hour
For R500 (Mon – Sun) – choose 1 luxurious treatment & 2 delicious courses from their special menu at the Westin Executive Club, and they guarantee that within 90 minutes you’ll be back at your desk looking and feeling fantastic. Or earn serious brownie points by treating your partner to a surprise ‘rendezvous for two’ at only R950.
- Lunch Selection - 2 courses, one starter and one main or one main and one dessert.
- Spa Selection: 45 min back, neck & shoulder massage, 45 min facial, or 45 min manicure/pedicure.

I know what you’re thinking… why am I not there right now?? My feelings exactly.

Check out their full spa brochure & price list over here.

Another thing I loved is that on your way out, you can even get you hair spruced up at the hotel’s Cut Above hair salon (also on the 19th floor):

How about an awesome blow dry to go with that massage & facial hey?

How’s that for a top-to-toe pampering experience…

xxx

Thai massage bliss at Ey Spa

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Karisa

My friend Leigh and I spent a blissful 7 nights in Thailand back in 2009 and to date it is still one of my favourite places in the world…

It’s just so incredibly beautiful, the people are super lovely, the food is absolutely amazing and as an added bonus, everything’s pretty damn cheap.

Our favourite thing to do while there was Thai massages. Foot massages to be exact. Now a foot massage might sound pretty boring to some and you might be thinking why we wouldn’t just opt for a full body, but the Thai people do a foot massage like no other and it really is something to be experienced. They start with the feet, then they do yours legs, some arms even, then head & shoulders and sometimes a little back action thrown into the mix as well. So you’re pretty much getting a full body in any case! It was totally amazing and became part of our daily routine while over there.

It’s therefore no surprise that when Leigh discovered the new Ey Spa in the V&A Waterfront, which offers a Thai mind & body experience, she would think of me. And for my birthday she lovingly gifted me a voucher for a Thai foot massage. (and that’s why I love her sooooo much )

Last week was a tough one for me, being my first week back at work and all, so I figured this would be the perfect time to cash in and reeeeeelax… so off I went… The spa has a beautiful light & fresh feeling to it and the staff are all really friendly and welcoming. I was also really impressed when I found out that they actually have regte egte Thai ladies doing the massage treatments. I mean how’s that for authenticity hey?

Spa interior & foot massage room.

After saying hello to Nee, my therapist, I slumped into my comfy “Lazy Boy”, nice & snug with my blankie and pillow and soon I drifted off, dreaming of all the good times back in Thai Thai…

Aaaaahhhh…

It was 60min of ultimate relaxation and I felt 100% refreshed. Like Leigh put it “you feel like you can do the River Dance afterwards, don’t you?” Now I hate River Dance, so that would be an over my dead body type situation, but I did get exactly what she meant by that statement.

The price for a 1hr Thai Foot Massage is R420 and they also do a variety of other Thai massages & experiences which all vary in price. To tempt you even further, just check out this room where they do the full body massages:

Come on inside… you know you want to…

Keen on more than a massage? Try out their Nimue facial treatments, manicures, pedicures, sauna, special packages and more. (Check out their website link above for the full spa menu)

NB things to take note of:

Address: Portswood Square, Dock Rd, V&A Waterfront (just past the Two Oceans Aquarium, opposite the Blue Shed Craft Market)
Contact them on: 021 421 8888 or hello@eyspa.co.za
Opening hours: Mon – Fri 9am to 8pm, Sat 9am to 6m & Sun / Public Holidays 10am to 5pm

A huge thank you to the Ey Spa team for such a great experience. I’ll be back to take a little nap on that Thai massage bed for sure.

xxx

Turn up the heat & style yourself beautiful with FHI HEAT (and also stand a chance to win!)

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Karisa

Imagine this: A beautiful summer’s day in the Mother City and you arrive at Beluga after a looooong painful day at the office to be treated to flowing cocktails, platters of sushi, refreshing ice lollies and a bright pink macaron with your name on it (well kinda ).

Yup, my friend Charlene and I got to experience all of this and more for the first FHI HEAT Experience pop up salon to celebrate the SA launch of this award winning international styling iron brand which will now be available in Foschini stores nationwide.

Us “ladies of leisure” were also treated to some FOR FREE hair styling by fabulous duo, Carlo and Carlo from Contra-Dixions in Sea Point. The boys demonstrated how to create some hot summer looks (think sexy beach waves girls) using the FHI HEAT irons and I’ve picked up a few things I will need to practice back at home for sure.

Clockwise from top left: Katie from Conversation Capital (the PR company who put this awesome little event together – pic also provided by them) with my darling Clouds, Charlene & I, and Carlo and Carlo stylin’ up a storm.

Our host for the evening was Steven Stein who is the Managing Director of Hair Cair (the distributors of FHI HEAT and some other great brands like Tangle Teezer, La Brasiliana and Everline). Steven is very excited to be introducing FHI HEAT to South African women and said the following:

“Women know what they want and when they want it. We want to make it easy and affordable for all women to get their hands on FHI HEAT styling irons.”

With their FHI HEAT GO & GO mini irons selling at R775 and R255 respectively, I think it certainly is. Plus, you can put it on credit and pay it off over a few months if needed. Sweet… (Just FYI: they also have professional irons which range from R1750 – R2350)

Steven telling us about the brand… (Photo credit: Conversation Capital)

Things got competitive when Steven announced that there was a FHI HEAT professional hairdryer and a Contra-dixions makeover voucher up for grabs. All the winner had to do was create the most interesting hairdo using the styling accessories which had been scattered all over our table. Just look at these ladies go:

Love it

But every single person left there smiling from ear to ear with a goodie bag filled to the brim with awesome goodies. For example, I got a hot pink FHI HEAT GO iron and Charlene got a super cute travel size FHI HEAT GO Mini. Then we all got some pamper goodies, a wash & blowdry voucher from Contra-dixions and some Hot Sauce – no no, not the stuff you put on your slap chips – its a deep conditioning & repairing treatment product packed with jojoba crystals which when used with your styling iron keeps your hair looking shiny & healthy.

A huge thanks to Katie Coetzee from Conversation Capital for the invite. We had a total blast.

BUT listen up. You now have 2 chances to win:

If you ‘Like’ their Facebook page before the end of December you could win an Elite Professional Series Styling Iron valued at R2350

You can take part in my giveaway right here where two people will walk a way with a new styling iron. I have one FHI HEAT GO full size iron and one FHI HEAT GO Mini iron up for graps. All you have to do is follow FHI HEAT on Twitter – @FHIHEATSA – and then send the following tweet:

Hey @CTmylove I would love to win with @FHIHEATSA #LoveFHIwin

Terms & conditions:

This competition is only open to people based in South Africa
Only one entry per person
Competition closes at midnight on Fri, 21 Dec
Winners will be determined by lucky draw & announced here on my blog and on Twitter by 9am on Sat, 22 Dec
First person drawn will get the full size iron and the 2nd person will get the travel size one.

Here are the styling iron specs to further tempt you:

GO is the versatile tool that takes you from curls to straight in just one pass of the iron.

Advanced adjustable heater (140°F – 410°F/ 60°C to 210°C)
Ceramic tourmaline plates
One swipe technology with rapid heat recovery
Beveled plates with round edges to create multiple hairstyles
Dual voltage international plug and extra-long cord

GO MINI is perfect for quick touch-ups or overnight travel. The Mini GO is small enough to fit in your handbag, but powerful enough to lock in your look. From straightening to curling, this compact, multi-styling iron is one savvy tool that covers all your beauty needs.

Advanced heater with Auto-Sense control (up to 410°F/210°C)
Ceramic tourmaline plates
One swipe technology with rapid heat recovery
Beveled plates with round edges to create multiple hairstyles
Dual voltage international plug and extra-long cord
Convenient size for touch-ups and travel

Sound good? Then clicky-clicky & good luck. I leave you with pics & pricing of their full range:

xxx

Luscious goodies at Lush

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Karisa

XMAS GIFT IDEA ALERT: There’s a new store in the V&A Waterfront called Lush – they do yummy handmade and all natural bath & body goodies as well as a range of good-for-ya-skin make up.

I popped in there over the weekend and just loved the store’s deli style look and feel – a deli filled with fresh things for your skin! Dig it. I’ve already decided that this is my new favourite store to gift from…

Lush is a UK brand which was established back in 1994 by a husband & wife team. They started with one little store in Poole (a coastal town on the south coast of England) trading under the name Cosmetic House Limited, then the following year they adopted the name “Lush” and today they operate in over 50 countries wordwide.

You’ll be happy to know that Lush does not believe in any animal testing, neither do they use animal fats in their products. You’ll only find ingredients like fruits & veggies, essential oils, synthetic ingredients, honey & beeswax in their products.

While having a look around the store, two products really caught my eye. The first was this Lustre Dusting Powder which promises a lovely golden glow, perfect for when you’re showing off some skin this summer:

Dust the two of us… love it.

And the second was their Curly Wurly fresh coconut shampoo – because I’m absolutely bedinges with anything coconutty at the moment:

It smelt sooooo good…

I also love their fresh soaps which you can buy by the kg if you wanted to. And their cute little gift sets. Pricing wise I would say they’re kinda on par with The Body Shop, so I thought it was good.

If you’re into all things that smell good enough to eat or you’re a dude and have to buy a special lady a gift, this is a sure bet, trust me.

xxx

Pamphair party with Palladium Hair Co & other cool folks

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Karisa

Last Wed eve I popped into Palladium Hair Co in Cape Quarter for their “Pamphair party”.

If you don’t know who Palladium Hair is? Well listen up. They’re the guys behind the beautiful locks of folks like Jeannie D and Liezel van der Westhuizen. Palladium’s very own international celebrity stylist, Clint Goncalves, has quite an impressive résumé. He’s lived & worked in the UK for about 14 years and worked on the tresses of celebrities like Geri Halliwell, Jemima Khan and Cat Deely (Welcome to… So you think you can dance! Love her.) as well as male clients such as Hugh Grant.

Palladium does 5 star hair in a 5 star environment. The salon is beautiful and also boasts some awesome views over the city. You definintely feel like you’ve stepped into a place where you will leave looking the best you ever have. Let me show you what I mean:

Now of course no party is complete without flowing cocktails and yummy canapes. But we were in for a special treat as the food for the evening was prepared by local chef extraordinaire Jenny Morris aka “The Giggling Gourmet”.

I’ve actually been to one of her cooking evenings as a company team building thing and I have to say, this lady is fantastic. Also, let me tell you, anybody who can get me to accomplish something quite edible in the kitchen without burning the whole place down, deserves a bloody medal.

The guestlist for the evening included beauty, fashion & media folk as well as some “power coulples” like soccer hottie Ryan Botha and his gorgeous girlfriend Gina Goldsmith:

Loving Gina’s pastel look. It’s huge for spring/summer.

As well as Elrico Bellingan from fashion blog, Luxo with his always fashion forward from head-to-toe girlfriend, Ritza:

Obsessed with Ritza’s pants & shoes. OBSESSED.

There were also some hot blondes on the scene, including surfer Roxy Louw and Jasna aka Fashionjazz:

Such lovely ladies…

Clint played host for the evening, along with Palladium Hair Ambassadors, actress Natalie Becker and SABC3 Expresso presenter, Kia Johnson. Both Natalie & Kia looked absolutely flawless in their Errol Arendz dresses and stunning Uwe Koetter jewellery.

Natalie with Clint

Natalie and Kia giving us the rundown of the evening.

Basically the idea for the evening was that we would be introduced to all the latest & greatest trends in haircare, beauty & fashion. And as an added bonus there were also mega prizes up for grabs as part of a little tweeting challenge. Kinda like a “tweet for your life” situation.

First up I browsed through the new Errol Arendz Summer collection – their store is just a hop, skip & jump away from the Palladium Salon. It makes sense really because fabulous hair needs a fabulous dress, right? The Errol Arendz range includes some gorgeous printed gowns, cocktail wear in bright colours and some seriously sexy heels. Also good to know is that they have their own denim range called B Insane. Prices for their jeans range from about R799 to R1200 and the fit & fabric looked really nice. Might go back to try a few on when I have more time.

Hot tip: They have a winter sale on at the moment which means you’ll get 50% off all their winter items, like these gorgeous boots:

Good enough to buy now and keep for next year…

After that bit of retail therapy with my eyes (pre-payday blues!), we sat down to learn about TIGI haircare products. I really loved their Mega Whip Hair texturiser, mostly because it smells like marshmallows…

Good enough to eat! (Not that I recommend it obviously)

And then also this really cool Bed Head After Party product which promises to refresh your hair and leave it smelling like it’s just been washed. Perfect for those mornings when you have to drag yourself to work with a killer hangover but you haven’t had time to wash your hair because you overslept and you need a caffiene filled intravenous drip to just stay awake. Not that this has ever happened to me of course… I’m super professional.

A party girl (or guy) ‘s new BFF.

I have to show you a close up of the bottle because this is so me after a big night out. Party dress & make up still on. Shoes kicked off. Handbag with phone and wallet all over the floor (well hopefully – there was that one time I left it in the bloody taxi – smart girl):

This baby retails for R265, but we were lucky enough to get it in our goodie bags. Sweet.

Next up GHD who showed us some great hair tricks, like these 1920s flapper style curls:

Pretty huh? And actually quite easy to do.

Of couse, never attempt these kinds of things without the proper protection. Get your minds out of the gutter people, I’m obviously referring to some heat styling protection. And on this front, GHD has you totally covered:

Our 4th stop for the evening was a sit down with wardrobe expert, Duncan Papé and his make up artist partner-in-crime, Kirsty da Costa from Style360. They do everything from personal & wardrobe styling, beauty & make up analysis and consulting, events, shoots, bridal styling and more. I told him I’m in need of a major wardrobe cleanse myself. It’s gotten so bad that I buy stuff I actually already have! But I don’t freakin’ remember or realise that I already have it because my cupboards are sooooo jam packed with random things that most of the time I don’t know where to find anything… aaarggh. Then when I get stressed out about it, I just buy more things to make myself feel better. Hehe.

Me with Duncan & Kirsty. Help me Duncan, help me! Spotted Kirsty’s jacket at Zara this weekend, so gorgeous.

Our last stop was with Margaux from the Rubybox team. If you haven’t yet heard of them and you loooove all things beauty, you’re going to dig this. For only R100 a month you get a box of beauty goodies delivered to your door. The box will contain different things each month including things like make-up samples, fragrances, skin care, body care, etc. We spoke about the new BB cream craze (Google it – this stuff’s gone viral) and good anti-aging ingredients like retinol and idebenone. So I picked up a few little tricks to help me looking good through my… cough-cough… 30s. Almost 2 years in and it still hurts to admit that.

By the end of the evening, my fingers were pooped from all the tweeting, but it was totally worth it because I won a R1500 pair of Errol Arendz shoes!!! I can’t show you a pic just yet because I need to go online and select which pair I want (awesome!). Other prizes included Uwe Koetter jewellery, a weekend away, a R4000 voucher from Skin Renewal and Clouds won a R5000 Palladium makeover, lucky girl.

With my goodie bag filled with girly stuffs and my Errol Arendz voucher in hand, I obviously left grinning like the Cheshire cat himself. A huge thanks to the guys & girls at Palladium Hair as well as all of the sponsors for the evening. This was definitely a party to remember.

xxx

Dermalogica Pamper party

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Karisa

Last Thu evening I totally got spoilt at the Dermalogica on Wembley. BIG SMILE.

Wembley Square also happens to be the home of my gym. I will admit, as I was sipping on champers I did feel slightly bad as I watched people walking by in their workout gear, looking all fit and healthy… and smug and stuff. But at glass number three the guilt melted away faster than your make-up in extreme humidity. Hehe.

Not only were we treated to some (OK lots of) bubbly, we were also served amazing sushi & snacks. I was totally helpless… the temptation was way too strong… I had to cave…

OK OK, maybe just one… one platter that is…

My invite to this evening of bliss was thanks to the lovely Leozette from Red Carpet Concepts. This chica is seriously one of the nicest PR people I’ve met to date. Absolutely love her.

Me & Leozette

Other ladies on the scene included Tori from Kiss Blush and Tell & of course you should know my friend Clouds from And Lollipops already:

Tori, me & Clouds

As well as Allison from Skinny bitches in the Making:

Allison was worried about showing too much boob in this pic. I said – “Phulease lady… there’s no such thing as too much boob! Boob = double the hits!”

Turns out the flowing champers was to soften the blow of the Dermalogica Face Mapping to follow. Just in case there was bad news like “Don’t worry you don’t look a day over 45 daahling” Just kidding! The face mapping was actually quite fun. Basically they inspect your skin with this sci fi looking headset with magnifying lenses to see if you have any areas on your face & neck which needs some special TLC. Dermalogica divides your face into 14 sections. Each section to them has its own quirks and special care needs and you need to treat it accordingly. They also chat to you about your concerns so they can factor that in when they make their recommendation of which products you should be considering to get you to beautiful looking skin. My concerns were anti aging (because I’m now in my 30s… gawd that still hurts everytime I have to admit that little fact) and also hyper pigmentation / sun damage. Aren’t we all? Sunscreen is such a must these days.

Here you can see my face mapping results… It’s quick & easy, only took about 15min.

After completing our face mappings we then moved onto the DIY facial area where we could get hands on with the Dermalogica products:

We kicked off by taking off our make-up with the Dermalogica PreCleanse product. Then moved on to a good wash with their Special Cleansing Gel. What I liked about both these products were that they didn’t leave your skin feeling tight. I so hate that feeling.

Then we were given their Daily Resurfacer finger glove to give our skins a good scrub:

Ta da!

This one was a total hit with everyone. Clouds and I joked about taking it to work and whipping it out while sitting in meetings. How would that be for multi-tasking…

Oh, don’t mind me… continue with your feedback on that blah thing I wasn’t really listening too in any case…

Another office winner was definitely the AGE Smart Antioxidant Hydramist which is something you can spritz onto your face throughout the day to give you some extra moisture & oomph. This is especially awesome if you work in a highly airconditioned environment (like me):

And the really great thing is that it doesn’t mess with your make up.

Next we treated our skins with a AGE Smart MultiVitamin Power Recovery Masque:

You can barely see mine. That’s because I am THAT pale at the moment. Sunshine, where are you!?! Soon I will be totally see-through…

Two key things we learnt during this skin pampering session were:

Double cleanse ladies! Yup, use a pre-cleanse product to ensure you’re taking of your day properly.
AND after you exfoliate, you must always pop on a masque. You see the exfoliator resurfaces and such and then it’s the perfect time to give your skin a boost of vitamins and all that other good stuff. (I’m horrible at skin stuff – so that’s about as technical as you’re gonna get from me. )

As if we weren’t already spoilt enough, we ended off with some herbal tea & crème brûlée:

Yum!

You too can enjoy a pamper party like this with your girls. They can accommodate up to 10 people at a time, it costs R100 per person and they usually do it on Wed/Thu evenings from 6 – 9pm. So why not get your mom, sister, girlfriends, whoever really, together and treat yourselves.

Then there are also a few good specials to take note of:

Buy a Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque (R585) and get a MultiVitamin Thermafoliant & a MultiVitamin Hand & Nail treatment for free:

They also have a “Bye-Bye Breakout” kit for teens for R480 which includes a night treatment, hydramist & cleanser:

Then if you buy 2 products, you get free microZone treatment (valued at R240 – a 20min treatment to suit your specific skin needs) plus a free Anti Aging kit consisting of a MultiVitamin Thermafoliant (a scrub that gets a hot when it reacts with your skin – it’s very cool), a MultiVitamin Power Firm (eye cream) & a MultiVitamin Hand & Nail Treatment:

I couldn’t resist this deal. I was really impressed with that Multivitamin Power Recover Masque & then I also got their Pure Light day cream with 30 SPF, so those were the 2 products I bought and then I got all that other stuff for FREE.

A huge thank you to the ladies at Dermalogica for teaching me a few new skin tricks. I’m usually super lazy when it comes to my skin care routine, but I’m now totally amped to look after my skin properly and avoid looking like freakin’ raisin at 50.

xxx

Pure relaxation at the Equinox Spa

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Karisa

Last weekend I got treated to an amazing pampering experience at the gorgeous Equinox Spa in the equally gorgeous, 5 star Cape Royale hotel.

The best part? I got to take my friend Dani with me!

Now I’ve always loved the look of the Cape Royale hotel. The hotel was modelled after Place Vendôme which is a beautiful square in Paris which was built back in the late 17th / early 18th century, but is still in perfect shape today. The building immediately takes me back to an amazing holiday I had in France back in 2008 and also makes me think of all things romantic, opulent & indulgent. I’m a huge sucker for all things Parisian. I even cried during Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. Gawd that movie is beautiful… Anyhoo, I digress.

To get to the spa, you go one floor up from the hotel’s reception area. I loved the spa’s strong monochrome look, accented with luxurious wallpaper and small splashes of red:

The treatment rooms are elegant and incredibly cosy. You feel like you could easily just slip away into a deep sleep… dreaming of things like Dom Perignon, Crème Brûlée & Louis Vuitton bags… ah un pur bonheur.

Oooh and I was also madly in love with this mirror. Could totally picture it in my bathroom back at home. Too bad it was too big to fit into under my coat without looking suspicious. Bummer.

We were being spoilt with a 1 hr full body Chakra hot candle massage. Doesn’t that sound just amazing? But before our treatment, we first got to chill in the relaxation room where Botticelli’s beautiful Venus was looking after us:

At that point we were drinking water… cause we were trying to act all healthy and stuff.

This was followed by 60min of heaven on earth. About half way into the massage I was purrrrrring like a little kitten. Some might call that snoring… I say… whatever. After our massage we headed back to the relaxation room and this time we opted for the champers without any hesitation.

A well deserved treat

I have to say a huge thanks to the ladies at Equinox Spa for looking after us so well. I really can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. I was so relaxed, I could have been hit in the face with a rugby ball or something and I wouldn’t even have flinched.

But listen up now ladies (and gents), here’s a bit of an inside scoop: The massage we had is not on their official spa menu. You have to be in the know to get it. But now you are! The cost is R480 (that’s per person).

Then they are also currently running two really great specials at the moment:

2 for 1 massage for only R400
** 2 x 60min swedish massage
** Valid Mon – Thu from 10am to 4pm.
4 week chemical peel treatment for R2500 or 6 weeks for R3000
** 1 session per week, with SPF & 1 maintenance facial
** Nimue mild medical strenght
** 3 options: Glycolic, T.C.A or Chemibrasian
** Best to do these in winter as it makes your skin quite sun sensitive

To make a booking, call them on 021 430 0511 or email them at info@equinoxspa.co.za. Come on, treat yourself, you deserve it…

xxx

My Knightsbridge Spa experience

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Karisa

So a while back I bought a deal from the newly relaunched Citymob (which has some awesome deals btw) for the following:

R199 for 4 pamper treatments and full use of spa facilities at Knightsbridge Spa in Century City.
The offer included an express mani, express pedi, MAX facial
treatment, Indian Head massage and full use of the facilities which includes a heated swimming pool & jacuzzi.

It wasn’t the first time I had seen this spa offering deals on group buying sites. I had seen them on Citymob before and also on Groupon, so I figured I should try them out. R199 for 4 treatments was after all a pretty amazing deal and I figured it would be the perfect thing to do the day before I jetted off to Mozambique (to look all pretty & stuff on my holiday ).

Now the spa is a bit of a mission to find if you’re not a Century City local. I find that area very confusing to be honest. But basically if you’re coming from town on the N1, you turn off to Canal Walk, go past the shopping centre turn off, then turn right at a big cream building, then go over a traffic circle, then turn at another cream building, another traffic circle, about two more traffic circles and then past some more cream buildings. Easy right? It’s on Esplanade Road, best you Google maps it for exact directions.

The building looks like this:

Surprise! It’s yet another cream building. Points to them for adding that pop of orange though. The building also has a bridge structure at the top joining two apartment pillars together. So if you get lost, just look up for that, it’s quite big so you can’t miss it.

The spa is down one level from the building’s reception area. The spa reception area is pretty basic with dark wood furnishings and beige & brown colours:

The pool & jacuzzi area is nice and big:

And the treatment rooms are quite “snug” but very tidy with a soft brown palette:

We kicked off with the express pedi & then the mani. My biggest complaint here is that it was done while I was lying down on the bed. So firstly, I couldn’t see what was going on and secondly the lighting in that room is way too dark for even my therapist to see what she was doing.

The pedi looked OK, but with the mani… let’s just say we had serious “creative differences”. We both agreed on the basic principle that one shouldn’t paint nail varnish right into the cuticle as it might creep in under the cuticle and look weird. BUT in her mind that meant leaving about a 2mm gap, thus exposing quite a bit of bare nail and looking like I’d only decided to pay for a 3/4 mani. I think this diagram best depicts the issue at hand (excuse the pun. hehe):

I’m not sure whether this is a common practice. But I’ve certainly never come across it before, so I asked her to fix it. Instead of taking the varnish off though, she tried to fix it by going over it with a few more coats. Needless to say the result wasn’t great, but at that point I just wanted to get on with things so I told her to leave it as is (thinking I would try to fix it up at home).

The facial & the Indian head massage was nice. Very refreshing & relaxing. So happiness returned to my soul after those two. Sadly I was in a serious rush, so I didn’t have time to chill in the jacuzzi, but boy it did look pretty damn inviting.

Even though I was really annoyed with my mani, the other 3 treatments were cool. So I still think it was a good deal for R199. I’d say if you see them on a group buying special again, it’s fairly safe to give them a bash. Then you can decide it it’s the kind of place you’ll go back to again if it was full price. I probably won’t cause it’s a bit out of my way and there are a few places closer to home which I prefer…

xxx

Pamper party bliss

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Karisa

The past few months I’ve been on bridesmaid duty. When my dear friend, Lucy first asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, I was nervous… like REALLY nervous. I mean, I know absolutely nothing about weddings! But luckily, thanks to Luce’s amazing organising skills and bubbly personality, helping out has been such a breeze…

My major responsibility was to put together the bachelorette celebrations. Lucy being both a fabulous lady and a mean party girl, I decided to do it in 2 parts:

An afternoon pamper party
A night out on the town

For part 1 – the lovely ReyJeane from ReyJeane Salon & Spa in Mouille Point hooked me up by offering us her gorgeous salon for the afternoon.

Pretty chandeliers, velvet seating, great view…

A fresh, modern look and super friendly therapists all ensured that everyone was very happy.

The ladies attending got to choose between a mini mani, a mini pedi or a luxurious hair treatment & blowdry. Or hey, even all 3 if your heart so desired – which is exactly what we organised for our “bride to be” to ensure she got the full pamper experience.

Just look at the seriously cute pedi stations!

I only had to bring in my own champers, because food wise they also had us totally covered with decadent French snacks from Cédric, a French pastry chef who shares part of the premises with ReyJeane.

Large quiche (R250), macarons in various flavours (R5.50 each) and white & milk chocolate mini eclairs (R6 each).

All the food went down like a treat. I really couldn’t believe the amazing quality taking the prices into account. Normally regte egte French goodies like these would set you back way more.

Then this has nothing to do with anything, but there was a lady in the store that had the cutest ugly doggie! (I loooooove ugly doggies – the uglier they are, the more I want to cuddle them)

He’s like: Come down here so I can give you a kiss baby… if only I wasn’t allergic… sigh…

The pamper party was a great success. We all left there looking beautiful and ready for the big night ahead. A huge thanks to ReyJeane and her ladies & gents for letting us take over the place for the afternoon. And also to Cédric for the amazing food.

I would highly recommend this to any other bridesmaids out there who are stuck with ideas. Or even if you just want to organise a bit of a girls get-together. Every girl can do with more pampering right.

xxx

PS. I’ll tell you all about “part 2″ in my next post.

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Category Archives: Pamper bliss