i became a spa junkie

3 years ago, in my final year of managing the starbucks waverunners dragonboat team, i was given a farewell/thank you gift.....a gift card to beverly's spa on 4th. prior to receiving this i had never been to any type of spa before....not even for a manicure, and to be quite honest, i never really had any itching to go either. however, it soon became a bad addiction. but since i don't drink or smoke, then i figured why not?

also, as soon as i got engaged i decided that since i was flashing my left hand at everyone i needed to have a beautiful french manicure :-) my mission over the course of our 10 month engagement was to find the best spa for a french manicure, so i would have beautiful hands and feet on our wedding day.

beverly's spa on 4th - i jumped right in and requested La Cote D'Azur - 30 minute massage, 75 minute power facial, manicure & pedicure, discover your colours and a spa snack. this totaled 3.25 hours and cost me just a little bit (the dragonboat team was very generous!). this was heavenly....i felt totally pampered :-)

eccotique - i've visited the vancouver, richmond and burnaby locations. i haven't been there in the past year, and i've noticed the website menu has changed. the package i had was the bridal bliss (this appt. also coincided with our engagment photo pictures) - aveda custom facial, sea salt scrub, french manicure, eyebrow shaping, and a make-up touch-up. i've also had regular manicures and pedicures (with and without the paraffin dip). this was by far the best place i experienced for a french manicure, and why i picked this spa for me and girls the day before my wedding.

spa ethos - the only service i had here was the hot stone manicure. i wouldn't go back.....the treatment room made me feel like i was in a box. and the way the hot stone was described i expected a little something more than the marble pebble (i noticed they don't offer it anymore). however, a friend of mine had a pedicure there, and she loved it. the tranquility room was nice though - i'll give them props for that.

kingfisher resort and spa - this is where we had my stagette weekend. our weekend package was the 2 night summer spa escape - enjoy two nights accommodation, choice of one spa service, one three course gourmet dinner, two full breakfasts, and one hour in our Pacific Mist Hydropath. spa service is a choice of a refreshing facial, full body massage, or a thalassotherapy massage bath. rate includes unlimited use of the spa facilities including the West Coast Steam Cave, Sauna, Outdoor Hot Tub and Heated Pool, and Ocean side Fitness Room.

i upgraded my spa service to the balacing facial which included an application of self-heating marine mud to the spine - really nice!

le petit spa - this is one of the places where i only did a test of the french manicure.....it was ok. i also had my eyebrows threaded while i was there. ouch :-(

pink lime - a while ago, there was a 1/2 price coupon offer floating around e-mails everywhere. so i took advantage and booked myself a full facial. i think they forgot to mention that when you pay 1/2 price, you also get 1/2 service :P i could've sworn my facial lasted less than an hour, plus she didn't get very many blackheads out. then i went another time and had a french manicure.....first of all, the esthetician was running late due to the previous client. then, she had to leave me 1/2-way through to go help her previous client purchase some products. needless to say she did a haphazard job on the french manicure. whatever.

chatters at brava salon - this is where i went today for my french manicure.....i was looking for something close to home, and relatively cheap. renee googled this for me, and it was both decent priced and decent service. i don't know if i'd necessarily go there for full treatment services - i wasn't getting a great vibe.

in my quest, i also tried a "spa" on robson street.....the employees were all vietnamese, english was their second language, and their price boards didn't seem to match what they were telling us. we managed to bargain our way down to $15 for the american manicure, which was actually the french manicure :P i also went somewhere in yaletown for sunny's pre-wedding manis and pedis, but i can't remember the name of it.

and last but not least is SKOAH! i think i've already expressed my love for skoah by dedicating several posts, plus i'll have another update in 2 weeks after sunny and i experience our extreme facials :-)

thanks to a couple generous ppl at work, i'm now armed with gift cards to use at absolute spa. i've never been there before, but already i've noticed that their prices vary by location. seems kind of weird to me, so i'm going to try spa at the century since it's cheaper than at hotel vancouver. but that'll be a post for a future blog.....i don't think it's wise to have 2 facials within one month :P