Summer Spa Treatments

Great Ways to Treat Yourself and Tune Up Your Skin

With its sunny weather, carefree attitude and bright, bare-all wardrobe, summer truly is the season to be seen. No more hiding beneath layers of winter wear; now is the time to flaunt your skin and put your best face forward. And what better way to show off your skin than with a rejuvenating a trip to the spa?

Two of the first things that come to mind when we think of summer are beaches and bikinis. Images of lounging under the sun with toes buried in the sand, however, are often met with the anxiety that our skin still hasn’t come out of its winter hibernation. Fortunately, many spas offer special body treatments designed to fast-track your way to that beach bod.

Body Wraps

Seaweed and mud body wraps are a great way to target built-up toxins in the skin and, some claim, to even trim a few inches off your waistline. Also known as body cocoons, body wraps usually begin with light exfoliation. Next, detoxifying seaweed, algae, mud or clay is applied to the skin and the entire body is wrapped in special plastic, mylar or cloth sheets to trap the ingredients against the skin and help contour the body. Body wraps affect change through vasodilation, or expanding the blood vessels to increase blood flow, specifically to the skin. This helps expel heat, excess water (bloating) and toxins from the body, leaving it supple, smoother and slimmer looking.

Sunless Tanning

No one wants to hit the beach looking like a ghost, but before you sign up for that salon multi-session, consider a professional spray-on tan. Considerably safer than its harmful UV-bathing cousin, a pro glow can better pass for the real thing, mimicking your skin’s natural, sun-kissed tone (no “fake bake” orange tint) and providing more even coverage than an electric bed (no pale “side lines”). Sunless tanning works by creating a darkening chemical reaction with dead cells on the skin’s surface. Depending on how quickly your skin renews itself, the effect can last anywhere from three to ten days. In addition to achieving a more natural looking, UV-free glow, some sunless bronzers also infuse the skin with essential vitamins, nutrients and anti-aging ingredients.

Masks and Facials

Because of the heat, humidity and sun, chemical peels and deep exfoliation are not recommended during the summer months. You can, however, refresh and rejuvenate your complexion with any number of lightly exfoliating masks and facial procedures. While not as dramatic as a peel, masks and facials can liven up dull, winter-weary skin and help soften the look of surface lines with dewy hydration.

And don’t be fooled into thinking a facial is just for the face. Many spas offer full body “facials,” designed to exfoliate from head to toe, as well as targeted treatments for breakout-prone areas such as the back.

Pedicures

Sandals were made for summer. Whether laced-up, braided, closed or open-toed, these strappy accessories are meant to do one thing and one thing alone: show off your feet. Unless you’ve been pampering your pieds throughout the year, odds are your feet could use some refreshment. In answer to this ten-digit dilemma, most spas offer comprehensive pedicure or mani/pedi packages, designed to soften, smooth and give a splash of color to feet and toes that are just now seeing the light of day. While regular scrubbing and softening is a great way to get in shape for sandal weather, limit the amount of nail painting to once a month and opt for lighter shades, which won’t stain nails yellow like their darker-hued counterparts.

Information Courtesy “http://www.cosmedix.com/”