Resources – Page 4 – East Village Spa Blog

The benefits of quiet during a spa service

Many of our guests for massage and facial services at the spa prefer to completely zone out and enjoy much needed quiet time, without the harassing buzz of e-mail alerts or demands of family or co-workers.

Sometimes guests ask if it is rude if they relax quietly and the answer is a big, resounding NO! If quietly venting about your stress to your therapist helps you to relax, then by all means, feel free, but don’t feel like we expect you to talk or you have to engage your massage therapist or esthetician in conversation.

The truth is, your service will usually be much more beneficial with longer lasting results if you do take some time to quiet your mind. Your therapist can focus more on what he or she is doing and can really concentrate and “listen” to your tissue and feel for subtle changes in the muscles. If you zone out our doze off, your muscles tend to relax a bit more to allow for deeper work because your mind isn’t telling your muscles to tighten up or hold tension patterns.

If quieting the mind doesn’t come easily for you or if you find yourself needing to squeeze in a short massage between meetings, we’d like to offer a few ideas to help get into the right frame of mind to relax during your spa services.

1. If at all possible, arrive 5-10 minutes early so you can read a magazine, sip some tea or water, and feel like you’ve had a minute to transition to a spa frame of mind.

2. Leave your phone in the car or at home. Just knowing it is nearby can be enough to keep someone out of the zone and an unexpected beep or buzz can startle you back to reality.

3. When your therapist leaves you to disrobe and climb under the sheets, take a moment to enjoy the peaceful feeling of being alone and take some slow, deep breaths as you set an intention for your service and repeat it to yourself. Ideas include “I will let my mind rest,” or “I will let my tension go.”

4. During your massage, continue taking slow deep breaths and focus on the way your body feels and responds during the service.

A great resource on the benefits of a quiet treatment is the article The Healing Effects of Massage Mind. Click here to read the article. Click here to book your next spa service and mental vacation.

Should you try Nia?

When our massage therapist and certified Nia instructor Allison Peterson first approached me about teaching Nia at the spa, I wasn’t sure what to think because it seemed so out of our element, but upon further research, it seems like Nia is the perfect complement to our existing wellness services!

Nia was developed in the 1980s as a way to provide aerobic, stretching, and strength training in a safe, non-impact format. Nia is set to music and draws from various forms of dance, healing arts, and martial arts. Nia enthusiasts enjoy that the workout is both energizing and relaxing at the same time.

Alison recently did demonstrations of Nia at a spa event and it was a hit with the attendees! It was my first sample of the technique and I could pinpoint from the movements she guided us through exactly where my low back aches were stemming from.

Allison Peterson demonstrates Nia to spa party attendees

Nia is great for all fitness levels and will serve as a perfect way for people who are seeing our massage therapists to help with pain, balance and flexibility. Nia is even an appropriate fitness class for people who have Parkinson’s Disease, MS, arthritis and certain musculoskeletal conditions.

For an idea of the kinds of movements that make up a Nia class, watch this great video:

Class size is limited. We are offering two 8-week sessions of classes. one on Thursday mornings 8:00-9:15 am and one Monday evenings from 5:30-6:15. We recommend signing up for as many classes as you can, but recognize that life, meetings, and vacations happen so you can sign up for individual classes online here, as opposed to committing to the entire 8-week session! Individual classes are just $15 and space is limited to 10 per class.

Thursday morning session starts April 2, 2015, Monday evening session starts April 6, 2015.

7 Fun Valentine’s Day Ideas (that are not couple’s massages!)

For the second year in a row, we’re sharing our favorite Valentine’s Day gift and activity ideas that are not couple’s massages! We have 3 couple’s massage rooms and all of them have been booked since mid January for Couple’s Massage because Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year. You aren’t out of luck though, Des Moines offers lots of great date spots and we offer lots of great gifts for an at-home spa day!

1. Spa day at home

Draw a bath and soak in one of our Kneipp bath salts or liquid baths. We recommend a blend of the Pure Bliss and the Almond Soft Skin for a bath that will make your mood and your skin feel beautiful. Pick up one of our Kneipp or Farmhouse Fresh Massage Oils and trade massages. All of our massage oils are 15% off during February! Finally, at the end of your spa day at home, surprise your sweetie with a gift card to visit East Village Spa for the services of their choice.

2. Lunch at Trellis and a romantic stroll through the Botanical Center Gardens

It is cold and snowy white outside right now but warm and colorful in the lush gardens inside the Des Moines Botanical Center. Grab a romantic lunch and sip from the great wine and beer selection at Trellis inside the Botanical Center and stroll hand-in-hand while you look at the beautiful gardens.

3. Get your heart racing!

Join Fleet Feet, our neighbors across the street, for their Saturday Morning Social Run at 8 am on Saturday, February 14th. Single? Who knows, you might just meet your soul (or sole…get it?) mate! No registration needed, Fleet Feet hosts lots of free, fun social runs!

The annual Red Flannel Run is also on Valentine’s Day this year, starting and ending at the NEW Wellmark YMCA. Registration is still open!

4. Book her a blow out hairstyle at Blo and enjoy Hoq’s Valentine’s Day menu.

Visit our neighbors across the street at Blo for a blow-out hairstyle (I recommend getting the scalp massage upgrade!) and then take her to show it off over an Iowa farm-to-table dinner at Hoq. As of 2/4/15 Hoq still had openings after 8:30 pm for Valentine’s Day and had openings for their same prix fixe Valentine’s Menu on Friday 2/13. Blo had a few openings both Friday and Saturday. Reservations required for both!

Check out Hoq’s menu and contact info here, and book your Blo appointment online here.

5. Dinner at home

Purchase all the ingredients for a delicious dinner at home including spices and oils from our East Village Neighbors Allspice and add a fun surprise by including a special gift from Kitchen Collage that can be used to make the dish. Need recipe inspiration? Two of our favorite cooking blogs are Budget Bytes (easy, delicious and you can use the savings to buy higher quality spices!) and Iowa Girl Eats.

6. Movie and drinks

Fleur Cinema is a great place to catch a flick and if you bring your ticket stubs to neighboring Mezzodi’s, you get two for one drinks and the perfect opportunity to discuss the movie you just saw!

7. A perfect pair: Fruit Fantasia Tea from Gong Fu and something pretty from Amour

Amour in the East Village has lots of lovely underpinnings, jammies, and robes in a beautiful and inviting shop. Heather, the owner, and her team are great at making recommendations and helping even the most timid of gift-givers feel comfortable shopping for their sweeties. They also recommend Gong Fu Tea’s Fruit Fantasia blend as an aphrodisiac. With a rosy hue and sweet tart fruit flavor, it certainly is delicious!

The beauty of a bath

Just typing this blog post makes me long for a soak in the tub with a good book and my favorite Kneipp bath liquids. Baths are not only indulgent, but as any bathing aficionado knows, the health benefits can’t be denied!

Okay, I did get inspired by my own post and filled my trusty tub with beautiful blue Deep Sleep liquid bath from Kneipp. :) — Okay, I did get inspired by my own post and filled my trusty tub with beautiful blue Deep Sleep liquid bath from Kneipp. 🙂

Relief of joint and muscle pain:

According to the Arthritis Foundation, a warm bath benefits people who have fibromyalgia, low back pain, and arthritis. For added benefits, try using a muscle soak in your bath like Kneipp’s Arnica Joint Relief or Juniper Muscle Ache bath soaks.

Bedtime benefits:

The Mayo Clinic suggests trying a bath at bedtime as part of your night time ritual. For added benefit, we recommend trying the Kneipp Valerian and Hops Deep Sleep bath blend or the Lavender Bath blends. Kneipp recommends scheduling bedtime 15-20 minutes after a soak in their deep sleep bath.

Flexibility benefits:

A warm bath is a great place to gently stretch or massage easy to reach muscles like your calves, quads, or in your feet. Scheduling a massage or chiropractic adjustment, gentle yoga or stretching after a bath is great too because muscles are warmed up and loose.

Circulatory Boost:

For people with poor circulation or to warm up in the winter, a warm bath will help arteries and veins to expand and increase blood flow. I especially love (and need!) a bath after a winter run outside.

To enhance the circulatory benefits, add an aromatherapy bath with warming oils like Kneipp’s Spruce and Pine bath.

Soften Skin:

While bathing in overly hot water or salts can dry out skin, a bath in a softening or hydrating oil can nurture and moisturize skin, especially hard-to-reach skin on the back. A tablespoon of almond or jojoba oil added to the bath or some of Kneipp’s skin soft almond bath will leave skin feeling great.

Bath Safety:

The arthritis foundation recommends soaking in warm (not hot) water between 92 and 100 degrees. They caution that anything hotter can stress the cardiovascular system, particularly for people predisposed to heart problems.

Adding oil to the tub will make it slick so be careful getting out of the bath and use caution the next morning if you hop in the shower to make sure it isn’t still slick!

Lastly, don’t add essential oils directly to your bath without a carrier oil or salt! There are many great soaking blends from companies like Kneipp that have proper instructions and dilutions, if you don’t have ample aromatherapy training or background, stick with those. Essential oils won’t mix with water so if you put drops of them “neat” (right out of the bottle undiluted with oil or salt) in your tub, you may end up with a burn (possibly in a sensitive spot!) because the oil won’t dissolve. Trust me, I can attest to this. Ouch!

What are your favorite bath rituals, products, or blends?

Are acne treatments contributing to superbugs and tips for mild to moderate acne.

A widely circulated article in the Wall Street Journal published this week discusses the risk of creating superbugs with traditional antibiotic acne treatment. Doctors are finding that the antibiotics that were once effective are no longer helping and the doctors quoted fear that prescribing antibiotics for acne will open teenagers and others up to developing other serious conditions like drug-resistant MRSA.

From our experience, people aren’t always clear on the causes and types of acne, plus there are lots of myths surrounding acne treatments and causes. This article from the Mayo Clinic offers great advice on the different types of acne and when to seek medical help for yours. It also offers tips on preparing for your appointment with a dermatologist.

Unfortunately, you can’t just hope for better skin, you need to make changes to your routine and possibly lifestyle. For mild acne, you might evaluate your day-to-day routine. A few ideas include:

Cleaning your phone with antibacterial wipes daily to avoid spreading oil and bacteria
Changing your pillowcase every couple of days
Washing your face morning and night with an appropriate cleanser for your skin type
Get a facial from a licensed esthetician (not just the advice of a sales person behind a cosmetic counter! Usually these are not trained estheticians) for advice and help unclogging your pores safely.
Using a moisturizer appropriate for your skin type (yes! Even people with oily skin need hydration, but a gel or acne-specific cream may be best)
Try a mask or spot treatment like Derma E’s Exfoliation Mask or Farmhouse Fresh’s Pajama Paste Mask
Exfoliate weekly with a product like Derma E’s Microdermabrasion Scrub or Farmhouse Fresh’s Sand your Ground Mask (which doubles as a scrub and clay mask but do not OVER exfoliate and do not exfoliate skin that is irritated or has open areas.

For more moderate acne, in addition to all of the above:

Try regular facials for deeper cleansing and help with deep pore extractions in a way that won’t scar skin
Try a series of light chemical peels
Reduce stress, especially if your acne flares up when you are under stress
Visit a dermatologist

For severe acne, visit your doctor or dermatologist for recommendations.

We know acne can be frustrating and believe me, some of us at the spa have battled painful scarring acne before so we can empathize with the frustrations. If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to speak with a licensed esthetician or your doctor for advice or a referral.

Don't hesitate to reach out to a professional for help if you are struggling to manage your acne at home! — Don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional for help if you are struggling to manage your acne at home!

Planning your wedding spa service timeline

The holidays are one of the most popular times to get engaged and if you were part of a couple celebrating your recent engagement, CONGRATULATIONS! Hopefully you are able to enjoy planning a celebration with family and friends, but we know sometimes wedding planning can be stressful and confusing. Here are a few helpful hints for planning spa services to prepare for your wedding.

Waxing:

Whether it is a bride looking to schedule a first Brazilian or a groom wanting his first back wax, the worst time to experiment is the day or two before your wedding! For best results, we recommend getting the wax services you’re considering for your wedding and honeymoon at least 6 months out and then keeping up the routine until your wedding. The first wax is often the most painful and until you have a wax, you won’t know how your skin will react. With regular waxing, you’ll likely get a smoother result and less irritation for the big day.

If you are planning to wax your underarms or legs prior to your wedding, plan to have AT LEAST 6 weeks of growth for a smoother wax. Hair needs to be a minimum of 1/4 inch long and the longer the better in those areas. Brow and lip waxing should be planned at least 3-4 days in advance of the wedding.

Nails:

If you are a nail biter looking to grow your nails for your wedding, we recommend at least 3 months out getting at least a basic manicure every 2 weeks to help keep your cuticles and nails in shape and reduce your temptation to bite them. Applying a cuticle oil like CND Solar Oil and hand cream nightly will do wonders to get your hands and nails in shape for wedding photos.

Wearing a hard polish like Shellac is a great way to grow your nails because it makes it harder to bite your nails and easier to break the habit, especially with stressful wedding planning. Using REAL CND brand Shellac (as opposed to one of the imitation versions some salons call “Shellac”) with proper removal will not damage your nails.

Facials:

If you have skin concerns you’re looking to address before wedding photos, the best time to start working on them is at least 6 months out. A professional esthetician can help you determine the best products are for your skin needs (and your lifestyle). They can also help with clogged pores and clearing up your skin. Once a month is best for a facial, but taking care of your skin at home with the proper products for your skin type between facials is going to make the most difference!

Avoid booking a facial the day or two before your wedding or your engagement photos, especially if you are traveling and aren’t familiar with the esthetician or product lines in case your skin reacts or because deep pore cleansing can lead to break-outs while your skin is purging impurities. A facial with an esthetician you know well and products you are accustomed to should be fine the week of your wedding or photos, your esthetician can always go easy on extractions to avoid any redness.

An added benefit to facials is that they are super relaxing, with tons of massage on the face, scalp, neck, and arms. Any bride-to-be can use that nurturing stress relief!

Massage:

Sometimes during the wedding planning it can be easy to lose touch with your fiance! Booking a couple’s massage can be a great way to reconnect and relax together.

To book time to prepare for your wedding, give us a call at (515) 309-2904 or hop online to schedule when it is most convenient for you!

Top 4 ways to feel better when you have a cold (that are NOT visiting the spa!)

We love helping people to feel great and we know that the temptation to visit the spa when you are miserable with a cold or infection to seek some relief, but please do call and reschedule your appointment. If not for the health and safety of our employees and other guests, but because you run the risk of feeling more fatigued and exacerbating your symptoms creating the exact opposite effect you were hoping for!

Instead of going to the spa, try these home care remedies for some relief until you are no longer contagious.

1. Take a hot aromatherapy bath or steam in a hot shower: The steam and aromatherapy will help open your sinuses and the warm water will ease achy muscles. Our favorites are the Kneipp eucalyptus baths in liquid or mineral salts.

2. Sip a hot tea or hot toddy. The Pure Inventions drink mixes we carry are great because they contain the antioxidants of 8 cups of green tea in just one serving of their green tea extracts plus they are caffeine free so won’t dehydrate you. Add a small amount of honey, a cinnamon stick, cloves, and a shot of whiskey to your hot Pure Inventions green tea and enjoy a flavorful hot toddy to soothe a scratchy throat. Another great tea to try when you’re not feeling well is the Silver Needle Tea from our friends at Gong Fu.

3. Try a compress to reduce sinus pain or headaches, you can use a wet washcloth and keep a bowl of ice water near or use something created for sinus and migraine relief like the therapearl full face wrap (pictured) right out of the fridge.

4. Massage your foot and hand sinus reflex points. A research project at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine showed that after 2 weeks of regular stimulation of the sinus reflexology points, study participants found as much relief as they did using other natural remedies like nasal irrigation. Of course, this is best for ongoing sinus concerns when combined with a doctor’s orders, but there is no harm in trying out reflexology! Click here for great free foot and hand reflexology charts and to order resources to learn more about reflexology.

Again, if you are sick, please reschedule. We only require 4 hours notice to avoid a cancellation fee and we know often our guests know way before those 4 hours that they are feeling crummy. We want our employees and other guests to stay healthy and we don’t want you to leave feeling even worse. We’re happy to help you get back on track after you are no longer contagious (especially if you have been shivering with the chills or coughing, both of which can cause lots of pain).

Too much of a good thing?

We know that there are many benefits to our services and the products people can use at home for self care, but sometimes it is possible to get too much of a good thing! Here are a few times when it is best to ease up during a treatment or during self care at home.

1: Foam rolling

Foam rollers are great for relieving aches and pains, for myofascial release, and stretching but sometimes people over-do it and can cause injury or tissue damage for excessive or overly aggressive foam rolling. If foam rolling hurts, you might be bruising or causing tissue inflammation. Check with your chiropractor, a trusted massage therapist, experienced trainer, or physical therapist for tips.

2: Exfoliation

Who doesn’t love the smooth feeling of their skin after a good facial exfoliation? Once or twice a week is the perfect amount to exfoliate, but if you do any more than that, your skin can become dry, irritated, and overly sensitive. Ask an esthetician if you aren’t sure whether you are exfoliating the right amount or with the right consistency product.

3: Pressure during a massage

A bit of “good hurt” is helpful, but massage pressure that causes pain, makes you tense up, or grit your teeth is counterproductive and can actually bruise your tissue and create inflammation. The ideal working pressure for your body to actually create lasting change (at least when dealing with trigger points) is about a 6-7 out of 10 on the pain scale. More than that and the body tenses up to defend against the pain, causing even more tightness, potentially bruising and injury.

In most cases, if you are told by a therapist that massage has to “hurt to work” or if you experience soreness that lasts for more than a day after a massage, you might need to try a different therapist or treatment style. Please, don’t go into a massage and issue your therapist a challenge stating “Bet you can’t hurt me!” because we do not WANT to hurt you and we’d rather give you a great massage than spend 20 minutes explaining why we shouldn’t just pummel you with an elbow.

4: Aromatherapy

Essential oils are a great way to help ease stress, boost focus, and relax sore muscles but they should be used with caution and by following the instructions. Essential oils should not be used “neat” or directly on the skin without being mixed into a carrier oil or cream. Some oils can cause irritation, over-exposure to oils can cause side effects (any of us who have made too many blends and bath products at home in a sitting can attest to the headaches, insomnia, or other side-effects we’ve experienced from over-exposure), and some oils are not safe for all health concerns. The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy has some great safety info on their site.

“Throw moderation to the winds and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.” ~Democritus

Think you got a steal on your favorite brand at a big box store?

I was home visiting my mom for Thanksgiving last week and she shared with me that her hair felt gross after using the “new” bottle of salon brand shampoo she bought at the grocery store. Her hair felt like it was coated in baby oil.

I grabbed the bottle and explained diversion, the practice of big box retailers selling salon products that have been funneled through the “gray market” that are either expired, counterfeit, or stolen. And guess what…this is not illegal! So long as the products state “guaranteed only when sold by a professional” you have to do the research yourself and make sure you are getting real products!

A telltale sign is that the bar code printed onto your bottle has been covered with a sticker, including another bar code. People who make money by diverting products often wait until the bar code expires or cover it up to avoid being caught. Mom and I then played product “CSI” in her bathroom and looked for other tell-tale signs of diversion.

Two of the products we found at mom's house with telltale signs that they were diverted. — Two of the products we found at mom’s house with telltale signs that they were diverted.

One interesting thing is that I explained to my mom that the cost from the grocery store products was about the same as the product that her hair stylist was selling. People THINK they are getting a great deal when they see a product they perceive as expensive in the salon in a grocery store, but in actuality, it is likely to be close in price, or even less, than your salon or spa professional would sell the product. And you would be supporting a professional you have a relationship with instead of chain stores and unethical people.

Mom ended up throwing out several full bottles of product that LOOKED like what her stylist sold but worked nothing like them. She has vowed to purchase only in salons, even if the convenience and perceived deal in grocery stores was tempting. She said she knew something was wrong with how horrible her hair felt and I was all too happy to share the info!

Diversion isn’t just about hair products. If you purchase salon or professional quality nail products from unauthorized distributors, you are also at risk for getting counterfeit products. CND Shellac is only authorized to be used by licensed nail technicians and cosmetologists but we know that some clients purchase what they THINK is Shellac online and are excited to try applying it themselves at home (trickier than you might think!). This is an alarming article about counterfeit Shellac. Completely not worth the price when you don’t know what you’re getting and it is unfortunate that these diverted products tarnish the reputation of great brands by masquerading in similar bottles but performing poorly.

This 2008 article by Consumer Affairs gives more information about Diversion and this news report from 2013 shows that nothing much has changed since 2008 AND that typically diverted products sell for more than you would pay in a salon because they have to change hands so many times to hit drugstore/grocery/big box shelves!

The best bet is to trust your licensed spa and salon professional and question items that don’t seem like they belong in a big box store and don’t be fooled into thinking that because something is in a discount store that you are getting a deal!

We are an authorized distributor for all of our brands, and our employees have great training on the lines, ingredients, and how to use each product.

Shop local and save on Small Business Saturday!

Visit East Village Spa (or any participating small business) on November 29th and use your American Express card and you can earn up to $30 in credit back on your account! Starting in October, we were finally able to sync

What if I don’t have an AmEx card?

Even if you don’t have an American Express card, you can still take advantage of specials at our spa on Small Business Saturday. All Pure Inventions drink mixes will be 10% off and our gift card sale is in full swing! For every $100 in gift cards purchased in the spa (not online) you’ll receive a $20 voucher toward weekday services in 2015! We’ll have fancy chocolates out for you to enjoy and the first 15 people who purchase a retail item (excluding a gift card) will get a “Shop Local” tote bag and pin.

The first 15 people to purchase a retail item on 11/29 (regardless of what kind of credit card) will get a free "Shop Local" bag! — The first 15 people to purchase a retail item on 11/29 (regardless of what kind of credit card) will get a free “Shop Local” bag!

I want free money! How do I get an AmEx Statement Credit?

According to the American Express website, you can earn a $10 statement credit if you register your Amex Card and then spend $10 or more in a single, in-store transaction at a qualifying small business appearing on the Shop Small^® Map available at ShopSmallNow.com. If your transaction qualifies, you will receive a $10 statement credit within 90 days. You can take advantage of this offer up to three times, for a total of up to $30 in statement credits.

Online transactions do not qualify. Registration is limited. Other terms and conditions apply. Go to ShopSmall.com/OfferTerms for details.

Register your card as soon as possible by 11:59 pm MST on November 29th, the sooner the better because they do limit the number of cards that can participate. Corporate and prepaid cards are not eligible for the offer. Each card you wish to use must be registered separately.