Mojo Spa’s brunch and pedicure
Eat and pamper in one appointment
First impressions: Tempting confection-shaped toiletries and delectable aromas beckon window shoppers into Mojo Spa, a Wicker Park shop and salon. An ultra-lush and feminine atmosphere dominates. The room is decorated with a golden tin ceiling, comfy mismatched furniture and bold wall colors. Brunch and some pampering in this atmosphere seems like just the thing for a tired girl and her mom.
Zoning in: The treatment starts with a warm welcome and an invitation to help ourselves to coffee or tea. We are introduced to our specialist, directed to the rack of nail colors then invited to have a seat in one of the pedicure thrones.
While having my feet washed and massaged, I sip my coffee and chat with my mom. My daughter sits on one of the fluffy couches nearby and reads her book about dogs. Two sisters chat, eat, read Allure magazine and enjoy their pedicures next to us.
The technician lifts one of my feet out of its warm sudsy bath and starts cleaning my toenails. Maybe it’s because I’m a pedicure newbie but this feels like something only I—or maybe my mom—should have to do and in private. But I go with the flow, trying not to feel grossed out.
Just in time for the toenail excavation comes a fluffy slab of brioche French toast topped with apples and granola. It’s placed on my lap and accompanied with a big glass of excellent orange juice. I wish I hadn’t eaten such a big breakfast before our 1 p.m. appointments. Other weeks have featured a frittata, Belgian waffles or bread pudding. The French toast on this day is delicious but I don’t make much of a dent in it.
Instead I enjoy the gorgeous fragrance of the citrusy sugar exfoliation scrub on my legs and the cool chocolate mint mud mask that is slathered on next. My 4-year-old daughter comes over and oohs and aahs over the aroma.
Owner Amanda Kezios handcrafts all of the delicious beauty products here and her experience as a personal chef and food lover comes through in both the toiletries and the brunch.
My legs finish with a velvety coating of the “sugar me sweet” moisturizer and a few shiny coats of the polish of my choice. After sliding on our spa flip-flops, my mother and I move to the manicure tables for the same treatment of massages, scrubs, masks, lotion and polish on our hands and arms as we soak up the soothing tunes, chat with the technicians and enjoy the afternoon.
Buzzkill: Although the package comes with “brunch” and the French toast was delish, I would have preferred having at least one less decadent option. For health-conscious brunchers, an option for a simple bowl of plain yogurt with granola might do the trick.
Soothing extras: Since the salon won’t be using the buffers and files and toe separators they used on us again, my technician included them in a doggie bag for me along with a little tub of sugar scrub. Sometimes the temptation/pressure to buy stuff after a spa treatment can seem a bit oppressive. But I found the post-treatment shopping here to be a low-key aromatic adventure with zero pressure to buy except the temptations the products—which include handmade purses—presented through their own coolness. The mint mask, we found out later, was being tried as an experiment on this particular Sunday and usually only comes with the “gold” package, which costs $10 more than our silver package.
Mojo Spa’s Beauty and Brunch
1468 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago IL
773-235-6656
The treatment package is offered 11 a.m.-2 p.m. most Sundays.
60 for the “silver package” of a manicure and pedicure, which is the least expensive one you can get with the brunch.
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