Once upon a time, we paid people to cut, buff and paint our nails.

Once upon a time, we had people shape our unruly eyebrows and rub hot, smooth stones over our sore backs.

Once upon a time, we put time aside to have people rip hair off our legs with wax and wrap us in algae.

Those days, for many of us, are long gone.

Spas obviously want us back. And so, there are deals. Many end soon, so act fast if you’re yearning for pampering. Here are a few that caught our eye (framed, we admit, by slightly unruly brows):

212 Salon and Day Spa: 212’s “Quick Pick-Me-Up” is so tempting in the dead of winter, when our hair and nails are brittle and dull. For $100, you get a mani and pedi, protein conditioning treatment, shampoo and a blow-out.

Calla Lily:  Calla Lily, a spa that offers everything from seaweed body masks ($60) to Brazilian bikini waxes ($80 and up), will take 20 percent off any service through Saturday. Just print out the coupon on the Web site and book your indulgence.

Spa Space:  How about a 75-minute massage? Spa Space is offering its $150 Space Ritual Massage for $120. You need to buy a gift certificate for that massage specifically to get the discount (see the spa Web site for details).

Urban Spa Chic:  Never been to Urban Spa Chic? If your nails are a mess, this might be the time to change that. The spa is offering a $10 mani with a seasonal spa pedi ($48) for first-time clients on Tuesdays through Thursdays.

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Brennan Massage & Spa marks its first anniversary in Brookfield.

Brookfield, IL -
Working out people’s stress has been Abby Brennan’s specialty for the past year.
Since opening Brennan Massage & Spa in Brookfield last year, the business has grown from two massage therapists to nine, introduced more massages and is being renovated to allow for more space.
“We are so thankful to the support we have gotten from Brookfield and the surrounding suburbs,” Brennan said. “We have felt so welcomed and (patrons) utilize us for services, to use as gifts at Christmas, that makes me really happy.”
Deanna Guzzi has been a customer since opening day.
“It is a godsend to have something local,” she said. “I think it is really good and she does everything organic.”
Guzzi told her friends and her husband to try the spa and now they have all become regulars.
Brennan agrees the clientele keeps growing faster than expected.
With this being her first business endeavor, she said she has not felt the impact of a poor economy.
“This will grow and get better; we will grow and utilize the whole house as a full spa,” Brennan said.
The spa is focused on people’s overall health and the benefits of massage, which is very therapeutic, according to Brennan. She emphasized that in her spa, no one is rushed through, the main focus is the body and the atmosphere makes everyone feel they fit whether this is their first or fourth massage.
Up next for Brennan Massage & Spa will be a Bridal Expo in March. Brennan said she is looking for new ways to draw people into the spa for a fun day.
“It is a great way for people to come in and meet the therapists and to be comfortable with the person may work on them,” she said. “It is a way to get a discount on a session scheduled for a later time. It is a way to become familiar with the business without having the commitment of having a full (session).”
Upcoming events also will include a teachers night, a mother-daughter night and a possible date night.

Notable
Brennan Massage & Spa started out in a single-family home. It was then transformed into three apartments until Brennan came and rehabbed the building, gutting the interior, to provide a more relaxing atmosphere.

& quotable
“People really feel comfortable with slowing down and finding what it means to really have body work.” Brennan said.

Philosophy
Brennan Massage & Spa is focused on peoples’ overall health and the benefits a massage can bring to a person
Leaving a person in a state of harmony with better health, stress reduction, muscle tension or injuries is the main focus

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Champagne and caviar — take me away.

The sad state of the economy (bailouts! Ponzi schemes!!) might be precluding any big-ticket purchases right now (put that Bentley on ice for the time being), but luxurious spa treatments can be (make that SHOULD be) necessary indulgences — especially in these trying times. Many Chicago spas are upping their game with deluxe treatments, adding everything from champagne and caviar to 24-karat gold and gemstones to facials, massages and body services. Note to self: This is not your ordinary mani-pedi.

The opulent Spa at Trump in the Trump International Hotel & Tower features pleasurable treatments in plush surroundings (the property even has 53 spa guestrooms in case you’re too relaxed to go home after your “me time”). Here you’ll find a treasure trove of signature gemstone treatments. Choose from the following 90-minute massages: “Purifying Diamonds,” “Balancing Emeralds,” “Revitalizing Rubies” or “Calming Sapphires.” All therapies use gem-infused oils combined with rare floral and herbal essences and cost $300. You can also try the “Black Pearl Facial,” which uses crushed black pearls and oyster shell extracts to hydrate, firm and tone the skin (60 minutes, $185).

Diamond Microderm Facials

At the charming Cleise Brazilian Day Spa in Lincoln Park, two new facials have been added to the lineup of uber pampering treatments. The 75-minute “24K Golden Touch Facial” ($150) involves the application of 24-karat gold leaf to the skin (gold is said to lift, firm and tighten the epidermis). The hour-long “Caviar Facial” ($125) utilizes sea proteins to stimulate cell production and regenerate elasticity.

Wicker Park’s unique Ruby Room is a stylish sanctuary, offering numerous healing therapies, yoga classes, salon services and inventive spa treatments. (There are also B&B-style guestrooms available here.) For a rejuvenating experience, try the “Crystalssage” massage ($100-$150), which focuses on treating a tired body and spirit with “organic essential oils, signature energy cleansing rituals and powerful crystals from the world’s most sacred places.”

The Four Seasons Chicago Spa and Fitness Club is certainly no slouch in the decadence department. The services here use several high-end products, such as caviar and pearl proteins in its “Perles de Caviar” facial ($140-$190), champagne in a paraffin wrap for hands and feet (which includes a caviar canape and a glass of bubbly to enjoy during the service, $60-$90) and rose petals in a posh soak and wrap ($60-$90).

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While Wisconsin spas in the winter might not sound as warm and inviting as a spa escape to Arizona, the dairy state has two must-try luxury destinations just a few hours north of Chicago: Kohler Waters Spa in Kohler  and Aspira Spa at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake. And once you step inside these oases of tranquility, you will see why the weather outside does not matter.

Kohler Waters Spa – Kohler, Wisconsin
Looking to get away from it all, possibly with uninterrupted quiet in an idyllic setting where people still keep their doors unlocked at night? Welcome to Kohler, home of the famous kitchen and bath giant and the Kohler Waters Spa. Popular spa treatments include Highland Fling, combining streams of a Vichy shower with the gentle flinging of warm water and an exfoliation using coffee granules mixed with mint oil followed by a chocolate body butter massage ($140 for 50 minutes, $160 Saturdays); Aquatonic, a facial performed while enjoying a warm Vichy shower massage ($140 for 50 minutes, $160 Saturdays); and Tropical Contouring, a full-body exfoliation followed by a lemon and geranium-scented contouring mask ($150 for 50 minutes, $170 Saturdays).

Extend your spa visit and spend the night in the spa’s Carriage House, or stay next door at the American Club, the Midwest’s only AAA Five Diamond resort hotel. For the ultimate pamper, request the Carriage House’s Immersion Suites, which include walk-in showers with massaging showerheads and whirlpool tubs. For the romantic at heart, order a nighttime bath with scented oils, candles, and champagne and strawberries. In-room pedicures, facials and massages are additional indulgences you can set up.

For a special treat, stop by Kohler’s newest addition: Craverie, which serves addictive chocolate, sea salt croissants and hot chocolate made with real peanut butter.

Want something closer to Chicago?
Last spring, Kohler Waters Spa opened a new day spa in Burr Ridge, offering water treatments such as Go with the Flow ($115 for 50 minutes) that includes a body exfoliation, scalp and hair treatment, and foot reflexology all under the warmth of a Kohler Vichy shower. The day spa’s best feature: A 10,200-square-foot Circle of Tranquility with a whirlpool, cascading waterfall and three shower experiences: Quench, Envelop and Deluge.

Aspira Spa – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Nestled on the banks of southeastern Wisconsin’s Elkhart Lake, considered sacred by Native Americans, the Aspira Spa’s feng shui designs and custom-built, circular meditation room take calm to a new level. The 20,000-square-foot spa, inside the AAA Four Diamond Osthoff Resort, uses organic products and specializes in treatments derived from the healing techniques of indigenous peoples.

Signature services include the Sacred Waters Massage ($145 for 60 minutes), where heated deerskin pouches filled with fresh water from Elkhart Lake are placed on the body’s chakras while you experience a Swedish massage. The Aspira Chroma Facial ($175 for 90 minutes) incorporates color therapy with lymphatic drainage and pressure-point stimulation, and the Balneotherapy Bath in Chromatub ($75 for 30 minutes) detoxifies the body by using marine minerals, nutrients, essential oils and healing lights while a therapist performs underwater body exfoliation, deep tissue massage and lymphatic drainage.

The spa’s newest addition: The Cedars Massage ($145 for 65 minutes) that uses fresh cedar to cleanse and purify the body by placing a bowl of cedar chips under the face and infusing them with oil and hot water, igniting an earthy scent, and wrapping the body with an aromatic cedar blanket.

Be sure to also indulge in the Aspira Spa’s indoor and outdoor whirlpools and Finnish sauna or take a cooking class in the Osthoff Resort’s new cooking school, L’ecole de la Maison. If you are traveling with a significant other, book the spa’s SpaSuite for a side-by-side couple’s massage. Suite amenities include a whirlpool bath, rainfall shower, fireplace and in-room treats such as champagne and chocolates.

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Take a big whiff … what do you feel? That’s the question to ask yourself when you walk into Halsa, an aromatherapy shop in Geneva. You know you’re in for a pleasant olfactory experience by the scents that waft through the air of the shop. The shelves, reminiscent of an old apothecary shop, are lined with dark blue bottles containing 100 different essential oils.
           

The shop also offers Read more…

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Vickie’s offers Wauconda a spa experience

Walking into Vickie’s Personal Touch Full Service Salon and Day Spa, Waconda IL one immediately can sense a personable environment with splashes of colorful walls to known brand product lines.

Cosmetologist and businesswoman Vickie Laureys has spent 35 years in her profession since graduating from Palatine High School in 1974. The first 12 years she worked for Personal Touch Salon on Main Street in downtown Wauconda and by 1986 she purchased the business and building, dubbing it

Vickie’s Personal Touch.
The certified cosmetologists became involved in the Hairdressers Association of the Northwest suburbs and was its president from 1981-83. Vickie said at that time that the cosmetic industry was evolving into quick services or exclusive day spas. She gradually expanded the business, making a room on the first floor for spa services to see if it was right for her clientele. Her hunch was on target, so she remodeled the upstairs into a day spa.
“I love the day spa, because it gives me more one-on-one (time) with a client,” Vickie said.

Most recently the businesswoman purchased a plat of land at 349 S. Barrington Road and built a new building and opened it in September 2007. The square-footage increased from 3,000 to 7,300, doubling the number of hairstyling stations from seven to 14. The salon’s 33 hair-care services are used the most in Wauconda, requiring the most staff, Vickie reported. Also available are 31 nail services, 23 wax services, 14 facials, five massages, five body and wrap treatments, four energy treatments and make-up applications. And she restarted spray tanning.

On the retail side, name brand products like OPI, Essie, Matrix and Paul Mitchell Pet Care products, as well as lotions, salts, candles, gift baskets and more.

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