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With spa reviews splashed across the pages of glossy magazines and hot spas turning up in gossip columns, one almost feels swindled by basic treatments. A massage now seems incomplete unless one is rubbed with freshly grated ginger or kneaded with heated stones (some of which are even placed between your toes) culled from Southwestern rivers. Just trying to choose the right facial can raise your blood pressure: Should it be a glycolic peel or a fruit peel? Some dermatologists have even created "medispas," doing cosmetic procedures like dermabrasions in spalike surroundings.
The fanciest day spas have become experiences, somewhere between theater and sin. Thick swaddling robes, mineral water and wine, gourmet buffets, fresh flowers and piped-in music are typical features. In Las Vegas, Canyon Ranch has opened a 61,000-sq.-ft. day spa--the largest in the country--at the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino. Soak and get an underwater massage in a private pool filled with flowers, or stay dry and pick one of the 18 other options, like the Balinese or Indian oil rubs. For the piece de resistance, visitors soon will be able to steam and swathe themselves in mud in a room where fiber-optic cable replicates the night sky. A soft rain from the fake night dome washes them clean.
One trouble with such high-end spas is that Eve might have a better chance of getting back into Eden than you do of getting an appointment for next week. There's a two-month wait for a signature rubdown at Houston's tony Brea spa. Eliza Petrescu, Avon's eyebrow-waxing czarina, whose customers include celebrities like Natasha Richardson, says her next open 10-min. appointment is not until March 2000. Ann Marie Gardner, beauty director and spa reviewer for the fashionista bible W, gripes, "I had my whole office calling. We couldn't get in anywhere on three days' notice, not even little no-name places."
And the quality of day spas can vary widely. While some are luxe, full-service retreats, others are tacky, glorified nail or hair salons with a wax room. Some discreetly mention products for sale, while others harangue customers to buy expensive wares. Many cannot live up to their extravagant come-ons, promising renewed energy and eternal youth. Yet they may do some good. A 1996 survey at the University of Miami found that 26 adults given 15-min. back rubs twice a week for five weeks showed signs of less stress, were less depressed and performed better on math tests. "Something's working," says Marcia Kilgore, the founder of Bliss. "Or this is the biggest hoax since The Blair Witch Project."
--With reporting by Laird Harrison/San Francisco