Spas give quirky treatments to battle holiday stress
By Katherine Houstoun CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Lisa Billings/Chesterfield Observer Co-owned by Leslie Marshall, It's a Wrap in Sycamore Square offers mineral wraps that help detoxify the body while also taking off inches.

The advent of winter provides the perfect opportunity to think about a bit of soothing pampering - whether it's for you and your aching feet, or for someone else in need of a stress-relieving spa treatment. Not only does the cold weather wreak havoc on our skin and hair, but the holidays tend to have their own damaging effect on our stress levels - and our sanity.

These days, spas and salons are offering ever more specialized treatments, making it easier to find a service that will suit you and everyone else on your holiday shopping list. The mommy-to-be, for example, will find a tempting menu of relaxing treatments at Spa Epidauros.

"There are different concerns [when you're pregnant]," said spa owner Anka Markie. "We all know that you don't want to eat certain things when you're pregnant; you also don't want to put certain things on your skin because a lot of them can be absorbed into your body."

For that reason, Spa Epidauros uses Mama Mio products specifically created for use by expectant moms in all of its maternity services, including the Free Loader, a 30-minute body massage that focuses on the muscles responsible for supporting the pregnant tummy ($65), and the Yummy Tummy, a 50-minute treatment that exfoliates and moisturizes the abdomen - while also treating those unfortunate stretch marks ($80).

If you'd rather treat loose or sagging skin, you might be more interested in a pulsed light skin tightening treatment from La Bella Dona Skin Care. Previously available only through doctors' offices, this non-invasive treatment uses light therapy to tighten loose skin on the face, neck and other areas of the body.

"It creates a mock trauma to the skin to make it think that it needs to send more collagen and elastin to the surface so it tightens up the skin cells," explained esthetician Shia Noth.

Noth recommends a series of at least six treatments performed about two weeks apart, though you won't start to see results for at least six weeks. At $400 a pop, the procedure isn't inexpensive, but the results are enduring.

"It's not a 'just for now' treatment," said Noth. "It lasts. They are lasting results - unless gravity pulls you down again."

If you are looking for more immediate, but less permanent, results, you might turn to It's A Wrap. The Hollywood-themed spa offers head-to-toe mineral body wraps that claim to take inches off your body, while also decreasing the toxins residing within it.

"You have impurities in your body - everybody does - that lodge themselves in between the fat cells," explained Kaye Crenshaw, who owns the spa with husband Lee and friend Leslie Marshall. "When the minerals [from the wrap] go in, the impurities go out. The space between the cells where the impurities were become closer…The end result is loss of inches, but the real benefit is the impurities coming out of your system so that you can function properly as a human."

According to Crenshaw, the procedure results in tightened and toned skin, rather than actual weight loss or fat burn. She suggests the People's Choice wrap, which costs $135 per treatment, for beginners. With no risk of dehydration, it's just the sort of thing that might help you get into last year's cocktail dress.

"A lot of people do use the wraps for special occasions," said Crenshaw, who recommends 2-4 treatments per year to keep impurities at bay. "They come in because of the inches they lose, but they come back for how they feel."

Mineral body wraps, skin tightening treatments and maternity spa services are only a few of the many offerings available at spas and salons today. If you find the holiday season taking a toll on your mind and body, consider taking an hour out of your day to indulge in some valuable - and relaxing - "me" time. Or, if your schedule won't allow it, a simple hint to a significant other might ensure that a gift certificate finds its way into your own stocking.