Balaji Narasimhan tells you why he is danger of turning into a spa junkie
Balaji Narasimhan tells you why he is danger of turning into a spa junkieSometime in the early 90s, I realised that there was just one downside to living with a very kind and rich aunt in New Delhi.
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Wait, I can hear you say, what has this got to do with my spa visit last week? Patience, gentle reader, I will tell all. I'm referring to my Delhi days just to show you that there are no secrets between me and my readers.u00a0
Ok, getting back to the flashback, the downside was that I had to cut my hair at a rather posh saloon because my aunt wanted me to look good.
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I hated this place because they showed me half a dozen hairstyles when I told them 'cut my hair short'. All my friends, except my two best friends Johnny and Jack, used to tease me saying that I was somebody who visited a saloon in lieu of going to a barber (just to show that there are no secrets between me and my readers, I must admit that the surnames of my two best friends in those days were Walker and Daniels respectively).u00a0
Hair and now
Now, I'm an avid biker and my idea of hair maintenance is to use a certain brand of hair oil, which is red in colour because my engine also uses oil that is red in colour. Ask me the difference between a Jikov and a Pacco carburettor, and I can tell you why the Jikov is noisier (you may not want to know this, but just to show that there are no secrets between me and my readers, it is because the Jikov has a float that rotates inside the chamber, which causes a distinctive hum). But don't ask me about spas.u00a0
Knead, steam, wash
But I decided that I would go to Oryza on Lavelle Road because MiD DAY wanted to get a man's perspective on spas (that's me always cooperative, though my teachers will tell you different). And come to think of it, it was a good experience.u00a0
I went there at 4 pm and met Sanjana Pereire, the Kerastase ambassador. She used a lens-like device connected to a laptop, which showed my scalp under high magnification. Thanks to this machine, she found out that I have an oily scalp, a small amount of dandruff, and that my hair was dull, dry and the ends were weak (this is very similar to what my teachers told my parents about me when I was in school).u00a0
To rectify matters, she ordered one of the bright, exuberant boys at the spa to wash my hair with a shampoo designed for oily scalp and dry ends. This was followed by a fusion treatment for dry hair and another treatment for softness and dryness. Finally, there was foundation treatment to give my hair a curly look and an enhancer for dry and split ends.u00a0
The whole ritual, called a purifying ritual, cost around Rs 2,300.u00a0 This treatment took around 90 minutes to complete, and also included a very relaxing foot massage.
The masseur got a special instruction from me use a hot towel to wipe away the massaging cream when you are done. This was primarily because I ride an antique Jawa, and only a special moron will kick-start a Jawa when his legs especially the left leg is oily (you know, I am actually a lot cleverer than what my teachers gave me credit for).u00a0
When I went home, the best thing was that I slept like a baby at night and the next morning, I found that the treatment had also reduced hair fall. Of course, there is a downside to everything. In this case, my younger nephew refused to let me pick him up because he didn't like the fact that I smelt so different after the hair wash.
Where: Oryza, Lavelle RoadThe ritual
>>Shampoo for oily scalp and dry ends
>>Fusion treatment for dry hair
>>Treatment for softness and dryness
>>Foundation for curly hair
>>Enhancer, which is the last part of the ritual, which targets dry hair and split ends
A bath for Rs 5 lakhWhen you finish with any spa treatment, one question is bound to hit youu2014what is the most expensive spa treatment in the world?
After searching around, we have found something that fits the bill. We would hesitate to call it the costliest ever, but we are sure that this is among the costliest.
This is the Evian bath at the Spa V at the Hotel Victor in South Beach, Florida.
The treatment costs a cool $5,000 and if you cough up the dough, then you are offered a bath in a tub filled with almost 350 gallons (around 1,324 litres) of Evian mineral water, which is mixed with rose petals.
Of course, you can't get this treatment for a measly $5,000 because this is only available to you if you are using the Penthouse Suite, which costs a cool $6,000.
So, you need to cough up $11,000 (Rs 518,210). One person who has gone through the Evian Experience is tennis superstar Serena Williams.
