Enjoy a spa, and drink it too

Typically, you'd reserve you coffee for the mornings and wine at sundown. But, Tuscan Wine Journey, a wine spa and, coffee spa, Morning Coffee Escape, have other ideas for you. The two newly opened spas will let your skin have all the fun without the hangover or the stains. Dhara Vora went into test drive mode and returned with a happy afterglow

Nailspa Experience
Experience: Good
Service: Competant
Cost: Expensive

Tuscan Wine Journey
Cannot find the time or the energy for a candle-lit dinner? You can get away by booking a session of this therapy for your girlfriend, as it involves a room lit with candles, wine and a lot of pampering. We are talking about the Tuscan Wine Journey spa at Nailspa Experience. We were sold by the name and the thought of indulging in a therapy that uses a broken down version of wine for its therapy - wine powder, red grape seed extract, crushed grape seeds and grape seed oil. This entire body massage is targetted at skin polishing and tightening with the help of the high anti-oxidants level of wine.

Tuscan Wine Journey at Nailspa Experience. Pics/ Neha Parekh

We started our hour-and-a-half therapy with a scrub made from wine powder, and grape seed crush. Our masseuse, Noori, confirmed with the amount of pressure on our body we would be comfortable with and started with the scrubbing. Half way through the scrubbing we could start smelling the wine as the powder started mixing with water. Cheese bits anyone? But eating was way behind us as the vigourous scrubbing had our entire body ultra sensitive and the pores tingling. The loud piped music, however, played spoilsport - the same tracks were flowing through the nail bar outside and the spa; thankfully, it was switched off after a while.

All cleaned up, we were then asked to take a shower to wash of the granules and get ready for the massage. A mixture of wine oil and relaxing oil; the aroma began to lull us to sleep. Our masseuse's deft movements that included quick and pressurised strokes, un-knotted every fatigued, neglected muscle in body. Pampered to the core, the massage is followed by an all-body mask for extra nourishment, after which you try and fight your sleep waiting for the mask to dry.

Thanks to all the scrubbing and the oil being rubbed into our skin, it felt smoother. The spa also offers a Peruvian Chocolate Spa. But at '4,500 for 75 minutes of heaven, we found it steep; therapy aside, several spas offer a better overall experience for that much dough. These body spas are for women only.

At: Ground floor, Kusum Kunj building, Nailspa Experience, Linking Road, near Guess showroom, Khar (W).
Call: 65324444u00a0

Heavenly Spa
Experience: Calming
Service: Excellent
Cost: Expensive

Morning Coffee Escape
Now, would you really head all the way to Goregaon for your morning cup of coffee? We did, but this was a cup full sans the milk and sugar, it seeped straight into the skin. We have tried chocolate on our skin and felt it was about time we give coffee a go as well. We signed up for the Morning Coffee Escape therapy at Heavenly Spa. Greeted by smiling staff, the vibes in the plush spa immediately got us relaxed, with its soft lighting mixed with sunlight pouring in.

( From Left ) Wine oil mixed with aromatic oil,u00a0Wine and grapeseed powder,u00a0Finishing mask

We were asked to fill a form about any health complications or medications we were on and the areas we would like concentrated on. We were directed towards the steam-cum-shower cum lounge room where we relaxed with a cup of green tea in a comfy bathrobe as the steam room was readied for this brewing experience.

As if on cue, the room was ready once we were done with our honey-infused tea. Steamed, we waited open pores for our therapy to begin. The spa has nine rooms (each named as rose, mint, ours was chamomile, and so on) and our masseuse Mayuri accompanied us to our spacious cabin.

We started with a warm water foot dip mixed with sea salts and tea tree oil for their anti-fungal properties. Then, lying face down (even the head rest was mildly scented!) we were told that our 90-minute-therapy would be divided into 60 minutes of massaging and 30 of scrubbing. Our masseuse checked whether we were comfortable with the AC temperature and the volume of music; we loved their attention to tiny, essential details.

The massage began with warm oil with a citrus-ey and eucalyptus based aroma being rubbed into our legs and feet. Our mention that the shoulders and back get extra attention was duly noted; in fact, the oil was helping our breathing, already. The massage was peppered with warm towel compresses in between.

Post the massage, we began with the coffee scrub section. The aroma of coffee had filled the room: we could've very nearly been outside Madras Café in Matunga. The coffee granules worked well as a scrub and the smell was relaxing.

Thirty minutes flew past and we were tucked into a towel and a cover for the aroma to be retained, this while getting a soothing head massage. The best part? The hot towel cover on the face slipped us into sleep mode, almost instantly. Once informed that the therapy was complete, we felt like kids being asked to wake up on early Sunday mornings.

The result - the tan on our hands and skin looked visibly lighter due to the scrubbing, and soft too. The therapy costs '5,550 plus taxes, for 90 minutes, and we cherished every minute of the therapy. They offer body spas for both men and women.

At: Heavenly Spa, Westin Mumbai Garden City, Goregaon (E).
Call: 67361400
Both visits were conducted as honest previews.u00a0