Macy and the magic stones - Day 12 of 35 days to 35

I'm into being pampered. Who wouldn't be? It is so nice to go to a spa and pretend, just for a few hours that you are someone important, you are THAT girl who gets waited on hand and foot. I picture myself one day reclined in a massage chair simultaneously getting a manicure, pedicure, facial and shoulder massage, with someone standing next to me feeding me my water so I don't have to move. Chances are that day will never come, so today I will settle for a facial.

Being the frequent spa patron that I am, it's perplexing that I have never had a facial. It wasn't necessarily an aversion to it, I really just never thought about it. So I wasn't really sure what to expect out of a facial. What do they do besides clean your face? Images of women in white robes with gunky masks and cucumbers over their eyes dance in my head as I find the Mitchell's Salon & Day Spa website. This is where I go for all of my other spa needs (yes, they ARE needs) so I figured they should handle my facial as well. I find the "menu of services" expecting to just see the price of a facial and I am hit with TEN different types of facials. Really? Ten? There are ten different ways to clean a face? I read the descriptions and get lost in words like alpha hydroxy, glycolic peel, antioxidant, collagen, elastin and detoxify....I just want a facial, I didn't realize it would be like a science experiment! Confused, I settle on the one that sounds the simplest: the express facial. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it sounds like the bunny hill of facials, which is exactly what I was looking for. After the acupuncture fiasco I didn't want to dive into the deep end again, so I am hoping this will be okay.

I arrive at Mitchell's a few minutes early. I made sure to scrub my face (after committing the cardinal skin sin of sleeping in my makeup), though I suppose that was a little unnecessary since I am about to pay a pretty penny to have my face cleaned professionally. But I didn't want it to be blatantly obvious that I don't know much about skin care, so I did the best I could. I check in and am sent back to the spa waiting area. Now, when you come to the salon, you wait in the main lobby but the spa waiting area is a whole new experience. I walk through the door to a dimly lit room with calming music softly playing. It isn't long before Macy, my esthetician for the day, comes to show me back to the locker room. Locker room? She leads me to a room that really can't be defined as a locker room...yes it has lockers in it, but that is where the similarities end. There is a table on the far wall with coffee, tea, lemon water and cookies (yes cookies!). It is noticeably void of the typical locker room smell, instead the scent of eucalyptus fills the air. She instructs me to undress and put on the towel that looks like a strapless dress and the fluffy white robe. I was not expecting to undress for a facial, but I guess I have to go with it. She tells me to go to the "relaxation room" when I am done and wait for her there. I'm very curious as to what exactly a relaxation room is. Isn't this whole place a relaxation room? I can't imagine what else they could offer to promote relaxation. And then I enter the room. There are eight chaise lounges lining the walls, all just begging to be curled up on. Well, don't mind if is do! I lay back and close my eyes, letting myself melt into the lounger and begin to relax. Then I hear Macy's voice, "Darlene, I'm ready for you now." Dammit! I was just starting to get the hang of this relaxation room! At this point I don't even really need a facial, I could just take a long nap in the relaxation room and be good to go.

But since a nap is not on my to-do list, I follow Macy into the treatment room and lay on the heated (yay!) table. As I get comfortable, she begins quizzing me about my skin care regimen (clearly this is a quiz I will fail!) and asking if I had any concerns. How the hell should I know? As long as I still have skin, I'm not really concerned. So she begins the facial by giving my skin a deep cleanse. I lost track of how many different things she massaged into my face but at the end of each step she wrapped a warm towel on my face to remove the creams. I never knew that heaven could be found in a warm wet towel, but seriously, it felt incredible. I am laying here wondering what the hell took me so long to get a facial. This is AMAZING!! Then she begins to brush the mask on my face with what feels like a paint brush but I am not sure. The thought of her painting my face makes me want to giggle but really, I am too relaxed to do anything but sigh contentedly. I am SO adding this to my list of spa "needs"! And just when I think there isn't anything that can make this experience better, she begins to massage my shoulders and arms....with hot stones. If you have never experienced the sheer bliss that is a hot stone massage, you are living a miserable existence. There are no words to describe the magic that is held in these rocks. She finishes my right arm and moves to my left and the sadness begins to take over as I realize this wonderfulness is almost over. Please don't stop, please don't stop!! Damn. Okay, I guess she's done.

I try to peel myself off the table which proves to be much harder than I anticipated. It's now only 11:00 a.m. and the only thing I want to do is take a big fat nap. Then Macy says the magic words: "Why don't you take a few minutes to sit in the relaxation room before you leave?" I do my best to try not to run to the room and claim my precious chaise lounge.

I wonder what I'd have to do to get one of these rooms in my house.....